The latest news and updates from the PCOL Peace and Justice Committee

Delaney Hall – HELP!

Your prayers and support are needed more than ever for the detainees in Delaney Hall, their families visiting them, and the volunteers that support them. The treatment of detainees and visitors has gotten worse — especially in the terrible heat this summer. A section of the facility lost AC at the end of June, leaving visitors baking in the heat during an extreme heat wave. As of August 10, it was reported that the AC was still not completely restored. On August 5, the ACLU of New Jersey accused Delaney Hall officials of imposing restrictive, potentially illegal visitation rules at the detention facility. On August 6, visitation was canceled for the day at the last minute, with officials at the facility blaming protestors. Kathy O’Leary of Pax Christi, an international Catholic peace organization that supports visitors to the detention center, said “They claim it was for the safety of the visitors, but we know they will use any pretext to cancel visitation… it’s awful.”

Please consider calling legislators as suggested in this link.

Please read this update from Eye-On-ICE in this running document.

In the meantime – here is a document with ways to support the visitors and their detained family at Delaney Hall. MUCH IS NEEDED! Thank you!

Gooitzen van der Wal and Beth Rigby from Allentown PC visited Delaney Hall in April.

Read their report here

Voter Registration

The Peace and Justice Committee are looking for volunteers to help us with non-partisan voter registration at Quaker Bridge Mall.
We are looking to fill 2-hour slots for three dates:
  • 8/29
  • 9/12
  • 10/10
Rickey Gray or Gooitzen van der Wal will be there to guide you for this easy task.
Please signup HERE

 Presbytery Advocacy Hour is a monthly online webinar series held on the fourth Wednesday of every month at noon Eastern Time.

These sessions focus on faith-based advocacy, featuring spiritual grounding, policy analysis, and actionable tools for justice issues.
You can play back previous webinars and sign up for future webinars using the button below

Register

February 25, 2026: Courage in the Face of Authoritarianism: Historical Roots and Modern Responses
March 25, 2026: Christian Nationalism
April 22, 2026 – Critical Minerals and Conflict
July 22, 2026 – Voter Rights and Voter Education

Several ways you can voice your concerns and let your conscience be heard by our local and national government:

An effective way to have your voice heard on issues that you care about is to call, mail, or email your Senators & Representatives.
Contact information:

You can also use organizations that have a list of action items. These may have more impact using many voices for each issue. Examples are:

Let Gooitzen van der Wal know of other action organizations for conservative or progressive causes we can list.