Today in the Mission Yearbook - Faith groups, including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), urge U.S. to change policy toward Cuba

Letter calls for removing Cuba from State Sponsors of Terrorism list

April 30, 2023

Photo by Gayatri Malhotra via Unsplash

Twenty churches and faith-based organizations, including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), have sent a joint letter asking the United States to change its policy toward Cuba to reduce hardships on the Cuban people and to remove hindrances to providing humanitarian assistance.

The letter asks the Biden administration to remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST) list, noting that “as a matter of faith, we do not believe that imposing deep and painful costs on Cuba’s civilian population can be morally or pragmatically justified.” (Read the full letter here.)

The signers, which include Church World Service, The Episcopal Church and the United Methodist Church-General Board of Church and Society, point out several ways that Cuba is contributing to international peace efforts.

“State sponsors of terrorism provide logistical, financial or political support to groups that carry out terrorist attacks on civilians,” their letter states. In contrast, “Cuba continues to make international commitments to combat terrorism, has ratified all 12 international counterterrorism conventions, and has offered to sign a bilateral agreement with the United States on counterterrorism.”

Furthermore, “Cuba has collaborated with the U.S. counter-drug traffic efforts, interdicting narcotic shipments in the Caribbean, and the United States Government publicly thanked Cuba for this cooperation,” the letter continues. “Cuba is a sponsor of the Colombian peace talks, and the Cuban government is playing a constructive mediating role in these talks to end one of the region’s longest-standing conflicts. The Colombian government has lauded Cuba for its assistance. Moreover, Cuba has offered its airspace to the U.S. military and civilian humanitarian relief flights to Haiti.”

Ivy Lopedito, a member of the planning team for the Presbyterian delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, was among those who met with the Cuban delegation last week. (Photo by Rich Copley/Presbyterian Mission Agency)

Keeping Cuba on the SST list is hurting the people of Cuba and making it difficult for faith groups to help as denominational partners contend with shortages of clean water, sanitation and hygiene articles as well as medicine and medical devices.

“It has become increasingly impossible for our denominations and faith-based organizations to get much-needed aid and funds to our Cuban partners,” the letter states. “Banks have frozen our funds for permitted religious and humanitarian activities, demanding additional licensing. They perceive the risks of fines and so insist on over-complying with the current restrictions.”

“For many Cubans, the situation has now become so unbearable they are selling all they own and risking their lives to migrate to the U.S.,” an Action Alert from the Presbyterian Office of Public Witness . “Almost 300,000 Cubans have migrated — our policy is one of the root causes of that migration.”

The Alert ends with “Please take action for the Cuban people! Contact the administration and Congress today and urge them to take Cuba off the State Sponsors of Terrorism list.”

Read the full Action Alert here.

Read a Presbyterian News Service report on a recent meeting between Presbyterian delegates to the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women and the Cuban delegation here.

The Presbyterian Office of Public Witness is one of the Compassion, Peace and Justice ministries of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.

 Darla Cater, Communications Strategist, Presbyterian Mission Agency

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Jeff and Christi Boyd, Mission co-workers serving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, World Mission, Presbyterian Mission Agency
Daniel Braden, Managing Editor-Publishing, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation

Let us pray

Gracious God, may you bring protection and healing. We pray for peace for the world, for our hearts and for all your children in distant lands. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - #CSW67 looks at protecting the rights of migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls

Presbyterians and others attending the Commission on the Status of Women hear from a prime minister and others concerned about 100 million forcibly displaced people

April 29, 2023

Katrín Jakobsdóttir is Iceland’s prime minister.

A side event at this year’s Commission on the Status of Women at U.N. headquarters in New York was offered by the government of Iceland and the Council of Europe, a human rights organization. The event highlighted the importance of protecting the rights of migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking women and girls. Marja Routanen from the Council of Europe hosted the panel, introducing the prime minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, who’s led the country since 2017.

Jakobsdóttir called the topic “a very pressing issue and a serious concern,” citing statistics to show why that’s true: According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, 100 million people were forcibly displaced last year, and women and girls comprise 90% of the refugee total. “We need a deeper understanding of who these women are,” Jakobsdóttir said. “Being a female prime minister, I hear gender equality is a soft issue. Nothing is harder than the reality women face with gender-based issues.”

Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya

“Above all,” the prime minister said, “we must prevent armed conflict” and eradicate poverty. “Gender equality is a priority of my government in Iceland. … We need to put it out in the open in order to deal with it. We are witnessing a rollback in hard-earned rights throughout the world. We need to push back the pushback.”

Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations and the president of U.N. Women, said the Russian invasion of his country resulted in “at least” 8 million refugees and another 1.3 million internally displaced people. Up to 90% are women, girls or elderly, he said. The ambassador traced some of the digital platforms that are providing refugees with such help as legal advice and job training. Digital solutions and public-private partnerships “can leverage empowerment,” Kyslytsya said.

Pär Liljer​t of Sweden, director of the International Organization for Migrants Office to the United Nations in New York, noted the effects of Covid, climate change and environmental degradation — and armed conflict — have had a “disproportionate effect” on women and girls.

Photo by Levi Meir Clancy via Unsplash

“We repeatedly ask ourselves, ‘How can we strengthen our engagement and efforts?’” Liljert said. “Our answer is, we need to go and look at the local level, to go back to the field and listen to the voices of people in crisis-affected areas. We must first value the local knowledge of women in developing solutions and empowering them to safeguard themselves and their families.” Their knowledge “is often overlooked,” Liljert said.

Leyla Kayacik, the special representative of the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, has been traveling to countries including Moldova and Romania to “concentrate on vulnerable people and raise awareness,” including the resources offered by the Council of Europe. “It’s important to put all our forces together,” Kayacik said, including those provided by the UNHCR and UNICEF.

“All these women and children, all the elderly who are suffering a lot — there is a need for psychological support,” Kayacik said. “A lot is being done, but more should be done.”

Kayacik believes that “particular attention should be given to the conflict-related victims of sexual violence. There is a need for safe spaces where victims can speak freely or choose not to speak” without being revictimized. And “special attention” must be given to unaccompanied children, Kayacik said.

Dr. Jemimah Njuki, Chief of Economic Empowerment at U.N. Women, said that over the past 60 years, the share of international migrants who are women hasn’t changed much. They’re about half of “people on the move,” Njuki said, “and their economic realities have not changed much either.” Employment restrictions in destination countries can limit their job prospects, and gender norms can reduce their access to “decent work, training and support,” Njuki said.

But when migrant women have “access to decent work opportunities, discrimination is significantly reduced,” Njuki said. “We know there’s a digital gender gap. We need to make sure technology is in reach for marginalized populations, where it’s really needed.”

The final panelist to speak, Alyssa Ahrabare, legal and advocacy lead for the European Network of Migrant Women, was asked how civil society helps empower migrant and refugee women and girls. “One way is through integration,” Ahrabare said. “We welcome digital literacy … including access to training.”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Shonita Bossier, Vice President, Operations, Presbyterian Foundation
Terri Bowman, Customer Service Representative, Hubbard Press, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)

Let us pray

Creator God, we give thanks that you have bound us together as your children from many lands to send and receive your infinite love. Be with your churches as they continue to renew themselves for your glory. In Christ’s name. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - Conference of European Churches gathers to ‘give witness to radical hope’

The PC(USA) partner looks at issues including the shrinking space for religion in public discourse

April 28, 2023

Editor’s note: Thirty-two ecumenical officers and representatives of the member churches of the Conference of European Churches from across Europe recently met in Brussels, where they explored the role of the churches and public theology — and how CEC’s programs can strengthen that role in the future. The CEC is a partner organization of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Ecumenical officers and representative from member churches of the Conference of European Churches gathered in Brussels, Belgium, last month. (Photo courtesy of the Conference of European Churches)

Among the concerns expressed during the recent Conference of European Churches meeting is the shrinking space for religion in public discourse — a concern that makes CEC’s position even more valuable. Participants acknowledged that strengthening the Christian voice in contemporary European societies is better done together.

Promoting human rights and freedom of religion as well as ending the human suffering caused by the conflict in Ukraine were among other top concerns stressed by CEC member churches.

