Mosiac
News and Information
about Presbyterian Women and the
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
  A Call to Civility
The following statement was drafted and signed
by 48 participants at the Ghost Ranch seminar on globalization,
August 6--13, 2001. It has been endorsed by the Witherspoon Society
and the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship Executive Committee, along
with other groups and many individuals. To add your endorsement
or that of your church, email dougking2@aol.com or contact Ken
Winters-Hazelton, Claremont Presbyterian Church, 1111 N. Mountain
Ave., Claremont, CA 91771; 909/624-9693.
We publicly affirm
the Moderator of the 213th General Assembly and the process whereby
he was nominated and elected. We are dismayed at the consistent
and vociferous personal attacks directed at the Moderator.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) shares a common understanding
of rule by elders. Sharing the same vows of ordination, which
include a common confession of Jesus Christ as Lord, and a commitment
to be led by the Scriptures and guided by the Confessions, we
strive to serve God in our capacities as officers of the local
congregation and for the whole church. Five hundred and fifty-eight
commissioners, elders and pastors nominated and elected by presbyteries
from every part of our denomination, gathered in Louisville,
and after listening to each of the candidates for Moderator,
overwhelmingly elected Jack Rogers as Moderator of the 213th
General Assembly.
During this meeting, the Assembly was not led astray by non-Presbyterian
forces. Rather, it valued the gentle and graceful hand of its
Moderator as commissioners listened to the scriptures, discerned
the leading of the Spirit, shared their concerns, heard one another
and cast significant votes that reflected their faith and conscience.
These unprecedented attacks on the Moderator show a deep disrespect
for the Office of Moderator. The Moderator is not an individual,
but the representation of the General Assembly, indeed of the
whole church. Thus, this attack is an attack on each of the commissioners
who volunteered their time in service to the church, on the Assembly
and its work, and on the entire church. Such an attack violates
our common vow to affirm the peace, unity and purity of the church,
as well as the Gospel imperative to take the log out of one's
own eye before removing the speck in your neighbor's.
We urgently call for a return to civility in the debates before
our church. We appeal to the church to exhibit the fruits of
the Spirit-love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, gentleness,
generosity, faithfulness and self-control-which find their roots
in Jesus Christ.
The moderators of the Churchwide Coordinating
Team of Presbyterian Women-Karen Fritsch, moderator; Ann F. McFarlane,
vice-moderator for mission relationships; and Gerry Tayler, vice-moderator
for justice and peace-signed the above statement, saying their
"personal observations of the 213th General Assembly affirm
the validity of this statement." They added, "Even
though we may not always agree with one another, as people of
faith we are called to treat each other with respect, dignity
and civility."
PW Third Quarter Giving
According to the latest figures, members of Presbyterian Women
have increased their giving from the third quarter of 2000 by
more than $22,000
| |
September 30, 2001 |
September 30, 2000 |
|
| Mission Pledge |
$1,954,150 |
$1,926,771 |
+27,379 |
| Birthday Offering |
766,761 |
787,007 |
-20,246 |
| Thank Offering (including Health
Ministries) |
259,470 |
240,100 |
+19,367 |
| Honorary Life Memberships |
122,390 |
128,019 |
-5,629 |
| Memorial Recognition Gifts |
6,247 |
5,060 |
+1,187 |
Ghana Project Update
In late 2001, a group of women artists who work in the Presbyterian
Center offered to give pieces of their work to be used for note
cards sold to benefit the Ghana Project. A project of the Women's
Ministries Program Area in which Presbyterian Women participated
from the beginning, the Ghana Project has a two-fold purpose:
       
1. to enter into a partnership with African women as
the follow-up to the Decade of Churches in Solidarity with Women,
to share mutual concerns and to learn from and support each other.
2. to raise funds to help these sisters realize their
dream of building the Talitha Qumi Center which will house the
Institute for African Women in Religion and Culture.
For more information or a reading list related to the Ghana
Project, write to the Ghana Project, 100 Witherspoon Street,
Louisville, KY 40202 1396 or email jrogers@ctr.pcusa.org. Send
your contribution to the Ghana Project by making a check payable
to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), designated for ECO #051151.
Donations from churches can be mailed to PC(USA) Church Mission,
Central Receiving Service, Section #590, Louisville, KY 40289-0589.
Individual contributions can be mailed to PC(USA), Section 300,
Louisville, KY 40289.
To order the note cards, call Presbyterian Distribution Service
(PDS), at 800 / 524-2612, and request the nature set (item #
7270001006) or people set (item # 7270001007). Each set of eight
cards is $8.00.
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