August SeaPres Update from Eliana Maxim

Dear friends, 

On these long sunny days of summer, filled with activities, trips, and events, it’s easy to forget that it takes a mighty big village to lead the presbytery. Although staff may have the visibility, there are dozens of faithful teaching and ruling elders from all our churches serving in a variety of ways to get the work done of being the PC(U.S.A) expression in our region. I know I speak for my staff colleagues as well as myself, when I say that we are eternally grateful for all those who give of their time and talents to serve on the various leadership bodies, including the Executive Board, the Commission on Ministry, the Commission on Preparation for Ministry, and many others.   

Our foundational documents, including the questions we respond to at ordination of either ruling elders or ministers of word and sacrament, call us to service to the broader church and its different councils. I hope you will consider how you might feel called to submit your name to serve the presbytery. Election on the final slate of nominees will take place at the October 17 presbytery meeting. For more information, please contact the presbytery’s nominating committee. 

At that time, we will also be electing commissioners (teaching and ruling elders) and Youth Advisory Delegates to represent Seattle Presbytery at the 226th General Assembly in Salt Lake City on June 25 – July 4, 2024. For more information, please check our website. 

Finally, I will be going on sabbatical September 1 through the end of the year. I am incredibly grateful to the presbytery’s personnel committee for their support and encouragement and to my wonderful colleagues – Scott, EJ, Paul, Tali, Maggie, Glen, and DeAmber – who assure me I will have a job to come back to.  My sabbatical will include quite a bit of travel, including some bucket list places such as Patmos Island and the Western Sahara. And of course, lots of playtime with the grandkids. 

I look forward to being with you all soon! 

In grace and peace, 

Rev. Eliana Maxim
Co-Executive Presbyter

2024 Presbytery Vice-Moderator Candidates

The Presbytery Nominating Committee is seeking qualified candidates to serve as Vice Moderator of the Seattle Presbytery in 2024.

The Vice-moderator is elected for a one-year term with the understanding that ordinarily this person will become the nominee for Moderator the following year.

The Vice Moderator will be elected for a one year term at the first meeting of the year and shall take office immediately.

The Vice Moderator will preside (in a manner consistent with the Book of Order and Robert’s Rules of Order) in the absence, or at the request, of the Moderator. The Vice Moderator will fulfill other duties of the Moderator in the Moderator's absence. These duties may include Moderating meetings, and Ordination or Installation Commissions as the needs arise.

The Vice Moderator will also attend Presbytery Executive Board meetings.

Qualifications:

Ruling Elder member of a church in Seattle Presbytery or Minister member of Seattle Presbytery.

All qualified individuals are encouraged to apply.

An understanding of Presbyterian Polity.

Demonstrated leadership.

Basic understanding of Robert’s Rules of Order and the principles of Presbyterian polity. (Presbytery will provide access to an annual moderators conference.)

Application:

Send nominations, or offer yourself for service, by emailing NOM@seapres.org.

Please include Name, Status as a Ruling elder or Minister and membership, contact information including mailing address, email address, and phone number.

Those nominated, or who offer themselves for service, will receive (by email) a questionnaire from the Nominating Committee.  

SeaPres Update from Eliana Maxim

Dear friends, 

I recently spent time with our grandkids (almost 2 and 4 year olds) where there was non-stop storytelling, tea parties, horsey rides, and cuddling when it suddenly hit me: they will have zero memory of these moments. All the trips to the park and kitchen experiments, the bouncy house extravaganzas and naps in the backyard hammock will never be recollected by my grandchildren, the hours upon hours that my husband and I have lovingly poured into their lives will be one big blank slate. 

But is it though? 

Or are these forgettable moments building blocks to a much bigger framework of care, trust, and love that is being constructed around these little ones by not just this pair of doting grandparents, but the entire community standing alongside their parents in raising them up? 

In some ways, life in the presbytery can be like this. We bounce from one zoom meeting to another, an ordination here, an installation there, a retirement, a dissolution and so on and so on. Some are tremendously memorable, for good or not, others, not so much. And yet each instance is another thread weaving the fabric of who we are and who we are hoping to be. 

I am grateful for each of you and each of the instances where our lives converge for that is where we are church, we are a community of faith. It is how we impact and influence one another in our quest for mutual transformation.  Thanks be to God! 

