Assembly contends with question of BOP deliverance

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MILWAUKEE — With the intense work of RIW-01 finally behind it, the assembly turned its attention Wednesday to another weighty matter in GAR-03, which concerns the relationship between the General Assembly and the Board of Pensions. The BOP is the national agency responsible for administering benefits for PC(USA) pastors and employees, including healthcare and retirement. 

After the assembly voted on RIW-01, the Moderator and Vice Moderator of Financial Stewardship and Witness, the Rev. Joanna Dunn and the Rev. Kari Olson, returned to the stage to re-introduce FIN-12, On the Faithful Stewardship of Restricted World Mission Funds. Earlier in the week, the assembly had voted to postpone consideration of FIN-12, until after voting on RIW-01, which proposed a similar but farther-reaching review process into the restructuring of world mission with Presbyterian Life & Witness. With the RIW-01 proposed review process approved, the assembly voted to answer FIN-12 by the action on RIW-01, understanding that the goal of FIN-12 would be met during that review. 

The assembly also took up one more item the Committee on Reformed Identity Around the World — ORD-07 — which they also voted to answer with RIW-01 on the committee’s recommendation. With the business of RIW concluded after multiple plenaries and hours of charged debate, the assembly cheered in support of that committee’s hard work. 

Committee leaders for the Committee on General Assembly Relationships, the Rev. Ruth Faith Santana-Grace and the Rev. Brent Sheffer O’Neill, then introduced the work of the committee. GA Co-Moderator the Rev. Tony Larson announced at that point that he would leave the stage. Larson served as an ex officio member on the Unification Commission and therefore cannot help moderate items of business that concern that commission’s work. 

In their introduction, Santana-Grace and O’Neill noted that their committee had been given 18 items to consider and most of them had passed via the consent agenda on the first day of the assembly’s plenary work. These included affirming an ongoing dialogue with The Episcopal Church and the beginning of formal dialogue to explore full communion with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and approving the results of a standard review of both the Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program and the Presbyterian Foundation.

The first item from General Assembly Relationships that the assembly was invited to consider and vote on individually was GAR-03. The initial overture from the BOP agency review committee called for the establishment of a deliverance for the Board of Pensions, which April Davenport, legal counsel from the A Corporation, defined as “an ecclesial document which has been routinely used by the PC(USA) and its predecessors to describe from a canon law perspective how the General Assembly interacts with one of its corporations, which then informs articles of incorporation and bylaws.” 

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Santana-Grace said that the FIN committee voted to refer this item to a working group, noting that it was a “difficult conversation” with divergent legal views and evident tension. She later said that the tense nature of the conversation had significant impact on the committee’s decision and that it might have acted differently otherwise. She also voiced hopes that the recently elected president of the Board of Pensions, Krysten Carter Holloway, would “bring a spirit that would enable a resolution, bridging the gap of understanding in the relationship between the General Assembly and the Board of Pensions.”

The committee voted to refer by a narrow majority, 32-27, so another committee member was invited to share a minority report that called for the deliverance process to move forward. Teaching Elder Commissioner Krista Kiger moved for approval of the minority report, explaining that a deliverance “allows the General Assembly to provide guidance and direction to the Board of Pensions in a way that [the currently established] Memorandum of Understanding simply cannot.”

Kiger also pointed out that other PC(USA)-related agencies including the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, the Presbyterian Foundation, and the Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program all have longstanding deliverances. She noted that, while former BOP President the Rev. Dr. Frank Spencer argued that a deliverance was unconstitutional, the Advisory Committee on the Constitution, the Stated Clerk/Executive Director, and legal counsel all concluded that it would be both constitutional and in order. ACC representative Barbara Bundick clarified that the ACC said there was no constitutional conflict in the move, but did not offer a recommendation either way. The Unification Commission did, however, support the establishment of a deliverance. 

“The Agency Review Committee concluded that the absence of a deliverance has created unnecessary tension within the denomination,” Kiger said. “During their interviews with people across the PC(USA), the [agency review] committee repeatedly heard concerns that when the Board of Pensions disagrees with something directed by the General Assembly, even actions completely unrelated to their fiduciary duties, they can simply say they are not required to comply.”

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With the substitute motion to approve the minority report on the floor, Holloway stepped to the mic to address the assembly. Initially, Holloway announced that the BOP was “in agreement with the minority report” and “ready to have conversations now,” a statement that caused an audible stir in the room. However, moments later she returned to the microphone to say that “we are in agreement with the motion on the floor.” This follow up caused further confusion among both commissioners and assembly leadership.

There were several attempts from both Armstrong and O'Neill to clarify whether BOP was speaking in support of the decision to refer the item to a working group or the minority report’s call to establish a deliverance. Eventually, Holloway stated and then reiterated that the BOP was open to conversation but not a deliverance.

Armstrong urged commissioners and delegates to keep their comments to the current item being considered and to be considerate in how they spoke to and about each other. 

“If nothing else, we will be kind to one another,” Armstrong said. 

Ultimately, commissioners voted against making the minority report the main motion by a vote of 59% to 41%, leaving the referral of the deliverance conversation to a working group as the recommendation for them to ultimately approve or disapprove. After Armstrong urged the assembly to move forward so that everyone could have lunch, the question was called. Commissioners voted to approve the recommendation of GAR-03 with 445 voting in favor and 30 voting against. 

Before the plenary ended, the Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Executive Director of PL&W, addressed the assembly. After announcements, she named concerns brought to her from the GA Committee on Representation about the previous day’s moment of remembrance for trans lives lost. Oh acknowledged that assembly leadership “missed the mark” by failing to ensure tonally appropriate transitions to and from that somber moment and by not adequately caring for or preparing those most impacted by the heavy moment. After apologizing for the harm done, Oh urged commissioners and delegates to be punctual for the afternoon plenary given the large amount of business remaining. 

Oh then invited YAAD Toney Gibson Jr. to offer a sending prayer. Quoting Armstrong’s well-known and oft repeated phrase, Gibson told assembly-goers, “God loves you, I love you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”