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What Story Do We Tell About Detroit?

By Dr. Gloria Albrecht Detroit, Michigan, July 12, 2013

The following is based on an outline of Gloria Albrecht’s presentation to the coordinating team

of Presbyterian Voices for Justice when we met in Detroit, July 11-13, of this year. PV4J met in

Detroit to make plans for the PCUSA General Assembly, to be held there in June of 2014.

Gloria’s time with us was not only enlightening; it was profoundly moving and inspirational.

We saw how much it does matter “what story we tell” about Detroit as a model for

understanding the plight of other cities in the US. Gloria recommended one book in particular –

The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit by Thomas Sugrue –

for comprehending why Detroit’s reality is not reflected in the narrative that is typically told.

What follows are some highlights of Gloria’s presentation. Sylvia Thorson-Smith

Statistics about Detroit:

Current population, about 700,000 – down from 1.85 million in 1950

Estimated 2011 median household income $25,193; for Michigan $45,981

Estimated median house or condo value $50,200; for Michigan $118,100

Female population 47.3%; Male 52.7%

Black population 81.4%; White 8.1%, Other 11.5%

Fall2013 www.pv4j.org

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Pink = white population, blue = black population

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What story do we tell? What narrative do we believe?

Why are people poor? Why are people of color disproportionately poor? What are the causes of poverty in the US?

Many of us have a taken-for-granted understanding of life that provides us with the answers to

these questions. For many Americans, poverty is caused by the inaction, or poorly chosen

actions, of individuals and their families. Historically, anti-poverty programs have aimed at

changing individuals: teaching a work ethic and literacy and job skills. The earlier dreams of Dr.

Martin Luther King, Jr., were rooted in the belief that equal access to education and jobs would

lead to racial equality as each would be judged by their abilities and not the color of their skin.

For many Americans the poverty of Detroit is explained by the story of “The Riot.” Google

“Detroit Riot” and you will see the invasion of this city by the US military, the devastation, the

loss of property and lives in 1967. As this story goes, white Detroiters fled the violence of Black

Detroiters, taking their businesses and tax dollars (and churches) with them to the suburbs. What

does this story leave out? Hundreds of “race riots” in which white folks gathered to force out the

first black family in their neighborhood, hundreds of race riots in which white workers refused to

work next to a newly hired worker-of-color, the movement of auto factories and auto jobs out of

the city beginning in the 1940’s, the loss of half of Detroit’s manufacturing jobs prior to 1963;

the rigid segregation that kept Black Detroiters in the worst housing at higher rents, the “negro

removal” programs of the 1950’s and ‘60’s.

The point of this history is to show that Detroit experienced economic abandonment at the close

of WWII and that harsh racial segregation, whether legal or not, stranded Black workers in a city

suffering the loss of its economic base. In addition to the issue of racism and how it has

privileged the white community, this history raises a second important question: do humans have

economic rights? Do companies have any responsibility for their impact on communities and

families? This was the question raised early by Malcolm X and later by MLK, Jr.

So, why is Detroit poor? Why is it today the poorest and most segregated big city in the US?

How you answer this will shape what you see and the actions you will think are “reasonable,”

and the solutions you will envision. How the church answers these questions will shape its

ministry in urban cores populated by people of color.

What shaped the dominant thinking?

In his award-winning book, The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar

Detroit,“ Thomas Sugrue reaches this conclusion: “Detroit’s postwar urban crisis emerged as the

consequence of two of the most important, interrelated, and unresolved problems in American

history: that capitalism generates economic inequality and that African-Americans have

disproportionately borne the impact of that inequality.” (p.5) For the most part, this is a story of

well-intentioned people making reasonable decisions given the taken-for-granted beliefs that

dominate US society.

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For example, it made economic sense for the auto factories and their suppliers to move to

cheaper land, cheaper taxes, and a less organized labor force. It made sense for them to automate,

to use overtime workers rather than to hire new workers – despite the unemployment rate. As

Milton Friedman said so famously: the business of business is business. And so it also made

sense for white workers to sell their homes as best they could and follow those jobs into the

suburbs, supported by the GI Bill of Rights and the FHA, creating the white middle-class. Yet

this same process in itself, as the recent recession shows us, can create lower wages and higher

unemployment for all workers. Into this mix is the reality of taken-for-granted racial views: that

Black men are best at the heaviest menial labor, Black women are best at domestic work, that

Black neighborhoods and racially mixed ones are too risky for FHA loans, that the peace of the

factory requires attention to these cultural sensitivities. So, unemployment rates have always

been drastically higher for Black workers than for whites and median household incomes have

always been drastically lower producing a drastically higher poverty rate for Black families and

their children.

Where was – and is – the church?

