Council will consider draft statement on terrorists' attack By John H. Adams The Layman Online Thursday, September 27, 2001 TEMPE, Ariz. – The General Assembly Council, meeting in Tempe Sept. 26-29, will decide what to say – if anything – about the terrorists' attack on America. Much has already been said, most of it calling for a nonviolent response to terrorism. Moderator Jack B. Rogers, Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick and John Detterick, executive director of the General Assembly Council, have signed a "pastoral letter" that went to Presbyterian congregations. Among other points, they said, "We are commanded by our Lord to discover paths of forgiveness for those who perpetrate evil against us. That may well include an effort on our part to understand the pain, frustration and sense of powerlessness that has led them to acts of violence and to ask God to change their hearts of hatred to hearts of love." Vernon Broyles, director of the Congregational Ministries Division, wrote an essay that encapsulated some General Assembly policies and views into a statement on the nation's response to terrorism. Broyles compared the terrorist acts to the use of the atomic bomb by the United States against Japan. And Kirkpatrick jointly signed a document with 15 other religious leaders, including most of the leaders of mainline denominations affiliated with the National Council of Churches. None of the previous letters or commentary directly supported military action. The latest proposal for a response to the terrorists' attack on America came before the General Assembly Council as an "Advice & Counsel Memorandum" prepared by the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, the Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns and the Advocacy Committee for Women's Concerns. They produced a three-page, single-spaced draft memorandum that called for a "measured response" to the terrorist attack, including the "use of non-lethal means of force as the first response." The statement did not preclude military action, but called for "attention to just-war principles." "The use of force should be focused on the restraint of evildoers and the elimination of their capacity to create terror," they added. Generally, members of the executive committee of the General Assembly Council appeared to be in agreement with the essence of the proposed statement, but they also regarded it as too wordy. Further, some questioned whether the council itself needed to add another statement to the denomination's response to the terrorists' attack. But any reluctance to draft a statement evaporated after Gary Luhr, the denomination's communications officer, asked, "What will the perception be if the General Assembly Council meets in the wake of what happened two weeks ago and doesn't make a statement?" The "Advice & Counsel Memorandum" was intended as the framework for a letter to President George W. Bush and congressional leaders. But Moderator Rogers said a greater need was to inform congregations of the denomination's views about the terrorist attacks and some of the actions the PCUSA has undertaken to help victims of the disaster. He said he didn't believe the president would read a letter from a 2.5-million member denomination. But Rogers' reluctance to send a message to political leaders drew opposition. Adelia Kelso, vice chair of the General Assembly Council, said the thought that 50 years from now someone would discover that "the PCUSA did not say anything to the president frightens me." Marian McClure, director of World Wide Ministries, pointed out that "10 to 15 percent of the members of Congress are Presbyterians" - thus, another letter from the denomination should draw attention. She did not note, however, that most Presbyterians in the House and Senate are Republicans and that a significant number are hawkish on military issues. Ultimately, the executive committee decided that one policy statement and two letters were needed. The policy statement would be a brief summary of policy and interpretation, to be sent with separate cover letters to congregations and political leaders. The committee dispatched a four-person writing team to draft a proposed policy statement.

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