“From slavery to mass incarceration, factions of the church in America have paid silent witness here to the injurious principles and powers which paralleled the insidious behaviors in South Africa. … let us acknowledge the sin of our past and present, invoking the power of the Holy Spirit to mature us to unity and the full stature of Jesus Christ.”
John C. Welch
Lenten Reflections on the Confession of Belhar
God grant us strength
to confront principalities and powers;
to disrupt sinful structures and systems;
and to live into the unity you desire.
Amen.
This Lenten season I am using a new resource to explore the Belhar Confession: Lenten Reflections on the Confession of Belhar, edited by Kerri N. Allen and Donald K. McKim. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), in which I serve as a teaching elder (pastor), added the Confession of Belhar to our Book of Confessions in 2016. This confession came from the Dutch Reformed Mission Church during its historic struggle against apartheid in South Africa.
See you along the Trail.
Along the Graybeard Trail 