wfn.org | CMD Bids Adieu to Three Staff Members

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

18-November-1999 
99390 
 
    CMD Bids Adieu to Three Staff Members 
 
    Committee renews agreements with Covenant partners 
 
    by Evan Silverstein 
 
MONTREAT, N.C. - During its annual fall meeting, the Congregational 
Ministries Division (CMD) Committee of the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.) established or renewed agreements with various covenant 
groups and thanked three departing employees for service to the 
church. 
 
    Committee members also unanimously approved an allocation of 
$150,000 to the office on Older Adult Ministry (OAM) to be used to 
provide programming for older church members. 
 
                             Departing Staff 
 
    During the gathering at Montreat Conference Center near Black 
Mountain, N.C., committee members said goodbye to the Curriculum 
Publishing Program Area's top managers - James Marchal, interim 
publisher, and Donna Blackstock, editorial director. Later, the two 
reported on the state of their final project, the denomination's new 
curricula,"Covenant People," "Bible Quest" and "The Present Word." 
 
     Rodger Nishioka, coordinator for youth and young adult 
ministries, is departing to become associate professor of Christian 
education at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga. 
 
    Blackstock said completion of the curriculum is on target. She 
said it will be unveiled in February during meetings of the 
Association of Presbyterian Church Educators and the General Assembly 
Council. 
 
    "This is a very exciting time," said Blackstock, a PC(USA) employee for 
23 years. "We're kind of looking at this as a Christmas gift, because it 
will be rolling off the presses around Epiphany time." 
 
                            Older Adult Ministry 
 
     The office on Older Adult Ministry will receive $150,000 in "start-up 
funding" over four years to help it obtain endowment status and become 
financially self-sufficient. CMD now spends $200,000 a year on ministry for 
older adults. 
 
    OAM, part of the Pastor, Educator & Lay Leader Support Program Area, 
develops resources and shares models for ministry, offers workshops and 
retreats, and works with conference-planning teams for leader development 
and education on issues of importance to older persons. 
 
    Funding for some CMD programs was reduced in 1997 after nearly two 
decades of declining unified giving. With more than one-half of PC(USA) 
members at least 50 years old, CMD instructed OAM officials to develop a 
plan to improve financial support for the office and its programs. 
 
    The committee also voted unanimously to: 
 
    * renew covenant agreements with Presbyterian Men, the Presbyterian 
Association of Musicians, National Presbyterian Mariners, and the 
Presbyterian Church Camp and Conference Association; 
 
    * make the Association of Retired Ministers, Spouses and Survivors an 
official covenant partner; 
 
    * approve the formation of a committee to study the feasibility of 
offering day care at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville for the children 
of employees; 
 
    * endorse the Rev. Jay Warren Lewis, of the Synod of the Trinity in 
Pennsylvania, as a member of the board of directors of the Montreat 
Conference Center.  

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