wfn.org | Council Approves Reorganization of The Institute For Christian

[PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org]

Formation 2-October-1996 
 
 
96403         Council Approves Reorganization of The 
                Institute For Christian Formation 
 
                         by Julian Shipp 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--Upon recommendation of its Congregational Ministries 
Division (CMD), the General Assembly Council (GAC) authorized the 
reorganization of the General Assembly's Institute for Christian Formation 
(ICF) here Sept. 29. 
 
     Rather than centralized staff, the spiritual formation work of the 
denomination will be led by a group of adjunct part-time staff persons 
around the country, who will be available to congregations and presbyteries 
as they organize their spiritual formation efforts locally. 
 
     CMD officials said this loosely structured group of partners will be 
known as the "Leadership Corps for Spiritual Formation." The Leadership 
Corps will supplement the work of the national staff in providing workshops 
and retreats, in training others to do spiritual formation work and in 
strategic planning.   
 
     The work of the ICF, including the activities of the Leadership Corps, 
will be coordinated by an ICF associate in the Christian Faith and Life 
Program Area in Louisville. 
 
     The program utilizes the same amount of funding that was designated 
for the Institute for Christian Formation at Stony Point, N.Y.  All 
part-time positions will be filled on a one-year contract basis but may be 
renewed, depending on funding. 
 
     Furthermore, officials said, the Leadership Corps for Spiritual 
Formation shall be 
 
    *     bound by covenant 
    *     defined by their common purpose 
    *     geographically distributed and ethnically diverse 
    *     brought together at least twice a year both for their own 
          spiritual formation and for 
    *     training, strategic planning, the design of specific events, and 
          peer supervision. 
 
     The Rev. E. Dixon Junkin, dean of the Institute for Christian 
Formation at Stony Point, N.Y., said Christian formation operations at 
Stony Point will cease at the end of this year. Junkin announced his 
resignation from his position earlier this year, effective Dec. 31. 
 
     Junkin said there are several advantages to having the Leadership 
Corps spread out throughout the denomination instead of being in a central 
location. Among them is the fact that a group of people working together to 
figure out the needs of specific congregations and middle governing bodies 
will be able to reach more people than efforts stemming from a central 
location. 
 
     Secondly, the intent of the ICF is to collaborate with and support 
people presently engaged in ministries of spiritual formation and to work 
with presently existing conference centers and programs of the 
denomination.  The mission of Christian formation remains critically 
important to the church and society, said Junkin. 
 
     "We're just living in a time when a lot of folks are concerned in a 
way that they haven't been in recent decades," Junkin told the Presbyterian 
News Service. "Concerned for having a new kind of integrity to their 
relationship with God and to one another. 
 
     "It doesn't take much sensitivity to what's going on in the culture to 
realize people are asking questions," he said. "And because people are 
asking those kinds of questions, they naturally look to their congregations 
or their leadership for help in this area. They have a right to expect 
those in leadership positions to exert good leadership and help them move 
forward in the way they want to go." 
  
     "The need for [Christian formation] is obviously still there and I'm 
continually excited and feel affirmed that the denomination is moving ahead 
in this area,"said Anne Bateman Noss, the CMD's associate director for 
Christian Faith and Life. "We have so many inquiries and so many people who 
are interested and so many people who are furthering their own education 
and  working in the area of spiritual formation." 
 
     Noss said Christian formation seminars will be offered at Stony Point 
in November and December. She said the search process for the new ICF 
associate has begun, and applications are  being received and reviewed. 
 
     Noss said anyone interested in obtaining a copy of the position 
description should send a letter to her attention at the following address: 
Congregational Ministries Division, Attn.: Associate Director, Christian 
Faith and Life, Room 2611, 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 
40202-1396. The phone number is (502) 569-5358. 

------------
For more information contact Presbyterian News Service
  phone 502-569-5504             fax 502-569-8073  
  E-mail PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org   Web page: http://www.pcusa.org 

--