As was first reported by Presbyterian News Service on Nov. 5, several ministries in the new interim unified agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be reconfigured, including the Theology, Formation and Evangelism ministry area, which serves presbyteries and synods as they support congregations and develop spiritual leadership across the church.
While Presbyterian News Service was not present for the three days of Committee on the Office of the General Assembly meetings that concluded on Thursday, the news service did have the next best thing at its disposal: a question-and-answer session via email with Kate Trigger Duffert, Director of General Assembly Planning, one of the OGA staff and others present for COGA’s last in-person meeting ever at Zephyr Point Presbyterian Camp and Conference Center in Zephyr Cove, Nevada.
Meeting via Zoom on Saturday, the Unification Commission voted on a new committee structure as it moves from studying the unification of the Presbyterian Mission Agency and the Office of the General Assembly to implementing unification.
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.
This month’s webinar put on by the co-moderators of the Funding Model Development Team laid out the work completed so far on the team’s General Assembly mandate to “develop and implement experiments that will fund councils of the church, above the session, that will be consistent with the identified values and adaptive challenges of the mid councils.”
On Saturday, the Unification Commission introduced Kelly Beeland, a consultant with nearly three decades of experience helping companies and organizations with, among other tasks, change management and understanding culture. Beeland took commissioners through a half-hour presentation on the work she’s already begun. Her contract ends Dec. 31.
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.
