CINCINNATI – The frustration from both sides bubbled to the surface April 25 when representatives from the Way Forward Commission and All Agency Review Committee made a presentation to the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board on recommendations coming to the 2018 General Assembly. It’s no secret there are enduring disagreements regarding those recommendations – particularly involving what should happen with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation. Some of that involves the details – what’s the best approach? And some involves the tension that has permeated these conversations for months – and which, so far, has led to a disagreement that both sides are sending to the 2018 General Assembly to resolve. In their 45-minute presentation on the evening of April 25, Deborah Block, a minister from Wisconsin who serves as moderator of the All Agency Review Committee, and Eileen Lindner and Eliana Maxim, ministers who serve as vice moderators of the Way Forward Commission, … [Read more...]
Sweating the details: PMA board chair reports on clarity, costs and national structure
CINCINNATI – Conflict, disagreement, back and forth. And faithfulness. Some key Presbyterian leaders gave their interpretations April 25 of the ongoing debates over the national structure of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – with Ken Godshall, a pastor from Kentucky who serves as the chair of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, describing it as “structural work that is done once in a generation.” J. Herbert Nelson, offering greetings during the opening plenary of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board’s April 25-27 meeting in Cincinnati, said despite all the differences “it is time now for us to close ranks” – to remember that God is at work in the world. “The question is not what we will do, but what we will allow God to do with and to us.” The differences persist regarding what should happen with the PC(USA), A Corporation, although so do the back-door discussions, seeking common ground. Godshall, in his chair’s report, described the joint recommendations from the … [Read more...]
A PMA budget without layoffs, Stony Point: Presbyterian Mission Agency Board’s spring meeting kicks off in Cincinnati
CINCINNATI – The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, meeting in Cincinnati April 25-27, will consider a proposed mission budget for the Presbyterian Mission Agency for the next two years that is balanced and does not involve layoffs. The board also will consider authorizing about $3 million in capital improvements and deferred maintenance for Stony Point Center over the next three years – and a request that the board declare that Stony Point and its ministries are a priority of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Also coming up at this meeting: discussion of the competing recommendations involving the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) A Corporation; a presentation from representatives of the Way Forward Commission and All Agency Review Committee; and possible news regarding the search for a new executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. The board is expected to vote April 26 on on a series of comments (P.002 Governance Task Force WFC AARC comment) proposed by its Governance … [Read more...]
Vision before structure: Presbyterian Mission Agency Board scrutinizes recommendations from other groups
CINCINNATI – The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board is considering asking the 2018 General Assembly to take the next two years to vet both the details and the vision of recommendations from the Way Forward Commission and the All Agency Review Committee, so that “a more comprehensive and sustainable recommendation can be brought to the 2020 General Assembly.” That language is contained in a proposed set of comments (P.002 Governance Task Force WFC AARC comment) to the assembly that the board will take up during its April 25-27 meeting in Cincinnati. And it’s a sign of how deep the rifts remain in the competing visions of what’s best for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The proposed comment argues that vision should come before structure — and that a study of financial sustainability of the PC(USA), including of the per capita system, should be completed and submitted to the assembly in 2020 before any changes to the denomination’s national structure are implemented. This … [Read more...]
PC(USA), A Corporation: Everything you wanted to know, but were afraid to ask
Confused, confused, confused. So many say they are confused by the octopus-like discussions involving the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) corporate structure. (Others just shake their heads and walk away.) The issue will come up again at the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board meeting in Cincinnati April 25-27. Discussions are ongoing, which means that what’s on the table may change between now and when the assembly convenes in June in St. Louis: these proposals may morph. Dear readers, we cannot tell you where to align yourselves in this dispute. We can, however, attempt to offer a primer of some of the terms involved. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation Presbyterian insiders often refer to this in shorthand as the A Corporation or, to make it even harder, A Corp. The A Corporation is the oldest of the five PC(USA) corporations, dating back to 1799 in Pennsylvania. The A Corporation is the corporate expression of the General Assembly, serving primarily the … [Read more...]
Way Forward Commission revises proposal regarding PC(USA)’s A Corporation
The Way Forward Commission voted April 23 to revise what it will ask the 2018 General Assembly to do regarding the makeup of the board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation. During a conference call, the Way Forward Commission voted to make this change: to remove a requirement that a representative from the Board of Pensions serve on the A Corporation board, but to add a representative to that board from Presbyterian Women. The Way Forward Commission now will ask the assembly to create an 11-person A Corporation board with representatives of: Five of the six PC(USA) agencies – the Presbyterian Mission Agency; the Office of the General Assembly; the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation; the Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program; and the Presbyterian Foundation. The sixth agency – the Board of Pensions – would not have a representative. One representative each from the Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns; the Advocacy Committee for Women’s Concerns; … [Read more...]
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