The result of their four years of labor, at the directive of both the 217th and the 218th General Assemblies, are two recommendations for consideration by the 219th assembly. The first recommendation is the new FoG and the second is an advisory handbook developed for governing bodies to aid them in using the new FoG.
The charge to the task force was “revising the Form of Government in a manner that preserves our foundational polity, focuses on providing leadership for congregations as communities where mission begins, and emphasizes the presbytery as the central governmental unit,” according to a letter accompanying the draft of the new FoG sent out by the task force.
A new Form of Government has been long in the making and dates back to the time of reunion when the current FoG was formed with many compromises in order to bring the UPCUSA and the PCUS together. Some Presbyterians observe that amendments added over the past 25 years have created more of an operations manual than a guide for governance.
With the proposed changes brought by the committee, the task force hopes to offer a shift in focus for the new FoG, from a focus on governance to one of mission. The new FoG is also meant to add greater flexibility for presbyteries, reinstating the historic Presbyterian value of ministry being centered in this governing body.
This approach includes two parts. First is Foundations of Presbyterian Polity. Within it is background, based in our reformed heritage, of the theological underpinnings of our form of government. Second is the proposed new Form of Government. According to the task force, this form of government “grants flexibility to councils (governing bodies) to provide their own policies and standing rules within the broader standards retained from our current polity.”
So what options does the General Assembly committee on the FoG have? There are overtures that propose commending the task force for its work and sending the proposed new FoG to the church for further study. This would extend the life of the proposal into the next assembly cycle.
This assembly’s effort will likely bring movement toward a new FoG, in the form of further study, testing by select regional governing bodies and further editing and retooling before any new FoG is officially adopted.
JANET TUCK is editor of Voice for Synod of Living Waters, Franklin, Tenn.