News You Can Use 

• The updated Book of Order with the newly adopted changes to our polity is out and ready for your reading pleasure. You can download it here. 

• The presbytery’s nominating committee will be presenting a nominating slate for incoming officers, including General Assembly commissioners and youth advisory delegates to the October meeting for election. More information on GA & application forms. If you would like to be considered for any open presbytery position, please check this link for more information and contact nom@seattlepresbytery.org.  

• At its most recent meeting, the presbytery’s executive board voted to host future presbytery meetings in person. Meetings are scheduled for the third Tuesday of the following months: October, January, April, and July. Locations will vary and are yet to be determined. 

• Be sure to check out two important upcoming invitations open to all in the life of the presbytery: 

• Sept. 14 Colombia Partnership Lunch: come learn not only about this presbytery partnership but also about the latest collaborative project for educational scholarships. 

• Save the date: October 24 Conversation on the Marcus Whitman myth: journalist and writer Blaine Harden and Rev. Irvin Porter, pastor and PCUSA’s associate for Native American congregational support will be in an open conversation facilitated by Rev. Heidi Husted Armstrong on the true story behind Presbyterian physician and missionary Marcus Whitman. Time & location details will be announced when confirmed. 

And as always, we look forward to being in communication with you all as together we seek the will of God to be the Presbytery of Seattle. 

In grace and peace, 

Rev. Eliana Maxim
Co-Executive Presbyter

An Invitation from the Colombia Partnership Task Force

All sorts of experiences can break open our isolated selves and introduce us to a world and a life greater than we had ever anticipated. Some of these experiences might be major events: the birth of a grandchild; the realization that someone we love loves us in return; spending time amidst a culture very different from our own. Some of these experiences can occur through much more subtle means: reading a written work that reaches our heart and spirit; hearing a speaker share a specific piece of wisdom; a conversation that goes deep. For me, one of the most profound experiences to break open my own isolation has been a trip to Colombia with a team of us from the Seattle Presbytery. I won’t waste time on a lot of specifics. Suffice it to say that everything I understand about God, about following Christ, about loving others, about being a pastor and a person, has been broken open, enriched, and enlivened.

The reason I don’t want to waste time on my own story is that I want to talk about yours – your story, and your congregation’s story. For all sorts of reasons, most of the folks in our churches will never be able to make a trip to Colombia. Yet there are ways in which those of us here in the Seattle Presbytery can experience life-enriching relationships with sisters and brothers in Colombia without ever boarding a plane. One of the most exciting opportunities that has arisen from our time in partnership with the Presbytery of the Coast is now taking tangible form. The Presbytery of the Coast runs a fantastic school in the city of Barranquilla that serves students from even significant distances away. Not everyone who would do well at the school can afford the tuition and other associated costs (uniform, books, meals), especially those who have to travel to attend (added costs). In consultation with one another, the Colegio Americano (the school, started by the Presbyterian Church in 1889), the Presbytery of the Coast, and the Seattle Presbytery have come up with a foundational model for connecting several parties in close relationship across the two map points. Ten students at the school in Colombia will each be connected with a Colombian family in the city of Barranquilla and one or more families and/or individuals in the Seattle Presbytery. The student will be a full-time student at the school; the family in Barranquilla will be a local, family-away-from-home for the student; and, the folks in Seattle will be a community of accompaniment and support throughout the student’s years at the Universidad.

The goal in all of this is not only getting the child through school. That would be worthy enough in its own right. But the goal here goes deeper than that. The goal is to establish relationships across cultures that will enrich the lives of everyone involved. As a result of the connection between the two presbyteries across a decade, we have seen many such relationships develop. And we would love to see such relationships develop all over the Seattle Presbytery. Since the day a covenant of relationship was established between the two presbyteries, the hope has been that every congregation would benefit in some tangible way. This is a great opportunity to build on that hope. If you are at all interested in being a part of one of these new communities, or would like to find out more about this - or any other aspect of our partnership with the Colombian church, plan on joining us for lunch on September 14, 11:00 am, Queen Anne Presbyterian Church. From my own experience, I’m pretty sure your life will be changed for good.

Rev. Doug Early (TE, Queen Anne)
Colombia Partnership Task Force

Pastoral update from Co-Executive Presbyters

June 2023 pastoral letter from Seattle Presbytery Co-Executive Presbyters.

