wfn.org | Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Holds 150th Assembly

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

22-October-1999 
99358 
 
    Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) 
     Holds 150th Anniversary Assembly 
 
    by Disciples News Service 
 
CINCINNATI-Reelection of the general minister and president, and calls to 
cancel Third World debt, end land mine use and close a controversial 
military installation highlighted the agenda of the Christian Church 
(Disciples of Christ) General Assembly Oct. 8-12. 
 
    The Assembly marked the 150th anniversary of the first Disciples 
national gathering, also held in Cincinnati. 
 
 
                              Leaders Elected 
 
    The Rev. Richard L. Hamm was overwhelmingly endorsed by the Assembly 
for a second, six-year term as general minister and president of the 
Indianapolis-based denomination.  Hamm, who was first elected in 1993, will 
now serve through the conclusion of the 2005 General Assembly. 
 
    The Assembly also elected Paul Rivera of Brooklyn, N.Y., as moderator 
for the 1999-2001 biennium. 
 
 
                             Debt Relief Sought 
 
    In adopting Jubilee 2000, a worldwide campaign for debt cancellation 
for the globe's poorest nations, the assembly took seriously campaign 
leader and Disciples minister the Rev. Michael Kinnamon's pleas that "human 
need takes precedence over profit." 
 
    The campaign, embraced by the World and National Councils of Churches, 
seeks a one-time debt cancellation by the year 2000 of debt, amounting to 
some $300 billion owed by 41 countries, mostly in Africa and Central 
America.  The money is owed to international institutions like the World 
Bank and International Monetary Fund and individual governments. 
 
    The loans proved to be a disaster.  As Ben Boothe, a consultant to the 
World Bank, told the Assembly, "Big money, when injected into poor nations, 
is like heroin.  It can give you a temporary high but cause sever 
withdrawal symptoms." 
 
    Now these countries are having trouble paying up, and what they can pay 
is creating social and economic havoc.  According to the U.N., in Africa 
alone 21 million children could be saved from death by disease and 
starvation if their governments could spend the money on health concerns 
rather than servicing debt. 
 
    "This debt is a new form of slavery," said Carol Rawls, a member of 
First Christian Church, Kent, Wash.  Jubilee 2000 started six years ago in 
England and was inspired by the biblical text in Leviticus that describes a 
year of jubilee every 50 years when slaves are freed and debts are 
canceled. 
 
 
                  U.S. Urged to Ratify Land Mine Treaty 
 
    In an emotional discussion, the decision-making body urged the United 
States to sign the international Ottawa Land Mines Treaty, outlawing the 
weapons.  While a majority of the 4,000 voting representatives elected to 
ask the Clinton administration and Congress to endorse a ban on production, 
use and stockpiling of land mines, a sizable minority was opposed. 
 
    Most who spoke against the treaty insisted the Pentagon needed land 
mines as a deterrent against aggressors like North Korea or to safeguard 
American military personnel.  "This is a military decision, not a political 
one," argued Bill Cooley, an officer in the U.S. Air Force and a member of 
Monte Vista Christian Church in Albuquerque, N.M.  "Land mines are a 
deterrent." 
 
    Proponents, however, insisted that land mines are indiscriminate 
weapons that annually kill and maim thousands of noncombatants, 
particularly women and children.  "The only thing land mines deter are kids 
running up a hill, farmers planting their fields or women walking to 
market," pointed out the Rev. Robert Price, an ex-Marine who is pastor of 
Prairie City (Iowa) Christian Church. 
 
 
                Closure of School of the Americas Supported 
 
    Voting representatives demanded the shutdown of the School of the 
Americas, calling it a "school of assassins." 
 
    "It is a school of assassins, right in our own back yard," said the 
Rev. Ken Kennon of Tucson, Ariz., a member of the Disciples Peace 
Fellowship.  The retired Disciples minister was arrested and imprisoned for 
demonstrating at the U.S. Army-run school in Fort Benning, Ga. 
 
    There was also a sharp disagreement over this vote, with a sizable 
minority opposed to the proposal.   Opponents claimed there is no hard 
evidence of abuse.  "How would you like it if somebody did a profile of 
every graduate of your college and then blamed the institution?" asked the 
Rev. Tim Griffen, pastor of First Christian Church, Snyder, Texas. 
 
 
                             Other Business 
 
    In other business, the Assembly reaffirmed its support for religious 
freedom and asked Disciples congregations to give priority concern to 
issues related to children and violence during the year 2000. 
 
    The Assembly also called Disciples members to work toward better health 
care for all and health insurance for clergy and church employees.  The 
universal health care resolution specifically advocates treatment of short- 
and long-term illness and care for persons with mental disabilities. 

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