For Such A Time As This

Resources for the Moment and the Movement

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"For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?"

-- Ester 4:14

FRIENDS,

This is the vision God has placed in our hearts, that together we will become witnesses to the ever-expanding community of Christ, following his way: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35) We are a regional community of presbyteries and congregations learning to respond to God’s call to become agents of divine justice, transforming the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in the Northeast into a community of hospitality and welcome for all. We recognize that we have not always lived into the gift of our great diversity. We have not always fully welcomed all those within the communities we serve, including people of different racial or ethnic identities, economic classes, genders, abilities, sexualities, immigration statuses, or those who are marginalized in other ways. Finding deep joy in our differences, we commit to equipping the saints for a courageous and steadfast witness of love and hope; learning, growing, worshiping and working together.

For Such A Time As This

At the 2018 Synod Assembly we received a confessional statement written by a group of young ministry leaders titled “A Confession for Such a Time as This.” Presented in the meeting’s “time of confession” and explored further during the time for “receiving the Word,” Synod Assembly Commissioners ultimately voted to commend this document to the Synod’s presbyteries and congregations for study as a contextual statement of what Reformed faith can look like, lived out in this place at this time in history, and that it be considered for adoption at a later meeting. As we did in 2018, we encourage all gospel communities within your presbytery to undertake a study of the document, which speaks to this tumultuous period of movement which we are entering.

What is Juneteenth?

In the last few weeks we've been hearing a lot of buzz about Juneteenth, but don't know what it is, or why it's important. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free. To learn more about it and plan your own celebration click here.

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Join the Poor People's Moral March

The Mass Poor People's Assembly and Moral March on Washington is a 2.5-hour program that will be broadcast on Saturday, June 20th at 10 am and 6 pm EST, and again on Sunday, June 21st at 6 pm EST, at June2020.org.

Letter From A Birmingham Jail

The 223rd General Assembly commended the “Letter From Birmingham City Jail,” written by Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., to the church for study, as a resource that provides prophetic witness that inspires, challenges, and educates both church and world, and furthermore, to begin the process outlined in G-6.03 to include it in the Book of Confessions.