LOUISVILLE — It’s a season of reconfiguration for the General Assembly Council of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — with new leadership and a new structure.
At its meeting in Louisville Feb. 13-15, the council approved a new “Mission Work Plan” that will guide its work for the next four years, although details of the PC(USA)’s budget for 2009 and 2010 won’t be presented until the council meets again April 23-25.
The plan includes some broad commitments — that the council will be collaborative, accountable, responsive, and excellent in its work. It also describes the focus in each of the council’s goal areas — such things as “assisting all people to discern and respond to vocational call” and “working to alleviate poverty, hunger, illness and the effects of disaster and suffering.”
Here are some other highlights from the council’s recent meeting.
Per capita. The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, along with the General Assembly Council, is recommending that the General Assembly increase per capita — the per-member assessment — by 25 cents. That would be a boost, if approved, of 4.3 percent, from $5.79 per active member this year to $6.04 in both 2009 and 2010. The projected per capita budget would be more than $12.3 million in 2009 and $15.3 million for 2010.
The assembly will set the per capita rate when it meets in San Jose in June.
The report recommending the increase also stated that “we reaffirm the importance of the per capita budget,” and that to eliminate it “would be a serious mistake for the church” and “could have disastrous financial consequences to our presbyteries.”
Despite attempts by some advocacy groups to encourage withholding of per capita, over the last decade the amount of unpaid per capita assessments have never exceeded four percent, the report states.
Finances. Joey Bailey, chief financial officer for the denomination, provided information from the denomination’s year-end financial report — a snapshot of how things look. Some highlights: receipts were up for three of the four special offerings (Christmas Joy by $287,635, Peacemaking by $253,397, and Pentecost by $42,922), although One Great Hour of Sharing receipts dropped by $476,019.
Curriculum made money (a surplus of more than $139,000).
And while the denomination had budgeted to spend $2.5 million from its reserves, it spent only $700,000 from reserve funds — saving the rest by cutting expenses, Bailey said.
Church growth. The whole question of how to remain a vital church in a time with limited money and declining membership also was on the council’s radar.
Initially, Linda Valentine, the council’s executive director, had proposed that it ask the 218th General Assembly to declare a church-wide “Commitment to Nurture the Growth of Christ’s Church” in 2009 and 2010. The idea, she said, was to consider growth in three ways — numerical growth; growth in discipleship; and growth in diversity.
But some council members questioned what exactly the commitment to church growth implies.
“It’s like motherhood and apple pie — you can’t be against it,” said Betty Jones of New York, as a council committee considered the measure. “But are we facing the real facts of why we’re losing members? … How does the 21st century church meet the demands of the 21st century?”
If it’s really a priority, “how much is it going to cost?” asked Doug Megill from Pennsylvania. If that’s not understood, “it may be one of just many resolutions we pass.”
So the document the council ultimately passed was remodeled and given the new title, “Growing God’s Church — Deep and Wide.”
It asks the General Assembly to “declare a church-wide commitment to participate in God’s activity in transforming” the PC(USA) in 2009 and 2010. It encourages synods, presbyteries, sessions and others involved in Presbyterian life to commit to “grow the church deep and wide” in these three areas:
Grow the church: Invite persons to attend. Baptize children and adults. Increase our congregations.
Grow in discipleship: Rediscover Scripture. Nurture spirituality. Affirm our Reformed heritage. Embrace stewardship in all of life.
Grow in diversity: Welcome everyone. Learn from others. Reflect the world.
Diversity. But the council had to confront at this meeting how well its own membership really “reflects the world,” as it was asked to name two new “at-large” members to its executive committee. During that report, several council members raised objections about a lack of racial diversity on the executive committee itself.
“We’re not doing the job of being representative of the whole church,” said Esperanza Guajardo of Texas. “We’re representing the white. That is unfair; justice is not being done.”
Guajardo challenged each council member to go out and find candidates for positions who are people of color, saying, “We are there, but we are not being called upon to come represent the church.”
Valerie Small, staff for the General Assembly Nominating Committee, said the Book of Order requires the General Assembly Council to have at least 20 percent of its members be from non-white racial-ethnic groups. The last General Assembly gave permission to put that requirement on hold, temporarily, as the council makes the transition to a smaller body, Small said, adding: “They were not happy to be asked not to abide by the mandate,” but understood the need as the council goes through a period of adjustment, she said. But “you do have the commitment of the General Assembly Nominating Committee” for racial diversity on the council.
Jim Dave Wilson, a council member from New Jersey, said he wasn’t pleased to hear that a Book of Order mandate for racial diversity had been set aside.
The numbers proposed for the executive committee — which would have been four white females, four white males and a Hispanic male — seem like “we’re back in the 50s,” Wilson said. “I’m an American who happens to be black, with an ancestry out of Africa and Europe. I would like to be represented by someone who speaks with a flavor that I’m accustomed to.”
The council responded by withdrawing one of the nominations for an at-large member of the executive committee — that of Carolyn McLarnan, a white elder from Mississippi, who had indicated she was willing to step aside — and proceeding with that of Conrad Rocha, an Hispanic elder from New Mexico. The nominating committee will bring a recommendation for filling the remaining slot at the April meeting.
Military chaplains. The council also heard an update on Presbyterian military chaplains serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
According to a report prepared by the Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel, that group had 45 reserve and National Guard chaplains mobilized from 2006 to 2008.
“To date, all have come home in good shape,” the report states. It thanks the PC(USA) for posting the names of the chaplains on the denomination’s Web site to be supported in prayer. And “we’ve been gratified to see prayers offered, care packages sent and chaplains ‘adopted’ by churches.”
Of Presbyterian active-duty chaplains, about 60 were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2006 to 2008, the report states, and “many are still deployed. Our military chaplains suffer the same hardships as other military; their ministry is often in harm’s way. We’re glad that only two have earned Purple Hearts and that both are expected to make full recoveries.”
Of those who’ve served, “some of them are quite exhausted after a war tour; some have symptoms of post-traumatic stress. We seek to be with them and find appropriate support.”
Edward Brogan, executive director of the chaplains’ group, showed a council committee a video featuring some of the chaplains’ work in Iraq. “We’ve had a very strange war,” he told the committee. While those serving in the U.S. military feel intensely the war’s impact, “the rest of the country is nearly oblivious that it’s happening, is not bearing the cost.”
The chaplains, he said, “appreciate the support” of the PC(USA).
Committee reviews. The council is considering asking the General Assembly to create a new review committee to look at the role that permanent, advocacy and advisory committees and commissions play in the PC(USA). A report proposing such a review committee said it would examine the interaction and cooperation among such groups, as well as their “scope and authority.”
It also states that the committee would consider how each contributes to the overall work of the denomination and “determine the degree to which these entities work cooperatively, and identify where duplication, gaps or overlap of responsibilities reside.”
New leadership. The council elected Carol J. Adcock of Fort Worth as its new chair and Michael Kruse of Kansas City as its vice-chair. Both will serve two-year terms, starting at the adjournment of the G. A. next summer.