“Theology and church cannot not be public,” said the Rev. Serge Fornerod, director for Ecumenical Relations with the Protestant Church in Switzerland, as he addressed the role of the church in public theology. He highlighted the coaching, mediating and participatory aspects of this role in public discourse.

Dr Vincent Depaigne, European Commission coordinator for the dialogue established under Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, spoke about the history, framework and contemporary challenges to the treaty, which introduced a legal obligation on the EU to conduct an open, transparent and regular dialogue with churches, religious associations, and philosophical and non-confessional organizations.

Depaigne also talked about the increasingly urgent need to address the war in Ukraine.

Plans for the CEC Pathways to Peace initiative were also discussed. “As churches, we give witness to radical hope, transcending the limits of the here and now,” said Dr. Christine Schliesser, director of studies at the Ecumenical Center for Faith and Society of Fribourg University. “We do acknowledge the life-threatening gravity of war and death, yet we refuse to allow death to have the final verdict on us. Even within war, we give witness to the victory of resurrection over death.”

Schliesser reflected on why Christian churches should engage in public issues.

“We need a solid theological foundation to understand that our engagement in the public spheres, in politics, in economics, and civil society — including questions of war and peace — is not something external or even alien to the Christian faith, but something grounded in the core concerns of our faith,” she said.

CEC General Secretary Dr. Jørgen Skov Sørensen expressed encouragement by the large number of participants and the intensive sharing of ideas at the meeting.

“The participants affirmed continued support from our member churches, a strong commitment to the strategic initiatives set out by the Governing Board and appreciation of the way CEC’s new programmatic directions are reflected in the planning of the Assembly in Tallinn.”

“‘Under God’s Blessing – Shaping the Future,’ [the theme of the June 14–20 CEC General Assembly] is indeed a theme that resonates with the member churches. We are blessed as a fellowship and with a strong urge to share that blessing with others in our European societies, shaping our common future,” added Sørensen.

Within their own dialogues, ecumenical officers explored answers to the open-ended questions: “How can the radical vision of God’s reign inspire public theology? How can ecumenical theology play a part in effecting positive changes?” Most answers were founded on receptive ecumenism or managing differences rather than overcoming divisions.

Participants also engaged with suggestions and messages directed toward the CEC Assembly that will take place in Tallinn, Estonia.

Learn more about the member churches of the Conference of European churches here. Go here to learn more about the 2023 CEC General Assembly.

The Conference of European Churches, Special to Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Raymond Bonwell, Corporate Secretary, Board of Pensions
Margaret Boone, Project Manager, Special Offerings, Ministry Engagement & Support, Administrative Services Group (A Corp)

Let us pray

May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard our heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Today in the Mission Yearbook - PC(USA) pastor and professor describes ways to read the Bible from the Earth’s perspective

The Rev. Dr. Paul Galbreath offers up a thoughtful biblical approach during a Presbyterians for Earth Care webinar

April 27, 2023

The Rev. Dr. Paul Galbreath

Speaking to a Presbyterians for Earth Care audience during a recent webinar, the Rev. Dr. Paul Galbreath was able to help viewers read biblical texts from the perspective of the Earth.

Galbreath, Professor of Theology at Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Charlotte campus, wrote the 2022 book “Elemental: A Journey through Lent with the Earth.” His hourlong talk to PEC can be viewed here.

Most of the Bible, as anyone who has ever read The Green Bible can attest, has something to say about the Earth, according to Galbreath. “It’s a radical jolt to remind us of the central place of Creation through the sacred texts that we hold at the center of our assemblies,” Galbreath said. Because the Christian faith is incarnational, “to do the work of theology is to take seriously the role of Creation in all that we do.” The problem is that we quickly encounter the gulf between materiality and spirituality. It’s our job, Galbreath said, “to find ways that reconnect spirituality and materiality.”

To do this means returning often to Scripture, “asking ourselves questions about what people in biblical times saw,” Galbreath said.

“I’m not trying to read 21st-century perspectives back into biblical texts. The world has changed,” Galbreath said. “But I am trying to be sensitive of the ways people in biblical texts related to Creation and the Earth around them. It’s clear to me that people in biblical times carried with them a great deal of awareness of the Earth, more than we cultivate in our lives. They were aware they were at the mercy of the elements in nature. What you had to eat was dependent on what was in the market, not what was flown in from Peru.”