PC(USA) Book of Order 2023-2025

Book of Order 2023–2025

While they are not yet ready to be shipped, you can now begin to order the new Book of Order from the PC(USA) Store. A single copy is $10.00, with price breaks for buying in bulk. And in the meantime, here’s a downloadable PDF.

Other resources:

• Unofficial list of amendments that require action by mid councils

• Laurie’s outline on risk-reduction requirements, including BOO references and links to other resources for developing policies for one’s own context

• Sample harassment definition

• U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Harassment

• Various policies, legal resources, and other information from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation

• Employment Guidance for Sessions and Session Personnel Committees

• Guidance for PC(USA) Mid Councils on Personnel Processes and Policies

• Samantha Davis’s presentation on antiracism policies

• PC(USA) antiracism resources

• A Corp antiracism statement

• Antiracism resources from the United Church of Christ

• GA226 (2024): What Commissioners and Advisory Delegates Can Expect at the 226th General Assembly (2024).

• CLC user guides

Update from Kitsap Immigrant Assistance Center

Last Thursday, 64 members of KIAC’s community gathered in Olympia to advocate for two pieces of legislation that would positively impact the lives of immigrants – HB1095/SB5109 and a health equity budget proviso. As you may recall, HB1095/SB5109 would create an unemployment system for undocumented workers who currently pay into unemployment but are ineligible for benefits. The proposed health equity budget proviso would provide health insurance to all immigrants, regardless of status. At present, immigrants without permanent immigration status cannot access health insurance in our state.

Read more.

Mutuality and co-learning are guiding principles in collaboration between Seattle and Colombian presbyteries

‘This is truly a unique and exciting way to be church together’

by Scott O’Neill | Presbyterian News Service

Several partner churches in Barranquilla, Colombia, partner with local community children’s programs to run after-school tutoring programs. (Contributed photo)

LOUISVILLE — A simple question asked nearly a decade ago by a Seattle-area pastor interested in learning more about the Presbyterian Church in Colombia has blossomed into a partnership that reflects a mutual passion for theological and academic inquiry, worship, faith and the desire to simply “be” together.

The special connection is between Seattle Presbytery and the el Presbitero de la Costa (Presbytery of the Coast) in northern Colombia. It’s been developed and nurtured over the past eight years through social media, Zoom calls and face-to-face visits. Earlier this year, a delegation from Seattle reconnected with their Colombian siblings after a hiatus in 2021 by visiting the city of Barranquilla, a seaport capital of more than one million people and the home for most of the 12 churches that comprise the Colombian Presbytery of the Coast.

The Rev. Eliana Maxim, co-executive presbyter in Seattle Presbytery, stated that when the two groups began to explore what a partnership might look like back in 2015-16, it was important that the presbyteries enter any relationship as equals.

“We agreed on certain guiding principles for our ‘hermandad’ or sibling relationship. And at the center of them was a posture of mutuality,” said Maxim. “Our presbyteries entered into this relationship as equals, committed to nurturing relationships above all else, and allowing them to then determine how we would live out our commitment to one another.”

Now eight years in, Maxim, who was born in Barranquilla, feels like the fruits of their labors are starting to materialize.

“My primary goal from the very beginning was for us to decolonize traditional mission partnerships and create something completely different: equitable, mutual and deeply relational,” Maxim said. “We are beginning to see the fruits of our commitment, and this is truly a unique and exciting way to be church together.”

Read more.

SeaPres Podcast: SeaPres Conversations w/Eliana & Scott

New episode: SeaPres Podcast February 2023 update with Co-Executive Presbyters Eliana Maxim & Scott Lumsden.

January 20 SeaPres Update from Scott Lumsden

Dear Friends, 

John the Baptist looms large early in the gospels as one who prepares the way for Jesus. In the gospel of John, John the Baptist calls out Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world to anyone who would hear; and then the next day points him out again to his disciples, two of whom leave John to follow Jesus (Jn 1:29, 37).

We all need people in our lives to help us find our way. Whether we are contemplating a new direction in life, are at a pivotal moment in our careers, or are just in need of a little guidance; we are blessed when faithful point out the deeper realities of things that we can only see in part. 

One of the deeper realities about "post" covid church life appears to be that our finances (though they sustained us through in the crisis of covid), are now a bit less reliable. In the past few months, I've talked with many pastors who are relaying serious budget challenges for 2023. Add to that a budget deficit from 2022, and there you have it, the financial pinch we all knew would arrive eventually. 

