wfn.org | National and social issues cover the waterfront

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

Note #6037 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

GA00089
June 27, 2000

	National and social issues cover the waterfront

by Jane Hines

LONG BEACH, June 27--Ranging from gun control to police accountability to
gambling to life in rural communities to capital punishment to the
Confederate flag, and from needle exchange to religious liberty to campaign
finance reform in society and church, topics covered by the Assembly
Committee on National and Social Issues touch almost every aspect of life in
America.

	After listening to overture advocates and people who wished to speak in
open hearings, the committee considered the information they had gathered
and prepared recommendations for the Assembly's plenary sessions.
Commissioners will vote on all of the issues brought before them this year
through overtures and commissioners resolutions.

	At the end of their deliberations as a committee, a special recommendation
was approved that asks presbyteries to consult with presbyteries in whose
bounds an overture issue is located before they send something to the
General Assembly for action.

	Affirming the denomination's stand against capital punishment and 
gambling, and for religious liberty, the committee went on to approve
recommendations to work toward lifting the ban on needle exchange and to
affirm the quality of life in rural communities.  Flying the Confederate
flag on government buildings got special attention and the problems
surrounding gun violence and control were considered carefully.

	When this committee's report comes before the Assembly, commissioners are
likely to find their attention is grabbed as their involvement in life as it
must be lived today takes center stage.

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