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06521 October 16, 2006
Commissioners, advisors rate GA217 highly
Kirkpatrick, Valentine host follow-up conversations on positive value, purpose of the PC(USA)
by Jerry Van Marter
LOUISVILLE - Despite continuing roiling controversies in its wake, the 217th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) was rated highly by the commissioners and advisory delegates that comprised it.
Seventy-eight percent of them said that their sense of Presbyterian "family" was deepened by the Assembly. And from the work of the moderator, vice-moderator and stated clerk to the first-time use of the "Les" electronic meeting system instead of paper reports and documents, voters expressed strong satisfaction with the conduct of the Assembly.
General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick and General Assembly Council Executive Director Linda Valentine said they are trying to build on that positive assembly experience by hosting a series of telephone conference calls with PC(USA) leaders to explore how "the positive aspects of the PC(USA)" can be lifted up.
Two such calls, involving 44 leaders from around the church, were held in early October and several more are slated between now and the end of the year.
The positive evaluation by commissioners and advisory delegates stands in stark contrast to the ongoing debates within the church about several actions taken by the assembly, particularly the report of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church (PUP), which the assembly approved.
That report calls for the church to stay together and engage in processes of discernment to try and find ways for Presbyterians who disagree sharply on a number of issues to co-exist more peaceably within the PC(USA).
But an authoritative interpretation of the Constitution that gives ordaining bodies more leeway in determining the fitness of individual candidates to serve as church officers has accelerated the move by some congregations to leave the PC(USA) for other denominations. They argue that the interpretation opens the door to the ordination of non-celibate gays and lesbians as church officers, even though the assembly left the current ban on non-celibate gay and lesbian ordination untouched.
Commissioners and advisory delegates, however, rated the assembly's consideration of the PUP report and ordination standards as only the fifth most important aspect of the assembly.
"Consistent with previous assemblies, the 217th ranked the worship and preaching highest in importance," the Office of the General Assembly's (OGA) Director of Operations Gradye Parsons, told the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) at its Oct. 11-13 meeting here.
Thirty-eight percent of commissioners and advisory delegates rated assembly worship and preaching most important. That was followed by assembly committee work (34 percent), fellowship with Presbyterians from around the country (33 percent), and the assembly plenary sessions (18 percent). PUP/ordination standards garnered just 12 percent.
Respondents were allowed to select up to three most important aspects of the assembly.
Moderator Joan Gray received a 94 percent approval rating for her leadership of the assembly. Vice-moderator Robert Wilson received an 89 percent approval rating. And 99 percent of respondents said Kirkpatrick "enhanced" Gray's ability to lead the assembly, with 94 percent of them saying that the stated clerk "never" or "seldom" intruded unnecessarily in helping Gray and Wilson run the meeting.
Sixty percent of respondents urged OGA to continue use of "Les" - the electronic business system that puts all of the assembly documents and the tracking of them online - at future General Assemblies.
Predictably, the Youth Advisory Delegates were more satisfied (86 percent) with "Les" than were commissioners (69 percent) and other advisory delegates and observers (67 percent). Two-thirds of commissioners and advisory delegates said they wished "Les" had been available "years ago."
Parsons said OGA hopes that as the technology advances "Les" will eventually be more economical, as well. "In the interest of full disclosure," he said, "we saved paper but we didn't save money."
Sharon Youngs, OGA's communications coordinator, said the one-hour conference calls hosted by Kirkpatrick and Valentine focused on two questions:
"What is one way or idea in which you can, or already do, invest yourself to lift up positive aspects of the PC(USA)? And
Why do we need a denomination?
She said the post-GA assessment of assembly planners "is that whatever we do has to be pastoral and listening in nature." She said that "if the feedback we got is that the assembly was a positive experience for so many, we should invite those key partners into the process of spreading a positive word."
She said the "energy in the first two calls was palpable." Dennis Hughes, stated clerk of Seattle Presbytery and a participant in one of the calls, agreed. "It was the quickest hour and ten minutes I've ever participated in," he said.
COGA member James Babcock praised the effort. "You've created a great opportunity to dialogue with people in the trenches," he told Kirkpatrick and Valentine.
Valentine, who has hosted several well-attended conversations with Presbyterian Center staff during her first two months as executive director, said "the information we gathered was helpful as they shared their perspectives and great ideas about lifting up the positive aspects of the PC(USA)."
