wfn.org | ACSWP Welcomes New Members, Elects New Officers

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

13-August-1997 
97308 
 
    Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy 
    Welcomes New Members, Elects New Officers 
 
    by Julian Shipp 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--During its July 24-27 meeting here, the Advisory Committee 
on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) welcomed the Rev. Nancy Becker and Dr. Ruy 
Costa, two new members recently elected by the 209th General Assembly 
(1997) to serve on the committee. 
 
    Becker is senior pastor of Ogden Dunes Presbyterian Church in Ogden 
Dunes, Ind.  Costa is associate director for public policy for the 
Massachusetts Council of Churches in Boston. 
 
    "I think [Becker] and [Costa] are fine additions to ACSWP because of 
their years of experience and leadership," said the Rev. Belinda M. Curry, 
ACSWP associate for policy development. 
 
    Curry said Costa, a Latino social ethicist, brings years of experience 
in working with issues that are of interest to ACSWP. He has authored and 
co-authored numerous publications on these issues, including "Labor and 
Leisure: A Look at Contemporary Values," "The Political Importance of the 
Sabbath," "Struggles for Solidarity: Liberation Theologies in Tension," 
"One Faith, Many Cultures" and "Inculturation, Indigenization and 
Contextualization." 
 
    Curry said Becker brings years of pastoral leadership and presbytery 
committee experiences to ACSWP. She has served on a peacemaking committee 
and also on a task force on inner-city churches in Gary, Ind. 
 
    ACSWP also elected its 1997-98 officers. Dr. Dora Lodwick, the 
committee's 1996-97 vice chair and a sociologist from Littleton, Colo., was 
elected chair. The Rev. Donald W. Shriver, a former president of Union 
Theological Seminary in New York, was elected vice chair. Shriver will also 
serve as chair of ACSWP's Advice and Counsel Committee. 
 
    The committee also elected its 1997-98 standing committee chairs. They 
are Linda Gaines, a teacher from Tacoma, Wash., Interpretation and 
Communication Committee; the Rev. Stephen C. Hsieh, ACSWP's 1996-97 chair 
and a counselor for troubled youth of San Jose, Calif., Personnel and 
Budget; and Nancy Benson-Nicol, a senior at Swarthmore College in 
Pennsylvania and 1996-97 chair of the Nominating Committee, who was 
reelected. 
 
    Other ACSWP business 
 
    In  response to actions taken by the 209th General Assembly (1997), 
ACSWP addressed the issues of changing families and domestic viloence 
during its meeting. 
 
    The Assembly instructed ACSWP to develop a policy on the issue of 
domestic violence to present to the 211th General Assembly (1999) and it 
also called upon ACSWP to examine the issue of changing families and social 
structures, focusing on the effects on children. 
 
    In an effort to adhere to the Assembly's requests, the committee agreed 
that a Task Force on Changing Families and a Task Force on Domestic 
Violence would be charged by ACSWP to study the issues and present drafts 
for policy statements. 
 
    The next ACSWP meeting is scheduled for Oct. 23-26 in Washington. 
 
    ACSWP develops and recommends social witness policy to the General 
Assembly. The term "social witness policy" refers to the positions adopted 
by the Assembly to guide response to issues in the public order, including 
their relation to the church's own life. 

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