April 2018 - Updated June 2018 The Path Was Clear for Adoption

One day in March an impassioned Elder suggested that “the church” should be shouting about the distortions of its values currently perceived in the American political culture. So he and the pastor wrote a draft of a “cry from the heart.” This draft was presented to the Session, which carefully edited it to be sent to the Hudson River Presbytery as an Overture. We had the help of Elder Robert Trawick with the rationale which cites the grounds, the authorities for the church to speak.

On April 10, the Presbytery voted unanimously to approve this Overture, which now goes to General Assembly in June (assuming a concurring vote from Albany Presbytery.)

Week of June 17, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) adopted at their national General Assembly gathering:

G.A. Overture/HRP/Nauraushaun

“As confessing Christians, we trust God whom we know through Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray as others pray in other names. We are obligated to declare our concerns about the direction towards autocracy that our country is taking. We say Yes to God’s power of love and justice for the neighbor as well as the self; and we say No to demonic power that urges hate of the other, scatters blame, and creates civic discord. We say Yes to our imperfect democracy with one person, one vote, and No to any corruption of our elections. We say Yes to universal health care and No to care based on the ability to pay. We say Yes to safe schools, houses of worship, and public gathering places; and No to civilian access to assault and/or military-style weapons. We say Yes to core human values and No to dividing our humanity by ideology and partisanship. We say Yes to bridges and preservation of families and No to walls. We say Yes to affirming and celebrating the full spectra of human identity and No to discrimination and bigotry. We say: “In life, and in death, we belong to God.”