Tributes poured out, tears flowed freely and song filled the virtual and physical space as the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board (PMAB) convened in hybrid fashion on Wednesday for the second and final day of its last meeting.
“Since this is the last and final report that I will give to you,” said the Rev. Dr. Diane Givens Moffett at the opening of the final meeting of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board on Tuesday. Moffett referenced the dissolution of her position as president and executive director and the board of the Presbyterian Mission Agency before taking “a moment to go down memory lane” and “to engage some of the work that God has accomplished through us and through the power of the Spirit at work in us as we have done this work.”
Like their siblings on the A Corp Board, the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board did while meeting jointly Tuesday in Salt Lake City, the Unification Commission voted unanimously Thursday to approve the proposed unifying budget for 2025 and 2026.
The Rev. Mirjam Haas-Melchior gave the governing bodies meeting Tuesday morning at the Salt Palace Convention Center a taste of what’s ahead during the 226th General Assembly next month.
Evaluations, next steps and planned regional gatherings following last month’s first-ever Matthew 25 Summit were among the topics for members of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board during the second and final day of their two-day online gathering Wednesday.
On the first day of two days of meetings that began Tuesday, the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board approved and sent to the 226th General Assembly recommendations for changes to the PC(USA)’s Special Offerings.
With two members in dissent, the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board voted Friday to appoint a three-member task force to study equitable unified clergy compensation by exploring “innovative models to increase the number of churches that can engage pastoral leadership.”
Having read Matthew Desmond’s book “Poverty, by America” together, members of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board meeting online Thursday discussed what they might do to help eradicate systemic poverty, as called for by the PC(USA)’s Matthew 25 invitation.
Wednesday, the first of three days of online meetings for the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, began with worship and ended with a devotion. In between, board members heard reports, held fearless dialogues with the Rev. Dr. Gregory Ellison and team, and celebrated the work and ministry of James Rissler, the president and CEO of the Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program (PILP), who is retiring at the end of the year.
The Matthew 25 Team, created by the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board to help do the work of the Matthew 25 movement, turned its attention Monday to giving mid councils and congregations tools to minister to people living in the growing number of states passing anti-transgender and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation.
