CHICAGO – Hoping to give the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) a sense of some of the big themes it considers essential – from the voice and authority of the stated clerk to the ministry of mid councils – the Way Forward Commission hopes to issue a midterm report, perhaps following its conference call at the end of June. The commission’s final report and recommendations to the 2018 General Assembly are due to the Office of the General Assembly by Feb. 16, 2018. The midterm report will include: A design schematic listing major themes. A response to initiatives that are specific to some of the PC(USA)’s six agencies (work the agencies are doing in response to conversations with the commission and to their own agency reviews) and to other issues highlighted in the agency reviews. A review of the commission’s process. An invitation for feedback to the commission. That likely would include a survey seeking responses to some of the issues and themes the commission has … [Read more...]

CHICAGO – The Way Forward Commission has begun to chart its next steps – including the question of whether it should draft a mid-point report for release in June. After a long discernment session at its meeting at McCormick Theological Seminary on May 16, commission members came up with lists to guide the next phase of its work – including themes that emerged from hours of discussion regarding the structure and function of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), plus questions the commission wants to investigate further. The commission may refine these lists further when its meeting continues May 17. But here are the lists so far. Themes – for possible inclusion in a mid-point report: Stated clerk: voice and role. Presbyterian Mission Agency should focus on mission – including mission delivery. Focus on mid councils – including providing resources for congregations. Shared services – where should that work be located in the PC(USA) and how should it be … [Read more...]

CHICAGO – This was a day of thinking big – about what the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) looks like now and about possibilities for change. If the Way Forward Commission could create the best denomination it could imagine, how might things be different? For six hours on May 16, the commission’s 12 members (minus two who weren't there, plus two denominational staff members assigned to work with the commission) took turns presenting thoughts on the denomination’s current alignment – what’s working and what’s not – and brainstorming about what potentially might happen next. Mark Hostetter, who’s the commission’s moderator and a teaching elder from New York, stressed that this was a time of discernment – of thinking out loud, to see what big-picture themes might surface. Hostetter made it clear that the ideas thrown out should not be seen as formal recommendations or even things on which the commission might eventually take a vote. They were ideas, plain and simple, imagination set … [Read more...]

CHICAGO – Jan Edmiston, co-moderator of the 2016 General Assembly, encouraged of the Way Forward Commission to focus on mission and to do the work of transformation, as the commission opened its meeting in Chicago May 16. Edmiston said the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) “exists to transform the world for God in the name of Jesus Christ” – that was the motto of the last congregation she served in northern Virginia. Edmiston said that as Presbyterians, “we’ve got to be humble, and we’ve got to focus on mission above everything else. That is what inspires people. … We have an enormous capacity for good, a capacity for transformation. … We could change this country if we used all the resources we have” – money, smart people and faith. “You’ve been charged with being bold and being brave, and that’s what I hope you’ll do,” Edmiston told the commission. The commission is holding its third face-to-face meeting May 16-17 at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago, although the … [Read more...]