Holston Presbytery Passes Commitment to Peacemaking

Holston Presbytery became the third presbytery to adopt the Commitment to Peacemaking this morning at its stated meeting at Strawberry Plains Presbyterian Church. Here is the text of the overture from the Ethics and Human Needs Committee.

In addition to approving various encouragements toward peacemaking and discipleship, the presbytery voted to approve the following two actions:

Establish a Holston Presbytery Peacemaking and Discipleship Day. This day of peacemaking and discipleship will be held once per year and will be a day of education and dialogue. It will include workshops for all Presbyterians within our bounds in areas of spiritual discernment, personal discipleship, conflict management, violence and the causes of violence, and peacemaking in all areas of life. This day of peacemaking and discipleship will enable presbyters, sessions, and congregations to share ideas, dialogue about critical topics, and build relationships of trust.

and...

Adopt the Commitment to Peacemaking (see Appendix 2), instruct the Stated Clerk to inform each session in the Presbytery of this action, inform the stated clerk of the General Assembly of this action, and encourage all sessions and congregations within the presbytery to study and to adopt the Commitment to Peacemaking.

Here is the text of the Commitment to Peacemaking from the Presbyterian Church (USA) Peacemaking Program.

Holston Presbytery joins the Presbytery of West Virginia, Western Reserve, the Synod of the Northeast and over 4,600 hundred congregations (sessions) in adopting this commitment. Nineteen congregations (sessions) of Holston Presbytery have adopted the Commitment to Peacemaking.