In the midst of all this, how did the white church respond? How should it? How could it? In

1960, Presbyterians supported 44 churches within the city of Detroit; 36 had full-time pastors

and several had multiple staffs. Today, there are four PCUSA churches in Detroit with full-time

pastors. Certainly the city’s loss of population explains some of this loss of congregations. Yet,

in a number of cases viable Black congregations of other denominations now worship in what

were once Presbyterian churches. In hindsight, we need to ask ourselves what the response of our

white churches should have been as more of our neighbors were darker of skin. What should the

response of economically self-sufficient churches be when neighbors become less affluent?

To what extent do we Presbyterians simply assume the necessity of the rules of economic

rationality? We often respond generously with ministries of service to the urban poor. But

congregations too poor to support professional leadership are too often viewed as unsustainable.

The crisis of urban poverty today challenges us to re-think what the gospel of Jesus calls us to be

and to do in response to continuing racial and economic isolation.

Our Reformed Theology: An Alternative From Christian solidarity in a time of social crisis: Reflections from Detroit on being Church in

the 21st Century, a report produced by the PCUSA Advisory Committee on Social Witness

Policy:

“The economic and social abandonment of Detroit, New Orleans, and parts of every other

major city has long been a concern of the church. The danger to faithfulness is an unwitting

embrace of a theology of abandonment rather than one of Christian solidarity. The danger is an

unwitting embrace of secular views of success, and status, and value rather than a biblically-

based prophetic challenge to them. What is clear from Detroit is that secular values create harsh

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divisions of well-being among God’s children that are too often reflected in church structures

and relationships. Success for Christ’s Church is aptly described in what we Presbyterians call

“The Great Ends of the Church”: proclaiming the gospel; the shelter, nurture and spiritual

fellowship of God’s children; preserving the truth; promoting social righteousness; and

exhibiting the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.” May we Presbyterians turn with new passion to

embrace all God’s children in a beloved community.

Detroit Then and Now: A Personal Reflection

By Sylvia Thorson-Smith

1966-67: Fresh out of college with a BA in psychology, I applied for a job with in Detroit,

Michigan. My then husband, Robert Brueck, was in seminary and had an internship at Calvin

East United Presbyterian Church on the city’s east side, very near the elite Grosse Pointe

suburbs. I took a civil service test, had my pick of jobs (those were the days!), and selected a job

training program on the near eastside, in the heart of Detroit’s “ghetto.” For the next 15 months,

at age 22, I learned what Dickens meant when he wrote, “It was the best of times; it was the

worst of times.” Detroit in the sixties was a “happening place,” and I was enthralled by the

diverse energy around me. The culture was alive to civil rights and the beginning of protest to

the war in Vietnam. Detroit became the place where my passion for social change was ignited.

2013: Forty-six years after leaving Detroit, I returned in June with the coordinating team of

Presbyterian Voices for Justice, of which I am a co-moderator. In preparation for the 221st

(2014) General Assembly, we met in downtown Detroit to make plans for our events there next

year. I was excited about returning to Detroit (I’d been there briefly two times), because of

attention on the city as the prime example of urban America’s decay. For months before our

meeting, I read all the books I could find about Detroit, and I saw a new documentary, Detropia,

that was showing at our local independent theater. But nothing adequately prepares one to go

back and see such profound changes in a city so fondly remembered. I was born and raised in

Anchorage, Alaska; went to college in Washington and Iowa; lived in North Dakota, Kansas,

Iowa again, and now the city of Tucson, Arizona. In all of this, Detroit stands out as a place that

was not so much about family, schooling, or my life’s work of teaching, but about the imprint a

city can make on an eager, impressionable young person. Returning, I thought: Detroit, I hardly

knew you, but I’m so grateful for how much you gave to me.

Remembrances, 1966-1967:

My husband Bob and I experienced Detroit through two different lenses – his primarily in

responsibilities at a 1000+ member church and mine in a job with the Mayor’s Youth

Employment Project, funded by President Johnson’s War on Poverty. Bob worked with

youth and education; I did testing of low-income residents to determine job skills and

needed training for employment.

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Detroit was an exciting city in the 1960s. We delighted in games at Tiger Stadium,

amusements on Belle Isle (an island in the Detroit River), exciting new ethnic foods,

grooving to the sounds of Motown, shopping in large fashionable malls, trips to

Greenfield Village (Henry Ford’s historical acreage) in Dearborn, living in an apartment

with a pool, playing the game of Frisbee in one of many city parks, and taking in all that

the 5th

largest city in the US (at the time) had to offer.

I experienced Detroit in black and white. We lived just south of the city’s county line,

Eight Mile Drive – a border deep in Detroit’s consciousness, dividing black and white by

discriminatory housing practices. I don’t remember any African Americans in our near-

suburbia Presbyterian church. We worshiped as white Protestants who supported mission

projects to needy people. My job, however, was in a diverse neighborhood in a building

that had been a Catholic school. My memory recalls all the professional employees as

white and the staff women as black – with one exception: a black woman, one year older

than I and a graduate of Wayne State University, was a colleague in our small office of 4

people (2 men and 2 women). Mary became my best friend for the 15 months I was in

Detroit.

