The Presbyterian Outlook

News and Articles from the The Presbyterian Outlook

Top Search/Contact Area

Remembering baptismal vows and why congregations need the wider church: Way Forward Committee begins meeting a day before General Assembly convenes

by

ST. LOUIS – The Way Forward Committee of the 2018 General Assembly started off its work with a history lesson, and a bedtime story of the six Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) agencies. Because this committee is considering such complex business – including competing recommendations for reorganizing the PC(USA), A Corporation, from the Way Forward Commission and the All Agency Review Committee on the one side, and the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board on the other – it began meeting June 15, one day before the assembly itself convenes. The room wasn’t crowded, as it likely will be next week. But those in the crowd included high-level observers: members of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board; of the Way Forward Commission and All Agency Review Committee; lawyers; and senior leadership from the Presbyterian Mission Agency.   Beth Hessel, executive director of the Presbyterian Historical Society, provided some historical context for the complexities the committee will … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA223 • Way Forward Commission

$5.3 million under consideration: Coordinating Committee examines costs of recommendations to 2018 General Assembly

by

ST. LOUIS – The Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) is hoping to help commissioners at the 2018 General Assembly better understand budget implications of some of the recommendations the assembly is considering — costs it estimates at about $5.3 million for the agency, if the assembly were to approve all the recommendations before it this year. Among the big-ticket items: about $3 million (over two years) to set up a department within PMA to focus on the ministry of small congregations, which an overture from Grace Presbytery is recommending. Also: about $855,000 if the assembly adopts a recommendation from the Way Forward Commission that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) prioritize translation services. Those figures were presented to the Coordinating Committee of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, meeting in St. Louis just prior to the start of the 223rdGeneral Assembly, which opens for business June 16. PMA’s senior leadership is strategizing how best to present … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA223 • PMA board

On the way to GA:  Connecting faith and public witness

by

How to connect faith to the public issues of the day? The 2018 General Assembly will be asked this question over and over as a small mountain of measures on social justice matters, poverty and racism come to this year’s assembly. Here’s a quick (but certainly not comprehensive) list of some of the measures coming to the 2018 assembly involving social justice in the U.S. Autocracy. The Presbytery of Hudson River is asking the assembly to make a declaration regarding “the direction towards autocracy that our country is taking,” with Presbyterians saying “Yes to bridges and No to walls.” Black women and girls. The Advocacy Committee for Women’s Concerns is asking the assembly to form a five-person task group to study the research regarding disparities affecting black girls and women. That task group would make recommendations on how the church might “be most effective in impacting this important social issue.” Candidate endorsements. The Presbytery of Western North Carolina … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA223

Way Forward Commission takes action regarding trust and transparency

by

The Way Forward Commission met on June 12 to take administrative action regarding issues of trust and transparency in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – apparently responding to imbalances it has detected in the way things have been operating in the national church. The action (leading with the affirmation that “God alone is Lord of conscience”) addresses what information can be openly shared after a closed or confidential meeting of a denominational entity, and the ways in which staff and board members can express their views regarding information that’s not restricted “without real or implied threat.” The action also addresses the importance of transparency regarding the denomination’s financial information regarding budgets and the source and use of funds. The administrative action states that “there has evolved a practice within certain denominational entities of restricting access to the full detail of financial information, even among staff who are responsible for a … [Read more...]

Tagged With: Way Forward Commission

On the way to GA: Hot topics coming to Middle East Issues Committee

by

Four years ago, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) used its economic resources to make a limited show of support for Palestinians living in Israeli-occupied territories. This month in St. Louis, the 223rdGeneral Assembly will consider whether to join a more far-reaching defensive effort on behalf of all Americans who might want to make similar use of their economic discretion. In overture 12-01, the Synod of the Covenant asks the denomination to resist federal and state efforts to penalize individuals, organizations or companies for taking part in boycotts, divestments or sanctions (BDS) aimed at shoring up Palestinians’ rights. The overture, one of nine assigned to the assembly’s Middle East Issues Committee, says any such government restrictions would violate the First Amendment. Two pending measures in Congress (Senate Bill 270 and House Resolution 1697) would make it illegal to support a boycott against a country friendly to the United States, unless that country is already … [Read more...]

Tagged With: GA223 • Israel/Palestine • Middle East

CONTACT US: