wfn.org | UCC Synod 22 urges action on wide spectrum of social issues

[George Conklin <gconklin@wfn.org>]

United Church of Christ
Office of Communication
700 Prospect Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44115
contact: Barbara Powell
phone: 216-736-2222
email: powellb@ucc.org
http://www.ucc.org

PROVIDENCE, RI - July 6 1999 -

Synod urges official apology to Marshall Islands
        Out of recognition that the people of the Marshall Islands have
suffered
and continue to suffer from the radioactive effects of the 67 atomic and
nuclear tests that the United States conducted on the Bikini Atoll and other
islands in the early 1950s, the delegates of the United Church of Christ
General Synod 22 called upon the United Church Board for World Ministries and
its successors to work for an official apology and full redress from the U.S.
government.

Syod urges U.S. to ratify Kyoto Treaty
        Celebrating the fact that 160 nations agreed in December 1997 to a
binding treaty to reduce greenhouse gases (the Kyoto Climate Change Treaty),
the United Church of Christ General Synod 22 urged the United States to ratify
that treaty. It also recognized the dangers of global warming; affirmed the
greater responsibility of industrial nations, especially the United States, to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions; and urged local churches, conferences and
national agencies of the church to keep the global warming issue as a high
priority in their educational and advocacy efforts.

Let the spirit of Jubilee reign, say delegates
        A call to the imperatives of Jubilee 2000 was heard at the United
Church
of Christ General Synod 22 and soundly endorsed by the delegates gathered at
the Rhode Island Convention Center.
        Jubilee 2000 is an international effort that recognizes the
overwhelming
burden that international debt poses for 41 of the most impoverished nations of
the world and urges the industrialized nations, including the United States, to
erase those debts in the spirit of Jubilee. Throughout the Bible are references
to Jubilee  God’s injunction to forgive debts every 50 years —  so this effort
has been tied to the year 2000.
        In embracing Jubilee 2000, the delegates called for the cancellation of
the major debt of the impoverished nations by the end of the year 2000,
encouraged lending institutions to attempt to prevent future debt crises and to
include the debtor nations in the formulation of their policies. All this, the
resolution stated, should be done in a way that benefits the ordinary citizens
of the debtor countries and without conditions that would perpetuate and/or
deepen poverty.

Church calls for programs and resources preventing suicide among gay and
lesbian youth 
        Acknowledging that youth suicide has many causes, the United Church of
Christ voted today (July 6) to devote resources to reducing the incidence of
suicide among gay and lesbian youth.
        "I realize that this [gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered issues]
is not the only cause of youth suicide," said Matthew Small of the Maine
Conference as he spoke to support the resolution. "But I challenge the church
to begin work [on reducing youth suicide]."
        The delegates pledged "to take actions that will increase awareness of
and seriously adress youth suicide and the link between youth suicide and
sexual or gender identity."
        Many local churches have declared themselves to be "open and affirming"
in accepting persons who profess to be gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered.
According to the resolution, the existence of these churches as a resource and
safe space to "questioning youth" will be made better known as another way of
helping these youth understand their sexual identity.
        The resolution also calls for programs to be developed that involve
some
of the UCC's partner churches, including the Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ), Presbyterian Church (USA), Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and
Reformed Church in America. An amendment was added to the resolution, urging
local congregations to develop programs with their "local interfaith networks.”