wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Souper Bowl of Caring added to Planning Calendar

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8494 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

04426
September 25, 2004

Souper Bowl of Caring added to Planning Calendar

By Bill Lancaster

LOUISVILLE - The Souper Bowl of Caring became an item of discussion before
the General Assembly Council (GAC) when the Congregational Ministries
Division Committee (CMDC) recommended that it not be given a special emphasis
on Sunday, Feb. 5, 2006, in the Planning Calendar.

	The Souper Bowl of Caring is a program supported by youth groups
across the country and even in other nations in which church members who plan
to watch the Super Bowl on TV are asked to put a dollar in a soup pot as they
leave church.

	The funds are used to support local hunger relief programs, and the
amount raised is reported to the Souper Bowl of Caring office. The program
originated at the Spring Valley Presbyterian Church in Columbia, SC.

	GAC member Dan Schomer from Columbiana, Ohio, Eastminster Presbytery,
asked why it was not being included, and he was told by a member of the
committee that it was so as not to elevate a national sporting event to the
level of a programmatic emphasis of the church.

	Schomer then offered an amendment, which would elevate the Souper
Bowl of Caring to programmatic emphasis and include it in the Planning
Calendar.

	John Bolt of Charleston, WV, and a member of CMDC, spoke against it,
although he said he had stuffed many dollars into pots on Souper Bowl
Sundays. "This is a matter of relativity," he said. "Is this at the level of
Father's Day, and Celebrating the Gifts of Women, and Race Relations Sunday?"

	That is the question, not the quality of the program, he said.

	Susan Andrews, former moderator of the General Assembly, spoke in
favor of including it. She said conservative and liberal congregations alike
support Souper Bowl Sunday. "This is one of the places where we come
together. I speak in favor of the amendment," she said.

	The amendment was approved and the Souper Bowl of Caring was elevated
to programmatic emphasis on Feb. 5.

To subscribe or unsubscribe, please send an email to
pcusanews-subscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org or
pcusanews-unsubscribe-request@halak.pcusa.org

To contact the owner of the list, please send an email to
pcusanews-request@halak.pcusa.org