CINCINNATI – Conflict, disagreement, back and forth. And faithfulness. Some key Presbyterian leaders gave their interpretations April 25 of the ongoing debates over the national structure of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – with Ken Godshall, a pastor from Kentucky who serves as the chair of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, describing it as “structural work that is done once in a generation.” J. Herbert Nelson, offering greetings during the opening plenary of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board’s April 25-27 meeting in Cincinnati, said despite all the differences “it is time now for us to close ranks” – to remember that God is at work in the world. “The question is not what we will do, but what we will allow God to do with and to us.” The differences persist regarding what should happen with the PC(USA), A Corporation, although so do the back-door discussions, seeking common ground. Godshall, in his chair’s report, described the joint recommendations from the … [Read more...]

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...]

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...]

The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board will continue conversations with the Way Forward Commission and All Agency Review Committee through Feb. 28 – trying to work through differing views regarding restructuring of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation, which is the corporate entity for the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Melinda Sanders, a lawyer from Tennessee who serves as co-chair of the board’s Governance Task Force, told the board in a Feb. 16 conference call meeting that the concerns fall in four areas: The use and control of unrestricted funds; Authority to make personnel decisions; Whether the Presbyterian Mission Agency would be able to determine for itself how to receive administrative services; and The composition of the A Corporation board — “We still have grave concerns” about that, Sanders said. Joe Morrow, a Governance Task Force member, and Wilson Kennedy, from the Committee on the Office of the General … [Read more...]