212th General Assembly (2000) Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) There is strong evidence that the death penalty is applied in a racist manner. In 1987, in McCleskey v. Kemp, the United States Supreme Court refused to act on data demonstrating the continuing reality of racial bias. Justice William Brennan in his dissenting opinion said: It is tempting to pretend that minorities on death row share a fate in no way connected to our own, that our treatment of them sounds no echoes beyond the chambers in which they die. Such an illusion is ultimately corrosive, for the reverberations of injustice are not …
Policy Recommendations The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) recommends that the 211th General Assembly (1999) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) do the following: 1. Commend the United Nations and the International Conference in Rome for the drafting and adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). 2. Affirm the need for international judicial mechanisms for the administration of justice capable of addressing major categories of crime with consistent application for all countries. 3. Call upon all governments to be diligent in the conduct of affairs, preventing those acts that might constitute offenses of international character …
Drawing upon biblical sources, insights from the Reformed Tradition, and past policies of the General Assembly, this resolution affirms the continued use of restorative justice as the guiding metaphor for the work, program, and ministry of the church engaged with the criminal “justice” system. The resolution offers a simple definition of restorative justice as “addressing the hurts and the needs of the victim, the offender, and the community in such a way that all—victim, offender, and community—might be healed.”
Establishing a strong foundation on biblical, theological, and historic principals, this study explores the present context in which our justice system functions. It puts forward the position that the rehabilitation of prisoners and profiting off of their incarceration are fundamentally opposed points of view. The treatment of prisoners cannot run the risk of corruption by considerations of what will make the most profit for share-holders, yet in a for-profit prison system this is the primary motivation.
This policy establishes biblical foundations for opposing torture, especially the affirmation that all persons, created by God, have value and rights that preclude inhumane treatment via torture. Although it addresses a number of places in the world where torture was ongoing in 2006, it focuses primarily on the United States’ use of torture in the course of the Iraq and Afghan wars. The resolution places the PC(USA) squarely in opposition to torture and approves any congressional steps to curb the practice by the country’s military and intelligence communities.
This report, approved by the 219th General Assembly (2010),challenges our society’s fatalism and numbness in accepting the highest gun death rates in the world, reviews past church positions and proposes a new “spiritual awakening” approach: a church-related, community-based strategy inspired by “Heeding God’s Call” in Philadelphia, with similar groups in Richmond, Virginia and central New Jersey. The report looks at our culture of violence-acceptance, with its undercurrents of fear and desperation.
This document sets forth a clear vision for social policy and social witness. The accompanying study guide is helpful in describing the "whys" and "hows" of social policy formulation and witness inn the PC(USA) and explains and interprets Reformed patterns of social witness.
The Social Creed for the 21st Century was adopted in 2008 by ecumenical representatives of 35 Protestant and Orthodox church communions. This booklet provides Biblical, theological and historical background as well as current application ideas for each of the Creed's affirmations. It also includes questions for discussion and study.
The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) serves the prophetic calling of the whole Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) by providing the General Assembly with careful studies of pressing moral challenges, media for discussion and discernment of Christian responsibilities, and policy recommendations for faithful action.
This reproducible black and white original artwork is based on Ephesians 6:15 and features the text “As shoes for you feet, put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace” inside Mr. Rogers sweater. His shoes and neighborhood are also present. Designed especially for Mr. Rogers Day by the folks at Illustrated Ministry, the artwork can be downloaded in a variety of sizes – 8.5×11, 11×17, 24×36 and 36×48 in black/white for coloring. It is also available in color.