As a result, religious celebrations in ancient Judaism and early Christianity were usually associated with harvest festivals, “something we don’t think about often,” Galbreath said. “My point here is to note the importance of Earth and sky to ancient people who attended closely to these. It informed the way they lived and worshiped.”

In the book, Galbreath associates certain elements with different days of Holy Week. For Maundy Thursday, it’s water, remembering Jesus washing the disciples’ feet. On Good Friday, it’s trees to remember the cross of Jesus.

This is the associative way of reading the Bible, “looking at a text for the role of Creation in hopes that it prompts us to see the presence of God in the world around us in a different way,” Galbreath said.

On Palm Sunday, it’s the response of the crowds. Preachers can talk about the role trees play providing parade-watchers with palm fronds to spread ahead of Jesus. “It makes the case that the Earth as a participant is a teacher of us in terms of what it means to praise God,” Galbreath said. “Scripture offers models of ways Creation anticipates and is already involved in giving thanks to God for the gift of life.”

But in many churches, Palm Sunday is punctuated with “sword fights between third-grade boys who have been handed palm fronds and are going to battle it out before, during and after the service,” Galbreath said. “It’s one of the few Sundays we bring something from outside into the sanctuary for worship. Our attempts to involve ourselves in this praising have not always been the most beneficial to the Earth.” He wondered out loud: “Might we learn something different by using local foliage?”

Turning to the passion reading for Palm Sunday, “it’s important to note the arrest of Jesus happens in a garden. … What does it mean in a text about Jesus’ arrest and pending death that it happens in a garden, a place of life?” The 30 pieces of silver Judas is paid to betray Jesus goes to purchase a field in which to bury those from a foreign land. “What does it mean for us to read that text today?” Galbreath asked. “For those of us finally paying attention to the Doctrine of Discovery … what does it mean to read a text that pays attention to the role of the purchase of land by the betrayal of Jesus as a place to bury foreigners?”

Mike Ferguson, Editor, Presbyterian News Service

Let us join in prayer for:

PC(USA) Agencies’ Staff
Michele Blum, Managing Director of Editorial, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
Jacqueline Boersema, Director Financial Education, Board of Pensions

Let us pray

Dear Lord, we give thanks that you have gifted each of us for your purpose. May our hearts be open to your leading that we may use those gifts to your glory. We give thanks that we are part of a great family. May we always encourage and support one another in your work in your world. Amen.

Ministry Matters - The church is a (family) system, part 2 | The door to the house

How can we learn to embody healthy triangulation? The church is a (family) system, part 2 by Amanda Rigby & Elizabeth Watters   When the church is at its best, the invitation extended to us is to engage in close, meaningful relationships—holy friendships, you might say—with people we might otherwise never know… people we might not otherwise have a desire to get to know. In a time when polarization rules the day, the church has the potential to offer a counter-witness, one that asks us to set aside party affiliation and class and race to gather around a feast table together. Read here

Am I hearing with joy what God is saying to us today? The door to the house: proclamation and response by William McDonald   The Lord is about to speak a word into your preoccupied, overscheduled life. God will not wait for you to become calm and serene, as if you were alone on a mountaintop, the alone seeking the Alone. Instead, you are here, in this gathering of preoccupied selves, all asking that we might hear a word from the Lord. Read here

How can we seek healing for all creation as kin and fellow creatures? On earth as in heaven by Julianne Snape   I once imagined Jesus' relationship to the soil, water, fruits, and creatures as wielding power over these created elements to perform miracles. But, upon further reflection, this is not how Jesus relates to power or others. In his life and ministry, Christ gives power to others, not over them. And he partners with creation for the healing of our world. Read here

What's on your desk?   What books have shaped your ministry most? What biblical commentaries and tools do you keep coming back to? We want to know! Help us support clergy who are just beginning their ministry by sharing your opinion on the resources that matter most. Let us know here!

The good shepherd and your sermon this Sunday Help in curating worship for the Fourth Sunday of Easter

Inviting kids to lead in worship this week