A change of leadership is in the works for the Special Offerings Program of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Bryce Wiebe, who currently serves as a staff member in the Presbyterian Hunger Agency, is being named to take over the leadership of the Special Offerings Program, according to Linda Valentine, executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.
During a conference call Feb. 20, Valentine told members of the executive committee of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board of the pending appointment, saying that Wiebe is a Christian educator who holds a master of divinity degree from Yale Divinity School and has a passion for the work of the church. According to the PC(USA) website, he currently serves as the associate for the Enough for Everyone program. Wiebe will begin work in his new role on March 2, Valentine said.
When asked about Sam Locke, who had been the denomination’s director of Special Offerings, Kathy Francis, the PC(USA)’s director of communications, said via email that Locke “is no longer with the organization.”
The PC(USA)’s Special Offerings program was hit with a wave of criticism earlier this year for approving a marketing campaign for One Great Hour of Sharing which was designed by an Indianapolis firm and which many Presbyterians contended involved racist stereotypes. In response to the criticism, the Special Offerings program later decided to revise that campaign at an estimated cost of $65,000.
Marilyn Gamm, chair of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, said, in response to a letter of concern from the Synod of the Northeast, that the $65,000 will not be taken from the One Great Hour of Sharing proceeds – and she praised the synod for continuing to encourage Presbyterians to support the PC(USA)’s four Special Offerings. While the news involving the Presbyterian Mission Agency has been distressing in recent months, “the mission agency does phenomenal work with limited resources,” Gamm said.
