The Presbytery of Scioto Valley
Ohio
Presbytery leaders and Peacemaking and Justice Committee members meet with Ohio’s deputy legal counsel to present a presbytery resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty in Ohio.
In 2008, members of the Presbytery of Scioto Valley met with Ohio’s Deputy Legal Counsel Jose Torres to share their concerns about the death penalty. They gave him a presbytery resolution calling on Governor Ted Strickland to halt executions in Ohio because of racial disparities in sentencing, inadequate representation, withholding of exculpatory evidence, and mishandled lethal injection procedures.
That meeting followed meetings between the Peacemaking and Justice Committee and elected officials on issues that impact God’s creation. The committee also met with congressional representatives and urged them to speak against the use of torture and to use their influence to end the war in Iraq. The committee invited the Rev. Carol Wickersham, a co-founder of the Presbyterian-based No2Torture Group, to speak to congregations, seminaries, and universities in Ohio about issues of torture, war, and faith.
In seeking discernment to live out their calling to promote peace and reconciliation, the committee used resources from the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program. Among them was The Shalom of God in the Midst of Empire, a study on the book of Isaiah. The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship provided other valuable resources and encouragement.
The Peacemaking and Justice Committee has received presbytery support to begin a fellowship group to provide spiritual support and encouragement for war veterans as they return home from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The presbytery has 113 churches with 22,422 members.
Elder Joyce A. Smith, member, GAC
Presbytery Staff
Dana Knapp, executive presbyter
Jeannie Harsh, associate executive presbyter
Dagmar Romage, office manager
Brenda Oliver, business manager
Richard Hays, stated clerk
PC(USA) General Assembly Staff
Annette Donald, BOP
Jeffery Dorris, GAC
God of peace and wholeness, forgive our striving for power over others. Help us to use our resources and gifts from you to forgive our enemies, to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Ps. 119:73–80, 145 Ps. 121, 6
Jer. 7:1–15
Rom. 4:1–12; John 7:14–36
|
