07391
June 29, 2007

ACSWP receives policy draft on serious mental illness

Committee also examines Iraq war and post-Katrina New Orleans

by Evan Silverstein
Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE — The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) is considering a proposed policy paper that could shape the way the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) engages in ministry with people who have serious mental illness.

ACSWP, which develops social policies for consideration by the PC(USA)’s General Assembly, voted at its meeting here last week to receive a draft policy document on serious mental illness from the task force that developed it.

The PC(USA)’s 211th GA in 1999 directed ACSWP to develop a mental-illness policy for the church’s ministry with people living with such conditions as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression.

An ACSWP-amended version of the draft, which is called “Comfort My People,” will go before a synod consultation in Louisville from September 21-23.

Representatives from each of the PC(USA)’s 16 synods, many with knowledge about the denomination’s mission and witness in the area of mental illness, will gather in order to provide feedback.

ACSWP will use information from the consultation and feedback related to a study guide that’s been distributed through the presbyteries to all PC(USA) congregations, in order to finalize what it presents to the PC(USA)’s 218th General Assembly next year in San Jose, CA.

Among topics addressed by the proposed social witness policy are justice-related issues and full participation for those with serious mental illness in the life of the church and society.

Dealing with mental illness “requires reckoning with what we cannot change as a church,” said the Rev. Susan J. Dunlap of Durham, NC, a lecturer at Duke University’s Divinity School, who was a consultant to the task force that wrote much of the document. “It requires reckoning with  . . . bodily brokenness, frailty and vulnerability. As we confront our own powerlessness over certain kinds of human brokenness we as a committee found … that you discover a different kind of power that we have. That’s the power for friendship and belonging and community.”

She told ACSWP members during the presentation that the task force wanted to make it clear in the document that there are people with serious mental illness who are “invisible in our congregations” and that this invisibility is both good and bad.

“The good news is that their symptoms are controlled and that they are in many ways fully functioning and indistinguishable from people who don’t have serious mental illness,” Dunlap said. “The bad news is that they bear their burden alone without the nurture of their churches.”

During the June 20-23 meeting here the advisory committee commended the task force for its work, including three members from the panel who were in attendance: Elder Brenda Burch Gales of Conyers, GA, the chair; the Rev. Thomas Crawley Davis of Wilmington, DE, a task force member; and Dunlap.

Task force members included psychiatrists, therapists, pastors, elders, and psychologists. The Rev. B. Gordon Edwards, ACSWP chair, also served on the task force.

“Based upon the rationale, we have made certain recommendations to the church from the General Assembly to congregations to presbyteries to Committees on Ministry to the office in Washington (DC) to the [PC(USA)’s] United Nation’s office.” Edwards said. “We have tried to give specific kinds of ways that we can comfort families and individuals who are living with serious mental illness.”  

The ACSWP also:

