wfn.org | Presbyterians rally at Georgia Capitol

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Note #7052 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

12-February-2002
02064

Presbyterians rally at Georgia Capitol

Faith group spotlights issues important to both church and state

by Mary Evans
Presbytery of Greater Atlanta

ATLANTA - The words of John Calvin echoed through the halls of Georgia's State Capitol on Jan. 30 as more than 150 Presbyterians from north Georgia rallied there to demonstrate their presence as a community of faith. 

	In past years, the Public Policy Advocacy program of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta has sponsored legislative forums to acquaint voters with legislators and pending legislation. Presbyterian Rally Day was an effort to encourage people of faith in Greater Atlanta and Cherokee presbyteries to get involved in the making of public policy.

	The day's events began at Atlanta's Central Presbyterian Church, where the Greater Atlanta presbytery's public policy advocate, the Rev. Cas Robinson - a retired pastor who is a former Georgia legislator and served on the state's Public Service Commission - spoke about three priorities of the advocacy committee: the elderly, children, and gun safety. Robinson described specific bills now before the legislature. 

	Resolutions were introduced recognizing and honoring Presbyterians in the state Senate and House of Representatives.

	Presbytery Ed Albright and Cassandra Morrow - as well as members of Greater Atlanta's Public Policy Advocacy Committee - were welcomed to the floor of the House and invited to speak. They thanked the legislators for accepting the challenges of leadership, and acknowledged the high calling of public servants, quoting John Calvin: "No one ought to doubt that civil authority is a calling, not only holy and lawful before God, but also the most sacred and by far the most honorable of all callings in the whole life of mortals."

	At noon, Presbyterians gathered for a hymn-sing on the steps of the Capitol. Later, Presbyterian legislators were honored at a luncheon at Central Presbyterian Church. The day's events concluded with a bell-ringing ceremony in Liberty Bell Park and a brief address on the Reformed tradition's view of public service by Jim Watkins, director of the Faith in the City Project at Columbia Theological Seminary. 

	Watkins said that separation of church and state means separation of the church as an institution from the state as an institution so that neither controls the other. The role of religious values in the formation of public policy remains an important ingredient of both church and government, he said.  

	The Atlanta presbytery launched its Public Policy Advocacy Program in 1999. It serves as a Presbyterian presence at the legislature, monitoring legislation and keeping the presbytery informed on issues of public policy.
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