Stated Clerk cites a viral National Geographic video of Emperor penguin chicks diving off a 50-foot cliff in Antarctica while speaking to the Unification Commission
by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service
Photo by Torsten Dederichs via Unsplash
LOUISVILLE — Members of the Commission on the Unification of the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency met in open session for less than half an hour on Thursday morning, with the remainder of their time together Thursday and most of the meeting Friday set to occur as a Committee of the Whole, which is also closed except to commission members and invited staff and its consultant.
The Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA), the Rev. Jihyun Oh, told commissioners she’s grateful “for your ongoing work and your presence.”
Oh said she’s been thinking recently about a National Geographic video by cinematographer Bertie Gregory that shows six-month-old Emperor penguin chicks in Antarctica jumping, one by one, off a 50-foot ice cliff into the sea below.
“It’s a rite of maturation for them,” Oh told commissioners. “They approach the edge, and it takes a while before the first one takes the courageous dive and does the successful swim.”
A handful of penguin chicks follow, and some in the back nudge others into the icy water. “Some are graceful, and some belly-flop,” Oh noted. “Eventually the entire community makes it into the water, and they take that first rite of maturation together.”
The Rev. Jihyun Oh
“I feel like you are doing that work” by “taking the plunge and pushing a little, helping us grow into what we become in this time,” said Oh, who began her official duties as the PC(USA)’s highest ecclesial officer on Monday. “I’m grateful I get to come alongside to help you do the work.”
“We’re so grateful for you and your work,” said Cristi Scott Ligon, the commission’s co-moderator. “We are all together on this journey.”
On behalf of her fellow co-moderator, the Rev. Dr. Felipe N. Martínez, Scott Ligon delivered the co-moderators’ report. She reported that, together with staff members, she and Martínez developed comments for items of business considered by commissioners and advisory delegates to the 226th General Assembly (2024). They presented or served as resource people for several GA committees and helped to staff an informational table at GA in Salt Lake City earlier this summer. They also met with the commission’s culture consultant, Kelly Beeland. Martínez participated in meetings of the commission’s Governance Work Group.
Reporting on behalf of that Work Group, which has been meeting weekly except during General Assembly, the Rev. Deb Avery said Work Group members met with The Rev. Michelle Hwang and the Rev. Shannan Vance-Ocampo, representing PMA Board leadership, who “provided us with information regarding some of the work that will need to be overseen during the interim period” as unification occurs next year.
The current work of the PMA Board centers on “identifying and focusing on the different forms that the repair of historic harm needs to take,” Avery said. “We also gained an understanding of the intersection of PMAB with other boards, committees and entities.”
The Rev. Scott Lumsden said the Finance Work Group continues “to be encouraged by the good work that led us up to and through the General Assembly,” including the passage of a unifying budget of about $94.9 million for each of the next two years. That adopted budget includes a reduction of $5 million over the next two years compared to 2023 levels, a proposal of the Unification Commission.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll have a specific recommendation on how to reach this goal by [the commission’s] October meeting,” Lumsden wrote in his report. “It might be helpful to know that the financial reduction itself may not be the biggest hurdle, but instead establishing a process for evaluating current ministry and program across a unified national church.”
Before moving for the commission to enter into closed session to work as a Committee of the Whole, Martínez thanked Beeland for the work she’s already done with the commission. He said she’ll be providing reporting on change management and “some mutual learning on organizational health” during her two days with commissioners.
The Unification Commission is scheduled to next meet in open session at 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday. Watch the proceedings here.
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