wfn.org | Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy Selects New Coordinator

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And Officers 30-August-1996 
 
 
 
96317      Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy 
               Selects New Coordinator And Officers 
 
                         by Julian Shipp 
 
SAN FRANCISCO--During its Aug. 22-25 meeting here, the Advisory Committee 
on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) selected the Rev. Peter A. Sulyok as its 
new coordinator and elected its new chair and vice chair. The committee 
also welcomed its new members. 
 
     ACSWP, an agency of the General Assembly Council (GAC), has the 
responsibility of developing social policy statements and papers for action 
by the General Assembly and advising the Assembly on social policy 
implications of actions it is considering. The 12-member committee is 
composed of nine at-large members elected by the General Assembly and three 
nominated by the GAC. 
 
     Sulyok, who was previously ACSWP's associate coordinator, will assume 
his duties as coordinator Sept. 1, 1996. He succeeds the Rev. Catherine 
(Kitty) Borchert, who took the helm as ACSWP coordinator March 1, 1994, and 
served in that capacity for nearly three years. 
 
     "I look forward to the challenges as ACSWP coordinator," Sulyok said. 
"Recent policy work in sustainable development and vocation work issues 
need to be interpreted to both church and society.  We will continue to 
resource the needs of individuals and congregations."   
 
     A native of North Conway, N.H., Sulyok has extensive educational and 
pastoral experience.  He has a B.A. from Rutgers University and an M.Div. 
in theology and a Th.M. in Christian ethics from Princeton Theological 
Seminary.  He has completed coursework for his Ph.D. from Princeton 
Seminary and was a teaching fellow and teaching assistant at Princeton. 
 
     An ordained minister since 1981, Sulyok has served as ACSWP's 
associate for policy development and interpretation from January 1993.  He 
became associate coordinator in July 1993.  He has also served as interim 
pastor, pastor and student pastor at several churches, including United 
First Presbyterian Church of Amwell in Ringoes, N.J.: First Presbyterian 
Church of Stockton, N.J.; Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Binghamton, N.Y.; 
Trenton State College in Trenton, N.J.: First Presbyterian Church in 
Germantown, Pa.; and Central Presbyterian Church in Summit, N.J. 
 
     He and his wife, Jeannine Marie Frenzel Sulyok, have two children, 
Jared and Lydia. They reside in Louisville, Ky. 
 
     The Rev. Irvin S. Moxley, associate pastor of Fairmont Presbyterian 
Church in Cleveland, Ohio, was chair of the five-member ACSWP Search 
Committee authorized to recommend a candidate for the coordinator's 
position. 
 
     In addition to Moxley, search committee members were the Rev. Susan 
Ryder of Sioux City, Iowa; Clifford Grum of Diboll, Texas; Dora Lodwick of 
Littleton, Colo.; and LaVerne Feaster of Little Rock, Ark.  GAC staff 
serving on the committee were the Rev. James D. Brown, former GAC executive 
director; the Rev. Frank Diaz, acting GAC executive director; and Marion L. 
Liebert, GAC coordinator for administration. 
 
     Moxley told the Presbyterian News Service that 32 candidates were sent 
mailings in May regarding the coordinator's position either at their 
request or by Personal Information Form (PIF) referral. Of those, 22 were 
male Caucasian; four were male racial-ethnic; five were female Caucasian; 
and one was female racial-ethnic.  
 
     Following supplemental questioning by the search committee, Moxley 
said, the number was whittled down to five. Of  these, four were males; two 
Caucasian and two racial-ethnic. The remaining female was Caucasian. From 
this number, Sulyok was selected as ACSWP coordinator. 
      
     "[Sulyok] knows the job and has a good recommendation from his 
colleagues and his former supervisors," Moxley said. "He is also very 
definitely interested in the whole matter of social witness policy 
development." 
 
     Sulyok will now oversee the hiring of a new associate. Moxley said 
that search will be as comprehensive as the first one, which took four 
meetings, and will emphasize the General Assembly mandate to "have our 
national staff be more racially representative of the church."  
 
     Borchert, who resigned from her position in April, is currently 
serving as part-time acting associate for Committees on Ministry in the 
Churchwide Partnership Program Area of the National Ministries Division 
while attending graduate school. At the end of ACSWP's business on Aug. 24, 
Borchert was honored with a farewell dinner and gifts from committee 
members, friends and colleagues. 
 
     Borchert told the Presbyterian News Service that she'll miss working 
with ACSWP and that while many people in the denomination do not appreciate 
the contributions of staff at the Louisville Presbyterian Center, she felt 
privileged to have worked among them.  
 
     "I think that the people in the church do not know the caliber, 
diligence, caring and commitment of the people who work at the 
[Presbyterian] Center," Borchert said. "This is the most astounding group 
of people I've ever been privileged to work with." 
 
     Borchert currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. 
 
     During its time together, ACSWP also welcomed its new members. They 
are Nancy Benson-Nicol of Swarthmore, Pa., and Ward N. Ernst of Stanford, 
Mont. ACSWP also elected its new committee chair and vice chair. They are 
Stephen Hsieh of San Jose, Calif., chair, and Dora Lodwick of Littleton, 
Colo., vice chair. 

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