Herbert Nelson, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). has issued an advisory opinion regarding the powers and responsibilities of the Moving Forward Implementation Commission.
Nelson had been asked to clarify what exactly the commission can and cannot do – and specifically the question of whether it can amend the bylaws of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation, which is the corporate entity for the Presbyterian Mission Agency and the Office of the General Assembly, or the Organization for Mission.
Nelson’s determination: the commission can suspend a provision of the Organization for Mission until the following General Assembly, when it’s asked to do so by an affected agency, and with the understanding that that suspension will be presented to the next assembly for its consideration. In other words, “it takes an action from one of the entities that would be affected” to request such a suspension, said Tom Hay, the PC(USA)’s director for assembly operations.
The advisory opinion also gives the commission authority to ensure compliance with and implementation of recommendations that the 2018 General Assembly approved from the Way Forward Commission and All Agency Review Committee. The full text of Nelson’s advisory committee can be found here.
The commission is holding every-other week conference calls. During the Feb. 26 call, commission members voted to add two representatives from Administrative Services in the A Corporation to the Diverse Voices Table, which is considering matters of equity and inclusion in the PC(USA).
The commission also is encouraging the Board of Pensions, which so far has only named one person to serve on the Diverse Voices Table, to send a second representative, as the other agencies and Presbyterian Women are doing. “If racial equity is a priority for the denomination, you move heaven and earth to be at the table,” said commission member Debra Avery, a minister from California.
Eric Beene, a pastor from Georgia, said all six of the PC(USA) agencies have conducted race audits, as required. But “there isn’t a common understanding” of what a race audit is, Beene said, so a subgroup of the Diverse Voices Table is working to look at other denominations and groups that have conduced race audits in an effort to create some norms and standards, so there’s consistency.
Cliff Lyda, a minister from Florida, reported that the 2020 Vision Team recently met – and that meeting included Bible study with Cindy Kohlmann, co-moderator of the 2018 General Assembly. Lyda said he’d welcome, at one of the commission’s upcoming meetings, it having conversation and Bible study with with Kohlmann and co-moderator Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri as well.
