Domestic violence report

ACSWP sends domestic-violence policy to synods

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

The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) is sending to synods a draft policy statement on domestic violence, suggesting that the church become a "responsive church community" in dealing with issues of violence among its own members. Studies on Africa and on the changing family are also in process.
This report and others are now on their way to the 2001 General Assembly.

by Evan Silverstein

BLOOMINGTON, MN -- 24-October-2000 -- 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 churches 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