Monday, March 23

The Presbytery of East Iowa

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, PAUL Organizer the Rev. Jacqueline McCoy, and Ricky McCoy talked following a bipartisan presidential candidate forum in West Liberty.

Public Action Uniting for Liberty (PAUL) is a faith-based community organization with a mission to empower and equip people of faith from diverse cultures to identify and take action on issues at the local, state, and national levels. The Presbytery of East Iowa applied for and received a specialized ministry grant from GA in 2003 to help fund this project initiated by First Church United in West Liberty, Iowa, to advocate and educate on issues of racism, poverty, and immigration.

The Diversity Task Group, a subgroup of PAUL, has focused on finding ways to strengthen the sense of community by providing opportunities for different cultures in West Liberty to learn more about and to grow in relationship with each other. PAUL has also offered antiracism training for individuals to learn ways to celebrate differences while dismantling systems of racism that keep separation in place. It has joined with seven other community organizations to form the Eastern Iowa Immigration Coalition, which focuses on ways to support immigrants in their communities. It sponsored the training at the New Iowans Center of a PAUL leader who is now certified to teach citizenship classes to local immigrants. PAUL also hosted a bipartisan forum of presidential candidates in order to hear the concerns of eastern Iowans on the topic of diversity.

For more information about PAUL, please contact the Rev. Jacque McCoy at (563) 554-7221.

The 80 churches in the Presbytery of East Iowa serve 15,395 members. Within the presbytery’s bounds are Coe College in Cedar Rapids and Camp Wyoming.

Let us join in prayer for
Presbytery Staff
Elder Harry D. Olthoff, general presbyter/facilitator
Dr. Rebecca S. Blair, stated clerk
Marue White, associate for communications
Rev. John H. Hougen, dean of commissioned lay pastor program
Elder Harry G. Hoyt, committee on ministry consultant
Elder Karen M. Minnis, CLP, visioning consultant
Rev. Colette CihaSoults, worship consultant
Pamela S. Prather, administrative assistant/finance
Richard P. Tiegs, administrative assistant
Rev. Mark W. Martin, new pastor development
Rev. Dr. Martha Montovani, new pastor development
Rev. Nancy Oehler Love, pastor continuing education
Elder Georgia Kost, Brazil partnership
Dr. Nancy A. Olthoff, University of Iowa, Presbyterian campus ministries
Rev. Kristin Hutson, Coe
College chaplain

PC(USA) General Assembly Staff
Anna Edlin, FDN
Elder Joe Edmiston, GAC
Laura Edwards, FDN

Prayer
Loving God, we thank you for the opportunity to put into action the words of Christ, “There is no longer Jew or Greek ... slave or free... male or female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Help us to look for new ways to be inclusive and to break down barriers that separate us from being in community with one another. Amen.

Daily Lectionary
Ps. 119:73–80, 145 Ps. 121, 6
Jer. 16:(1–9) 10–21
Rom. 7:1–12; John 6:1–15