May 26, 2003
by Evan Silverstein

DENVER - The General Assembly Committee on National Issues held an open hearing Monday on a controversial policy paper about the changing nature of families in U.S. society.

The paper, Living Faithfully with Families in Transition, developed by the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP), is expected to spark debate during the Assembly. It documents the changing structure of family life which now includes single-parent households, children raised by grandparents or other non-parent relatives and domestic partnerships other than marriage, for example and discusses how various kinds of families (and the church) can raise children faithfully and responsibly in a variety of family circumstances.

Speaking in favor of the report was the Rev. Erin Swenson, of the Atlanta area, who described herself as a transgendered woman.

I pray you will adopt this report as a way for this church to keep the doors open to those who need to join this diverse family, our Presbyterian church, she said.

Some critics of the paper claimed during the hearing that it diminishes the importance of traditional two-parent families and elevates non-traditional families to moral equivalence. They also charged that it appears to validate unmarried and same-sex relationships, in violation of scripture and Christian morality.

Keep the family intact, said June Newman, who spoke in opposition to the paper. Let the family be what God intended it to be.

The report, compiled in response to actions by General Assemblies in 1997 and 1998, asks the church to commit itself to being an inclusive and caring community of faith in which many forms of family are valued, including families with members of homosexual orientation.

It says families of all kinds can do a good job of raising children, and urges the PC(USA) to oppose principles or policies that would stigmatize any persons ... based on family form.

The committee also received a PowerPoint presentation on the paper prepared by ACSWP committee member Sue Dickson, of El Paso, TX. In other business, the committee:

. Disapproved a resolution expressing concern to the Chevrolet division of General Motors Corp. for a marketing strategy that that seeks to use religion for corporate economic gain;

. Approved an ACSWP recommendation that the 215th GA commend to individuals, congregations and presbyteries for study and advocacy When Hate Comes To Town: A Handbook of Effective Community Responses. The publication explores the meaning of hate crimes and racism with a particular attention to racism and white supremacy, anti-Semitism, homophobia and violence against women. The action also urges the General Assembly Council through its ministry divisions and program areas to continue working on these issues and promote the document for churchwide study and use.

PCUSA News Service