wfn.org | ACSWP sends domestic-violence policy to synods

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Note #6232 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

24-October-2000
00371

ACSWP sends domestic-violence policy to synods

Idea is to make PC(USA) more responsive in cases of abuse

by Evan Silverstein							
BLOOMINGTON, MN -- The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP),
which was charged by the General Assembly (GA) with developing a policy
statement on domestic violence, has forwarded a draft to the Presbyterian
Church (USA)'s 16 synods for additional feedback.

	Consultations between the committee, the synods and the General Assembly
Council will take place early next year. The committee then must decide
during a meeting in January whether the final proposal will be ready for the
denomination's 213th GA next summer in Louisville, Ky., or further
refinements are necessary.

	"I can't tell you how moved I was in reading this paper," committee member
Margaret Elliott of Winston-Salem, N.C., told the task force, "and how much
obvious thought (there is) from so many different angles. ... I appreciate
what you have included."

	In 1998, the ACSWP formed a task force to develop a policy statement to
help the Presbyterian Church (USA) and its congregations deal with
domestic-violence issues. The ACSWP-appointed panel grew out of a 1997 GA
overture from the Presbytery of East Iowa, which called for a denominational
policy on domestic violence.

	The 12-member Task Force on Healing Domestic Violence was asked to create
principles and recommendations for educating PC(USA) members and developing
prevention strategies. The goal was to make the denomination a "responsive
church community" in fighting domestic violence among its members. The task
force also was responsible for exploring the root causes of domestic abuse
and assessing the church's  complicity in and responses to the problem.

	On Oct. 20, members of the task force, which included ministers,
sociologists, lay people, seminary professors and others, presented a draft
of its proposed policy statement during the ACSWP's fall meeting near
Minneapolis. After a few revisions, including a name change, the committee
voted to forward the draft to the synods.

	The policy statement, Turning Mourning into Dancing; A Policy Statement on
Domestic Violence, includes a lengthy list of recommendations for pastors,
church sessions and congregations when the "bodies and spirits of women and
men, children, teens, the elderly and the disabled, are threatened."

	"Our primary task here is to produce a persuasive document that will help
people take this issue seriously and hopefully do more research on it," said
the Rev. James N. Poling, a task force member from the Chicago Presbytery, a
professor of pastoral care, counseling and theology at Garret-Evangelical
Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill.

	To define the many types of relationships in which violence occurs, the
task force used the inclusive term "interpersonal violence" instead of
"domestic violence," a label typically reserved for abuse between spouses or
intimate partners. The draft said interpersonal violence takes place between
parent and child, spouse and spouse, partner and partner, and adult
child/parent, as well as violence between siblings and people in dating
relationships.

	"In the social sciences and the literature being published, the term
nowadays that's being used as the umbrella or overarching term is
‘interpersonal violence' or ‘family violence,'" said task force member
Vernon R. Wiehe, a professor in the College of Social Work at the University
of Kentucky, who cited research showing that 75 to 85 percent of abuse
occurs in cohabiting couples, not married couples. "We debated a lot whether
or not we should use the term ‘family violence.' If we used the term ‘family
violence,' then dating relationships wouldn't fit quite in there."

	Four men and eight women served on the Task Force on Healing Domestic
Violence; at least three members are survivors of child or spouse abuse.

	The task force recommends that pastors, sessions and congregations:

* Make certain that pastors, people involved in care-giving ministries,
volunteers and church officers are trained to recognize and respond to
interpersonal violence by educating them about restraining orders, shelter
programs, and actions that could jeopardize the safety of women and
children.

* Talk about interpersonal violence from the pulpit.

* Develop a session policy to guide clergy and church officers in the
prevention of and response to interpersonal violence in congregations --
especially child abuse.

* Maintain an up-to-date listing in the church for referrals to local
coordinated-response agencies, such as shelters, rape crisis centers, child
protective services, etc.

                    Study and Resolutions on Africa

	Members of the ACSWP hope to dispel misconceptions that contemporary Africa
is  a "doomed" and "dingy" continent that is perpetually at war and subject
to pandemic HIV/AIDS. The committee took steps to do that by firming up a
study that includes resolutions of support and advocacy for Africa that will
be submitted to the General Assembly, possibly as early as next year.

	Resolutions call on consciousness-raising "throughout the worldwide body of
Christ," so that "all partners may focus efforts, prayers and actions to
bring about greater levels of human and economic development" in Africa.

	"If the church no longer wishes to look at Africa through a dark glass, but
through high-intensity polished lenses," the study proposal said, "she will
have to look purposefully, and earnestly seek new perspectives on modern
Africa in the present millennium."

	A commissioners' resolution during GA in 1999 called for heightened
response to Africa through focused attention, advocacy and compassion; that
paved the way for the study and resulting resolutions written by consultant
Paul Frelick, a retired PC(USA) pastor and missionary, with assistance from
the Africa Resolution Team, made up of PC(USA) staff members and ACSWP
members Sue Dickson of El Paso, Texas and Jananne Sharpless of Sacramento,
Calif.

	The committee voted to send the Resolution/Study on Africa to PC(USA) area
coordinators for Africa and to partner churches in Africa for
recommendations. The ACSWP will determine during its January meeting in
Louisville whether to forward the report to next year's GA or wait until the
2002 Assembly.

	Proposed recommendations in the Africa resolution include those urging:

* That the PC(USA) affirm the role of churches and research agencies in
supporting historical research into the origins and development of societies
in contemporary Africa, so that the people of the continent may build their
own future with a clear picture of its history.

* That the PC(USA), in the process of conducting historical research, commit
itself with its 	partners to seeking a deeper understanding of the role of
Christian mission in nation-building and reviewing policies that create
difficulties for Africa.

* That the PC(USA) seek with African partner hurches means of upgrading
church-sponsored educational programs to ensure developmental progress.
Similarly, the PC(USA) and its partners would seek ways to strengthen
government-sponsored comprehensive educational programs.

                    Changing Families

	The committee also received a report from the ACSWP's Task Force on
Changing Families, which is developing a church-wide study of changes in the
family and in social structures that support families, with a special focus
on how the changes may affect children. The task force intends to ask
PC(USA) members for comments and suggestions. The feedback will be taken
into consideration as the group prepares a policy statement to be presented
to the 214th General Assembly in 2002. The study document and response forms
will be available early next year.

	For more information, contact the Rev. Belinda M. Curry, ACSWP's associate
for policy development and interpretation, at 1-888-728-7228, ext. 5813, or
by email at belindac@ctr.pcusa.org

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