The Executive Board has been mindful of these challenges for some time and has recently created a $5,000 Economic Relief Grant for churches experiencing a budget deficit in 2022 or who are projecting a budget shortfall in 2023. (Please contact EJ for more information). It has also approved a three (3) month waiver of per capita for the third year in a row and has kept per capita at $40 for the 14th year in a row (with inflation it would be $55). 

The Executive Board and staff are always looking for ways to assist our churches in their mission, so if there are other ways we can be supportive please reach out. 

Peace, 

Rev. Scott Lumsden
Co-Executive Presbyter

Crescendo concert recording available

From Northminster PC:

You’re invited to view a recording of a concert Northminster hosted last Saturday with the Presbytery. It was put on by Crescendo, which is an international group of musicians of faith. This concert featured music and readings with the theme of communion and used the music of 19th century Spanish composer, Hilarión Eslava. He was a priest who wrote a lot of worship pieces that were hugely popular in churches in his day and some are still performed on Holy Days in Spain. He is the ancestor of one of our elders, Antonio Rufin. Eslava’s work included producing three popular operas, but these works brought the condemnation of the church, so he was forbidden from writing further pieces and his music largely disappeared until Antonio uncovered it while doing family research during a trip to Spain. In the years since, he and his wife Becky have been working to bring his music into the 21st century and make if available for musicians and choirs. This concert is the first time his worship pieces have been performed in the United States.

We recorded the concert and it is now available on NPC’s YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/Y_YJ-a6qqU0

December 19 Update from Co-Executive Presbyters

“All things came into being through Him, and without Him not one thing came into being.  What has come into being in Him was life, and the life was the light of all people.” 

John 1: 3-5 

Dear friends, 

As we draw another year to a close and gather with loved ones to celebrate and remember the birth of our Lord, we are grateful for each of you: for our congregations and worshiping communities who remain committed to the Gospel and its many expressions wherever your church may be planted; for our ordained teaching and ruling elders whose faithfulness to following God’s call has pushed and pulled them into new and different ways of being church; to all those community partners who see us as siblings and collaborators in serving all of God’s people. 

As has been often said by other wiser folks, the pandemic was the visible change to highlight the quickly changing church landscape; changes that had been coming for years if not decades.  And we are all adapting as best as we can, drawing on the creativity, imagination, energy, and love of all the faithful. This is hard work. But this is also sacred work.  

We’ll enter 2023 with 17 churches committed to learning, unlearning, and relearning through the ongoing Thriving Congregations Initiative. We welcome Rev. J.P. Kang as the new presbytery moderator and Crystal Hairston (RE Lake Burien PC) as COM chair. A team of 15 clergy and elders from 7 of our churches will travel in mid-January on the presbytery Colombia partnership trip. Three of our churches expect to call their next installed pastors in the first half of the year. And meantime, we continue – as presbytery, as congregations – to seek how to further serve our communities among many other things. 

I love the John verse in the first chapter above. The Christ child brought life for all of us. No guarantees that it would not be challenging or at times difficult to comprehend, but rather that it would a light for all people. So we may see more clearly. So we may find our way.  

My Christmas wish for all our churches and members is that we embrace this gift and recognize the opportunity to be light and life. And may we be countercultural in the kindness we extend to one another on this journey.  

Blessings of Christmas joy, hope, peace, and love to you and yours. 

Eliana Maxim & Scott Lumsden

November 4 SeaPres Update from Scott Lumsden

Hello Seattle Presbytery, it's me Scott.

I know it's been a while, but as you probably know by now, I've been on sabbatical for the past three months. What did I do?

Well, for the first three weeks, I hiked the Oregon PCT with my son, Corin -- that is until the fires caught up with us and forced us to call it quits halfway through. I've hiked different northwest sections of the Pacific Crest Trail for about the last 5 years now, and we were hoping to get all of the Oregon PCT done this summer, but fire season caught up with us at Shelter Cove (Odell Lake, OR). So we decided to catch a ride into Bend, OR and then hop a shuttle to Timberline Lodge and hike to the Bridge of the Gods (Columbia River). Our hope is that we'll return next summer to finish the Oregon PCT sections we missed. There is something about the beauty and challenge of being out in remote parts of nature that is deeply renewing to me. I was truly blessed to hike even half this remarkable trail in Oregon.

