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A PMA budget without layoffs, Stony Point: Presbyterian Mission Agency Board’s spring meeting kicks off in Cincinnati

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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...]

Tagged With: PMA board

Vision before structure: Presbyterian Mission Agency Board scrutinizes recommendations from other groups

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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...]

Tagged With: PMA board

PC(USA), A Corporation: Everything you wanted to know, but were afraid to ask

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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

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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...]

Tagged With: Way Forward Commission

Presbyterian leaders clarify what’s at stake in debates over restructuring

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LOUISVILLE – While no blazing agreement was reached, participants in an April 8-9 conversation regarding the corporate structure of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have agreed on some next steps and clarified their sticking points and places of disagreement. It’s possible that holding this meeting and airing the differences may lower the tension as two competing proposals regarding a reconfiguration of the PC(USA), A Corporation – which is the corporate identity for the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) and the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) -- head towards the General Assembly that will meet in St. Louis June 16-23. At the very least, what’s at stake in these complex discussions is coming into clearer view. Representatives of groups that have not always been included in the conversation – including the PC(USA)’s advocacy and advisory committees and Presbyterian Women – made a clear case as to why their input is valuable and their voices should be heard. And there’s … [Read more...]

Tagged With: PMA board • Way Forward Commission

Presbyterian leaders meet seeking common ground on A Corporation proposals

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LOUISVILLE – With two significantly different proposals involving the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation heading towards the 2018 General Assembly, a group of Presbyterian leaders are meeting in Louisville April 8-9 to see if they can find common ground. The first day of conversation did not bring any breakthroughs – but did help to illuminate some of the differing views and potentially some of what’s at stake. At the table at this gathering – which was convened by the Governance Task Force of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board – are representatives of the board, and also of the Way Forward Commission, the All Agency Review Committee, the denomination’s advocacy and advisory groups, the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly and Presbyterian Women. Heath Rada, moderator of the 2014 General Assembly, is moderating the conversation – a last-minute addition (he was invited to do so just two days before), and a significant one, in that his leadership set a … [Read more...]

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