The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation Board receives a briefing from MES
by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service
The Rev. Chris Roseland
LOUISVILLE — With less than a month before Mission Engagement & Support falls under the purview of the Administrative Services Group and away from the Presbyterian Mission Agency, top MES officials briefed the board of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation on Thursday to let them know what the new arrangement, as determined by the 225th General Assembly last summer, will mean.
“It’s been a journey of exploration, understanding and excitement. This is kind of an arranged marriage,” A Corp President Kathy Lueckert told the board meeting via Zoom, “but I think we’re going to be OK.”
Mission Engagement and Support’s move to the Administrative Services Group, which the A Corp Board oversees, comes about after commissioners to the 225th General Assembly (2022) approved MOV-02. When the move is complete beginning Jan. 1, 2023, all funds development, interpretation, and education for per capita and funding relevant to the Presbyterian Historical Society will be included in MES’s scope of work.
The Rev. Chris Roseland, MES’ acting senior director, and René Myers, its lead mission engagement advisor, took board members through a brief history of MES work and brough them up to speed on recent conversations with partners, including the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Historical Society.
Roseland and Myers traced MES history back to 2007, when World Mission put on its World Mission Challenge, sending 48 mission co-workers to 144 presbyteries and more than 900 congregations over three weeks to talk about mission and ministry and what God was doing in the PC(USA). World Mission followed that with a direct mail appeal, and $1 million came in the door. “A lightbulb went off,” Roseland said.
A consultation the following year in Dallas established benchmarks, which were endorsed by the 218th General Assembly (2008). In effect, the General Assembly said, according to Roseland, “stop the decline of mission co-workers leaving, increase their numbers — and do it on your own.”
Fast forward to the present, where MES is organized into three teams: mission engagement advisors, Special Offerings and Relationship and Development Operations. The Rev. Rosemary Mitchell, the former MES senior director, used to “tell us we had to win back our friends,” focusing attention on re-establishing good relations with mid councils and congregations, Roseland said. “They became our primary focus group.”
Roseland shared some fundraising totals for 2021: about $1.6 million raised through the Presbyterian Giving Catalog, about $7.6 million through One Great Hour of Sharing, about $732,000 through the Pentecost Offering, about $805,000 through the Peace & Global Witness Offering and about $2.4 million through the Christmas Joy Offering.
The Office of the General Assembly “is new to us,” he said, and so leaders with MES and OGA have been meeting to talk about, for example, promoting per capita giving. The OGA assigned an employee, Kate Trigger Duffert, to liaison with MES and promote per capita.
“Money follows mission,” Roseland said. “We talk about what we think God has called us to do, and then we invite people to join us,” through pathways that include prayer and advocacy.
MES’s goal is to raise $30 million annually, including Special Offerings and gifts to the Presbyterian Giving Catalog, Roseland said. Last year, $36 million was given, and so far during 2022, the goal is again being exceeded.
René Myers
Board members thanked Roseland and Myers for their hour-long presentation.
“This has been such an eye-opener for me,” said Bridget-Anne Hampden, the board’s co-chair. “A note of appreciation for all you’re doing.”
“I have learned a lot, and I continue to learn,” Lueckert said. “I enjoy their expertise and their wisdom. As we live into this arranged marriage and stay in our lane, we need to figure out what our sweet spot is so we can help our partners’ ministry flourish.”
Following the report, the board went into closed session to discuss litigation, personnel and property matters.
The board meets again via Zoom beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday.
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