wfn.org | McIvor and Brown Take Stock, Look Ahead

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08-July-1996 
 
GA96117 
           McIvor and Brown Take Stock, Look Ahead 
 
Albuquerque--In a Saturday morning press conference, General Assembly 
Council leaders assessed the implications of this traumatic week and line 
things up for the future.  Council Chair William McIvor spoke briefly about 
what he called "a difficult period," then gave way to Executive Director 
James Brown; Brown made efforts to debrief the pain and disappointment in 
his own life and that of the Council, occasioned by the Assembly's failure 
to confirm his election to a second term, but also pointed to signs of hope 
for the future of the PCUSA. 
 
McIvor, in evident sympathy with Brown's disappointment, spoke frankly 
about the "networks of negativity" to which he attributed part of the 
Assembly's attitude.  He told of hearing that commissioners had received up 
to 30 letters each, before the meeting, critical of Jim Brown's leadership, 
and opined, "That was not a spontaneous effort." 
 
Looking to the future, McIvor spoke of the 50 new members coming onto the 
Council -- including new presbytery representatives mandated by this 
meeting. He also spoke about the "ripple effect" in the Presbyterian Center 
in Louisville, aftermath of the Brown decision. "We were just beginning to 
recover from some disruptions, and have more to come." 
 
What's next?  He reported a very recent meeting at which the resignation of 
Cliff Kirkpatrick was received (he was elected as the denomination's Stated 
Clerk," and noted wryly that Jim Brown would be the one to name the Interim 
Director of World Wide Ministries.  In six to eight weeks he hopes to have 
an Interim GAC Director named and to set up a search committee to nominate 
Brown's successor. 
 
Jim Brown acknowledged this as "a tumultuous couple of days," with 
something of a smile, then spoke of "reality checks" in store for him and 
for the Council.  He said he is going out "with my head up," grateful for 
what has been accomplished during a time of "turbulence and 
discombobulation," saddened by what he perceives to have been some unfair 
tactics used to unseat him. 
 
Brown mentioned four key problems which have marked his term:  Downsizing, 
Reimagining, Reconciliation (with the Presbyterian Lay Committee), and 
Quadrennial Review, the impact of restructuring proposed by the 1995 GA. 
He listed significant achievements by the mission arms and divisions:  from 
a financial deficit to a balanced budget; programs promoting the 
renaissance of youth ministry; the Year with Africa (and now Latin 
America); working things out with the Presbyterian Foundation and the 
Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, and the new beginnings of "Covenant 
2000," a partnership program to prepare for the new century.  He called the 
last five months "the most productive of my ministry," and expressed regret 
that no note was taken of that; instead, he said, he feels like the 
Assembly's summary evaluation had elements of "caricature and 
misinformation." 
 
Signs of hope include the church's new humility; the vitality in 
congregational life; new worship forms; the new vitality of the laity; and 
significant successes by all the national divisions and agentries, for 
which little credit has been generated. 
 
Advice for his successor?  He will urge him or her to nurture the community 
at 100 Witherspoon Street and to focus the role of the Executive Director 
more sharply.  He spoke of his job as "hard to focus; when I squint it 
doesn't quite come into focus."  He said he hoped the GAC would not give 
into critics and choose someone from the business world.  He also said he 
thought the office was understaffed, and that there was need for a person 
to help in the operational side of the job. 
 
He spoke sharply and directly about his critics:  "I hope the Genevans will 
take stock of what they are about; they have the right to organize, but not 
to caricature."  Of the Presbyterian Layman, he said, "Not once in my four 
years have they called to verify the facts or a quotation."  He said, "I 
don't expect people to agree, but I do expect more attention to 
truth-telling." 
 
Houston Hodges 

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