wfn.org | Worldwide Ministries Division Reaffirms Partnership With

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

Self-development of People 24-January-1997 
97041 
 
             Worldwide Ministries Division Reaffirms 
           Partnership With Self-development of People  
 
                         by Julian Shipp 
 
LOS ANGELES--During a Jan. 18 meeting here deemed "mutually beneficial," 
the Worldwide Ministries Division (WMD) reaffirmed its partnership with the 
national Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People (SDOP) by 
simply asking, "What can we do to help you?" 
 
     Arranged to give both entities an opportunity to discuss a variety of 
issues, the meeting enabled representatives from the WMD and the Steering 
Committee of SDOP to meet for nearly two hours following SDOP's business 
meeting that same day.  Called by the WMD, the consultation was described 
as both welcome and significant by the respective committee chairs. 
 
     "We are all in this together,"said Gene McKelvey of Houston, WMD 
Committee chair. "And I have been progressively frustrated by the level of 
ignorance that people have of this [SDOP] committee. We have got to begin 
to market all of ourselves -- otherwise we're all going to be in trouble. 
 
     "I'm tired of cutting budgets and people talking about staff doing 
this and staff doing that," added McKelvey. "The only substitute for bad 
ideas is better ideas. The trend of the church is that all kinds of 
programs are being trivialized and we've got to reverse that." 
 
     "I think that this was the beginning of a dialogue," Cynthia Joe of 
San Francisco, national SDOP Committee and Steering Committee chair, told 
the Presbyterian News Service. "We had never had a conversation with the 
[WMD] before and I think we are both beginning to understand now where each 
of us is coming from." 
 
     By the end of the meeting, participants had hammered out a joint list 
of goals for both organizations to work toward realizing. They included 
 
     *    opening additional lines of communication 
     *    using the strength of both agencies more effectively 
     *    achieving more dialogue in terms of the operational processes of 
          both organizations 
     *    bringing the elected members of both groups together for 
          additional discussion. 
 
     In addition to McKelvey, WMD representatives were Gwen Crawley of 
Louiville, WMD interim director; Peter Pizor of Cody, Wyo., a WMD Committee 
member; Sylvia Wilson of Kansas City, Mo., a WMD Committee member and a 
previous SDOP liaison; Kew Sun Chai of Northbrook, Ill., a WMD Committee 
member and current SDOP liaison; and Dan O. Rift of Louisville, WMD 
associate director for global service and witness. 
 
     In addition to Joe, SDOP Steering Committee members present were the 
Rev. Jean Anne Swope of Santa Fe, N.M.; the Rev. Warner Durnell of 
Nashville, Tenn.; the Rev. John Koppitch of Indianapolis, Ind.; Oscar 
Heyward of Howard Beach, N.Y. (national SDOP Committee vice chair); Dr. 
Marjorie W. Hesler of Montezuma, Ind.; Tavita Dorow of Lubbock, Texas; the 
Rev. Kay-Robert Volkwijn of Lenexa, Kans.; and Paul Whong of Baltimore, Md.  
 
     SDOP staff attending were the Rev. Fredric T. Walls, SDOP coordinator; 
the Rev. Patty Lane, SDOP associate for program development; Cynthia White, 
SDOP associate for program administration; and Deborah Harrison, SDOP 
senior administrative assistant, all of Louisville, Ky. 
      
     Misunderstood and often maligned since it was organized by the 182nd 
General Assembly (1970) 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 of need worldwide. It also supports the 
Presbyterian Hunger Program and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. According 
to SDOP officials, in 1996 SDOP disbursed $446,764 domestically and 
$438,685 internationally to validated projects. 
 
     SDOP is linked administratively to the WMD. However, it has a distinct 
element of autonomy since it can (and does) disburse funds to any group, 
agency or organization meeting its funding criteria and guidelines. It is 
also one of the only programs in the denomination that has its funds and 
resources intentionally administered by a committee comprised of a majority 
of racial-ethnic people. 
 
     "Politically, the fact that people would question [SDOP] because of 
the way it is [administratively and racially] structured is sinful," Rift 
said. 
      
     Even so, SDOP officials acknowledge there are improvement 
opportunities -- particularly with regard to communication and the 
frequency with which unreleased, assigned money is disbursed. To that end, 
SDOP has approved and implemented a three-year plan designed to enhance its 
communication resources and address its unassigned fund balance and the 
possiblility of increasing its fundable partnerships. 
 
     "Frankly, I think we have missed a lot of witnessing opportunities out 
there in the Presbyterian Church," Durnell said. "We have not done a very 
good job of interpreting what SDOP is all about." 
  
     "We must get people to adopt a new mind-set about SDOP, because as I 
see it,  the atmosphere in the church and the whole country is not 
conducive to poor people being empowered," Volkwijn said. 
 
     Yet at a time when PC(USA) members are seeking greater voice in the 
decision- and policy-making processes of the church, Koppitch said he 
believes SDOP leads the way in building trust and partnership between the 
General Assembly and other governing bodies. 
 
     "[SDOP] is one entity where the decision-making is done by the people 
in the pew, people making decisions about local mission dollars that I 
think we should really be lifting up," Koppitch said. 

------------
For more information contact Presbyterian News Service
  phone 502-569-5504             fax 502-569-8073  
  E-mail PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org   Web page: http://www.pcusa.org 

--