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This story and photo online at http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2007/07150.htm
07150
March 15, 2007
GAC, COGA approve Joint Vocation Office
by Bill Lancaster
LOUISVILLE * The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) and the Executive Committee of the General Assembly Council (GAC), acting in joint session March 14, formally approved bringing five vocation functions together under one Joint Vocation Office.
The new office will combine certification of Christian educators, support for presbytery Committees on Ministry and Committees on Preparation for Ministry, administration of ordination examinations, and management of the church's call system, which matches church professionals seeking employment with employing agencies seeking staff.
All of the previous functions except ordination exams were formerly under the GAC. "It made so much sense to combine the offices," Linda Valentine, executive director of the GAC, told the two committees.
The Rev. Joe Small, associate director for theology, worship and education, during a presentation to the council on the Reformed theology of vocation, used an illustration from a children's sermon to stress the PC(USA)'s understanding of Christian vocation.
Small said he was doing a children's sermon on a day when deacons and elders were to be ordained. He said he told the children they were going to lay hands on them, and when he asked the question, "Why do we lay our hands on them?" A little boy waved his hand and said, "To remind them of their baptisms."
It was the perfect answer, Small said.
"It is God's business to call," he continued. "God is helping us live out our call in our baptisms. The call gives us a good basic sense of what is being asked of us, and what it is we might well ignore."
The five areas brought together in the new Joint Vocation Office include:
* Christian Vocation
[http://www.pcusa.org/christianvocation], including the Presbyterian Leadership Search Effort [http://www.pcusa.org/christianvocation/plse.htm] (PLSE, pronounced "pulse") program, which identifies and encourages young people in the process of discerning whether they are called to professional church service.
* The certification of Christian Educators * Marcia Clark Myers, who was appointed associate stated clerk and director of the joint office, noted that in 2006 the Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators [http://apcenet.org/] (APCE) recognized the largest group of newly certified Christian educators in recent memory.
* Preparation for Ministry and Ministry Support [http://www.pcusa.org/prep4min], providing guidance through consultation, training and educational events for Committees on Preparation for Ministry [http://www.pcusa.org/prep4min/cpm.htm] in the presbyteries; the office also manages the database of all inquirers and candidates for ministry in the PC(USA). Ministry Support/Committees on Ministry (COM) [http://www.pcusa.org/ministers/com/] provides guidance for congregations seeking pastors and presbyteries overseeing the process of filling pulpits in the denomination; In 2006, the office designed the "Hard to Call" process to assist churches who have difficulty finding suitable pastoral leadership and revised the church's COM Handbook.
* Church Leadership Connection
[http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2007/clc/], matching church professionals seeking calls with employing agencies seeking staff; the CLC, which Myers jokingly called the PC(USA)'s "online dating service," worked with 1,800 individuals and 850 congregations in 2006.
* Ordination examinations, supporting the Presbyteries' Cooperative Committee on Ordination Examinations [http://www.pcusa.org/exams/ordination.htm] and assisting in developing and grading the exams, consulting with candidates for the ministry, and assisting exam readers.
Myers' responsibilities also include serving as adjunct staff to the Committee on Theological Education [http://www.pcusa.org/seminaries/cote.htm], which helps coordinate the work of the PC(USA)'s theological seminaries.
The Rev. Bill Lancaster is associate for mission for Foothills Presbytery and a frequent contributor to the Presbyterian News Service.
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