Team Report Index
H-4 Human Rights Team Report
To the First Presidency and the World Conference:
In 1984, World Conference action (enabling legislation: WCR
1184, 1197) established the Human Rights Committee (now Human Rights Team). The
charter for the 2007–2010 Human Rights Team calls for “attention on human rights
issues from a faith perspective, serving as a forum for church members,
supporting congregationally based activities, and listening to the voice of the
voiceless (Desmond Tutu).”
The charter specifically orders a series of deliverables, explained below. Our
team consists of thirteen members appointed by the First Presidency from
nominations received from church members. We are five women and eight men from
four continents, with two young adults, and a ratio of roughly 1:1 of World
Church staff to members. We have backgrounds in ministry, education,
human-rights advocacy, health and human services, and law.
Global Statement on Immigration
The 2004–2007 Human Rights Committee submitted a statement on
immigration to the World Church Leadership Council in the fall of 2006.
Following some modification by the Council, the First Presidency released the
statement in June 2007 as “A Statement on Immigration Issues in the United
States.” To follow up this action, the Presidency asked the 2007–2010 Human
Rights Team to draft a statement on immigration for the global church.
Using the initial statement as a primary source, the team sought
to broaden the scope and application of the declaration. While immigration is an
issue faced by church members in multiple regions throughout the world, the
particularities to context and culture make the creation of such a document
difficult.
Nonetheless, we strived to produce a statement not only
articulating a clear position grounded in Community of Christ identity and
mission, but providing resources for any congregation throughout the
international church to access and engage the issue from its particular setting.
Our team submitted the final draft of “Statement on Immigration” to the First
Presidency in November 2009.
Statement on HIV/AIDS
The First Presidency referred the resolution, G-14, “Struggle
Against HIV/AIDS,” from the French Language Caucus to our team. The resolution
calls for a statement “concerning the involvement of the church in the struggle
against HIV/AIDS, including addressing the issues of ignorance, poverty and
exclusion.” Thanks in no small part to two members of our team who are firsthand
witnesses to the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa, the statement we drafted offers a
perspective seasoned not only with an educational understanding of the issue but
with a sensitivity to the personal and practical dimensions of addressing it on
a human level.
HIV/AIDS has orphaned nearly sixty children in the extended
family of team member Robert Wanga (Nairobi, Kenya). Both he and team member
Joseph Charlie report that such a statement can empower and embolden the church
ministers in various African settings to speak about this issue, both in terms
of essential prevention information and in ministering to the many whose
families suffer from the crisis. Our team delivered its final draft of
“Statement on HIV/AIDS” in November 2009.
Resolution on Human Trafficking
As always, world affairs continue to reveal matters that call for
human-rights advocacy and education. In our work on immigration and HIV/AIDS,
the team discovered the increasing global human-rights crisis caused by human
trafficking. Essentially modern-day slavery, trafficking in human beings is fast
becoming the largest illegal enterprise in the world, surpassing the drug trade,
with an estimated 27 million people enslaved worldwide.1 The selling
of children is the fastest-growing global crime.2
Human trafficking affects both the immigration issue and the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Through force or deception, people become involuntary, unwitting, undocumented
immigrants in nations throughout the world. Human-trafficking victims are far
more likely to contract HIV/AIDS.
To help us better understand the issue, we enlisted the aid of
two people who work to fight this crisis in their daily professional work:
Carrie Rosetti (human-trafficking case manager at Hope House in Independence,
Missouri, and a member of community anti-human-trafficking task force) and
Catherine Striley (professor of psychiatry at Washington University in St.
Louis, Missouri).
With the help of these experts, a consensus emerged within the
team to take specific action in this inter-Conference period. Cathy served as
the primary drafter of the resolution on human trafficking submitted to the 2010
World Conference.
Recognition
The team again sought and gathered nominations for the Human Rights Award.
This award honors people in and around Community of Christ who work in the
forefront of various efforts to expose and confront human-rights violations, as
well as advocate for universal human rights.
This conference marks the seventh presentation of these
international awards. A list of past recipients can be accessed at
www.CofChrist.org/humanrights/award.asp. This time the recipients are Dr.
Roy Schaefer and Drs. Dennis and Lorna Labayen. Nominations for the Human Rights
Award may be submitted to the First Presidency or the Human Rights Team at any
time of the year.
Our team is pleased to serve the church by raising awareness of
human-rights needs and abuses through advocacy, education, and recognition of
individuals actively responding as disciples of Jesus Christ by working toward
human rights for all.
We continue to commend to the church the advocacy work of Rod
Downing (past HR Award recipient) found in his Web newsletter In the Forefront
(see www
.CofChrist.org/humanrights/hr-newsletter/default.asp). Each issue provides
commentary on various human-rights issues and recommends actions to bring
positive change.
Human Rights Team
Joseph Charlie
Judy Compier
John Glaser
Kris Judd
Greg Prymak
Terry Read, team lead
Bill Russell
Ryan Sharp
Sue Sloan
Candice Unger
Gustavo Vergara
Robert Wanga
Brenda Williams
