Being Presbyterian

Have you ever wondered what The Presbyterian Church in Canada thinks about the various social issues that face our world? Many would be surprised that The PCC takes an active role in analyzing, assessing and commenting on social issues in Canada and world-wide. Poverty, health-care, human sexuality and biotechnology are just some of the tough issues that have been referred by various General Assemblies to the Justice Ministries office of the Life and Mission Agency, and other courts of the church. Social issues of concern to Presbyterians are brought through overtures to the attention of the General Assembly. These issues are considered by a number of committees and courts of the church.

How is one to remember all of these statements without poring over years of Acts & Proceedings? Unless you really like reading the Acts & Proceedings of General Assemblies (or you have a very good memory) you’ll be glad to learn of the Social Action Handbook (SAH) produced by Justice Ministries. This three-hundred-plus page volume is a compendium of General Assembly adopted statements and reflections concerning social justice and public policy issues. It was completely overhauled in 2004 and is updated annually. The Introduction to the SAH describes itself this way: It is a summary of the reports and recommendations adopted by the annual General Assemblies of The Presbyterian Church in Canada from 1954 to the present. As such, it represents the mind of the church, as an institution, as of the last time the matter was discussed at General Assembly. It does not necessarily represent the mind of every individual member of the church.

What can you expect to find? The handbook is arranged into five Books: Life, Relationships, Community, Nation, and World. Within each Book, issues are each afforded an article that has three sections: The Church Speaks, The Church Acts, and The Church Reflects. How about some examples? Poverty has long been a concern to Presbyterians. The SAH chronicles The PCC’s policy statements on this important issue starting on page 168 of Book 4: Nation. In The Church Speaks is a summation of the values and statements which underlay church reflections. The example below is from the poverty section:

• God’s love and concern for the needy should be a constant reminder and challenge to His Church to join Him in His concern and action on behalf of the poor in Canada and the world.
• There is strong [scriptural] evidence that God judges individuals and nations for their neglect of the poor.
• Poverty is a great destroyer of human rights and one of the greatest causes of tension in Canada and the world.
• We should endeavour to understand and have empathy for the poor and assist them to solve their problems where possible.
• Levels of support should be adequate and should include opportunity for self-improvement.
• A guaranteed annual income is a necessary component in the alleviation of poverty.
• Sessions and congregations can be catalysts in bringing together community groups to discuss ways and means of improving the lot of the poor and in enabling the poor to have a voice in determining their own destinies.
• As we seek justice, we must both minister to individual citizens and advocate for policy changes which reduce poverty.
• Poverty is more than material depravation. A measure of one’s well-being must include the realization of self-worth, dignity and social inclusion.
• A national strategy with measurable targets and a time line is a necessary component of poverty reduction in Canada.

The Church Acts section offers a timeline of church actions and particular involvement in the public square. The latest statement on poverty, made in 2007, reads:

2007: The 133rd GA affirmed the need for a national strategy with measurable targets and a timeline to reduce poverty in Canada and encouraged congregations to write to their federal, provincial and local officials to establish such a strategy. The Moderator wrote to the GOC [Government of Canada] and Provincial and Territorial governments recommending:

• a minimum wage of $10 per hour and that minimum wage should be indexed to the annual cost of living;
• the establishment of a national social housing program;
• that Employment Insurance coverage be expanded to make it more accessible and that benefit rates and the maximum benefit period be increased.

Congregations were encouraged to write to their Premiers recommending an end to the claw back to social assistance and to meet with representatives of low-income groups to learn about the challenges their face and how the church might assist them.

Finally, The Church Reflects section offers excerpts from various reports to General Assembly including the most recent from Justice Ministries entitled "The Growing Gap in Canada":

We are created in the image of God. All humans are equal before God and are to be treated with dignity. We are called to share God’s abundance. Canada is a prosperous nation and ranks sixth on the United Nations Human Development Index. Poverty in Canada is not only about material deprivation; self-worth and dignity suffer. Social exclusion is a painful consequence of poverty. Our society has a tendency to blame the poor for their predicament.

The Social Action Handbook offers over three hundred pages of Presbyterian perspectives on issues facing Canada and the world. I highly recommend taking a glance through it.