wfn.org | Think Tank Seeks Input in Dreaming Church of The Future

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

Reply-To: wfn-news list <wfn-news@wfn.org>
9-December-1998 
98407 
 
    Think Tank Seeks Input in Dreaming Church of The Future 
 
    by Evan Silverstein 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -A think tank committee charged with dreaming the church of 
the future wants Presbyterians to step outside the "box" in helping shape 
that vision. 
 
    The so-called "Blue Sky" envisioning work group wants suggestions from 
denomination members by Jan. 15 to consider in preparing a vision statement 
to the body that spawned it, the General Assembly Council (GAC). 
 
    "Presbyterians sometimes have difficulties, we all do, getting out of 
our boxes and thinking in non-organizational ways, or in thinking of ways 
that are radical enough to reflect God's purpose," said the group's chair, 
the Rev. Thomas E. Fisher of Athens, Ohio. 
 
    This "dream team" of nine members is taking a more radical, longer term 
approach than other groups asked to plan ahead, says Fisher, who's also a 
GAC member. So sending suggestions may require tuning the thinking cap to 
extreme imagination. 
 
    "We want to create a culture of creativity," he said. "How do we 
empower the church at all levels to be experimental, to be creative?" 
 
    Since its appointment in February, the team has met three times. 
Members have already communicated with some church members and seminary 
officials in order to keep their fingers on the pulse of Presbyterian life. 
 
    Members of the diverse committee gather from across the nation to meet. 
Their ages range from 17 to at least 65 years old. There are past General 
Assembly Council chairs, clergy, a university faculty member, a moderator, 
a ministry chair, an attorney and a high school student on the committee. 
Interested parties may send suggestions by regular mail, e-mail, or by FAX. 
 
    Planning a strong future requires a youthful perspective since today's 
children are tomorrow's church leaders, according to 17-year-old Britton 
Travis, a senior at Plainview High School in Texas, who is serving on the 
work group. 
 
     "There are so many differences in the various generations," she said. 
"I can't see a group of 50-year-olds looking at what the church is going to 
be in 50 years, when most of the people in the church are going to be 
today's high school kids and today's 20-year-olds." 
 
    The group wants input from the church's general membership as it 
prepares to meet Jan. 22 outside New Orleans, La. Suggestions will be 
reviewed and considered for the group's report to GAC Feb.12 in Louisville, 
Ky. 
 
    "We are eager for anyone who has any kind of thoughts and dreams to 
share to know there's a way for them to do this," Fisher said. "We really 
want to involve the whole church increasingly in the process of envisioning 
the future." 
 
    The committee will meet for the final time March 5 in Puerto Rico to 
make any revisions requested by GAC. 
 
    Blue Sky is projecting beyond merely building "walls and structures" in 
dreaming the future church. Committee members are envisioning, among other 
things, new ways the church can cope with shifting economic, sociological 
and technological trends in a new millennium promising an explosion of 
change and diversity. 
 
    "I think the world is changing much more quickly than ever before. 
We're going to have to figure out how to adapt more quickly so that we 
remain relevant," said think tank member Andrew Browne, a computer 
technician and former GAC member from Aurora, Colo. "I think we're at a 
point right now as a denomination we need to prove to the world we can 
think differently and we need to prove to ourselves that we can think 
differently. This committee is a start toward that." 
 
    In going beyond "organizational and managerial" aspects, the team wants 
to identify new ways the denomination can solve these issues by creating a 
church without boundaries, one not limited by practicality. According to 
Fisher, those making suggestions may consider four areas the envisioning 
committee has focused on: 
 
    *  Seeking better ways of  "standing with people on their own turf and 
       relating to people on their own terms." 
    *  Creating "an ethos of experimentation, a culture of creativity - 
       what we're talking about is an empowerment of the church at all 
       levels to be experimental, to be creative." 
    *  Promoting "whole church thinking and sharing what's going on in 
       various places - what's working, what's not working." 
    *  Attending to the church's ecumenical and interfaith contexts. 
 
    Whatever the immediate impact of the committee's suggestions, members 
said they believe envisioning programs are imperative to ensure a bright 
tomorrow for the church. 
 
    "This is not something that is once and for all," Fisher said, "the 
future keeps intending on us." 
 
    Fisher said Presbyterians may contact committee members directly. Aside 
from Fisher, Browne and Travis, the other members of the envisioning group 
are: Patricia Brown, former General Assembly Moderator, Cincinnati, Ohio; 
the Rev. Cathy Chisholm, Vandalia, Ill.; Youngil Cho, former GAC chair, 
Raleigh, N.C.; Fred Denson, attorney and former GAC chair, Webster, N.Y.; 
the Rev. Adelia Kelso, Pearl River, La.; Peter Pizor, Cody, Wyo., chair of 
Worldwide Ministries and a faculty member at the University of Wyoming. 
 
    To submit ideas to the Blue Sky committee, fax, e-mail or write 
suggestions to Deborah Bowker Haines, Senior Administrative Assistant, 100 
Witherspoon St., Room 5413A, Louisville, KY 40202-1396. Fax: (502)569-8080, 
e-mail: dhaines@ctr.pcusa.org.   

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  This note sent by PCUSA NEWS
  to the wfn-news list <wfn-news@wfn.org>.
  Send unsubscribe requests to wfn-news-request@wfn.org