It was the closest vote of the 2012 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). By the narrow margin of 333-331, commissioners turned aside a proposal to divest PCUSA holdings in three companies that sell non-lethal products to the Israeli military. Instead the commissioners chose an approach that emphasized “active investment” to build up the…
Like the drive to convey the church’s blessing upon same-sex marriage, the campaign to bring the church’s condemnation upon Israel will be back at this year’s Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly. Both causes suffered narrow defeats at the 2012 assembly, but their proponents are returning with fresh determination. Since 2004 the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been…
By Peter Smith A group commissioned by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to promote “a just peace in Israel/Palestine” publishes a study guide that includes depictions of Zionism as a heresy at the root of the Middle East crisis. Meanwhile, a major governing body recommends that the church pull its investments in three corporations linked to…
The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, on the recommendation of the Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) committee, is recommending to the 221st General Assembly meeting this summer in Detroit that the denomination purge its investment portfolios of Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions stocks. Presbyterians speaking with voices on all sides of all issues were raised during…
By American Jewish Committee NEW YORK – AJC is challenging the Presbyterian Church (USA) commitment to Israeli-Palestinian peace, following the publication of Zionism Unsettled: A Congregational Study Guide. This study guide, billed by the church as an educational resource, was produced by the Israel Palestine Mission Network (IPMN), one of the church’s educational arms. “It…
By Michael Gryboski A committee within the Presbyterian Church (USA) has recommended that the mainline protestant denomination divest from three companies that do business with Israel. The Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) recently submitted a report calling for divestment from Caterpillar, Hewlett Packard, and Motorola Solutions. In their report, MRTI argued that the recommendation…
Scroll down to page 13 of Florida Presbytery’s docket for its meeting on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014, and you’ll read this: “Remember owning slaves was an economic issue. It did cause economic harm to stop owning slaves. They were the backbone of the southern economy. But, just as owning another human being was morally wrong,…