wfn.org | Consulting Firm Hired to Conduct GAC Management Study

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

2-January-1997 
 
 
97008 Consulting Firm Hired to Conduct GAC Management Study 
 
                         by Julian Shipp 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--Arthur Andersen, LLP, of Washington, D.C., a national 
consulting firm, has been hired to conduct a study of  "all aspects of the 
Office of the Executive Director of the General Assembly Council (GAC) and 
the Corporate and Administrative Services (CAS) Office of the General 
Assembly Council," beginning January 7. 
 
     Noting that some of the conflicts that continue to plague 
Assembly-level operations are between the GAC and other Presbyterian Church 
entities (except, apparently, the Board of Pensions), Arthur Anderson, in 
conjunction with a  special committee recommended by the Committee on 
Review (CR) of  the 208th General Assembly (1996), will also study the 
relationships of the executive director's office and CAS with the 
Presbyterian Foundation (PF), the Presbyterian Investment and Loan 
Corporation (PILP), the Office of the General Assembly (OGA), the 
Presbyterian Publishing Corporation (PPC) and the Council's three ministry 
divisions. 
 
     "It is my opinion that [the committee's] findings and recommendations 
will help us work more effectively and truly build a working community that 
will enhance our corporate life in the Presbyterian Center," wrote the Rev. 
Frank Diaz, GAC interim director, in a Dec. 20, 1996, memo. 
 
     According to D. Eugene Sibery of Cape Coral, Fla., candidate for 
moderator of the 209th General Assembly (1997) and chair of the committee, 
the committee's initial task will be to interview various staff members in 
order to gather information on how best to strengthen the organization. The 
committee's final report and recommendations are to be completed by March 
31, 1997, and presented to the GAC. 
 
     "We are coming to Louisville to start this process on January 7, the 
date of the Staff Leadership Team meeting," said the Rev. William 
Phillippe, a special committee staff person and pastor of Westminster 
Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, Va., adding he does not expect the 
interim report on the committee's findings to be completed by the time the 
GAC meets Feb. 4-9. 
      
     Representing Arthur Andersen are John Klaffky, partner; Joan Dubinsky, 
senior manager; Duane Van Arsdale, senior researcher; Barbara Toffler, 
(insert title) and John Catalfamo, manager, according to Phillippe. While 
in Louisville, Phillippe said, the committee will conduct interviews for 
approximately two weeks, necessitated by the number of people being 
interviewed and their respective schedules.  
 
     Phillippe said Arthur Andersen has a segment that works specifically 
with nonprofit organizations like the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  He 
said a proposal request was sent out to seven national organizations, each 
of which were qualified for the task. Ultimately, three companies were 
interviewed in December, with Arthur Andersen emerging as the selected 
firm. 
 
     "The committee was very careful not to either solicit or expect to 
give the contract to any organization that had a deep involvement in the 
Presbyterian Church now," Phillippe said. "The whole reason for that is 
that we did not want the [consultation] to look flawed in any way." 
 
     Following authorization by the 208th General Assembly (1996) last 
July, the special committee was  recommended by the Assembly's Committee on 
Review.      
      
     The six-member committee comprises the elected chairs of the 
Foundation board of trustees, the PPC board, the Presbyterian Investment 
and Loan Corporation, the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, 
the GAC and the Board of Pensions. The committee hired the company and will 
assist its representatives during their inquiry. 
 
      After the committee receives the company's report, it will present it 
to the General Assembly Council. Phillippe said the Committee on Review has 
stated that the GAC must act on the recommendations of the consulting 
committee and report to the General Assembly. 
 
     The special committee members are James R. Bellati (PF) of Stillwater, 
Okla.; Youngil Cho (GAC) of  Raleigh, N.C.; Price H. Gwynn III (PPC) of 
Charlotte, N.C.; the Rev. J. Oscar McCloud (OGA) of  New York, N.Y.; Alvin 
N. Puryear (PILP) of the Bronx, N.Y.; and Sibery (BOP). 

------------
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 

--