Presbyweb has been a valuable resource for years, providing news and commentary about not only the PC(USA), but the Church in the world. Its offerings are available by subscription (and the user still gets to pay what he or she feels the service is worth). A thirty day trial subscription is available.
In a welcome departure from the lists of questions provided by various interest groups to all the moderatorial candidates for the upcoming General Assembly, Hans Cornelder asks one simple question: "What is the Gospel?". The moderator has limited power, does not define policy, does not administer the bureaucracy of our denomination, but IS the "public face" of the PC(USA) for many people. He or she must be able to clearly define why we have come together as a body calling ourselves the Presbyterian Church (USA).
In its April 1, 2008 edition, Presbyweb listed the responses of all four candidates for Moderator of the 218th General Assembly:
Carl Mazza
Bruce Reyes-Chow
Roger Shoemaker
Bill Teng
What I read opened a window on the candidates' minds. I have formed an opinion, but I will not express it here. The commissioners who will make the decision need to be able to deliberate and pray without pressure.
I hope to hear more such questions being asked, and I thank Hans Cornelder and Presbyweb for setting a standard.
Showing posts with label GA218. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GA218. Show all posts
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Some Thoughts on the Proposed Form of Government
As I was looking over the recommendations for changes in the Form of Government section of our Book of Order, I was struck initially by this paragraph:
As I read further, I saw a significant change in how members are defined, and thus how numbers are reported:
I should make it clear that people whose health prevents them from active participation are not "inactive" to my way of thinking. In the same way, family members who have moved away from the area, but choose to maintain their membership in their parent's congregation are certainly not "inactive", even if they come only once a year for a visit. When the Congregational Care Committee (or whatever it is called in other congregations) tries to make contact, they can often determine what the situation is. Sometimes it is an easy call. Other times, when multiple attempts to contact the person fail, placing them on the inactive roll serves to "hold their place" pending a clarification of their intentions.
I should note that the new proposal does make it incumbent on the Session to review annually the active roll and counsel with "those who have neglected the responsibilities of membership". It just does not provide a framework for dealing with those who choose not to respond over a period of years.
One practical effect of not having a separate inactive category is to retain members on the active roll who neither participate in the life of the congregation nor provide financial support, yet are counted when it comes time to transmit the per capita assessments up the denominational ladder.
All-in-all, though, simplifying the Book of Order is a worthy goal, and what I have read so far is a good rough draft. I think the section on membership needs a lot more work.
3.0202 Governed by PresbytersI was ordained as a Ruling Elder in the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America and this is a welcome recognition of the equal nature of what the PC(USA) calls "Elders" and "Ministers of Word and Sacrament". It seemed to me at the time that, by dropping the ruling and teaching designations, it created an implicit hierarchy of presbyters in the church where there had been not only parity of numbers in the various councils from Session to General Assembly, but parity in the value of each office. It's good to see the names reflect that.
This church shall be governed by presbyters, that is, ruling and teaching elders, also called elders and ministers of the Word and Sacrament. Ruling elders are so named not because they ‘lord it over’ the congregation (Matt. 20:25), but because they are chosen by the congregation to discern and measure its fidelity to the Word of God, and to strengthen and nurture its faith and life. Teaching elders, also called ministers of the Word and Sacrament, shall be committed in all their work to equipping the people of God for their ministry and witness.
As I read further, I saw a significant change in how members are defined, and thus how numbers are reported:
G-1.04 Categories of MembershipThe category of inactive member is not on this list. In addition, there seems to be no clear path to remove a member who has become inactive or moved away, and further has not responded to contacts and counseling. This is not a punitive sort of thing, nor is it excommunication (impossible, of course, in a denomination that has open communion).
The membership of a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) includes baptized members, active members, and affiliate members.
I should make it clear that people whose health prevents them from active participation are not "inactive" to my way of thinking. In the same way, family members who have moved away from the area, but choose to maintain their membership in their parent's congregation are certainly not "inactive", even if they come only once a year for a visit. When the Congregational Care Committee (or whatever it is called in other congregations) tries to make contact, they can often determine what the situation is. Sometimes it is an easy call. Other times, when multiple attempts to contact the person fail, placing them on the inactive roll serves to "hold their place" pending a clarification of their intentions.