• Approved a draft outline of a resolution pertaining to war-torn Iraq and the long-term ethical responsibilities of the United States government to the Iraqi people as part of a peaceful transition from occupation to self-government. Objectives of the resolution, which is due to next year’s GA, include increased dialogue between Christians and Muslims, and taking steps to reduce anti-American and anti-Christian pressure on church partners in Iraq and in other majority-Muslim countries. The draft also calls for developing a plan to continue responding to concerns of Iranian and Iraqi churches during and after the war; providing ethical reflection and guidance to the PC(USA); and steps for education, advocacy, and relationship building for members, congregations, soldiers, chaplains, governing bodies and the denomination’s United Nations and Washington offices.
• Approved a draft resolution focusing on the PC(USA)’s continued response to post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans and other regions impacted by hurricanes in 2005. The proposed resolution, which is due to the 2008 General Assembly, expresses concern for delay and neglect in providing relief and assistance and encourages continued Christian engagement in the renewal of New Orleans and surrounding areas devastated by the storms. It also calls for providing ethical reflection and guidance to the PC(USA) and such steps as education, advocacy and relationship building for members, congregations, governing bodies and the PC(USA)’s Washington Office on matters related to urban and coastal public policy. The measure also calls for strengthening Christian witness against the abandonment of regions, populations or sectors of society with cooperation from the PC(USA)’s Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns (ACREC) particularly on matters concerning race and class. ACSWP heard from the Rev. Jean Marie Peacock, a minister coordinating reconstruction efforts in South Louisiana Presbytery and vice-moderator of the PC(USA)’s 216th General Assembly in 2004. Also present was Susan Ryan, coordinator of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), who reported that more than 25,000 Presbyterians had volunteered so far in relief and recovery efforts along the hurricane-wrecked Gulf Coast. She also identified continuing challenges to the administration of funds there and preparation for other “multi-layered” disasters. The advisory committee will hold its next regular meeting in New Orleans Oct. 24-28 where the group will conduct fact-finding efforts to identify the church’s possible role in ongoing post-Katrina re-development.
• Examined how the committee could restructure its biennial Human Rights Update amid resource constraints while observing the Presbyterian Church’s time-honored commitment to human rights abuses in the world. The document incorporates brief overviews of human rights conditions around the globe. The group concluded that it would increase the use of technology, such as the Internet, to convey the human rights message and reduce dependence on human and financial resources. For the current two-year period, ACSWP will lift up reports that will be posted on the Web site of the PC(USA)’s new World Mission program area and will mark next year’s 60th anniversary of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The advisory declaration was adopted by the UN’s General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948. It consists of 30 articles that outline the view of the UN on human rights for all people. “This will present an opportunity to review the significant role played by ecumenical churches in advancing these standards for human behavior,” said the Rev. Christian Iosso, ACSWP’s coordinator.
• Authorized development of a policy education piece focused on 16th century church reformer John Calvin’s ethical thoughts, including his teachings and biblical interpretation about social and economic matters. The document would reflect the efforts of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Calvin’s birth on July 10, 1509, and would be designed to complement work of the PC(USA)’s Theology, Worship and Education program area. Presbyterians trace their history to the 16th century and the Protestant Reformation.
• Heard from General Assembly Council (GAC) executive director Linda Valentine, who reviewed GAC’s new structure, invited ACSWP members to share their perceptions of it and outlined the GAC’s Mission Work Plan goals, which establish four priorities for the PC(USA): evangelism and witness, justice and compassion, spirituality and discipleship, and leadership and vocation. A number of other GAC staffers also attended, such as the Rev. Curtis A. Kearns, GAC executive administrator; Sara Lisherness, director of the denomination’s Peace and Justice program area; the Rev. Victor Makari, coordinator of the PC(USA)’s Middle East Office; the Rev. Mark Koenig, coordinator of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program; the Rev. Barry Creech, who guides communications strategy for the GAC; the Rev. Robina Winbush, director for ecumenical relations in the PC(USA)’s Office of the General Assembly; the Rev. Nancy Troy, associate for the Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association; and the Rev. Joe Small, director of the PC(USA)’s Theology, Worship and Education program area.
• Received an update on a new “social creed,” a revision of the original “Social Creed of the Churches of 1908,” which addressed economic and social justice. A draft of the new social creed, being developed ecumenically and touching on broader social issues, is now with communions of the National Council of Churches (NCC) for study and discussion. Iosso told committee members that the draft is expected to undergo relatively limited modification on its way to the NCC governing board. Meanwhile, study materials to accompany the 2006 GA resolution, “Just Globalization: Justice, Ownership and Accountability,” are being prepared with assistance from recommendations from an ecumenical consultation involving economists and ethicists in Chicago last May.
• Heard a report about a recent meeting involving regional church leaders regarding a GA resolution focusing on disputed labor practices at a Smithfield Foods Inc. processing plant in Tar Heel, NC. The company based in Smithfield, VA, claims to be the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer. The committee approved action authorizing a letter seeking a meeting with high-ranking Smithfield management and to visit the plant with representatives from New Hope and Coastal Carolina presbyteries.