wfn.org | Synod resolutions address single governance plan

["Gregg D. Brekke" <BrekkeG@ucc.org>]

Synod resolutions address single governance plan

>Written by Gregg Brekke

>May 5, 2009

Three UCC Conferences and one Association have submitted resolutions to the  General Synod to be held in Grand Rapids this summer requesting a continua tion of the process that would lead to a single governing board for the UCC 's covenanted ministries.

By approval of their respective bodies, the UCC's Penn Central, Connecticut  and Michigan Conferences and the Catoctin Association of the Central Atlan tic Conference each submitted separate resolutions asking for debate on gov ernance issues and an affirmation by the Synod that a single governing boar d would be in the best interest of the entire church.

UCNews previously reported<http://www.ucc.org/news/single-governance-propos al.html> an "abrupt halt" to the process March 23. The board structure prop osed by the second incarnation of the Governance Formation Team (GFT-II) wa s thwarted when Justice and Witness Ministries (JWM) board members voted 17  to 14, with three abstentions, not to move the process forward.

"No matter what the outcome of our vote had been, I would have to stand bef ore you and report there is considerable ambivalence on the Justice and Wit ness Ministries board," the Rev. John Gregory-Davis, pastor of Meriden (N.H .) UCC and chair of the JWM board, told a joint gathering of the boards at  their March meetings. "We are not of one mind on this."

The Rev. John H. Thomas, general minister and president, said the delay was  difficult and unwelcome news for many members of the boards, who have been  engaged in the process for more than three years and at a cost greater tha n $250,000 in legal and meeting expenses for two differently constituted ta sk-force groups.

"The inability to move at this time to a more coherent and effective govern ance structure is unfortunate at best," Thomas told United Church News afte r the JWM board vote. "The need for change remains and those who will lead  our national ministries beyond General Synod will have to find ways to affe ct that change even as the pressing questions about our governance are dela yed."

The Rev. Linda Jaramillo, Justice and Witness Ministries executive minister , sees these resolutions as an opportunity to continue the governance dialo g. "These four resolutions represent the intent of at least part of the chu rch to continue the discussion," she said. "Our job as the Body of Christ i s to listen to one another. Our leadership role is to discern our future to gether - and our delegates to General Synod are our leaders."

The Standing Rules of the 27th General Synod allow for the possibility of r eceiving resolutions that could not have been anticipated prior to the Jan.  1, 2009, deadline. The actions of the JWM board that halted the single gov ernance proposal fell after this deadline.

UCC Penn Central Conference Minister, the Rev. Marja Coons-Torn, worked wit h her Conference board in submitting the first resolution calling for the G eneral Synod to revisit single governance. "The delegates attending General  Synod deserve the opportunity to hear the discussion on single governance  and help make the decisions that will guide the church into the future," sh e said.

Hopeful for unity in the mission objectives of the church she feels a singl e governance model will provide, Coons-Torn said, "We need to find ways to  build trust with one another that allow us to be more missional in addition  to being more efficient - for the good of the whole church."

Jaramillo agrees that more participants will enhance the process. "The more  people who are involved, the better it will allow for our collective wisdo m to come forward," she said.

Resolutions of similar nature are often combined into a single document for  the General Synod to consider. "In all likelihood the Committee of Referen ce, who decides on the disposition of resolutions, will act to send these r esolutions to one committee and may even recommend that they be combined,"  said Lee Foley, the UCC's minister for governing body relations. "It is pro bable that the General Synod will be dealing with one governance resolution , not four."

Foley explained that no action is possible by the General Synod regarding t he tabled combined board proposal. Rather, he said the submitted resolution s merely encourage the Covenanted Ministry Boards and Executive Council to  again take up their deliberations on continuing the process of defining the  constitution and bylaw changes that would lead to the unified board struct ure.

These resolutions, along with those previously submitted, can be found on t he GS27 resolutions page<http://www.ucc.org/synod/resolutions/>.