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Note #5947 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

24-June-2000
GA00003

	General Assembly Council meeting briefs

	by Jerry L. Van Marter

LONG BEACH, June 22 -- At its meeting here June 21-22, the General Assembly
Council (GAC) dealt with the following matters:

Historic black college in Mississippi in big financial trouble

	Mary Holmes College, a two-year historically black college in West Point,
Miss., continues to face dire financial straits.  Of paramount importance
for the school’s survival is negotiation of a repayment schedule for $1.2
million the school owes the U.S. Department of Education.  The General
Assembly Council (GAC) has offered Mary Holmes a $460,000 interest-free loan
as part of a 50-cents-on-the-dollar settlement.  In return, the Council is
requiring a plan for sound financial management of the college or a plan for
an alternate use of the college’s property, which the denomination still
owns.

Longer terms considered for mission personnel

	In a preliminary revision of its mission handbook, the Worldwide Ministries
Division Committee is proposing that patterns of mission service be changed
to include one year of mission education in U.S. churches.  Under the new
plan, missionaries would serve four years in the field with a two-month
mid-term break and then conclude with one year of itineration in the U.S.,
resourcing presbyteries and congregations.  Missionaries currently serve
three-year terms.  The committee is also recommending that basic missionary
compensation be equal to the clergy median salary in 1998, which was
$37,500.  It says it would not be possible to set higher salary levels
because of current budgetary restrictions.

Election of new Columbia Seminary president endorsed

	The GAC endorsed the election of the Rev. Laura Mendenhall, a pastor in
Austin, Texas, as president of Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga.
 Mendenhall was elected by Columbia’s board of trustees June 17 to succeed
the Rev. Douglas Oldenburg, who is retiring at the end of June.  Mendenhall,
pastor of the 800-member Westminster Presbyterian Church in Austin, has
served as an adjunct professor at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
and is currently moderator of the General Assembly’s Permanent Judicial
Commission. She was heartily endorsed by Oldenburg.  Her election must still
be confirmed by the 212th General Assembly.

Walton Award winners for New Church Development announced

	The Council forwarded to the 212th General Assembly the winners of the 2000
Walton Award for outstanding New Church Development (NCD).  The recipients,
who will each receive $45,000 to expand their ministries, are Iglesia
Presbiteriana Canto de Esperanzo in Chicago Presbytery; Riverside
Presbyterian Mission Church in National Capital Presbytery; Grace
Presbyterian Church in Mission Presbytery; Kwanzaa Community Fellowship in
Twin Cities Area Presbytery; New Harvest Presbyterian Church in New Harmony
Presbytery; and Providence Presbyterian Church in Foothills Presbytery.

Call issued to lift Iraq sanctions

	The Council sent a resolution to the 212th General Assembly calling for the
lifting of economic sanctions against Iraq and on the Iraqi government to
agree to compromise United Nations resolutions that may resolve the conflict
between Iraq and much of the rest of the world.  Noting that the sanctions
do the most damage to innocents in Iraq, the resolution calls on the offices
of the General Assembly to use all existing means to send humanitarian aid
to the people of Iraq.

Presbyteries honored for mission giving

	The Council awarded certificates to a number of presbyteries in recognition
of their financial giving to the work of the church in 1999.  Philadelphia
Presbytery was recognized for its total giving to General Assembly mission;
Alaska Presbytery was honored for the highest per capita giving to General
Assembly mission.  Donegal Presbytery was honored for its total and per
capita undesignated contributions to General Assembly mission.  National
Capital Presbytery was recognized for its total giving to churchwide special
offerings; Alaska Presbytery was recognized for the highest per capita
contribution to special offerings.  Philadelphia Presbytery and Hanmi
Presbytery were recognized for the highest total giving and per capita
giving, respectively to specific financial appeals, such as disaster relief.
 And Pittsburgh Presbytery and North Central Iowa Presbytery, respectively,
were honored for the highest total and per capita giving to Presbyterian
Women.

New leaders installed

	The GAC leadership torch was passed with the installation of Peter Pizor, a
university professor from Cody, Wyo., as the new chair of the GAC.  Pizor
has served the past two years as chair of the Council’s Worldwide Ministries
Division Committee.  Carole Rummell, who has served as vice-chair of the
Congregational Ministries Division Committee, was installed as the Council’s
vice-chair.  They succeed outgoing chair Donetta Wickstrom of Duluth, Minn.,
and her vice-chair, George Inadomi of Los Angeles, Calif.

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