wfn.org | ACSWP Requests New Task Force Prospectus

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

18-May-1998 
98181 
 
    ACSWP Requests New Task Force Prospectus 
    Be Obtained Through Presbyteries 
 
    by Julian Shipp 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.-Encouraged by the initial response to its new Task Force on 
Changing Families, the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) 
requests that persons wanting a prospectus for the task force obtain them 
through their local presbytery office. 
 
    "A full prospectus with information regarding nominations of task force 
members is available from your presbytery office," said the Rev. Belinda M. 
Curry, ACSWP associate for policy development and interpretation. "The 
Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy invites comments and 
suggestions on the prospectuses, and nominations for the task force members 
are due Sept. 1, 1998." 
 
    Curry said ACSWP is asking Presbyterians to get the prospectus from 
their local presbytery office because "it is a good way for us to encourage 
members to build a relationship with their presbyteries by being in touch 
with them on this initiative." 
 
    Prospectuses on the Task Force on Changing Families were mailed to the 
denomination's presbyteries on April 2. A nomination form is attached to 
assist in the process of selecting members for the task force. Comments on 
the prospectuses and nominations should be sent to the Rev. Belinda M. 
Curry, Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, 100 Witherspoon Street, 
Room 3042, Louisville, KY 40202-1396. 
 
    Authorized by the 209th General Assembly, the task force will include 
up to 12 persons. Curry said the task force's purpose is to examine the 
issues of changing families and changing social structures that effect 
families, particularly focusing on the effects of the changes on children. 
She 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. 
 
    The task force will reflect the rich diversity of the PC(USA) and will 
also, according to Curry, "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." 
 
    The task force is scheduled to conduct its first meeting in November 
1998. There will also be two to three meetings each 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 act on the document. 

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