SPECIAL ISSUE of the PCN e-newsletter

Highlights of the General Assembly Mission Council meeting

The General Assembly Mission Council met in Louisville, KY, during the week of February 22, 2010. Linda Valentine, Executive Director, sends out a summary of items discussed and approved to Council members. I thought that I would share this with you as engaged communicators. Please feel free to share this information in your newsletters.

A number of important topics were taken up by the Council, beginning with a joint session of the GAMC and the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA), in which the church’s future and its leadership needs were explored.

In the GAMC plenary, strategic directions for the Council’s work were discussed. In committees, Council members looked at strategic directions for specific ministries.

These directions, along with the Guiding Principles for Planning Decisions, which the GAMC approved, will set the context for the 2011-2012 budget plan that will be brought to the May GAMC meeting.

Among the ideas that were discussed as directions for our GAMC ministries are these:

• The GAMC role is to connect, equip, and inspire - shifting to be broker, connector, and facilitator – a partner with expertise to bring and best practices to share; and cultivating broad participation in Presbyterian mission
• We engage in communities of mission practice - a short-hand expression, “3-dimensional mission engagement,” means that GAMC will engage in multi-party partnerships focused on Christ’s mission
• We will focus on the health of congregations and other communities of faith - fulfilling our unique role with congregations and middle governing bodies
• We will focus on leadership development - including ordained and other leaders
• We will embrace a global perspective - recognizing that national and international are interconnected

In more detail, the following are matters that came before the Council:

• Revised the 2010 GA Mission Budget to $93.8M (a reduction of $7.3M from the previously approved budget,  including $800,000 in insurance savings; this did not involve any staff reductions).
• Approved and Recommended to the 219th General Assembly (2010)
• A covenant between Presbyterian Women and GAMC
• The Mission Responsibility through Investment response to a GA referral regarding corporate engagement on issues of non-peaceful pursuits in Israel/Palestine
• A covenant between GA and Historically Presbyterian Racial Ethnic Institutions
• A paper for study and reflection “Christians and Jews: People of God”
• A paper for study and reflection “Toward an Understanding of Christian-Muslim Relations”
• A renewal of Growing Christ’s Church Deep and Wide for 2011-2012.
• The GAMC Executive Committee, meeting with COGA voted to recommend a per capita budget to the 219th General Assembly (2010)
• Approved four Women of Faith Awards. The 2010 theme was ““Women with a Peaceful Heart: Guiding Paths to Peace”
• Margaret E. Howland, Yonkers, N.Y
• Elizabeth Knott, Indianola, Iowa
• Elona Street-Stewart, Eagan, MN
• Joyce Uyeda, Sacramento, Calif
• Viewed several videos on Growing Christ’s Church Deep and Wide
• Evangelism is sharing God’s heart
• The Holy Spirit wants us to grow in diversity
• Elected leaders for 2010-2012 (beginning with the close of the 219th GA)
• GAMC chair – Mike Kruse
• GAMC vice-chair – Carolyn McLarnan
• Evangelism chair – Matt Schramm
• Evangelism vice-chair – Melissa DeRosia
• Discipleship chair – Tom Gillespie
• Discipleship vice-chair – Steve Aeschbacher
• Justice chair – Roger Gench
• Justice vice-chair – Teresa Bryce
• Vocation chair – Clark Cowden
• Vocation vice-chair – Cathy Piekarski
• Stewardship chair – Alan Ford
• Stewardship vice-chair – LaVert Jones
• Executive Committee at-large members (in addition to the above listed committee chairs)
• Joyce Smith
• Aleida Jernigan
• Audit chair – Reg Parsons (2010-2011)
• Approved proxy voting recommendations of MRTI and request the Presbyterian Church (USA) Foundation and Board of Pensions to vote accordingly.
• Approved adding the Truth Commission on Conscience in War to the affiliates list.
• Re-elected GAMC executive director Linda Valentine to a second four-year term.

During the extended conversation on leadership needs that took place during the plenary time with COGA, there were three primary focal points for the discussion:

• Phyllis Tickle’s book, The Great Emergence
• A Study of Commissioned Lay Pastors
• The Report of the Joint Committee on Leadership Needs