wfn.org | Diaz Eagerly Accepts Challenge as Interim Executive Director

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31-October-1996 
 
 
96430           Diaz Eagerly Accepts Challenge as  
                    Interim Executive Director 
 
                      by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--Since taking on the heady responsibility of directing the 
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s $115 million mission enterprise, the Rev. 
Frank Diaz has become increasingly reliant on his Bible. 
 
     Diaz, who was named acting executive director of the General Assembly 
Council (GAC) in July, after the 208th General Assembly refused to 
reconfirm the Rev. James D. Brown to a second term, and then elected 
interim executive director by the Council in September, characterizes 
himself as "unsophisticated and uncomplicated." 
 
     But, Diaz quickly added in an Oct. 23 interview with the Presbyterian 
News Service, "when I read my Bible I am continually reminded that God 
often chose simple, common folk to lead the people." This is a man who 
clearly relishes the opportunity he has been given to lead the church after 
years of serving quietly behind the scenes, most recently as associate 
director for GAC operations under Brown. 
 
     Diaz also wastes little time pondering the "interim" tag.  "I remember 
lots of Bible stories and I don't recall God ever calling anyone to an 
interim or temporary position," he said with a smile.  "It's just a matter 
of responding to God's call to do what we can when we are given the chance. 
I don't even think about the interim part." 
 
     Diaz has moved forcefully -- along with new GAC chair Youngil Cho and 
new Assembly stated clerk the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick -- to set a 
corrective course that he believes will reestablish greater trust in and 
support for the General Assembly's activities.  Many observers believe that 
lack of trust in national church leadership and a perception among many 
Presbyterians that Brown's administration lacked a vision for the future of 
the church contributed to his failure to win reconfirmation. 
 
     Diaz believes his most urgent task is to lead top management in 
Louisville in developing a prioritized budget for 1998.  That budget must 
be reduced by $2.4 million to be balanced by the time next year's Assembly 
meets. 
 
     "For many years now, since the reorganization of 1993, we've been in 
the process of trimming budgets by chipping away a little at a time," Diaz 
explained.  "That is not an effective way -- we need to look wholistically 
at the mission of the church and ask not what is worthy and what is not, 
but what enhances and adds value to the ministry of congregations." 
 
     Spurred by Cho, the Staff Leadership Team (Diaz, the three division 
directors, the Corporate and Administrative Services director and the 
associate director for Communication) has been working to establish the 70 
percent of current activities that are the highest priorities.  The 
remaining 30 percent will be subject to whatever downsizing and redirection 
future General Assemblies and Assembly leaders believe is necessary to 
achieve the congregational enhancement goal. 
 
     The prioritizing task is "very, very difficult," Diaz conceded.  The 
70-30 percent prioritization "is not a 30 percent downsizing," he said, 
"but any plan to redirect resources makes a lot of folk very nervous." 
 
     Diaz has taken several steps to try and ease the anxiety of national 
staff members in Louisville, who have faced seemingly constant upheaval 
since the 1993 reorganization.  Last month, when Cho was widely quoted in 
the church press as saying a reduction of national staff by two-thirds 
might be necessary, Diaz immediately sent a reassuring memo to all 
employees at the Presbyterian Center. 
 
     Firmly but pastorally, he said that Cho's comments must be put in 
perspective -- that all Assembly leaders were asked to stake out their 
visions and dreams for the church's future and that Cho was merely 
emphasizing the serious nature of the problems the denomination faces. 
Diaz reminded staff members that denominational finances are stable for 
1997, that some cutting will have to be done in 1998 and that "we don't and 
can't know what the future holds -- nowhere is lifetime employment 
guaranteed anymore." 
 
     Diaz has instituted a weekly prayer session on Wednesday mornings at 
the Presbyterian Center, in addition to the daily worship service, during 
which time participants pray for the whole church and pray for each other 
by name.  "Prayer is important and powerful. ...  Attitudes improve when we 
get right with God," he insisted. 
 
     Diaz has also established a personal schedule in which he will 
personally visit every employee at the Presbyterian Center in the next 
couple of months.  "Some know me, some don't," he said.  "But in the next 
few weeks, every staff member here will have a chance to tell me what they 
are thinking and feeling and they will know that I care personally about 
each of them and the work they do for the church." 
 
     Diaz wants to carry that message of personal contact out into the 
church.  He adamantly refuses to concede that membership and giving 
declines are inevitable in the Presbyterian Church.  "All the research we 
are doing indicates that Presbyterians in the pew don't know enough about 
what is going on in the church," he said, citing results of numerous 
"listening group" surveys conducted during the last several months by the 
Research Services office of the Congregational Ministries Division.  "I 
believe there is overwhelming support in the church for helping turn around 
the budget difficulties -- people will give if we tell them what we need 
and ask for the money." 
 
     Diaz says the breakdown in membership and giving growth is 
"system-wide."  Throughout the church, he said, "with a few exceptions, we 
have spent too much time and money trying to do the same old things in the 
same old ways.  Where people are allowed to be creative and where they meet 
the needs of people, members and dollars will come." 
 
     Armed with his deep-rooted faith and stubborn refusal to believe 
problems cannot be overcome, Diaz relishes the opportunity he has been 
given.  "I'm a simple person, really," he said, "who has been tremendously 
blessed to be called by God to lead this church for a time." 

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