Note #9119 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:
06076 Feb. 10, 2006
GAC approves 2007-'08 Mission Work Plan
Team leader says programmatic blueprint is 'a first step' toward 'A New Thing'
by Toya Richards Hill
LOUISVILLE - The General Assembly Council (GAC) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) unanimously approved, with two minor amendments, the 2007-'08 Mission Work Plan (MWP).
"Today's action is a first step," said Charles Easley, the GAC member who chairs the MWP team.
Easley said the GAC will have a chance in April to vote on staff recommendations for executing the plan and budgeting for it.
The MWP will go to this summer's 217th General Assembly for adoption.
Then, during future GAC meetings, Easley said, "We will evaluate progress ... and provide advice as necessary to keep the work on track. We are asking all programmatic entities focus their work through one or more of these objectives."
The work plan, titled "A New Thing," includes eight objectives: evangelism, multiculturalism, poverty, peace, Reformed identity, family, vocation, and small churches. It lists two objectives for each of the four goal areas adopted by the General Assembly in 2004: evangelism and witness; justice and compassion; spirituality and discipleship; and leadership and vocation.
"I think that it's well thought out, and that it definitely has potential to be effective," said Andy Sonneborn, a young adult member of the council from Great Rivers Presbytery in Central Illinois.
Easley acknowledged that some Presbyterians have complained that they can't find their areas of interest among the plan's eight objectives, but he said the team left the objectives "intentionally broad" to give people room to develop creative ways of realizing them.
The objectives:
Equip Presbyterians, governing bodies and others to witness locally and globally to the gospel of Jesus Christ, especially to people with no religious affiliation (evangelism and witness)
Support presbyteries' efforts to develop congregations and fellowships that reflect the multicultural makeup of society (evangelism and witness)
Create partnerships with governing bodies and others to address the causes and effects of poverty (justice and compassion)
Encourage presbyteries and congregations to seek non-violent solutions to conflict in their communities and around the world (justice and compassion)
Encourage and support presbyteries and congregations in developing members' appreciation and understanding of their Reformed identity (spirituality and discipleship)
Enable presbyteries and congregations to ground families in Christian discipleship that helps them confront and resist the idolatries of society (spirituality and discipleship)
Equip presbyteries and congregations to help members discern that their vocations are calls from God to Christian witness in society and in the church (leadership and vocation)
Facilitate the development and exchange of alternative models for pastoral and mission leadership in small churches (leadership and vocation)
"You said you did not want any more warmed-over milk," Easley told the council during a presentation on the plan Tuesday. "We've tried to bring you a new thing."
Manley Olson, a GAC member from the Synod of Lakes and Prairies in Minnesota, said the challenge of dealing with such broad categories will be answering the question, "Who decides whether something fits into a category or not?"
Olson said he expects such decisions will be a "collaborative thing" between the staff leadership team and the council. "We've got competent staff ... but at the same time there is a responsibility to the board to exercise the final oversight," he said.
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