These are memories of my consciousness-raising about racialized experience:

Mary was engaged to be married. When she called to see if apartment

rentals were available, she was asked if she was black. If she said yes, the apt. had been

rented – and it had also been rented if she showed up for a visit.

My husband Bob, a male friend from work, and I were the only white people at Mary’s

wedding in a Methodist church.

When I had a group from work to our apt. for lunch and a swim in our pool, I told the

manager beforehand that one of my friends was black, and he advised that she not swim

in the pool “because it will upset the other residents.” So Mary and I stayed in the apt.

while our friends swam. Uppity woman that I’ve become, I can’t believe I did that and

was so passive to his response, but such were those times and my own 1950s

socialization.

Our favorite places to eat were at black restaurants in the heart of the city. White friends

were afraid in “the ghetto” and only went downtown by way of the newly built interstate

highways. I don’t recall ever feeling afraid in Detroit’s inner city; our project was well-

known and respected in the area, and people seemed to welcome its presence, as evidence

of the President’s promise to eliminate poverty (we’ve seen how well that worked out).

A last and lasting impression: the 1967 “riot”:

On a Sunday afternoon in July, while sitting outside having dinner with friends, we saw

huge clouds of black smoke rising from midtown. Later on the news, we learned that the

“disturbance” had started with a Saturday night police raid on an after-hours bar on the

near west side. The confrontation and ensuing violence lasted for five days, left 43 dead,

1189 injured, 7200+ arrested, and more than 2000 buildings destroyed. Employees in our

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project went back to the area when there was still sniping from the tops of the buildings,

but we wanted to be there in solidarity with the neighborhood. Bob drove our church’s

van into the area with food and other supplies; many churches responded with similar

help. In less than a month we left the city. Fifteen months in Detroit were brought to a

shattering end, but would largely influence my involvements in social justice for the next

46 years.

Impressions and Learnings, July 2013:

In the last year, we’ve all be made aware of the media’s focus on Detroit’s “demise.” As

the most serious example of America’s urban crisis and the first city of its size to declare

bankruptcy, Detroit has been the subject of numerous books and articles. Since learning

that the 2014 PCUSA General Assembly would be in Detroit, I’ve seen the documentary,

Detropia, and read most of the books on the Recommended Reading List in this issue of

Network News. However, no amount of study could adequately prepare me what I saw

there.

We stayed at a hotel and met at Fort Street Presbyterian Church, near the convention

center. The mission of the church’s Open Door ministry is “serving the poor and

homeless in downtown Detroit,” and its extensive program reflects Fort Street’s

commitment to remain present and active in relation to the community, while many

Presbyterian (and other Protestant) churches have closed because of “white flight.” In

1970, near the time when I was there, Detroit’s black population was 44%; today, it’s

81%.

Dr. Gloria Albrecht, professor of Christian ethics at the University of Detroit Mercy and

member of the PCUSA Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, led the PV4J

team through a sobering presentation on the history of Detroit that counters much of the

prevailing “wisdom” about what has led to its current crisis. For me, an important insight

debunked the notion that the “riot of 1967” was the turning point in Detroit’s problems

and decline. Detroit’s manufacturing boom in the 40s and 50s, its subsequent population

surge, and its role in establishing a middle class anchored in union jobs and a home of

one’s own are thoroughly entangled with a history of racial discrimination in housing and

employment that was maintained by white violence, strict red-lining of neighborhoods,

and public censure. Northerners like to think that only the South has had rigid, socially

enforced patterns of racism, but the facts point to a more widespread reality – one that

whites prefer to ignore or minimize. I recently saw a quote in The New York Times by

someone complaining about Obama’s identification with Trayvon Martin because such

remarks betray “the great achievement of our society, the possibility of not talking about

race.” Clearly, avoidance of tough talk about race is what many people desire.

On the last day of our meeting, Gloria took Manley Olson (PV4J’s other co-moderator)

and me on a 3-hour tour of Detroit – and what a city of contrasts! The downtown area

has a circular monorail; a skyscraper called the Renaissance Center (GM hdqtrs)

overlooking the Detroit river and Windsor, Canada; and a long strip of Woodward

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Avenue lined with theaters, restaurants, the Detroit Art Institute, and evidence of

extensive gentrification. But beyond that narrow corridor are blocks of abandoned

warehouses (formerly huge auto plants employing thousands of people), empty and

decrepit houses (in a city known for its burgeoning home ownership), vacated churches

and businesses, and saddest of all, people marking time without purpose or hope. Here

and there are signs of renewal: gardens and small farms planted on acres of cleared city

blocks, the delightfully subversive Heidelberg art project, and evidence of young people

and creative entrepreneurs trying to bring life back to a city that over 1 million people

abandoned.

On Sunday morning, Carol Hylkema (a Presbyterian active in PCUSA women’s, peace,

and justice concerns) took me back to Calvin East Presbyterian Church for worship.

