Issues of social justice, moral action, and the responsibility of the Church were addressed in a recent adult Sunday School class at First Presbyterian Deerfield. Recent actions of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict were studied. Our guest speaker was Rev. Donald Wagner, who is a Presbyterian minister and the Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at North Park University. Rev. Wagner has authored several books on the Middle East. Listed below are a few links that might be of interest to those who wish to research the issues further.

Related Links

• A Statement from the Session of the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago - In response to issues arising from actions of the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which met in July 2004.

• General Assembly - Explains what the General Assembly is, what it does, and includes links to the 2004 General Assembly.
• Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) - The PCUSA group responsible for overseeing the Church's investments. Read about the divestment issue, including an explanation of "phased selective divestment," the guidelines for the implementation of divestment related to Israel and Palestine, with background and rationale.
• Study Document regarding the Resolution on Israel and Palestine: Peace and Justice in Israel and Palestine: Exploring Phased Selective Divestment.
• Israel/Jewish Relations Page
  • Learn More - A page containing links to a wealth of information on the issue
  • Questions & Answers
• Minutes from the 216th General Assembly - Minutes are available for download in Acrobat PDF format. The minutes of Friday, July 2, 2004, contain the overtures related to Israel/Palestine.
• Resolution on Israel and Palestine from 216th General Assembly
• Statement from the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly concerning actions of the 216th General Assembly (2004) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) regarding Israel and Palestine and outreach to Jewish people
• News Release: "Criteria set for Israeli divestment targets" (November 9, 2004)
• PCUSA Europe and Middle East Office's Middle East page and specifically the Israel/Palestine page, which contains links to resolutions regarding Israel/Palestine, 1997-2004.
• Interfaith Relations - This page describes current Jewish-Presbyterian dialogues and contains links to letters, news articles and resources for increasing your understanding of the issues.
• PCUSA's Washington Office has posted correspondence with Congress regarding issues of peace in the Middle East, including the divestment question.
• Office of Theology and Worship has statements on "Between Millennia" and "Eschatology: The Doctrine of Last Things."

• Presbyterians Concerned for Jewish Christian Relations - An informal group of Presbyterian ministers and laity committed to a positive, constructive and respectful relationship with Jews.
• Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago
• American Jewish Committee