wfn.org | SELF-DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE TO CELEBRATE

[PCUSA_NEWS@ecunet.org]

17-Apr-95

95103        SELF-DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE TO CELEBRATE 
                        25th  ANNIVERSARY 
 
                         By Julian Shipp 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will celebrate 25 years 
of partnerships with poor, oppressed and disadvantaged communities 
worldwide during the Self-Development of People (SDOP) Anniversary 
Convocation April 21-23 in Chicago. 
 
     According to the Rev. Patricia Lane, associate for program development 
for the Presbyterian Committee on Self-Development of People, the 
conference will give participants an opportunity to reflect on SDOP's 
history of creating partnerships and its ongoing struggle with issues of 
poverty and oppression in this country and around the world. 
 
     Topics for discussion in various workshops include "Shattering the 
Myths of Poverty," "Community Empowerment for Environmental Justice," 
"Taking Back Our Communities," "Issues in Health Care,"  "The Economics of 
Welfare Rights" and "International Development." 
 
     Scheduled speakers include Lane; the Rev. Robert Bohl, moderator of 
the 206th General Assembly; and Dr. James Forman, president of the 
Unemployment and Poverty Action Committee in Washington, D.C.   
 
     Worship will be led by noted singers and songwriters the Rev. Richard 
K. Avery, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Port Jervis, New York, and 
Donald S. Marsh, an ordained elder on the staff of the Port Jervis church. 
 
     "Hopefully participants will go away with a stronger sense of 
commitment to One Great Hour of Sharing and Self-Development of People," 
Lane said. "People need to understand that [SDOP] is a ministry that 
belongs to all of us in the Presbyterian Church."  
      
     Organized after the 181st General Assembly (1969) of the former United 
Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, SDOP is a ministry 
that works to empower poor, oppressed and disadvantaged people who are 
seeking to change the structures that perpetuate poverty, oppression and 
injustice. 
 
     SDOP receives the majority of its funds from the One Great Hour of 
Sharing Offering given annually during Lent by Presbyterians nationwide. 
This ecumenical offering provides SDOP the opportunity to enter into 
partnerships with communities worldwide. It also supports the Presbyterian 
Hunger Program and Presbyterian World Service. 
 
     Mary Hayden, account specialist in the Worldwide Ministries Division, 
said last year SDOP received $2.7 million from the One Great Hour Sharing 
Offering.  
                           # # # 
 
 

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For more information contact Presbyterian News Service
  Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Louisville, KY 40202
  phone 502-569-5504            fax 502-569-8073  
  E-mail PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org   Web page: http://www.pcusa.org 

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