A proposed interim statement, which the council will likely discuss on Saturday, calls for Presbyterians to pray — for leaders of the U.S., Iraq and the United Nations; for those who are fearful of war; that Saddam Hussein will cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors and stop his threats of violence; for the people of Iraq who suffer oppression; and for restraint by the U.S. government.
That proposed statement also calls on American leaders, including President Bush, “to speak in ways that encourage peace, rather than war;” to end economic sanctions against Iraq; and “to allow the decisions of the United Nations regarding the return of weapons inspectors to Iraq to run their appropriate course.”
The council also will consider on Saturday a paper regarding the role of the Presbyterian News Service. That paper — which says the news service should have editorial freedom but also should reflect the official voice of the denomination and “shed more light than heat” in its reporting on controversial issues — sailed unanimously through the executive committee, with little discussion.
The News Service is an unusual animal: its reporters are employees of thePC(USA), but they also write about the denomination for which they work. Relatively few stories the News Service puts out generate complaints — and those sometimes rise from coverage of issues that are inherently controversial, said Gary Luhr, director of the General Assembly Council’s Office of Communications. Luhr said he hopes the new statement will give the news service — which sometimes gets “caught in the middle” — clearer guidelines on how to do its work.
“I think this is a very positive step forward,” said Clifton Kirkpatrick,the PC(USA)’s stated clerk. While the Presbyterian News Service usually reports fairly, it “has not sometimes captured” the institutional voice of the denomination in its stories, Kirkpatrick said.
The executive committee also heard comments Wednesday, Sept. 25, from Lucimarian Roberts and Bill Saul, who are co-chairs of the Mission Initiative, a five-year campaign to raise $40 million from big donors to support international mission work and new church development in the PC(USA).
In creating the Mission Initiative, “you did so much more than just giving us a vehicle for raising funds,” Roberts said. “You gave us an opportunity to lift Jesus higher, and this is what it’s all about. He alone gives us abundantly more than we could ever ask for, and this is what mission initiative is all about. It’s bringing God’s people together.”
Saul said those involved with the project have been working hard to select the steering committee, which will have its first meeting Nov. 18 in Chicago, and to hire the top staff person for the fundraising effort. “There is just no chance this isn’t going to work — it is going to work,” Saul said. “We’re well on our way.”
