wfn.org | Social justice issues are universal

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org]

August 6, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

97-1910
Social justice issues are universal 

by Jan Nunley
     (ENS) Social justice issues frequently divide the church along
liberal and conservative lines. But sometimes, concerns raised at General
Convention find advocates across the political spectrum. 
     The plight of persecuted Christians is one such issue. At a rally
outside the Philadelphia Convention Center that focused on persecution of
Christians in Sudan and China, deputies and bishops alike heard stories
of horror~and heroism.
     Sudanese Episcopalian Atilio John described a typical raid in
which "Christian children are kidnapped off the streets . . . the men are
killed, young boys are taken into slavery and young girls are sold into
concubinage."
     Crosses on doorways mark private, unregistered, "illegal"
churches in Wezzhou, Zhejiang Province, the most heavily Christian city
in China, according to David Aikman, former senior editor of Time  and
an Episcopal layman who spent 22 years reporting from China.
     A resolution was adopted declaring solidarity with persecuted
Christians and directs several church bodies to respond with aid,
diplomacy, and prayer to the needs of Christians worldwide. 
     But another deleted references to human rights abuses in Chinese-
occupied Tibet, a concession to concerns about "China-bashing"
expressed by the "post-denominational" China Christian Council, the
official representative of Christians in China.

Getting right on racial, ethnic issues
     The elimination of racism in the church and society is another
issue that had almost universal backing. Deputies and bishops voted to:
     ~ direct Executive Council to monitor diocesan progress on anti-
racism efforts and report back to General Convention;
     ~ adopt a domestic missionary outreach to ethnic minorities;
     ~ direct the Standing Commission on the Church in Small
Communities and the Church in Metropolitan Areas and the JPIC Anti-
Racism Working group to collaborate on anti-racism work;
     ~ urge that the resources of the church be used to inform church
members of the "racially biased nature of the judicial and penal system in
the United States";
     ~ confess anti-Semitism;
     ~ restore ethnic desk commissions; and
     ~ create a Racism Resource Center for the church.
     The convention also voted to declare 1997-2007 a "Decade of
Remembrance, Recognition, and Reconciliation" for and with Native
Peoples and called on the church to support initiatives like the Crazy
Horse Defense Project, which opposes commercial exploitation of Native
Americans and their symbols. 
     Two resolutions were passed urging the church to give greater
responsibility to dioceses and provinces to sustain and develop ministries
among migrant and seasonal farm workers and to advocate programs for
refugees and immigrants.

Poverty, urban issues
     With an eye toward Washington, the convention declared "the
effects of `welfare reform,' especially as they have impact on the lives of
women and children, should be a priority in diocesan mission outreach
planning and action." Congregations were also challenged to establish
faith-based ministries to the poor.
     Even the mayor of Philadelphia, Edward G. Rendell~whose
appearance interrupted the bishop's discussion of the resolution to
approve the Concordat of Agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America~reminded the church to go beyond "wrestling with
your internal issues" and remember the poor in America.
     He talked about "two pictures of America." One is that of a
booming stock market, widespread prosperity, a Congress talking about
how to cut taxes, not how to increase them, and the reported drop in the
rate of joblessness.
     But, Rendell said, there is another picture in America, "of people
who have never been able to find that recovery" of the good life that
others have found. "Both pictures are accurate," he said, "and the gap
between them is only going to grow wider."
     Thousands of people will get off welfare, he said, but many
thousands also will not find jobs to replace welfare support and so will
have no monetary resources. Even now, he said, "there are four million
kids whose parents work for a living" but who cannot afford health
coverage.
     "There is unprecedented wealth in this country, and we ought to
shift our focus onto people who haven't benefited from economic
recovery," he said.
     "This church has always stood for social justice," Rendell told the
bishops. "Join us (mayors of U.S. cities) in sounding the wake-up call
for this country. We are all God's creatures."

Other actions
     In other social justice concerns, the convention passed measures:
     ~ urging Congress to increase restrictions on the sale, ownership
and use of firearms, and to require imported hand guns to comply with
the safety and quality standards of domestic hand guns.
     ~ supporting the rights of women fleeing the practice of female
genital mutilation;
     ~ calling on the church to adopt practical, environmentally sound
and energy-efficient lifestyle behaviors;
     ~ supporting the goal of total nuclear disarmament, noting "with
appreciation and pleasure the progress that has been made toward this
goal";
     ~ establishing a working group on science, technology and faith,
with provision for a 12-member ad hoc Delegation to the Ecumenical
Roundtable on Science, Technology, and the Church;
     ~ directing the presiding bishop and president of House of
Deputies to form a group to study "the theological and ethical implication
of end-of-life issues," including euthanasia and assisted suicide; 
     ~ continuing the church's successful Jubilee Ministries program
and suggesting that Jubilee internships and practicums be made available
to seminarians; and
     ~ commending the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation
Committee and others for convening the National Episcopal Justice
Summit earlier this year, and funding, at $1.5 million for the triennium,
a grants program "to adequately support" the several ministries of
Justice, Peace and Integrity in Creation.

~The Rev. Jan Nunley is communications officer for the Diocese of
Rhode Island.