Now it is often called simply Calvin Presbyterian Church, because Calvin West has

closed. This stunning colonial structure -- with tall steeple, brown-trimmed shiny white

pews, gold chandeliers, and formerly 1000+ members – has a part-time minister and a

membership of 105, with about 35 in worship. What began with a flood of nostalgic

sadness turned into a joyful feeling of solidarity with these multi-racial congregants who

sang, prayed, and proclaimed their commitment to remain a spirited presence in this

place.

Following worship, Carol took me to the suburb of Dearborn, where she lives, to see a

very different cultural slice of Detroit Metro. As of 2010, 41.7% of the population of

Dearborn is of Arab descent. Carol told me about her church – Littlefield Presbyterian –

and their Peace Camp that welcomes many children of Muslim families as well as others.

She showed me mosques, homes with porches for neighborhood socializing, and other

markers of cultural diversity that have significantly changed the city of Dearborn (known

as the home of Ford Motor Company and the Henry Ford family).

In conclusion, I dare not think that some reading and this short visit have given me sufficient

understanding of Detroit and the profound changes that have affected the city I once knew.

However, they’ve set me on a mission to learn as much as I can and keep Detroit in my

prayers until the General Assembly meets there in 2014. I invite you also to study the

particular history and current challenges of Detroit, Michigan, not only in preparation for GA

but because its well-being is symptomatic of urban America. Some have said that Detroit is

like the canary in the mine; as Detroit goes, so go many of our other cities. I think those who

care about the Gospel’s justice-loving mandate need to promote efforts to address racism’s

entrenched legacy and plans that regenerate life for the actual residents of Detroit – people

without jobs, income, housing, quality education, and who live with the most devastating

consequences of poverty. Justice and empowerment need to be on the minds of

Presbyterians who care about Detroit and urban America.

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Recommended Reading and Viewing on DETROIT

(especially for those preparing to attend the Presbyterian

General Assembly in Detroit, June 2014)

“Detropia” – DVD documentary, 2012, 87 minutes, Available on Netflix

As the focus of this sobering documentary, the decline of Detroit also reflects the nation's

larger failure to keep up in a modern global economy. The film also examines the efforts of its

residents to maintain Detroit's vibrant cultural base.

The Origins of the Urban Crisis: Race and Inequality in Postwar Detroit by

Thomas Segrue, 2005

Once America's "arsenal of democracy," Detroit over the last fifty years has become the

symbol of the American urban crisis. In this reappraisal of racial and economic inequality in

modern America, Thomas Sugrue explains how Detroit and many other once prosperous

industrial cities have become the sites of persistent racialized poverty. He challenges the

conventional wisdom that urban decline is the product of the social programs and racial fissures

of the 1960s. Probing beneath the veneer of 1950s prosperity and social consensus, Sugrue traces

the rise of a new ghetto, solidified by changes in the urban economy and labor market and by

racial and class segregation.

In this provocative revision of postwar American history, Sugrue finds cities already fiercely

divided by race and devastated by the exodus of industries. He focuses on urban neighborhoods,

where white working-class homeowners mobilized to prevent integration as blacks tried to move

out of the crumbling and overcrowded inner city. Weaving together the history of workplaces,

unions, civil rights groups, political organizations, and real estate agencies, Sugrue finds the

roots of today's urban poverty in a hidden history of racial violence, discrimination, and

deindustrialization that reshaped the American urban landscape after World War II. (Amazon)

Detroit City Is the Place to Be: The Afterlife of an American Metropolis by Mark

Binelli, 2012

For much of the twentieth century, Detroit, dubbed the Motor City, was a proud symbol of

the American entrepreneurial spirit and industrial primacy. In recent decades, it has become a

symbol of urban decay characterized by a ravaged manufacturing base, middle-class flight, and

whole neighborhoods plagued by soaring drug use and crime rates. But Binelli, a contributing

editor at Rolling Stone, sees signs of renewal and hope amid the supposedly barren landscape of

his native city. After providing a primer in Detroit history, from French settlement in the

eighteenth century to the growth and decline of the auto industry, Binelli describes what he

hopes will be the seeds of renaissance. There will be no reincarnation of Henry Ford to spark a

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revived manufacturing center. Rather, drawn by the opportunity of starting from scratch, Detroit

is attracting an eclectic mix of small-scale risk-takers, including urban planners, creative

environmentalists, and various speculators, sensing opportunities for experimentation. This is an

engaging and hopeful glimpse of a city struggling to reinvent itself. (Jay Freeman for Booklist)

Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff, 2013

After a career as a Pulitzer Prize–winning reporter with the New York Times, LeDuff

answered the longing to return to his roots in Detroit, a city that was once at the forefront of

American industry and growth. What he returned to was a city now more famous for its

corruption and decay. LeDuff reprises the shenanigans of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and city

councilwoman Monica Conyers and others before the slow-moving justice process caught up

with them. Among the other signs of decay: a police department so broke that cops take the bus

to crime scenes and a fire department so bereft it sells its brass poles as scrap. He reports on

surreptitious meetings with police officers to counter rosy reports of declining crime rates. He

also reports on the personal toll the city’s decline has taken on its citizens, including his own

family, with grim stories of his brothers’ chronic unemployment and his sister’s and niece’s

deaths from drug overdoses. With the emotions of personal connection and the clear-eyed

detachment of a reporter, LeDuff examines what Detroit’s decline means for other American

cities. (Vanessa Bush for Booklist)

Lost Detroit: Stories Behind the Motor City's Majestic Ruins by Dan Austin, 2010

Lost Detroit tells the stories behind 12 of the city's most beautiful, all-but-forgotten

landmarks and of the people behind them, from the day they opened to the day they closed.

