The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), an organization that has endorsed the Call to Prevent Nuclear War, and the largest Presbyterian ecclesiastical body in the United States, approved the resolution, also known as an “Overture”, by consent at its biannual meeting in St. Louis, Missouri on June 20, 2018. The Overture was titled “On Seeking God’s Peace Through Nuclear Disarmament in the 21st Century.”
Presbyterian Minister Ralph Hutchison writes “Building on the church’s long-standing position of opposition to nuclear weapons, the General Assembly’s action recognizes the urgency of the present moment, when nuclear weapons present a greater threat than at any time in the last fifty years, and the equally unprecedented opportunity presented by the movement to ban nuclear weapons. One hundred twenty-two nations approved the Nuclear Ban Treaty last summer at the United Nations; the United States boycotted the treaty negotiations at the UN and the vote.”
The Overture also calls for the Presbyterian Church to work collaboratively with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), winner of the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, and other nongovernmental organizations working for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
“This is an important day for the Presbyterian Church and for all who pray for peace,” said Bill Myers, president of the Board of Directors of the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance and member of the Peacemaking Committee of the Presbytery of East Tennessee. “The church is once again calling on its members to move beyond prayer to action—to work for the abolition of nuclear weapons.”
You can read more about the Overture here.