I should note that the new proposal does make it incumbent on the Session to review annually the active roll and counsel with "those who have neglected the responsibilities of membership". It just does not provide a framework for dealing with those who choose not to respond over a period of years.
One practical effect of not having a separate inactive category is to retain members on the active roll who neither participate in the life of the congregation nor provide financial support, yet are counted when it comes time to transmit the per capita assessments up the denominational ladder.
All-in-all, though, simplifying the Book of Order is a worthy goal, and what I have read so far is a good rough draft. I think the section on membership needs a lot more work.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
PC(USA) Adopts New Tracking Software For GA218
For the 217th General Assembly, the PC(USA) used a web-based business tracker called "Les". It received mixed reviews, especially from commissioners on the floor of General Assembly. I was "watching" the business of GA217 from my home in Columbia Missouri, and I found the Les interface a little clunky, but reliable, and in conjunction with the live streaming video feed I could watch as little or as much of the proceedings as I wanted to..
Why were there so many complaints from the people in attendance? I found out later that the commissioners had access only to the General Assembly intranet and had to wait until they got back to their rooms to get internet access. My guess is that the local intranet was not up to feeding all the commissioners, advisory delegates, and staff members, all of whom wanted to keep track on what was going on. This is going to become more and more critical as the PC(USA) moves closer to a "paperless" General Assembly. It is a fairly easy proposition to install a wireless access point in the committee rooms where numbers are generally limited, but the plenary sessions present another set of problems. The more people attaching to a wireless network, the more contention there is for bandwidth. And I suspect that most of the several hundred people in the plenary room are going to be trying to access the same information at the same time. Hopefully the GA site will have competent networking personnel dealing with the infrastructure.
The new tracking software, www.pc-biz.org, is web-based (as was Les) and the business from GA217 has been ported over and can be searched using the "Explorer" tab. The FAQ section is a work in progress, but there is enough to get you started. Right now the only information you will get on the 218th General Assembly is the overture list (about 80 at this point), task force reports, as well as some news items. This will, no doubt, change quickly as committee assignments are made and schedules are firmed up. If you register, you can make notations on various items, retrieve your recently viewed items, and flag certain items that you want to watch. Registration is free and open to the public. Commissioners have already received their user ids and passwords.
I am glad to see this being made available not only to the GA commissioners, but to Presbyterians in general. The more information the average Presbyterian has, the more informed decisions can be made, all the way down to the congregation level. My initial impression of the new tracking system is that it is more intuitive than Les, and a little more responsive. Of course that could all change when more people get on and start puttering around.
Why were there so many complaints from the people in attendance? I found out later that the commissioners had access only to the General Assembly intranet and had to wait until they got back to their rooms to get internet access. My guess is that the local intranet was not up to feeding all the commissioners, advisory delegates, and staff members, all of whom wanted to keep track on what was going on. This is going to become more and more critical as the PC(USA) moves closer to a "paperless" General Assembly. It is a fairly easy proposition to install a wireless access point in the committee rooms where numbers are generally limited, but the plenary sessions present another set of problems. The more people attaching to a wireless network, the more contention there is for bandwidth. And I suspect that most of the several hundred people in the plenary room are going to be trying to access the same information at the same time. Hopefully the GA site will have competent networking personnel dealing with the infrastructure.
The new tracking software, www.pc-biz.org, is web-based (as was Les) and the business from GA217 has been ported over and can be searched using the "Explorer" tab. The FAQ section is a work in progress, but there is enough to get you started. Right now the only information you will get on the 218th General Assembly is the overture list (about 80 at this point), task force reports, as well as some news items. This will, no doubt, change quickly as committee assignments are made and schedules are firmed up. If you register, you can make notations on various items, retrieve your recently viewed items, and flag certain items that you want to watch. Registration is free and open to the public. Commissioners have already received their user ids and passwords.
I am glad to see this being made available not only to the GA commissioners, but to Presbyterians in general. The more information the average Presbyterian has, the more informed decisions can be made, all the way down to the congregation level. My initial impression of the new tracking system is that it is more intuitive than Les, and a little more responsive. Of course that could all change when more people get on and start puttering around.
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