The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) A Corporation (A Corp.) took an important step Wednesday toward achieving its mandate from the 223rd General Assembly (2018).
According to a news release issued following an executive (closed) session, the board voted unanimously to approve structural changes combining seven departments into the newly named Administrative Services Group.
Friend, mentor and predecessor.
That’s how the Rev. Dr. Diane Moffett, president and executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, remembered the Rev. Dr. Leon Fanniel, who died last month at age 88 and was remembered last week at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. Both Moffett and the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), attended Fanniel’s service of witness to the resurrection.
Told by the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly that they’re in “for some heavy lifting” helping the 21st century church adapt “to a world that’s changing quickly every day,” members of the Moving Forward Implementation Commission got a clearer picture of what’s expected of them during their first in-person meeting Monday at the Presbyterian Center.
Central American migrants start as early as 4 a.m. on their trek northward. Many begin with prayer, asking God to keep them safe and provide them peace and comfort in this frightening journey. Mothers and fathers carry sleeping children on their backs or in strollers, hoping to cover as much distance as they can in a day. If they are lucky, they may catch a ride in a passing truck or receive something to eat from good Samaritans in a local village.
It’s been a long four months for Marleny and her family. Since Aug. 28, she, her daughter, son-in-law and nine-year-old grandson have been on the road from El Salvador to the U.S. border. They’ve been at the Mexico-U.S. border for two weeks and are still waiting to talk with border officials.
As people from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador continue to make their way to the Mexico-U.S. border, a delegation of Presbyterian ministers and leaders headed to McAllen, Texas this weekend as part of the Interfaith Caravan of Hope.
Day 2 of the A Corporation’s meetings Friday included the kinds of tasks you’d expect of the corporate body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — approving committee charters and recommendations, electing corporate officers to one-year terms and scheduling dates and places for the board’s 2019 meetings.
It also included a plea from one of those officers, Mike Miller, the PC(USA)’s chief financial officer: err on the side of over-communicating, and work to allay anxiety over what the “new day” that the A Corporation will mean for the operation of the Presbyterian Mission Agency, and, to a lesser degree, the Office of the General Assembly.
Looking out at the A Corporation’s board Thursday, the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, II told the 10 directors his prayer is they’re not seated behind an ordinary corporate table.
Make it a praying table, a hoping, dreaming, risk-taking table, the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly urged.
As the board of directors for the A Corporation, the corporate arm of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), prepares to meet Thursday and Friday at the Presbyterian Center, a three-page letter of advice and encouragement awaits.
A few years ago, Martha Clark grew concerned when Sara Lisherness wanted the then-Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Heath Rada, to join her on a trip to one of the most dangerous cities on Earth: ISIS-held Mosul, Iraq.
“Y’all may be ninjas,” Clark told Lisherness, Compassion, Peace & Justice director, “but the moderator is not. You need to make sure he’s safe.”
