The Coordinating Table has begun to try to refine its vision and process, meaning: What are the steps it will take to try to develop a unified budget for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) for 2023 and 2024, and what are the values that denominational leaders will use to make funding decisions? Also: If all that doesn’t work, what will be the Plan B? During its Zoom meeting Feb. 16, the Coordinating Table’s discussion of these matters was subdued — perhaps out of an awareness of the difficulty of translating high-level values or concepts into actual budgeting decisions. Marco Grimaldo, chair of the Moving Forward Implementation Special Committee, presented a series of “guiding questions” that might be used to help develop a “values lens” for the budget. Some of the questions being considered: In what specific way do you want the church’s ministry and mission to be strengthened by this work? In what ways will this work strengthen individual congregations or midcouncils? … [Read more...]

Before top leaders in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) get to work trying to develop a unified budget for the denomination  – with all revenue streams and expenses considered together – how about spending some time discussing the idea of a common vision? That was the heart of the discussion Jan. 14 during the third meeting of the new Coordinating Table — a group of 15 leaders from the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA), the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) and the PC(USA), A Corporation, which provides administrative services for the church. This conversation was led by representatives from the Moving Forward Implementation Special Committee — formerly a commission with the power to act between General Assemblies, but now a committee with lesser powers. While the Moving Forward representatives are technically not members of the Coordinating Table, they are being given voice and leadership in that forum. Moving Forward representatives are pushing for the idea of broader, … [Read more...]

How shall the denomination move forward with hard conversations about possible merger of top agencies of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and about budget priorities? On Dec. 16, during the second Zoom meeting of what’s become known as the Coordinating Table – a forum including top leaders of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, Office of the General Assembly and PC(USA), A Corporation – there wasn’t much momentum. What became clear was the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board each are engaged in their own discernment processes – their own explorations of the future – and have not yet demonstrated a readiness to work together on the same questions. The Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) in particular is engaged in a deep exploration of what it means to be a Matthew 25 church — and will use the findings of those discussions to propose a plan for restructuring PMA. That process is expected to last into the late summer or fall … [Read more...]