While these buildings might stand as ghosts of the past today, their stories live on within these

pages. The team behind this project brings you the memories of those who caught trains out of

the majestic Michigan Central Station, necked with girlfriends in the balcony of the palatial

Michigan Theatre, danced the night away at the Vanity Ballroom and kicked out the jams at the

Grande Ballroom. As Detroit Free Press Architecture Critic John Gallagher said, the buildings in

these pages "held a central place in the story of Detroit's Auto Century. It was America's story,

too. Detroiters lived, loved, toiled, played, celebrated and dreamed great dreams in these

buildings and thereby helped shape a nation." (Amazon)

Recollections The Detroit Years: The Motown Sound By The People Who Made

It by Jack Ryan, 2011

Writer Jack Ryan lives and works in Detroit. Here he grew up with the Motown Sound as his

background and with the Motown Artists as his friends from the radio and on TV. He was later

fortunate enough to meet and become friends with many Motown stars and those behind the

scenes. This fan relives the memories and the fun of Motown at its height. Amazon)

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Where Did Our Love Go? The Rise and Fall of the Motown Sound (Music in American Life)

by Nelson George, 2007

Where Did Our Love Go? chronicles the rise and fall of Motown Records while emphasizing

the role of its dynamic founder, Berry Gordy Jr. First published in 1986, this classic work

includes [a foreward by Quincy Jones and] a new preface by Nelson George that identifies

Motown’s influence on young recorders and music moguls of today, including R. Kelly,

D’Angelo, Sean Combs, and Russell Simmons. Gordy’s uncanny instinct for finding

extraordinary talent--whether performers, songwriters, musicians, or producers--yielded popular

artists who include the Supremes, the Jackson Five, Smokey Robinson, the Miracles, the

Temptations, Marvin Gaye, the Four Tops, and Stevie Wonder. Not shy about depicting Gordy’s

sometimes manipulative and complex relationships with his artists, George reveals the inner

workings of the music business and insightful material on the musicians who backed these stars.

The large cache of resulting Motown melodies is still alive in commercials, movies, TV

programs, and personal iPods today. (Amazon)

Until She Comes Home by Lori Roy, 2013 (fiction)

*Starred Review* People get along on Alder Avenue, a peaceful Detroit community of

working-class folks whose lives have centered on their church, their place in the social hierarchy,

and their families. Husbands work hard; wives run the home; children are expected to be well

behaved. But things are changing. It’s 1958, and some of the people on Alder are growing

restive. Their all-white neighborhood is changing; factories are closing, and some men from the

block are known to visit a nearby whorehouse. Then a black woman is murdered in an adjacent

neighborhood, and Elizabeth, a childlike white woman who lives with her elderly immigrant

father, disappears. Neighbors rally to find Elizabeth; men organize search parties; women

organize meals. Everyone gossips, and some assign blame as they await Elizabeth’s return.

Among the concerned neighbors are three very different women for whom Elizabeth’s

disappearance becomes a catalyst for personal change: Malina, obsessive, unstable queen of the

social circuit; pregnant Grace, compliant and the embodiment of her name; and Julia, Grace’s

friend and opposite, whose wry humor masks doubt and terrible sadness. Roy makes every detail

count as she builds her characters and gently but inexorably leads them to reexamine their own

lives. What seems to begin in the glowing warmth of a homey kitchen transforms into a probing

emotional drama that speaks powerfully to women about family, prejudice, power (one of the

women is raped), and secrets. (Stephanie Zvirin for Booklist)

Prepared by Sylvia Thorson-Smith

Presbyterian Voices for Justice @PresbyVoices

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Stated Clerk issues statement in the wake of the escalating violence

in Syria

August 30, 2013 Office of the General Assembly, Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk, Louisville The Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church

(U.S.A.) issued a statement today (August 30) in the wake of the escalating violence in Syria,

calling upon U.S. and world leaders to refrain from military action.

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

We are deeply concerned about events in Syria. We grieve for our brothers and sisters who have

suffered so deeply for so long. We yearn for an end to the bloodshed and renew our call for a

cease-fire and a mediated process involving all parties to provide new choices for all Syrians.

We condemn the use of chemical weapons. Regardless of who perpetrated the attack, such a

usage violates a longstanding international norm. We recognize the authority and the

responsibility of the United Nations Security

Council to deal with this violation of

international law. We call all nations to

encourage the Security Council to address

this illegal and immoral act. We do not

doubt that justice is needed, but question the

unilateral and inevitably selective role the

United States has too often played, too often

leading to greater violence, terrorism, and

instability.

We call upon the President and the members of Congress to follow the example of other strong

leaders in the past by exercising the courage and wisdom to refrain from military action that is

likely to escalate the conflict further, and to bring our country directly into another war in the

Middle East.

We applaud the President’s efforts to consult widely, conferring with international leaders and

with Congress. Now we ask him to spend time over this holiday weekend listening to what

Americans want and fear.

Now is not the time to feed the violence and instability that has claimed the lives of over 100,000

Syrians, driven 3.4 million Syrians from their country, and displaced an additional 6.8 million

Syrians from their homes. Most people affected by the conflict are noncombatants. Expanding

the conflict will increase the suffering of the innocent.

Now is the time to heed the voices of our church partners who pray and call and work for peace.

Our partners look to us to challenge policies of our government that help to fuel conflict in Syria

and proxy wars across the Middle East.

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Now is the time to reflect on the lessons of 12 years of involvement in conflict in the Middle

East by the United States. Limited engagement is never truly limited.

Now is the time to support the peacemakers of Syria who seek to end the violence and build a

future. In any Congressional deliberations, we urge that nonviolent forms of intervention be

considered, and that next steps beyond military force be grounded in defensible cooperative

goals for the region.

Now is the time for all outside parties to cease all forms of military intervention in Syria. States

and and non-state actors must stop feeding the conflict in Syria by sending weapons to the

government and to opposition forces.

Now is the time to renew the efforts for a diplomatic solution. The United States must work with

the United Nations and other governments to contain the violence, restore stability in the region,

provide humanitarian assistance, and encourage the building of an inclusive society in Syria that

protects the rights of all its citizens.

Now—in the grimmest of situations—is the time to build a coalition of nations and peoples

willing to do the long, hard, and essential work of establishing interfaith relationships of respect

and understanding.

Now—for Syria and all its neighbors—is the time to seek a new vision of cooperation and

nonviolence that will support an intervention with the power of impartial justice that will lead to

a just and lasting peace.

Now is the time to pray for wisdom for leaders, for courage to turn from violence, for grace to

build and nurture relationships, for justice to roll down like waters, and for peace to prevail in

Syria.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” For the people of

Syria, may it now be a time for peace.

Serving on PC(USA) Committees

Each General Assembly elects people to a variety of committees and boards. Some have a high

profile such as the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board or the Permanent Judicial Commission.

Yet even lesser known ones can have an important role to play in determining the operation of

the PC(USA) or its stance on issues. The application form is found on the website of the

PC(USA) General Assembly Nominating Committee (GANC). The manager of the process is

Valerie Small. <valerie.small@pcusa.org> 1-888-728-7228 Ex 5406. She can answer questions

about which slots are open and qualifications for various positions. Some are quite specific,

others more general. Most require ordination as a ruling elder or teaching elder as a minimum.

The deadline is December 2.

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Virginia "Ginna" Bairby, new managing editor of "Unbound." —PNS file photo

NEWS FROM ACSWP--HELPING THE CHURCH USE ITS VOICE AND FIND

ITS VOICE:

SYRIA, A NEW EDITOR FOR UNBOUND, PEACE DISCERNMENT, TAX

REFORM AND OTHER CONCERNS

On Syria, still unbombed as this is written, the issue is not the

wrongness of chemical weapons, but finding a means of enforcing justice that

actually undermines it. Thus the Committee, with many staff of the Presbyterian Mission Agency

and the Stated Clerk, hope that the Russian initiative (of 9/9) for neutralizing chemical weapons

succeeds. We invite you to read Chris Iosso’s editorial in Unbound:

http://justiceunbound.org/action-alerts/action-news/does-right-make-might-in -syria. Chemical

bombing deserves justice, but the President's initial proposal was moralistic-- with unclear

strategy and wrong or missing bedfellows-- and would weaken prospects of international justice

or serious negotiation. That Unbound article also provides the General Assembly policy base for

the non-bombing approach to Syria, Iran (a primary proxy target), and the Arab Awakening

generally. It is likely that PV4J members will need to address again the struggle of the United

States to confront its empire shadow overseas, where ostensibly good intentions lead so

predictably to larger tragedies. It has also been noted that US engagement with Syria, like the

wars that followed 9/11, may well allow the "peace process" in Israel/Palestine to be safely back-

burnered for another decade.

Many PV4J members will be familiar with the online journal

Unbound (www.justiceUnbound.org), which was created to equip

Presbyterian individuals and congregations with resources to

assist us in lifting up our voices. As the URL for “Unbound”

alone was taken, we took “justiceUnbound” as a near alternative.

