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Property and poverty: Presbyterian Mission Agency Board discusses issues facing denomination

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  At its meeting in Louisville March 27-29, the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board will focus on anti-poverty work the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is doing, and consider a number of issues related to property. The board’s coordinating committee met by conference call Jan. 17 and gave some glimpses into what’s likely to come up. Work on poverty.  At each of its meetings, the board is focusing on one priority in its Mission Work Plan – this time, on work the denomination is doing to address poverty. Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, said she wants to discuss the theological foundation for the work, based on the 25th chapter of Mark’s Gospel – “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to eat, I was a stranger and you welcomed me” – and for staff to let the board know what Presbyterians are doing to confront poverty both nationally and at the grass roots. Another question, raised … [Read more...]

Tagged With: PMA board

Board announces changes involving PC(USA) administrative services

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The board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation met in closed session Jan. 16 and later announced it had taken action to reconfigure within the denominational structure the way that administrative services will be provided. The A Corporation is the corporate entity for the Presbyterian Mission Agency and the Office of the General Assembly. The change being announced is not a matter that will have a direct impact on congregations or Presbyterians in the pews. The change means that departments providing administrative services to Presbyterian agencies and which were formerly considered to be providing services through the Presbyterian Mission Agency now will be part of the newly-created Administrative Services Group in the A Corporation (although a news release regarding the decision states that “structurally, they have always been housed in A Corp.”) The change involves about 80 employees in seven departments: Finance & Accounting, Information Technology, … [Read more...]

Tagged With: A Corp

Navigating the wilderness: Commission plans how to lead, communicate, engage relationships across denomination

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LOUISVILLE – The Moving Forward Implementation Commission is starting to drill down into the work before it – trying to keep on top of everything from the financial sustainability of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to setting a vision for the denomination. The commission took one formal vote on the final day of its Jan. 14-15 meeting in Louisville: passing a motion regarding the membership of the Diverse Voices Table, a new entity the 2018 General Assembly created to consider matters of inclusion and equity. According to the assembly’s action, the table would have “equal staff representation” from each of the six PC(USA) agencies, with Presbyterian Women invited to participate as well. It isn’t clear yet exactly what issues the Diverse Voices Table might take up, whether it would make recommendations, or somehow report to or be accountable to a PC(USA) governing body. But the Moving Forward Implementation Commission acted after hearing from Valerie Izumi, manager for General … [Read more...]

Tagged With: Moving Forward Implementation Commission

“This is going to be some heavy lifting” — Moving Forward Implementation Commission gets to work

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LOUISVILLE – The Moving Forward Implementation Commission is beginning to get a sense of the territory in which it’ll be working until the next General Assembly – somewhat familiar landscape, but with new challenges as well. Some of this work involves monitoring to make sure that what the 2018 General Assembly instructed be done actually comes to pass – for example, to significantly expand translation of materials in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) into languages other than English. “Access is power,” said Julie Cox, a mid council executive from South Carolina who is leading a task force on translation services on behalf of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation – the corporate entity for the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Agency – and who joined the commission via conference call to discuss the work, just getting started.  “I am wearing my necklace that says ‘Hope,’ on purpose,” Cox said. Part of the commission’s work will be collaborative, … [Read more...]

Tagged With: Moving Forward Implementation Commission

2020 Vision Team moves ahead with new leadership, new directions

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The 2020 Vision Team is continuing its work, trying to prepare a final version of its vision statement for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – one it will present to the 2020 General Assembly in Baltimore, along for tools for the church to use in engaging the statement. The 2018 General Assembly approved the interim report from the Vision Team – one including the Vision Team’s draft guiding statement, which says that “God calls the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to be Prayerful, Courageous, United, Serving, Alive,” with the first letters of those words spelling out the PC(USA) acronym. The assembly added a comment, which says “we desire to hear explicit examples of what this would look like in different contexts and how to get there,” and “we would like to hear more inclusion of grace, joy and the Great Ends of the Church.” The comment also says “we encourage the 2020 Vision Team to make the guiding statement more succinct.” Since the assembly met in June, the 2020 Vision Team … [Read more...]

Tagged With: 2020 Vision Team

Looking ahead: Moving Forward Implementation Commission plans their work

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The Moving Forward Implementation Commission will hold its first in-person meeting Jan. 14-15 in Louisville. In preparation for that, the commission met by conference call Jan. 10 to review some history — including what led the 2018 General Assembly to create the 12-person commission, what work is before it and what’s happened since the assembly concluded last June in St. Louis. That discussion included a review of the recommendations that the Way Forward Commission and All Agency Review Committee presented to the 2018 General Assembly — recommendations (which the assembly overwhelmingly approved) ranging from a reconfiguration of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation board to make it smaller and more inclusive, to an increased commitment to inclusion and equity in the denomination and to expanding translation services, and a lot more. The new commission is expected to report to the 2020 General Assembly in Baltimore. In the meantime, it will shepherd work on … [Read more...]

Tagged With: All Agency Review • Moving Forward Implementation Commission • Way Forward Commission

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