After the hike, I relaxed a bit around Shoreline, reading and reflecting and doing a few house projects, but then toward the end of the sabbatical, I headed out with some friends for a 3-week road trip. We journeyed through eastern Washington, Oregon, Idaho, skirted the Tetons to the south (Jackson), dipped through Utah, and Wyoming, and settled in Montrose, Colorado for about a week, and then headed back. Our compass was naturally tuned to the beautiful rivers of those areas so that we could cast some flies, but we also let our gaze just marvel at God's magnificent creation.

I am grateful to serve in a presbytery that supports the practice of taking a sabbatical. And I am extremely grateful to have such incredible staff and colleagues to work with now that I'm back. I know you join me in extending a huge thank you to Eliana, EJ and the whole staff for the wonderful job they did in keeping the presbytery moving forward while I was gone. And I look forward to catching up with many of you over the course of the next few months.

Peace,

Rev. Scott Lumsden
Co-Executive Presbyter

PC(USA) Book of Order Amendments

Book of Order Amendments Booklet

The 225th General Assembly (2022) approved 33 proposed amendments to the Book of Order—including a replacement for the entire D-section—to be considered and voted on by the 166 presbyteries prior to July 9, 2023. For an amendment to be adopted, 84 presbyteries must vote to approve it.

The booklet is now available in English; Spanish and Korean translations are also available on the PC(USA) website.

The Seattle Presbytery’s Executive Board has called a special virtual meeting on Tuesday, November 15 at 6:00pm via Zoom for the purpose of considering approval of the proposed constitutional changes from the 225th General Assembly. Register for the meeting.

Outlook article features Seattle Presbytery Young Adult Advisory Delegate

OUTLOOK FEATURES

Being the church of now, together: A YAAD’s reflection

Young Adult Advisory Delegate Kate Stoops thanks PC(USA) leaders who have shaped her; and she asks that young adults be taken seriously: “let us in,” she writes.

Read more: https://pres-outlook.org/2022/08/being-the-church-of-now-together-a-yaads-reflection/

SeaPres BIPOC Scholarship Accepting Applications

Board of Pensions Pastor's Participation increase in 2023

From the Summer 2022 Board of Pensions Board Bulletin:

Pastor’s Participation medical dues increasing for 2023

Directors approved an increase in Pastor’s Participation dues for the first time in five years. Effective January 1, 2023, medical dues will increase 2 percent, from 27 percent to 29 percent. As a result, total dues for the benefits package will be 39 percent, up from 37 percent. Directors raised the cap on the maximum annual dues amount by $1,500, from $33,500 to $35,000, and on the minimum annual dues amount by $500, from $11,000 to $11,500.

The vote to increase dues followed a review of cost forecasts by Milliman Inc., the agency’s medical actuarial counsel. Healthcare costs spiked in 2021 as medical costs continued to climb and healthcare use increased following the coronavirus crisis.

In summarizing actions taken at General Assembly, the Reverend Dr. Frank Clark Spencer, agency President, discussed specific requests directed to the Board concerning parity of medical dues and affordability for small congregations, particularly within communities of color. He affirmed the need for ongoing evaluation and assessment of existing benefits structures that may not best serve an evolving denomination. And he reiterated the Board of Pensions’ commitment to providing affordability and flexibility in its benefits and to eliminating plan designs that perpetuate disparities and inequities.

July 26 Update from Eliana Maxim

Dear friends, 

A pastor friend of mine called recently, seeking to gain understanding from a disastrous session meeting where discussion over a cancelled vacation Bible school devolved into a shouting match between elders and ultimately angry words about my friend’s leadership and preaching style. Another worried pastor shared with me that the fragile balance they had been able to maintain in their purple church was becoming frayed more and more as political rhetoric ramped up for upcoming elections. 

No one goes into ministry believing it will be all about languorously long afternoons of intense scripture study, unending revelatory prayer sessions or life altering sermons. Ministry ends up dealing with the messiness and unpredictability of life; from clogged toilets to grief-stricken congregants to deciphering a church balance sheet to planning sermon series. And more. A more that includes coming to the realization that you will never please everyone and you will never ever be able to do it all. 

The last few years have added another layer of tension to this peculiar vocation. 

