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Special committee nears a vote on report on PC(USA) financial sustainability

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A special committee considering financial sustainability in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is expected to recommend the possibility of some sort of structural revision at the top levels of the denomination - and is hoping for support in a month or two from the Moving Forward Implementation Commission. A work group of that committee has determined that while there may be enough money in the denomination in total, “the current allocation of funding between agencies is not sustainable.” A draft report which the special committee discussed in a Dec. 16 conference call describes the problem this way: “Sadly, there is too little union, not enough community, and way too much confusion about mission among congregations and councils for our church to be sustainable going forward. This is why we recommend an examination of the possibility of reorganizing our national church. “ The Special Committee on Per Capita Based Funding and National Church Financial Sustainability, which the … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA224 • per capita

Young adults encourage the church to take action on climate change

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Sam Taylor grew up in the church: His mom and dad are both Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) pastors in South Carolina; he graduated from Davidson College in North Carolina. At age 27, Taylor now works as a climate change activist — currently in New Hampshire and until last summer for the Sunrise Movement in North Carolina.  He focuses his energy on improving the planet — but his work is firmly planted outside the Presbyterian world. Neither he nor most of the young allies he works with in the climate change movement are currently part of a church or other faith community. In a world in which increasing percentages of young people are not affiliated with organized religion, the prospect of activism outside the walls of the church is not unusual. The church – itself an institution – moves slowly and deliberately. Global warming does not. While the General Assembly of the PC(USA) has approved policy statements on environmental issues going back for decades, many of the … [Read more...]

Tagged With: creation stewardship • young adults

Presbyterians hold “die-in” to raise awareness of climate change

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No, it’s not a committee, a task force or an overture. Not even a 40-page report. This was a bunch of Presbyterians staging a “die-in” at a science museum in North Carolina during Climate Strike week, trying to bring attention to the devastation of climate change. This public action – so contrary to the deliberate, buttoned-up way Presbyterians usually talk about policy – grew out of the ongoing work of the Peace and Justice Task Force of Salem Presbytery, where the members have together been reading David Wallace-Wells’ book “The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming.” That book “shook us up and woke us up,” said Stuart Taylor, pastor of Elkin Presbyterian Church. “Even though we were all generally aware of the climate crisis that we’re in the middle of, there was still an element of denial.” Presbyterians from the task force started talking about what they might be able to do locally — including resistance to the proposed 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which would … [Read more...]

Tagged With: creation stewardship

West Virginia congregations respond to climate change

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Look: Here we are in West Virginia, the heart of coal country. This is a place where Presbyterians could give some answers to the “What can we do?” question about climate change. Here’s the eight-member Spencer Presbyterian Church – eight members! – which a year ago took out a Restoring Creation loan from the Investment and Loan Program to put solar panels on the roof of the church. Elders from the congregation, where most of the members are age 70 and older, had to convince a committee of West Virginia Presbytery that they’d live long enough to pay back the loan, said Brenda Wilson, one of the leaders of that effort. And here’s the 20-member Glenville Presbyterian Church, which took courage from the Spencer initiative and used endowment funds to pay for their own solar project — dedicating it on September 22, during the week when young people from around the globe took to the streets in Climate Strike actions, demanding that world leaders do something definitive now to … [Read more...]

Tagged With: creation stewardship

Creation care: How will the Presbyterian Church respond to climate change?

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Some young people are so concerned about the imminent danger to the planet from climate change – from all they see happening around them to the animals and the oceans and the glaciers and the land – that they have decided never to have children. They can’t face bringing new life into such a broken world. Meanwhile, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is likely to take time at the 2020 General Assembly to dive into another intricate debate about the metrics used by the Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) — trying to decide whether to follow a measured strategy of corporate engagement with nine particular companies, or whether the PC(USA) should move quickly to divest all its holdings from fossil fuel companies and reinvest in companies focusing on renewable energy and energy efficiency. There’s a challenge here. Presbyterians tend to do things deliberately, by committee and task force and carefully worded public statement and reports. And young people, … [Read more...]

Tagged With: creation stewardship • fossil fuels • GA224

Presbyterians respond to gun violence

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LOUISVILLE – How are Presbyterians involved in responding to gun violence? Next June, when the General Assembly convenes in Baltimore, gun violence and gun control will definitely be up for discussion. One synod already has sent an overture asking the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to call for universal background checks, “red flag” laws to temporarily take guns away from those seen to pose an imminent threat to themselves or others, and a ban on assault rifles. The issue also came up Nov. 23 at the Moderators’ Conference, which brought together 120 moderators and moderators-elect from presbyteries and synods for a weekend of training and networking. The moderators watched the documentary “Trigger: The Ripple Effect of Gun Violence” (now streaming on Amazon Prime); listened to a panel discussion on the ways that gun violence impacts churches; and had a chance to ask questions. Sometimes, Presbyterians are involved through theology and pastoral care. Gun violence has a ripple … [Read more...]

Tagged With: gun violence

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