About SPSARV
"For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, says the Lord ... " Jeremiah 30:17
SPSARV develops UMC leadership providing ministries of prevention, treatment and advocacy as they respond to alcohol, tobacco, and other drug issues. SPSARV provides training and networking opportunities, technical assistance, funding, and serves as an advocate for public policy that protects and restores. Bearing witness to God's love, SPSARV accompanies individuals, families and communities in their journeys to hope, healing and deliverance.
SPSARV was established by the 1992 General Conference from a proposal submitted by the General Board of Global Ministries and initiated through the efforts of United Methodist episcopal leadership. The proposal called for The United Methodist Church (UMC) to respond, "in a cooperative effort" to the drug crisis on a national and international level with collaboration among the general boards of Global Ministries, Church and Society, Discipleship, and Higher Education and Ministry, and the General Commission on Religion and Race, under the leadership of the Council of Bishops.
The 1996, 2000 and 2004 General Conferences each reaffirmed SPSARV as an ongoing initiative of the denomination, thus solidifying our commitment to addressing the spiritual disease of substance abuse and related violence.
VISION
Equipping all levels of the United Methodist Church to honor its four-century old commitment to the journey of hope, healing, deliverance and wholeness.
MISSION
Bearing witness to God's love and grace, SPSARV prepares United Methodist leadership and their partners to accompany individuals, families, and communities in their journeys of hope, healing, deliverance and ultimately, wholeness. SPSARV develops faith community networks and resources that raise awareness and equip people for prevention, intervention, treatment and advocacy ministry responses.
DENOMINATION-WIDE RESPONSE
SPSARV coordinates the denomination's support for partnership development and resources in the global response to substance abuse and related violence through its United Methodist Inter-Agency and Standing Committee Task Force on Alcohol and Other Drugs (IASCTF). The IASCTF is composed of representatives from the five (5) U.S. regional jurisdictions and general church agencies.
