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06586 November 9, 2006
ACSWP tweaks new Social Creed, passes it onto NCC
Torture, immigration and communication among issues on committee's plate
by Evan Silverstein
LOUISVILLE * The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP), during a recent meeting, advanced a social creed draft, listened to immigration issues, and reviewed a resolution calling on the United States government to forswear the use of torture against terrorism suspects.
ACSWP, which develops social justice policies for consideration by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), received reports about foreign policy and events in the Middle East during the regular meeting at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, TX, Oct. 11-14.
The advisory committee also appointed a panel to examine what impact losing the PC(USA)'s Church & Society magazine to recent downsizing and restructuring might have on conveying ACSWP's social justice-minded work to members of the denomination.
"I think the meeting was a very constructive understanding of the situation of the church in the southwest and the range of issues coming before the committee in the next two years," said the Rev. Christian "Chris" Iosso, ACSWP's coordinator.
Social creed
ACSWP made minor editorial changes to a draft document called the "Social Creed for the 21st Century" before forwarding the proposal to the Justice and Advocacy Commission of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC).
The effort is in preparation for a historical celebration of the centennial of the influential 1908 Social Creed of the Federal Council of Churches, which is now the NCC.
An ACSWP-appointed resolution team is working ecumenically to draft a modern-day "social creed" that will focus on dealing with globalization and sustainability, according to Lidia Serrata Ledesma, a lawyer from Victoria, TX, and chair of the Social Creed Resolution Team.
The 1908 social creed is a statement of principles created by a number of Protestant denominations that helped end child labor and incorporate Christian values in workplaces. Over the years, churches acting on its 14 principles have worked for improved wages, regulation of sweatshops, Sabbath rest, abatement of poverty, and old-age pensions.
The draft was sent to the NCC's Justice and Advocacy Commission for presentation to the NCC at its annual General Assembly, which is meeting this week in Orlando, FL. If the NCC receives the document for study, then the draft would move forward to the council's member communions for discussion.
Along with the one-page social creed paper is a two-page interpretive document explaining the broadened focus of the new creed, which is modeled after the original version from 1908.
Anti-torture resolution
As the U.S.-led "War on Terror" continues across battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan, the advisory committee reviewed a resolution approved by the PC(USA)'s 217th General Assembly in June called "Human Rights in a Time of Terrorism and Torture."
The resolution came in response to allegations of human rights abuses at U.S. detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The resolution affirms the GA's opposition "to the use of torture and all forms of 'cruel, inhuman or degrading' interrogation by all agencies, employees, or agents of the United States government, and all foreign governments and/or combatants."
The document supports the application of Geneva Convention protections for all enemy soldiers and the humane treatment with due process for all combatants held by U.S. forces worldwide.
The resolution authorizes the PC(USA)'s stated clerk, in consultation with ACSWP and the advisory committees on litigation and the constitution, to express support for the protection of the right of privacy for U.S. citizens against intrusion by government or private entities.
It also calls on Presbyterians to be attentive to human rights issues related to U.S. policy and to continue advocating for human rights in places around the world where such rights are in jeopardy.
Committee members debated how best to continue strengthening the human rights witness of Presbyterians and approved holding further discussions on the issue with PC(USA) regional area mission coordinators and representatives of the denomination's United Nations Office.
In related business, ACSWP heard from Catherine Gordon, the associate for international issues in the Presbyterian Washington Office, who discussed Christian responses to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She described ongoing public efforts calling for fair trials and an end to indefinite imprisonment of combatants held by the U.S. at Guantanamo Bay and in covert prisons established as part of the government's War on Terror.
Gordon also discussed the growing threat of terrorism in many parts of the world and U.S. support of Israel during last summer's war with Hezbollah.
Communication
ACSWP's concern for communicating the social justice thinking and practices of the PC(USA) and its General Assembly led to discussion of how to continue sharing ideas and interpreting policies without Church & Society.
The 98-year-old journal recently published its final issue after being eliminated during restructuring as part of a $9.15 million budget cut that reduced the PC(USA)'s national staff on May 1 by more than 100 positions.
ACSWP and its predecessor committees had actively been involved with the journal, using it cooperatively with all program areas to share information about policy and programming.
"The issue here is trying to see what the loss of Church & Society means for discussing new ideas in the church," Iosso said.
The journal, published as six theme-based issues annually and with a circulation of about 2,000, also produced resource books of 5-10 page essays and "reports from the field."
"The publication could be found in all the libraries of all the Presbyterian-related colleges and seminaries and all the social ethics professors got it," Iosso said. "That's one part of the linkage of how thoughts were shared through that medium."
ACSWP appointed three of its members to the advisory panel, all of whom have a background in education, to examine the matter: the Rev. Lewis Mudge of Berkeley, CA; the Rev. Gloria Albrecht of Detroit, MI; and the Rev. Ronald Kernaghan of Pasadena, CA.
Also appointed to the advisory team was the Rev. James Hudnut-Beumler of Nashville, TN, the dean of Vanderbilt's Divinity School.
Immigration
The Rev. Ruben Armendariz, acting stated clerk of Mission Presbytery and a retired McCormick Theological Seminary professor, spoke to ACSWP about Presbyterian mission and membership along the U.S.-Mexican border, including the impact of immigration and migrant labor on the border region.
He spoke about the impact of the "maquiladoras," which are primarily U.S.-owned factories on the Mexican side of the border, and their negative impact on the Mexican family. Armendariz said these factories hire mostly women, leaving men to immigrate to the U.S., disrupting families.
Armendariz also spoke about diversity in the border region, including a sudden spike in Asian immigrants such as Filipinos, who recently chartered a new Presbyterian church in Mission Presbytery.
ACSWP later approved sending two members to a meeting next year on immigration issues sponsored by the Advocacy Committee on Women's Concerns and the Advocacy Committee on Racial-Ethnic Concerns.
Peacemaking colloquium
Iosso reported on the 2006 Peacemaking Colloquium on "Living the Gospel of Peace and Non-Violence," which was held in September at Stony Point (NY) Center.
The event, which explored new ways of thinking about peacemaking in the midst of war, was sponsored jointly by ACSWP, the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program and Stony Point Center.
Speakers included the Rev. Gary Dorrien, an ethics professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, on "Resisting Imperial Temptations"; the Rev. Catherine Keller, professor of constructive theology at Drew Theological School in Madison, NJ, on "Re-envisioning the Gospel's Peaceful Power"; the Rev. Peter Heltzel, professor at New York Theological Seminary in New York City, on "Connecting Poverty, Peacemaking and Radical Evangelism"; and Lawrence Woocher, research fellow at the School of International Studies at Columbia University in New York City, and Joel Hanisek, who started his work as Presbyterian Representative to the UN earlier this year, both spoke about the UN's new Peacebuilding Commission.
Launched last month, the Peacebuilding Commission will marshal resources at the disposal of the international community to advise and propose integrated strategies for post-conflict recovery, focusing attention on reconstruction, institution-building and sustainable development, in countries emerging from conflict.
The Rev. Mike Clark, former associate director of the Riverside Church in New York's Disarmament Program, spoke about "Lessons from Bill Coffin's Playbook." William Sloane Coffin, who died earlier this year, was a former pastor of Riverside Church.
Mtangulizi Sanyika of the African American Leadership Project in New Orleans gave a presentation chronicling the continuing struggles of Hurricane Katrina victims.
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