GA06091

Assembly refers proposals to curb U.S. support for Colombian government, military

by Jerry L. Van Marter

BIRMINGHAM, June 19 – The 217th General Assembly, acting on a recommendation from its Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations committee, expressed its support Monday for the human rights work of the Presbyterian Church in Colombia (PCC) in that violence-wracked country, as well as various Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) efforts to support that work, particularly the denomination's accompaniment program there.

But the Assembly referred a number of specific requests for more overt action directed at the U.S. government's support of the Colombian government and military to the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy and the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program for study.

A number of commissioners persuaded the Assembly that they had not had enough time to adequately research the proposals, which came in the form of a commissioner's resolution that was not received until June 16. The referral motion passed 295-204.

The resolution sought the withdrawal of U.S. military support to the Columbian government; U.S. support for agrarian reform in Colombia; the end of U.S.-supported efforts to eradicate Colombia's coca growing unless it's accompanied by agricultural reforms; and the redirection of U.S. aid from the Colombian government and military to civil and international organizations that will work non-violently to increase health, education, nutritional and refugee resettlement efforts in Colombia.

"The church in Colombia can't wait for more study," pleaded PCC Executive Secretary David Illigge Quiroz. "We have very concrete situations that U.S. Presbyterians have witnessed. The gospel needs to come alive in social and financial situations, and this addresses the situation of violence that people are living in this very moment."

"This is an incredibly complex issue," said elder Ken Robbins of Stockton Presbytery in support of the referral. "Because this came in last-minute as a commissioner's resolution, there was no expert testimony at all by which we can judge these proposals."

The Assembly made the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) a provisional member of Christian Churches Together (CCT), a new ecumenical organization more broadly based than older organizations such as the National Council of Churches and the National Association of Evangelicals.

The vote was 416-21, with 12 abstentions.

Discussions around CCT began in 2001, and participation now includes mainline Protestants, Orthodox, Catholics, evangelicals and Pentecostals, as well as a number of historic black churches. The Rev. Carlos Malave, associate for ecumenical relations in the Office of the General Assembly, serves on the group's steering committee.

In response to a request from the PC(USA) delegation to the summer 2004 World Alliance of Reformed Churches General Council in Accra, Ghana, the Assembly asked the Theology and Worship Office and the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy to consider drafting reports on Reformed theology and global economic justice.

The issue of globalization of the world's economy and particularly its effects on the world's poorest nations and peoples was a central theme of the WARC gathering, and has also been a primary focus of groups such as the All-Africa Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches.

The Assembly affirmed efforts by the denomination's Office of Interfaith Relations to promote cooperation to "work for peace, justice and righteousness." A minority report that would have emphasized the three faiths' "common Abrahamic heritage" was defeated 340-160.

"While all three traditions refer to Abraham, it's not clear what it means to claim a common heritage," said Jay Rock, the PC(USA)'s coordinator for interfaith relations. "The three faiths interpret Abraham very differently."