The title was suggested in an open contest; Rev. Noelle Damico,

well-known from the Fair Food campaign with the Immokalee

Workers, came up with the idea of a journal that was no longer in

bound paper form. The previous printed form, a justice journal in

the Presbyterian Church that enabled Presbyterian social witness

for 98 years, was most recently known as Church & Society

magazine, copies of which are still available in hard copy and

online.

The new editor of Unbound is Ms. Ginna Bairby, a recent graduate of Union

Presbyterian Seminary who was awarded one of the top honors at that seminary, support for a

year's advanced graduate study. As the story by Presbyterian News Service notes, she has been

involved in supporting the use of Fair Trade and Sweat-Free products, among other social

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witness efforts, and was an intern with our Office of Public Witness in Washington, DC. Please

see:

http://www.pcusa.org/news/2013/9/6/virginia-ginna-bairby-new-managing-editor-unbound

The importance of linking timely struggles for justice and peace with our connectional life as a

church, from presbyteries and synods to the General Assembly, is to recognize that we do not

need to reinvent wheels on the local level for each struggle. The Advisory Committee on Social

Witness Policy is a steward of our church's institutional memory. It is also the result of the year

in and year out efforts of advocates to build capacity for the church to use its voice wisely and

effectively, so that our leaders can speak with the confidence that dedicated Presbyterians--

mainly volunteers with expertise on given subjects-- have thought FIRST before we speak. And

it means that our adult study groups-- still a natural part of our informed faith life in many

congregations-- can dig into materials that are not dumbed down. Certain policy statements

alone will not save, but it often pays to save them if you know that each one represents a

particular justice struggle. The Committee is comprised of members elected by the General

Assembly, through the GA Nominations process, with three of the twelve nominated by the

Presbyterian Mission Agency.

The Advisory Committee is currently working on the next stage of the Peace

Discernment process. Many congregations with PV4J or Peace Fellowship members may have

participated in the discernment groups that studied and looked at their own experiences of

violence. Reports from those groups-- still coming in!-- are being reflected on by the Steering

Team and a report to the General Assembly is being prepared. It will not be a final report; the

process was designed to bring a proposal to the Assembly that would be sent to the presbyteries

for a vote to guide the 2016 Assembly. So this is not a focus on individual issues, but an effort to

address the massive "principalities and powers" that lead our nation so often to grab Thor's

hammer before we can think. How are we shaped by a culture that has much violence and fear in

it, and which devotes so much of its wealth to a standing military its founders would not

recognize? And how has our national identity of military supremacy affected our understanding

of the Prince of Peace?

The General Assembly also authorized a study of tax reform, based on a broader study of the

economic crisis. That study, World of Hurt, Word of Life, addresses the problems of

unemployment, income stagnation for most, and the weakening of social protections. It also

looks at the enormous growth of inequality, which is eating now into the assets of the middle

class (including churches like many of ours). A key part of the transmission of inequality is our

tax system. That report is expected for the 2014 Assembly.

Among other matters, ACSWP will also be bringing resolutions on drones, urban mission and

the case of Detroit, sexual assault in the military, means to improve ministerial compensation in

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financially challenged congregations, and a model for congregations to hear prophetic voices.

With regard to Detroit, the Committee has found it a providential opportunity to look not only at

the bankruptcy process in light of democratic principles, but also at the patterns of job, housing,

and transportation segregation that hurt all our cities. This is not to ignore the real devastation in

many rural areas, but the Detroit case sharpens the question: what future presence for

Presbyterians will there be in our cities?

Submitted by Rev. Christian Iosso, PhD, Coordinator of ACSWP and former pastor of

Scarborough (NY) Presbyterian Church, and Ginna Bairby, new managing editor of

Unbound.

The Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations

Celebrate the International Day of Peace

How will you seek peace in Jesus’ name on September 21 – the day set by the United Nations as

the International Day of Peace? This day provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations

and nations to create practical acts of peace on a shared date. It was established by a United

Nations resolution in 1981 to coincide with the opening of the General Assembly. Education for

Peace is the 2013 focus. Find ideas to celebrate the International Day of Peace on September 21

or during worship on Sunday September 22. Share how you observe this day.

Witness and work to end violence against women – Observe Orange

Days on the 25th of each month

Each month, wear orange and join people around the world in observing an Orange Day to

witness and work for an end to violence against women and girls. This call comes from Say NO

– UNiTE to End Violence against Women, a social mobilization platform on ending violence

against women and girls that is related to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s campaign,

UNiTE to End Violence against Women. Act in ways that address violence against women and

girls that are appropriate to your setting. Share your ideas and ways your congregation observes

Orange Days. View young adult interns from the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations as

they reflect on their commitment to end violence against women and girls.

