It’s been a wild year for news in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — including a General Assembly with fewer evangelicals but lots of passion, and an investigation into ethics violations in the denomination’s 1001 New Worshipping Communities leadership. Here are 10 top news stories for 2014 (although readers may have their own additions or subtractions to the list).
Same-gender marriage. With doors opening to same-gender marriages in states all over the country, PC(USA) ministers now have the flexibility to perform such weddings in jurisdictions where they are legal — although they are not required to do so. The 2014 assembly approved an authoritative interpretation giving that permission. And presbyteries are now in the process of voting on a proposed amendment to the PC(USA) Book of Order the assembly also approved, to change the definition of Christian marriage in the denomination’s constitution from being between “a man and a woman” to “two people, traditionally a man and a woman.” To take effect, that constitutional amendment needs a majority vote from the PC(USA)’s 171 presbyteries.
Divestment. The assembly approved by an extraordinarily close 50.6%-49.4% margin (310-303) a plan for the PC(USA) to begin phased divestment of about $16.5 million in assets from three companies that provide equipment used by the Israeli military in the West Bank and Gaza Strip — Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions. The assembly also specified that its action was “not to be construed” as support of the global Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (B.D.S.) movement. In 2012, the assembly narrowly defeated a similar recommendation to divest.
Ethics violations. An internal investigation found that four PC(USA) employees involved with the 1001 New Worshipping Communities initiative had committed ethics violations, having set up an unauthorized nonprofit corporation without denominational approval and sending $100,000 in PC(USA) funds to the new corporation, with a second check stopped only when the new corporation was discovered. The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board executive committee voted Nov. 14 to hire a Nashville attorney to do an independent investigation and to ask Linda Valentine, executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, to put the four employees on paid administrative leave until that investigation is completed, probably early in 2015. Valentine had earlier decided not to terminate any of the four (Roger Dermody, Eric Hoey, Philip Lotspeich and Craig Williams), saying that while “mistakes were made,” the employees returned all the money, did not take it for personal gain and were trying to support the ministry of the 1001 program.
1001 growth. The denomination’s evangelism leaders say the 1001 program has been growing — with more than 270 new worshipping communities added to the list since the 2012 assembly, including everything from immigrant fellowships to gatherings of artists and young adults. Adding a community to the list is just a first step — with many questions regarding future sustainability, leadership and growth still to be worked out. In a denomination whose membership has been declining for decades, however, innovation and new ways of doing ministry are seen as signs of Presbyterian hope.
Departures. At the same time, however, evangelicals continued to leave the PC(USA), with the assembly’s votes on same-gender marriage cementing the decision to depart for some congregations. The congregations leaving, primarily for ECO: A Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians (which now reports more than 160 congregations as members), included some of the PC(USA)’s largest — such as Menlo Park and St. Andrews Presbyterian in California and Highland Park in Dallas. For evangelicals who have stayed in the PC(USA), the Fellowship of Presbyterians and Presbyterians for Renewal will merge by Jan. 1 into an entity called Fellowship Community. Among the questions for the future: What, if any, connections will there be among these groups? What do these departures mean for the PC(USA) — and for ECO? What witness does this give to the world?
ISIL and international violence. Seeing ISIL attacks in Iraq and Syria, the fighting between Israelis and Palestinians, the abductions of girls and women, and attacks on churches and Christians, people of all faith traditions are questioning how best to respond and how to show compassion and grace to such troubled places. Refugee camps swell, filled with generations of displaced families; word trickles out of beheadings and mass shootings. Presbyterians and others of faith and compassion ask: What can we do? What is our task of peacemaking and repairing the hurt in this connected, complicated, crying world?
Belhar Confession and racial justice. For the second time, Presbyterians are considering whether to add the Belhar Confession from South Africa — a statement on the need for reconciliation, unity and justice — to the PC(USA)’s Book of Confessions. To achieve that, two-thirds of the denomination’s presbyteries (114 of 171) would have to ratify the confession and the 2016 General Assembly also would have to vote to add Belhar to the PC(USA)’s confessional statement. An earlier effort to include Belhar fell eight votes short (108-63) in the polling by the presbyteries in 2011. As Presbyterians vote on Belhar, they are also witnessing unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, and elsewhere regarding racial inequality in the U.S. — with civil disobedience (including the arrests of some Presbyterians) and people raising questions about race-based inequities in incarceration rates, performance in schools and more.
Mid councils. The assembly voted to reduce the number of synods in the denomination — from the current 16 to no more than 10 to 12 — and to report back to the assembly in Portland in 2016. How that will happen, what the exact numbers will be and how the reconfiguration will be achieved is up for discussion — with the hope answers will emerge from the grassroots.
Steve Hayner. After Hayner, then the president of Columbia Theological Seminary in Georgia, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he told the Columbia community that the news was bad: The cancer had spread. Since then, Columbia has named William E. Scheu as its interim president. Hayner has continued to minister with his hopeful, joyous, faithful embrace of the time he has left. “As long as I have life on this earth, I have a call,” he wrote in November. And: “Joy is not about my circumstances, but about being held and sustained by God’s love.”
Fossil fuels. Another divestment measure failed at the 2014 assembly — an overture asking the Board of Pensions and Presbyterian Foundation to immediately stop any new investment in fossil fuel companies, and over the next five years divest any assets the denomination already has placed in oil, gas and coal firms. That proposal was strongly supported by commissioners concerned about global warming, but the assembly chose instead to study the issue for possible action by a future assembly. Look for this one to come back. With support from a coalition of environmental, college and faith-based groups, this issue probably won’t go away.
