Riviera Presbyterian Church

According to the General Guide to the Facts about the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Social Issues:

The General Assembly: Affirms its conviction that neither the Church as the body of Christ, nor Christians as individuals, can be neutral or indifferent toward evil in the world; Affirms its responsibility to speak on social and moral issues for the encouragement and instruction of the Church and its members, seeking earnestly both to know the mind of Christ and to speak always in humility and love; Reminds the churches that their duty is not only to encourage and train their members in daily obedience to God’s will, but corporately to reveal God’s grace in places of suffering and need, to resist the forces that tyrannize, and to support the forces that restore the dignity of all persons as the children of God, for only so is the gospel most fully proclaimed. [taken from the web site www.pcusa.org/101/101-social.htm Presbyterian 101]

With this directive in mind, the Mission Committee of Riviera Presbyterian Church will use the following guidelines to determine how to “speak on social and moral issues”:

Topics: Communications will relate only to social or moral issues. Issues that might be addressed could include poverty, war, Israel /Palestine, U.S. foreign relations, immigration, employment, health care, economy, environment, capital punishment, gun control, race, gay/lesbian issues, and education. At no time will a political party or candidate be supported.

Dissemination: The following guidelines will apply to e-mails relating to social justice issues:

1. The Mission Committee may initiate an email relating to a social justice issue identified by committee members as deserving
   the attention of church members, so long as no concern is raised by a committee member. Such an email will be sent using the RPC listserv and be identified as having the endorsement of the Mission Committee.
2. If a church member contacts the Mission Committee about a social justice issue and no concern is raised by a committee member,
   the committee may send an email relating to this issue using the RPC listserv and identify it as having the endorsement of
   the Mission Committee.
3. If the Mission Committee has a concern about endorsing a particular social justice issue (i.e., if it’s “potentially controversial”), it
   may take either of the following actions:
   — If the Mission Committee is uncomfortable with endorsing a particular issue but thinks that members would benefit
   from hearing about the issue, it can forward the email text, incorporating any edits it deems necessary that have been
   approved by the author, to the church office for dissemination using the RPC listserv but with an indication that the
   email is coming from an individual rather than from the Mission Committee. — If the committee has concerns about sending the email via the RPC listserv (even with edits), it can recommend that
   the individual communicate with church members about the issue independently of the listserv.
4. If the statement has been endorsed by the Mission Committee, the Subject line shall say “Social Justice Issue (from Mission Committee):” followed by the topic of the message, and a disclaimer including the following: DISCLAIMER: This communication is for your information only and, while this message reflects the opinion of the whole of the RPC Mission Committee, it does not, necessarily, reflect the opinion of the whole RPC congregation. If the statement has not been endorsed by the Mission Committee but has been approved for distribution via the RPC listserv, the Subject line shall say “Social Justice Issue (from NAME OF INDIVIDUAL):” followed by the topic of the message and a disclaimer including the following: DISCLAIMER: This communication is for your information only. This communication does not reflect the opinion of the whole of the RPC Mission Committee, nor does it reflect the opinion of the RPC congregation as a whole.
5. The church office shall rely on the Mission Committee to identify social justice issues that can be sent via the RPC listserv and
   to differentiate which have Mission Committee endorsement. It should forward any requests for email communications relating to social justice issues to the chair of the Mission Committee for review by the committee.

Modes of Communication: Information about social justice issues may be posted by the Mission Committee on the RPC web site, emailed using the RPC listserv, communicated in Moments for Mission during worship, or shared through special programs. This policy was approved at the April 20, 2010 Session Meeting.