A deeply divisive country, a global pandemic, increased violence, and social unrest have all highlighted a growing mistrust and fear among our churches across the country and denominational borders. And in their anxiety, many have turned in anger against their pastoral leaders, impatient with their inability to “fix” things and make everything right again. And so we arrive at what many are calling “The Great Clergy Burnout”. Rev. Dr. Victoria Weinstein addresses this phenomenon in her latest blog.  

In the middle of summer, as we look towards the fall when we’re anticipating another resurgence of covid infections, more fallout from Supreme Court decisions and January 6 hearings, and the anxiety around doing church well (i.e., getting folks to come back to worship, balancing budgets, being relevant) how can we turn our frustration with one another into collaboration, and suspicion of each other’s motives into community building?  

We are not unique at facing these challenges. The early church had to be reminded repeatedly to work together as in Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another…” and again in 1Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 

Grounded in this Biblical wisdom, I invite us also to keep in mind the calling of the church as expressed in the Book of Order that states “The Church is to be a community of hope… a community of love… a community of witness pointing beyond itself through word and work to the good news of God’s transforming grace in Christ Jesus its Lord.” (F-1.0301) May we turn our faces towards one another convinced we will encounter the sacred in one another as we together discern God’s will for the church, and work side by side to that end.  

Paz,

Rev. Eliana Maxim
Co-Executive Presbyter

July 21 Update from Eliana Maxim

Dear friends, 

The past month has been a whirlwind for many in our denomination as the church convened for General Assembly 225, the biannual gathering of the PC(USA). This time, the assembly met over a three-week period; committees in person at the newly renovated Louisville headquarters, and plenaries online through Zoom. Seattle Presbytery was well represented by our commissioners Rev. Lina Thompson, Rev. Eyde Mabanglo, Elder Todd Peterson (Woodland Park), Elder Glen Ferguson (Overlake Park), and Young Adult Advisory Delegate Kate Stoops (Mercer Island). Creative and compelling worship was designed by a team led by Rev. Tasha Hicks-McCray and included Elder Chris Lim (Union Church). Despite planning and executing a different and challenging assembly under uncertain circumstances due to covid impact, the church embarked on courageous discussions and took bold actions in many areas. Below you’ll get a general overview of decisions taken, including affirming women’s autonomy over their bodies in terms of reproduction justice and declaring the PC(USA) a sanctuary church. More information on GA225 decisions from issues on polity to rules of discipline to gender justice and environmental concerns can be found at https://www.pcusa.org/news/2022/7/12/summary-general-assembly-actions/.  Several business items related to changes in the Book of Order will be coming to presbyteries for voting and Seattle Presbytery will take them up at an upcoming presbytery meeting soon. 

Meanwhile back in Seattle Presbytery... Scott embarked on his 3-month sabbatical this week. The staff sent him off with admonishments to stay safe (he’s hiking in the wilderness), take pictures, and not give us a second thought. We pray for his time away; that it be restorative and re-creative.  

The Thriving Congregations Team is busy planning a leadership summit for the end of September and continuing to walk alongside over 20 congregations in the initiative. Several churches are in the midst of pastoral transitions, and the presbytery’s nominating committee is busy at work preparing a slate for the fall presbytery meeting (Oct. 18) when we will elect new members to our leadership bodies. If you are interested in serving at the presbytery level, please contact SeaPres nominating for more information. 

So, despite the warm sunshine and long days, there is much going on in the life of the presbytery and all the congregations. I am grateful for each one of you; for your partnership in seeking God’s will for the presbytery, for your faithfulness to the Gospel, and your commitment to be the church we need to be today, and in this place. 

Grace and peace,

Rev. Eliana Maxim
Co-Executive Presbyter

PC(USA) LEADERS REACT TO DECISION TO OVERTURN ROE VS WADE

Sadness, anger, frustration

Nelson, Moffett, other church leaders react to decision to overturn Roe vs Wade

Rick Jones & Randy Hobson | Office of the General Assembly - June 24, 2022

LOUISVILLE

Friday’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe vs Wade came as little surprise to leaders in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) The decision came down as the denomination hosts the 225th General Assembly in Louisville. The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA) and the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, were among several to express their frustrations over the decision and the expectation that it could lead to nearly half the states in the U.S. placing bans on abortion.

“The Presbyterian Church has been very clear about its position on this matter,” said Nelson. “We still have a lot to say about this issue from the impact on people of color, health and safety, as well as religious freedom.”

https://www.pcusa.org/news/2022/6/24/sadness-anger-frustration/