During a series of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) meetings that have taken place in recent weeks, some questions have surfaced over and over. With General Assembly held virtually this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, what will – and should – happen in 2022? With the pandemic reducing the funds available for both the national levels of the denomination and for local congregations, what can be done to cushion the blow and encourage Presbyterians to give? And whose voices are not at the church decision-making tables that need to be heard? On Oct. 15, the board of the PC(USA), A Corporation, the corporate expression of the denomination, began its two-day virtual fall meeting. That included a 45-minute conversation with the co-moderators of the 2020 General Assembly, Elona Street-Stewart and Gregory Bentley. The co-moderators said they had just announced a new book study – asking Presbyterians to study together Edgar Villanueva’s book “Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous … [Read more...]

The board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation, has new leadership. Meeting via Zoom Aug. 8, the board elected as its co-chairs Chris Mason, a ruling elder and lawyer from New York, and Bill Teng, a pastor from Florida. For the past two years, Mason has been serving as the A Corporation co-chair (along with Bridget-Anne Hampden, a ruling elder from Charlotte); he was elected for an additional one-year term in that role. Teng was elected for a two-year term as co-chair – with the board using a co-chair model but with staggered terms of service, to allow for new leadership to rotate in. Hampden will continue serving on the A Corporation board but not in a co-chair role. Cynthia Campbell, who chairs the board’s Nominating, Governance and Personnel Committee, said this model of leadership allows the co-chairs to share responsibility, but the staggered terms of service will allow for a succession of responsibilities as well. She and Mason thanked Hampden … [Read more...]