Leadership Council Statements

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Dear PCA Siblings, 

Since the tragic Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decision in May, 2022, stripping abortion and reproductive healthcare rights of millions of women, we have seen a dramatic increase in the harming of our siblings who can become pregnant.

We believe and affirm the dignity of all people as created in the image of God. As beings in God’s image, we are endowed by our Creator with agency and sovereignty. That is, we have the sacred right and responsibility to make decisions that benefit ourselves and our communities. This includes our responsibility of bodily autonomy.

As we move forward in joining together to create a society in which each person’s rights are respected, let us make some commitments to each other:
– We are committed to the equality of women, girls, and people able to get pregnant;
– We are committed to showing up and speaking out for equality;
– We are committed to the dignity of all humans;
– We are committed to loving our neighbor as Jesus taught us;
– We are committed to the principles of reproductive justice.

In maintaining our commitment to social justice issues, The Progressive Christian Alliance plans to be at the forefront of reproductive justice. Our Leadership Council will continue to seek discernment as to where and how to best leverage our available gifts and talents.

As we said in our Statement on the Overturning of Roe v Wade, “Access to safe, legal abortion care is rooted in the rights to life; to nondiscrimination; to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; and to privacy, among others.”

We believe that in order to live the “abundant life” Jesus came to give us we must have rights to bodily autonomy, to self-determination, and to reproductive healthcare (John 10:10). Audre Lorde was right: “I am not free while any woman is unfree, even when her shackles are very different from my own.”

The Progressive Christian Alliance will continue to defend sexual and reproductive rights, including safe abortion care. We will continue to advocate for a world in which the sacred rights of all are protected!

On behalf of the leadership council,
The Rev. Janene Cates Putman

Sunday, November 20, 2022

Dear PCA Siblings, 

The Leadership Council of the Progressive Christian Alliance strongly condemns the senseless violence visited upon our LGBTQAI+ siblings at the Q Nightclub in Colorado Springs.

Once again, we find ourselves having to reiterate that no one should ever have to live in fear of attack simply because of who they are or who they love. Once again, we grieve with as a community committed to the divine holiness and wholeness or our LGBTQAI+ siblings. On this Transgender Day of Remembrance we find ourselves enveloped in fresh grief. We cannot be silent as more innocent lives are lost to hate and violence.

As followers of Christ we are called to living into the following:

• We pray for our siblings who were killed and injured and their families. We resolve that our prayers will be accompanied with action.
• We pray that all those marginalized feel the love of the many instead of the hate of a few. We resolve to stand up for love whenever and wherever we encounter it.
• We pray that our judicial system deliver justice so that others inclined to perpetrate violence will not do so. We resolve to monitor the system and advocate for needed reforms as necessary.
• We pray for wisdom to help all people learn to love each other and turn away from hatred and violence. We resolve to educate ourselves as allies and to share our understanding with others.

May the Holy One continue to provide strength and support to all who were killed, injured and grieving. May we find it within ourselves to help those who are suffering fresh pain.

Rev. Pierce Leavell, Chair
Rev. Dr. Sam Lopez, Co-Chair and Ordination Chair
Rev. Helen Drivick, Interim Co-Chair and Treasurer
Rev. Jenny Howard, Secretary
Rev. Ford Frazar, Member-at-Large
Rev. Kenneth Boggs, Interim Chaplain
Rev. Dr. Christopher Montgomery, OSL, Communications Chair

June 24, 2022 

Dear PCA Siblings, 

What we feared could happen has come true. The United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) overturned the constitutional guarantee of abortion access in the United States, reversing half a century of court protection for this fundamental right—one on which people have built their lives for nearly 50 years.

The Supreme Court has just stripped away from 36 million women the freedom to control their own bodies and, instead, has handed that power to the politicians in their states.

Everyone in this country – no matter where they live or how much money they make – deserves the power and freedom to make their own decisions about their health, lives and future. Yet, as a result of today’s decision, women in nearly half the states across the U.S. now face a terrifying legal landscape when trying to access the abortion care they need – one that will undoubtedly put the health and economic futures of millions of women at risk.

This is a crisis moment for everyone’s rights and freedoms, especially those of women, girls and pregnant people.

Access to safe, legal abortion care is rooted in the rights to life; to nondiscrimination; to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment; and to privacy, among others. After SCOTUS’s decision, many states are set to ban abortion, putting the United States in violation of the international treaties it has ratified that recognize these rights.

The US is also out of step with international trends toward greater access. Recently, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ireland, Mexico, South Korea, and Thailand, among others, have decriminalized abortion or loosened restrictions.

We know what will happen next:

• Twenty-six states are certain or likely to ban abortion.
• Most at risk are women, girls and pregnant people who already suffer barriers to access health care, such as Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC), people living in poverty, young people, and the LGBTQ+ community.
• From the right to use contraception to marriage equality to the right to refuse medical treatment, other freedoms could be under attack.
• Emboldened by the SCOTUS decision, anti-rights groups in more countries may seek to push through abortion bans and restrictions and other harmful policies.

The Progressive Christian Alliance will continue to defend sexual and reproductive rights, including safe abortion care, by doing what we know works: 

• Support peaceful pro-choice change efforts; 
• Speakout about the need for women to have equal access to reproductive healthcare across the United States and to provide a safe space for people negatively affected by the overturning of Roe v. Wade to find spiritual and other support.

 Your Leadership Council,  
Rev. Helen Drivick, Treasurer 
Rev. Ford Frazar, Member-at-Large 
Rev. Jenny Howard, Secretary 
Rev. Pierce Leavell, Chair 
Rev. Dr. Samuel Lopez, Co-Chair and Ordination Chair 
Rev. Roger McClellan, Co-Chair
Rev. Dr. Christopher Montgomery, O.S.L., Communications and Membership Chair