The Rev. W. Mark Koenig, Director, Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations, Compassion,

Peace and Justice Ministry, Presbyterian Mission Agency, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),

777 UN Plaza, 7th Floor, New York, NY 10017, (212) 697-4568

mark.koenig@pcusa.org, www.pcusa.org/un

Support the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations:

Give online <http://gamc.pcusa.org/give/E865034/> or

Text "UN" to 20222 to donate $10 to the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations

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“For you were once strangers yourselves…, The MLP National Conference 2013

More Light Presbyterians will be arriving at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Arizona

for our National Conference, September 27-29. As LGBTQ people and allies, we have long

known what it is like to be treated like strangers in our own church. As we move forward into a

PC(USA) that has removed restrictions on our people’s qualifications for ordination, and as we

seek full marriage equality in the church and society, we gather in a city with congregations who

are working on behalf of the immigrant in the context of Arizona’s draconian immigration laws.

All oppressions are linked. In addition to being the only More Light church in Presbytery de

Cristo, our host church, St. Mark’s Presbyterian, has a long history of justice work on sanctuary,

border, and immigration issues. St. Mark’s provides an office for “No More Deaths” as well as

housing and services for a variety of border-related projects. We will hear and experience the

ministries of Southside Worker Center housed at Southside Presbyterian Church, and

Borderlinks, both of which are PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer sites, as well as Corazón de

Tucson.

There is still time to register and attend the National Conference. All the information is available

at http://www.mlp.org/2013/05/02/mlp-national-conference-2013/.

Submitted by, Antony Hebblethwaite, More Light Presbyterians, Communications/

Technology Manager

The mission of Presbyterian Voices for Justice

We are a playful and passionate community of women and men in the

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who are called to proclaim the Gospel vision of God’s extravagant love and justice

in church and society. We seek the wisdom of the Spirit for following Christ’s example and for living into the hope of sustained gender equality, racial reconciliation, full human rights for

LGBT persons, economic justice, environmental wholeness, an end to war and all forms of

violence, and a justice-loving shalom over all the earth.

We commit to risking the transformation of our own selves and our organization to live into this vision, even as we invite both church and society

to meet this challenge.

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In order to save money and trees we want to develop an effective electronic communications network with our members Please send your current e-mail address to our membership coordinator sylviac65@comcast.net

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“Marriage Matters" is the theme of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians' 2013 national

conference, to be held at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, October 31 to November 2.

The conference will explore the Reformed tradition's perspective on marriage, including

reflection on the church's ongoing conversation on same-gender marriage.

Macky Alston, William Stacy Johnson and Amy Plantinga Pauw will deliver keynote speeches,

while Brian Ellison, Frank Yamada and Sharon Youngs will preach. Kimberly Bracken Long

will lead a pre-conference event on marriage liturgies. The conference will also include multiple

workshops, plenty of fellowship and networking opportunities, creative and lively worship, and

plenty of preparation for the 221st General Assembly next summer.

Registration deadline is October 1. For information on the conference, including links to the

registration page, visit http://covnetpres.org/coming-covenant-conference/.

Submitted by The Rev. Brian D. Ellison, Executive Director, Covenant Network of Presbyterians, 3210 Michigan Ave., Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64109, 816.605.1031 office 816.668.6886 mobile

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PV4J Leadership Team

Submitted by Manley Olson Co-Moderator

The Leadership Team met for three days in Detroit, the site of the 2114 General Assembly. Here

is a summary of actions taken/decisions made at that meeting and a subsequent conference call.

Will have our traditional GA activities (tentative schedule)

Membership meeting on Sunday at Fort Street PC.

Voices of Sophia Breakfast on Tuesday, probably at a hotel, with Margaret Aymer Oget

as speaker.

Witherspoon Dance on Tuesday evening with a Motown Theme.

A PV4J booth in the exhibit hall.

Since Sunday morning worship will again be at local churches with lunch being served by each

congregation, we will not have a PV4J lunch but instead will recommend that folks attend

worship at Fort Street PC, have lunch there, and remain for our membership meeting.

Our award for commitment to social justice, which was originally the Witherspoon Award and

then renamed the Andrew Murray Award, will now be known as the Voices for Justice Award.

Invited Carol Hylkema to serve as a liaison to the Leadership Team to assist in planning for GA.

Carol has long been active in Detroit Presbytery and has a long record of involvement in justice

groups in the PC(USA). We are thrilled that Carol agreed to join us.

We will publish electronic versions of Network News in September, November and February a

print version prior to GA in May which will be sent to all commissioners and advisory delegates.

Since the city of Detroit has been in the news so much because of its fiscal and social problems

we will have articles in Network News which focus on the justice issues in the Detroit situation.

We will consider having a specific topic for each issue of Network News and possibly paying a

stipend to the content editor of an issue.

We will partner with other progressive partners in issues briefings and testifying before

committees at GA.

Look for us at www.pv4j.org

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Presbyterian Voices for Justice Coordinating Team!

Deadline for next Network News November 6, 2013

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Join Us Today!

If you like what we do and want to support the work of speaking truth to power please consider making a financial contribution.

Please make your check payable to Presbyterian Voices for Justice, and send to: Sylvia Carlson, Presbyterian Voices for Justice 1 Medinah Court, Greensburg, PA 15601

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