Task force members approved

ACSWP group will study issues related to ‘Serious Mental Illness’

by Evan Silverstein

SAN FRANCISCO — The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) has approved 12 members to serve on its newly formed task force examining serious mental illness issues.

       ACSWP’s Task Force on Comprehensive Serious Mental Illness will develop a policy with principles and recommendations to assist the church in ministering to those living with serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which is also known as manic depression.

       The 12-member task force is expected to hold its first meeting sometime this spring. Its proposed report is due to the PC(USA)’s 218^th General Assembly in 2008.  ACSWP develops social policies for GA consideration.

       Task force members, whose appointments were unanimously approved during a regular ACSWP meeting here Jan. 22, range from clergy to a psychotherapist to a clinical psychology professor.

       “The skills each member brings will create a very good group dynamic to look at these complex issues and we will also be hearing from other experts in the field as they provide presentations to the task force,” said the Rev. Belinda Curry, ACSWP’s associate for policy development and interpretation. “We will also consult with the appropriate entities of the General Assembly Council like the Office of Health Ministries, our colleagues in the Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association and also the Presbyterian Board of Pensions.”

       The 211th General Assembly (1999) directed ACSWP, in consultation with the appropriate entities, to develop a serious-mental-illness policy for presentation to the Assembly. In November 2003 an ACSWP-approved prospectus guiding the work of the task force was sent to every PC(USA) presbytery and synod and to the libraries of all PC(USA)-related seminaries.

       The prospectus says those stricken with a serious mental illness comprise a group often oppressed in American society, sometimes being denied jobs, housing and access to quality treatment while bearing the burden of having a “stigmatized illness.”

       As church members these persons often are denied access to decision-making bodies. There is also a lack of pastors and caregivers qualified to minister to them.

       “They fear revealing their pain will separate rather than bring them closer to fellow congregants,” according to the prospectus.

       Among the topics the new social witness policy is to address are justice-related issues and full participation for those with serious mental illness in the life of the church and society.   According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists in London, serious mental illness affects 1–2 of every 100 people.

       The newly appointed members of the Task Force on Comprehensive Serious Mental Illness are: the Rev. Robert A. Butziger of Albuquerque, NM; Ethel M. Charles of Hollis, NY; Mary Helen Davis of Louisville, KY; the Rev. Thomas Crawley Davis of Wilmington, DE; Timothy C. Engelmann of Burlingame, CA; Brenda Burch Gales of Conyers, GA; the Rev. Kum Ock Kim of Bayside, NY; Matt Morse of Taylor, MI; José R. Rodriguez-Gomez of Hato Rey, PR; and Alyce Woodall of Brunswick, ME.

       Two elected ACSWP committee members will also serve on the task force: The Rev. B. Gordon Edwards of Stillwater, OK, and the Rev. Leslie Klingensmith of Silver Spring, MD.

       Serving as a consultant will be the Rev. Susan J. Dunlap of Durham, NC. Curry will represent ACSWP’s staff.

       For more information contact Curry by mail at 100 Witherspoon St., Room 3611, Louisville, KY 40202; by phone at (800) 728-7228, ext. 5813; by fax at (502) 569-8041; or by email at bcurry@ctr.pcusa.org.