wfn.org | Work Completed on Revised Call System Proposal

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

2-January-1997 
 
 
97007     Work Completed on Revised Call System Proposal 
 
                      by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.--After seven years of development, including two years 
of refinement and further testing mandated by the 1995 General Assembly, 
the Presbyterian Church's new call system for matching church professionals 
seeking jobs with employing agencies seeking staff members is nearly ready 
for submission to the 209th General Assembly (1997) next June in Syracuse. 
 
     At its meeting here Dec. 12-14, the National Ministries Division (NMD) 
Committee reviewed the final report of the Advisory Group for the Call 
System on the refinements and testing of the system it has done since the 
1995 Assembly sent the system back for more work.  The division and the 
General Assembly Council will vote on the revised system at their February 
meetings before it is sent on to the Assembly. 
 
     The initial design of the new system was fairly centralized, with 
nearly all of the proposed components of the system mandatory.  However, 
the advisory group reported, "one universal system designed to meet all 
needs no longer appears in the best interest of the church and its 
servants." 
 
     Rather, the report continues, "a flexible and continually updated 
approach where the national church provides basic services and middle 
governing bodies are provided with options and resources to design systems 
which best meet their needs seems more in keeping with the rapidly changing 
world in which we live." 
 
     The basic forms in the new system will still be called the "Personal 
Information Form" (for church professionals) and the "Church Information 
Form" (for employing agencies).  The forms will be redesigned to make 
better use of current computer technology.  One refinement made as the 
result of the recent testing is that the narrative portion of both forms 
will be increased from one to two pages. 
 
     The revised proposal recommends that no fees be charged for use of the 
basic forms.  Earlier versions of the plan proposed charging fees for all 
call system-related services.  Fees for the optional services in the system 
will still be proposed. 
 
     Many of the components that were mandatory in earlier versions of the 
new system are now being proposed to be optional.  These include the role 
of a presbytery administrator in each presbytery just to deal with calls, 
the use of supplemental questions to the basic forms, the division of 
Committees on Ministry in presbyteries into two separate committees and the 
use of two questionnaires designed to measure leadership gifts and needs. 
 
     The "Leadership Effectiveness Analysis" (for church professionals) and 
the "Strategic Direction Questionnaire" (for employing agencies) "have 
grown in popularity," the advisory group reported.  But opposition to 
making them mandatory led the group to recommend they be considered 
"valuable but optional components of the call system." 
 
     The Rev. Jeff Bridgeman, an NMD member from Solvang, Calif., said the 
assessment questionnaires were inadequate.  "Where are tools for measuring 
spiritual gifts?" he asked.   
 
     The Rev. H. Stanley Wood, NMD staffer, agreed.  "There are a lot of 
[leadership assessment] instruments out there, many of them used by 
Presbyterian congregations," Wood, a new church development specialist, 
said.  "But a biblical, Reformed assessment tool would sure be helpful. 
 
     Mary Elva Smith, an NMD member from San Diego, said she assumed "that 
you bring your spiritual gifts with you to these or any assessment 
exercises.  Maybe that's just the way I operate but I feel that my 
spiritual gifts are built in and can't be omitted from any test." 
 
     The committee agreed to include as one of its ongoing concerns with 
the proposed system the lack of specific spiritual gifts measurement tools 
in it. 
 
     In its report, the advisory committee amplified the "theological 
convictions about call and leadership" that it believes undergirds the new 
call system.  The Rev. Thomas Fisher, an NMD and advisory group member from 
Athens, Ohio, said the group's understanding of a call is that it is a 
tripartite relationship.  "Calls occur within relational contexts," he 
said, "self to self, self to others and self to God." 
 
     With God leading both the individual and the calling body, Fisher 
said, the report states that "calls require recognition and assessment of 
diverse circumstances, gifts and needs.  It is important for calling 
entities to assess and identify gifts and needs, even as it is important 
for persons seeking calls to assess gifts and needs." 
 
     Communication is the key to effective leadership, the report insists. 
"Leadership is nothing more than a function of communicating with and 
relating to self, others and God....Leadership in the church is a 
particular kind of relating and communicating.  Leaders of the church find 
their model for leading in the person of Jesus Christ." 
 
     Persons called to leadership in the church, the report concludes: 
 
          are willing to be accountable, to God and to others 
          demonstrate a "visible solidarity" with those who follow them 
          depend on the calling body to create conditions that empower 
their leadership 
          exemplify self-understanding, their own strengths and weaknesses 
          submit to appropriate training and continuing education for their 
work 
          affirm the authority of the Bible and the confessions of the 
church. 

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