Responses from the conversations, compiled by a "project team" led by Youngs and Middle Governing Bodies Coordinator Gary Torrens, fall into 10 "themes," Youngs told COGA:
Sharing good-news stories that inspire, encourage and instill hope;
Focusing on leadership that is more than just institutional management;
Educating Presbyterians "in fresh new ways" about their heritage, tradition, theology, polity and resources for ministry;
Deepening Presbyterian connectedness through commonalities such as mission and worship;
Developing easy, accessible and user-friendly tools for discernment;
Working on reconciliation and inclusiveness;
Increasing ecumenical vision and involvement;
Lifting up the role of laity and lay leadership in the church;
Strengthening trust at all levels of the church; and
Communicating with greater assertiveness.
COGA member John Wilkinson, who was also a PUP member, urged the project team to expand the conversations. "The strength of our church is people in the congregations who are doing great stuff day after day - how do we get this process in their hands?"
Torrens responded: "We asked participants to initiate calls of their own with Presbyterians they know." Added Kirkpatrick: "It's important to connect people who want to talk positively, so they don't feel alone and aren't drowned out by the voices of dissidence."
In a deeply conflicted PC(USA), Youngs said, "We hope the end result is that we have as much volume on positive things as we have on the negative."
Participants in the initial conversations included:
Pastoral leaders: Barbara Anderson, Pasadena (CA) Presbyterian Church; Emily Anderson, New Providence Presbyterian Church, Maryville, TN; Kathy Anderson, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Austin, TX; Jerry Cannon, C.N. Jenkins Memorial Church, Charlotte (he's also president of the National Black Presbyterian Caucus); Margaret Franke, commissioned lay pastor, Santa Fe Presbytery; Ken Hockenberry, Beulah Presbyterian Church, Louisville (he's also stated clerk of Mid-Kentucky Presbytery); Dennis Hughes, Northminster Presbyterian Church, Seattle (he's also stated clerk of Seattle Presbytery and a COGA member); Jin S. Kim, Church of All Nations, Columbia Heights, MN (he's also part of the Congregational Transformation Network and the Asian Caucus); Michael Lindvall, Brick Presbyterian Church, New York; Kathryn McCrary, commissioned lay pastor and certified Christian educator, West Virginia Presbytery; Allison Seed, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Independence, MO (she's also chair of the General Assembly Council); Lucy Turner, Independent Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, AL.
Middle governing body staff: Susan Andrews, Hudson River Presbytery (she's also a former GA moderator); Phil Barrett, Des Moines Presbytery; Terry Epling, stated clerk, Giddings-Lovejoy Presbytery; Judy Fletcher, Synod of the Sun; Arlene Gordon, Tropical Florida Presbytery; Sally Hinchman, Sierra Mission Partnership (presbyteries of Stockton, Sacramento, Nevada); James Reese, New York City Presbytery (retired); Lucy Rupe, Winnebago Presbytery; Corey Schlosser-Hall, North Puget Sound Presbytery.
General Assembly moderators: Andrews (2003); Marj Carpenter (1995); Joan Gray (2006); Doug Oldenburg (1998); Rick Ufford-Chase (2004).
Seminary presidents/faculty: Laura Mendenhall, Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA; Ted Wardlaw, Austin (TX) Presbyterian Theological Seminary; Barbara Wheeler, Auburn Theological Seminary, New York City; Ken McFadden, professor, Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education, Richmond, VA.
National staff: Susan Ryan, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance; Norma Sayago, People in Mutual Mission; Marvin Simmers, Christian education (retired); Valerie Small, OGA; Eva Stimson, Presbyterians Today.
Related entities: Jay Hudson, president, Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program; Michael Livingston, president, National Council of Churches; Robert Maggs, president, Board of Pensions; Steve Martin, board chair, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation; David Maxwell, editor, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation; Vince Patton, church marketing manager, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation.
Others: Merri Bass, vice-president, Montreat Conference Center (she's also on the project team); Catrelia Hunter, moderator, Churchwide Coordinating Team of Presbyterian Women; Tim Jones, retired pastor, Association of Presbyterian Interim Ministers; Rachel Whaley, coordinating committee, National Network of Presbyterian College Women.
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