Compassion, Peace and Justice

Sara Lisherness, Director

The Compassion, Peace and Justice ministry area helps Presbyterians respond to the needs of the world’s most vulnerable people, address injustice in all areas of life and advocate for peaceful solutions to conflict. This ministry area also provides disaster relief, direct service, capacity building and development assistance to marginalized communities nationally and around the world.

From the director

Greetings, Sisters and Brothers in Christ!

There are times when the words of the prophets echo across the generations of our faith and call God’s people to the hard work of doing justice, working for peace, and sharing compassion. The prophet Isaiah, in the 58^th chapter, asks the people of God to reconsider what it means to fast in a manner that is pleasing to God. In verse 6 the prophet asks, “Is not this the fast that I choose?”

The prophet goes on to answer the question, reminding the people that feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, clothing the naked, and breaking the chains of injustice is the appropriate fast. If the fast is followed, the prophet says, “You shall be called repairers of the breach, restorers of streets to live in.” The ministries of Compassion, Peace and Justice (CPJ) are committed to inspire, equip and connect the church as it responds to this call of the prophet.

Jesus also speaks the words of the prophet as he begins his ministry in Nazereth. He boldly proclaims in the synagogue:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
   because God has anointed me
     to bring good news to the poor.
God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
   and recovery of sight to the blind,
     to let the oppressed go free,
¹⁹ to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

The challenge of the prophet and the call of Jesus to “bring good news to the poor, to feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked and break the chains of injustice” provides the foundation for the work of Compassion Peace and Justice.

In response to this call, the Office of Public Witness in Washington, D.C., in partnership with other CPJ ministries, hosts an annual Compassion, Peace and Justice Training Day in the spring. This gathering, held in conjunction with Ecumenical Advocacy Days, investigates the role Christians’ must play in working for a more just and peaceful world. Worship, plenaries and workshops are designed to inspire and equip God’s people to engage in mission. Faith-based community organizing, practical tools for simple living, responding to disasters, caring for God’s creation, justice as discipleship making, and social responsibility through investing are among the topics covered at this event. More important, it is an opportunity for Presbyterians to come together and learn from one another how best to engage in God’s mission.

Beyond this annual event, the ministries of CPJ focus on equipping, lending a hand after a devastating tornado or hurricane wipes out an entire city; eliminating hunger by educating and equipping individuals and congregations to address the issues that perpetuate hunger; and helping people help themselves with long-term solutions to poverty and pressing community problems. The ministries of Compassion, Peace and Justice in very real and tangible ways respond to the call to be repairers of the breach, restorers of the streets to live in, to make God’s community livable for all.

I hope this brief overview gives you a quick snapshot of some of the various ways CPJ’s ministries equip, inspire and connect the church to respond to the needs of our fragile world. I invite you to join with us as we seek to make God’s community livable again by sharing compassion, doing justice and seeking peace.

A commitment of the Presbyterian Church

By Sara Lisherness

The Presbyterian Church’s commitment to justice is core to its identity and understanding as followers of Jesus Christ. Beginning with the ancient texts of the faith, God’s people have given both voice and witness to the prophet Micah’s calling to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God.

The Confessions of the church, especially the Confession of 1967 and A Brief Statement of Faith, challenge the church to follow Christ into a broken and fearful world to:

pray without ceasing,
to witness among all peoples
to Christ as Lord and Savior,
to unmask idolatries in church and culture,
to hear the voices of peoples long silenced,
and to work with others for justice, freedom and peace.

— A Brief Statement of Faith 10.4

The Book of Order also makes it clear that the whole church gathers in worship and its corporate life for the purpose of being sent out into the world to engage in the reconciling, healing work of God through Jesus Christ. God sends the church in the power of the Holy Spirit to share with Christ in establishing God’s just, peaceable and loving rule in the world. (W-7.4000)