Conversations on Faith and Public Life

Sundays, October 18 and 25, 4:00 p.m.

Join us under the big tent – masked and socially distanced – as we engage in important conversations about what it means to live out our faith in the world. Presbyterians have long sought to act as faithful neighbors and citizens. These two conversations will help us explore what that might look like in 2020. Each conversation will be followed by our 5:00 p.m. service of Evening Prayer, offered throughout the month of October.

OCTOBER 18 at 4:00 p.m. with Beth Shalom Hessel
“How Honesty about our History can Help us become a City on a Hill”

Join Beth Shalom Hessel for a conversation about the vital and difficult work of dismantling the mythologies that have upheld our national narratives in order to create more honest and fulsome histories that create space for confession, healing, and reconciliation.

Beth Shalom Hessel is a Presbyterian minister and church historian. Her family actively participates in life at PCCH. Prior to her appointment as the Executive Director of The Athenaeum of Philadelphia in 2019, Beth served as the Executive Director of the Presbyterian Historical Society. Beth received her Ph.D. from Texas Christian University, where her
dissertation was titled “Let the Voice of Christian America Speak: Religion and Empire in the Japanese American Incarceration Camps, 1942–1945.”

OCTOBER 25 at 4:00 p.m. with John Wilkinson
“Why Voting Matters to Presbyterians”

Join John Wilkinson for a conversation about the importance of voting in the American Presbyterian tradition. Presbyterians have been committed to living out their faith in the public (not partisan) arena, and have issued statements on the importance of voting. We will explore aspects of these statements and consider their contemporary relevance.

John Wilkinson began his service as PCCH Pastor in September of 2019. His academic work has focused on the connection between Presbyterian theology and social justice issues including race and poverty.

(We are exploring the possibilities of live streaming these conversations and then recording them and posting them to our website. Details to follow.)