By Eva Stimson, Office of the General Assembly. One of the most closely watched debates at the last two Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assemblies concerned whether or not the church should stop investing in fossil fuel companies. In June the 222nd General Assembly (2016) rejected an overture calling for immediate divestment, voting instead to continue…
Before the dinner break, Peter Hulac, the moderator of the 222nd General Assembly’s Immigration and Environment Committee, took an straw poll to see where the committee stood on its views about whether on not to seek divestment from oil companies. Hula offered three options: divest now, a middle option following the suggestions of the committee on…
Commissioners of the 222nd General Assembly will have to sort through several different recommendations coming before it on the issue of fossil fuels. While the Mission Responsibility through Investment (MRTI) committee of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is not recommending divestment from the PCUSA’s holdings in gas and oil companies, one overture is asking the assembly…
By Leslie Scanlon, The Presbyterian Outlook. The Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI ) committee is recommending that the 2016 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) call on companies to conduct their business in a way consistent with international efforts to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees Celsius. But MRTI, which oversees…
By Jaweed Kaleem When thousands of leaders of the nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination meet this week for the church’s biennial General Assembly, they’ll pore through detailed proposals on dozens of topics, from gun violence to same-sex marriage to organic farming. But members expect one controversial issue to dominate the discussion: The 1.76 million-member Presbyterian Church…
The Layman Commissioners to the 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) each have received a letter from more than 1,000 American Jewish leaders asking them to vote against the various boycott, divest, sanction (BDS) proposals slated for assembly debate. Along with a PCUSA committee’s call for divestment from three companies that do business with…
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…
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…
PHILADELPHIA — The Board of Directors of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Board of Pensions began meeting today (June 27) in Philadelphia. The board will continue to meet in committees on Friday and vote on Saturday morning on the proposed new dues structure for the medical plan. The Social Responsibility and Church Relations committee covered much…