wfn.org | Advisory Committee Plans New Task Force

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

16-March-1998 
98092 
 
    Advisory Committee  Plans New 
    Task Force on Changing Families 
 
    by Julian Shipp 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.-The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) 
will initiate a new Task Force on Changing Families to begin this fall. 
Authorized by the 209th General Assembly, the task force will include up to 
12 persons. 
 
    According to the Rev. Belinda M. Curry, ACSWP associate for policy 
development and interpretation, the purpose of the task force is to examine 
the issues of changing families and changing social structures that affect 
families, particularly focusing on the effects of the changes children. 
Curry said the task force will work for two years, during which time it 
will develop a new policy statement with principles and recommendations to 
strengthen the church's ministry to contemporary families in both the 
church and society in the 21st century. 
 
    She said the task force will work with the understanding that "the 
church is called to bring all [people] to receive and uphold one another as 
persons in all relationships of life: in employment, housing, education, 
leisure, marriage, family, church and the exercise of political rights" 
(Confession of 1967, 9.44). 
 
    "The task force will also pursue its work with the understanding that 
there is a variety of families, including nuclear families, blended 
families, families with adopted children, single parents, families 
reflecting different racial and cultural backgrounds, faith traditions and 
so forth," Curry told the Presbyterian News Service. The Task Force on 
Changing Families will reflect the rich diversity of the PC(USA). 
 
    "The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), like most faith communities, cannot 
afford to ignore families because families are first and often the primary 
way people learn about God and how to be in relationships with others," 
Curry said. "Proverbs 22:6 reads train children in the right way, and when 
old they will not stray." 
 
    During its work, the task force will focus on the following questions: 
 
    ù How do we understand the Bible and the confessions to define 
      families? 
    ù What are the contemporary characteristics of families? 
    ù How does contemporary society influence family life? 
    ù What are the critical issues affecting families and how might the 
      church speak to these issues? How do these issues affect children? 
      Couples?  Singles? 
    ù What are the policies needed to strengthen families in church and 
      society? 
 
    Curry said the task force is also urged to consider the family 
resources developed by the Religion, Culture and Family Project through 
funds made available by the Lilly Endowment, Inc. Although Curry will be 
the ACSWP staff person for the task force, liaisons are also anticipated 
from the Advisory Committee for Women's Concerns and the Advocacy Committee 
for Racial Ethnic Concerns. The task force will also seek the assistance of 
the three General Assembly Council ministry divisions for other staff 
consultants, which may include staff from the Social Justice Program Area 
(Child Advocacy) and the Congregational Ministries Division. Curry said 
consultants, will be contacted for analysis, writing and other specialized 
knowledge. 
 
    The task force is scheduled to conduct its first meeting in November. 
There will also be two or three meetings in 1999 and 2000, including a 
synod consultation in November of 2000. ACSWP will then submit the task 
force's policy statement to the 213th General Assembly (2001), which will 
take action on the document. 
 
    A prospectus for the Task Force on Changing Families will be mailed to 
the denomination's presbyteries on April 2. A nomination form is attached 
to assist in the selection process. Comments on the prospectus and 
nominations should be sent to The Rev. Belinda M. Curry, Associate for 
Policy Development and Interpretation, Advisory Committee on Social Witness 
Policy, 100 Witherspoon Street, Room 3042, Louisville, KY 40202-1396. 
 
    ACSWP develops and recommends social witness policy to the General 
Assembly. The term "social witness policy" refers to the positions adopted 
by the General Assembly to express its stance on, and guide response to, 
issues in the public order, including their relation to the church's own 
life. 

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