Standing Together as Key PC(USA) Programs Sunset

Grieving, honoring, and moving forward as peacemakers.

Dear Peacemakers,

The recent decision by the PC(USA)’s Interim Unified Agency (IUA) to sunset the existing Peacemaking Program, Vital Congregations, and Theology and Worship departments–and the accompanying staff reductions–brings up numerous feelings:  anger, sorrow, fear, grief.  

The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship feels acutely the loss of the Peacemaking Program, both for the tremendous work that has been done by those faithful servants, and for the loss of a vital partnership in so many shared areas of peacemaking work. These cuts are not just statistics or job descriptions, these are our friends and partners who share in the commitment to making the world a more peaceful place in the name of Jesus Christ. We honor their work, and we grieve this decision, which is a tremendous loss to our denomination, our communities, and those globally impacted by the work of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program.

We remain steadfast in our conviction that the church must live into its values. We continue to proclaim that the church exists for “the preservation of the truth, the promotion of social righteousness, and the exhibition of the kingdom of heaven to the world.” We stand firm in the promises of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship’s  Peacemaker’s Creed, that “we embrace a life of peacemaking, even knowing that peacemaking requires humility of spirit, peacemaking requires sacrifice of privilege and power, peacemaking requires acts of great courage, risking suffering and even death. We commit to bold witness to our church and to the world, reflecting, praying and acting for peace.  We honor those who have devoted their lives to the cause of peace and justice proclaiming that we are – all of us – God's beloved children. For we belong to God and give our lives to the hope and possibilities of a world transformed.”

We do not waiver in our insistence that peacemaking is the essential ministry and calling for all Christians. The world is boiling over with the need for real and lasting peace. Genocides in Palestine and the Sudan, war in Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of Congo, rampant gun violence across our country–suffering everywhere we look. Yet we continue to witness and act for peace because that is what is required of us as Christians. You can only follow the Prince of Peace so far before His way becomes your way too. It’s as simple, and as powerful, as that. We keep going until peace is here.

We hold space for grief together and welcome a gathering time of processing and shared lament.

Friends, these are impossible days and we are blessed to face them together. The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship stands alongside you with grief and gratitude, and we will continue to walk the path of peace together.

In Peace,

Rev. Annica Gage and Rev. Christine Caton, Co-Moderators of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship

Rev. Dr. Laurie Lyter Bright, Executive Director