'Unbound'
Check out Unbound, ACSWP’s newly launched successor to Church & Society, with its current issue on human rights: “Occupy Human Rights, Not Us: Indigenous Rights for Human Rights Day.”
'World of Hurt, Word of Life'
See ACSWP's PowerPoint presentation from the 2012 Compassion, Peace and Justice Training Day.
Order back issues of Church and Society
Planning an adult education class? Curious what the church and its greatest thinkers have said in the past about a specific social issue? Is your church uncertain how to respond to social needs in the community? Or do you just enjoy reading and learning about Christian perspectives on social issues? Then, find your “issue” here and order your back-issue of Church & Society today! For 98 years, Church & Society (and its predecessors) could be found across the United States in church classrooms and households, driven by the mission “to provide a forum for the church of subjects of social concern for Christians.” The journal included “reflective comment on social issues, models and resources for individual and group study and action, and articles to encourage dialogue among persons with religious commitment. Articles represent the opinions of the authors.”
Download a short list of back issues
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Order these back issues by calling the Presbyterian Distribution Service (PDS) at 1-800-524-2612
Who we are
The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) is a servant of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). We develop, interpret and monitor policies that encourage and challenge the Church and society to reflect and act in faithful response to God’s call to do justice.
- About us
- Function of ACSWP
- The history of ACSWP
- Subscribe to Salt & Light, our email list │ download past issues of Salt & Light
Alcohol Use & Abuse – Social and Health Effects
The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) has posted the most recent substantial General Assembly policy on Alcohol Abuse (1986) on its website and encourages Presbyterians and others watching the new Ken Burns/Lynn Novick documentary on Prohibition to be aware of the full rationale for church efforts at limiting alcohol consumption. Church sensitivity to the dangers of addiction to individuals and families remains in the use of fruit juice in communion services in many congregations.
ACSWP remains concerned about these dangers of alcohol abuse and of broader cultural patterns that glamorize addiction in general, despite a selectively punitive current “war on drugs.” The General Assembly’s policy statement includes a very illuminating two page history of the Church’s numerous efforts to encourage “temperance” in the 19th Century, well before the passage of the prohibition amendment. The church’s first social justice magazine (begun, 1908) was, in fact, called The Amethyst, as in Greek mythology that gemstone cured unquenchable thirst.
Currently, the church’s ministry to those suffering from alcoholism is coordinated by volunteers in the PHEWA network, Presbyterians for Addiction Action.
Find out more about Prohibition on PBS.
Study the Social Creed
The 216th General Assembly (2006) asked the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) with the General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical Relations and the Department of Theology and Worship to continue work on updating for the 21st century the 1908 “Social Creed of the Churches” for presentation at the 218th General Assembly (2008) to celebrate the centennial of the “Social Creed of the Churches” of 1908.
Connecting to the Creed
This booklet provides Biblical, theological and historical background as well as current application ideas for each of the Social Creed affirmations. It also has questions for discussion and links to the Hudson River Presbytery’s posters and other resources.
Learn more and find more resources for studying the Social Creed
Learn about the Social Creed through this video
This 28-minute DVD is a professionally produced documentary introducing both the 1908 and 2008 Social Creeds and the church’s prophetic concerns in the century in between. Presbyterian and ecumenical leaders speak to why and how the church has used it voice and built structures for economic, racial, women’s and environmental justice. A final section looks at how the Social Creed can help address new challenges to Christian social witness in the 21st Century.