Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) - Schramm takes on mantle of Presbyterian Mission Agency Board leadership

Schramm takes on mantle of Presbyterian Mission Agency Board leadership

PITTSBURGH

outgoing chair of PMA Board places stole on incoming chair of PMA Board

Michael Kruse, outgoing PMA Board chair (at right), passes the stole to new chair, Matthew Schramm. —Photo by Michael Whitman.

The Rev. Matthew Schramm, senior pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Bay City, Mich., is the new chair of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board (formerly General Assembly Mission Council).

During a brief ceremony at the conclusion of the final report (July 7) of the 220th General Assembly’s Mission Coordination Committee, Schramm received the stole from the outgoing Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) Board chair, Michael W. Kruse.

Kruse, a ruling elder from Kansas City, Mo., began his remarks by thanking his wife, Melissa, PMA Board Vice Chair Carolyn McLarnan, and PMA Executive Director Linda Valentine, for their support and counsel.

“We have a truly remarkable executive director and staff at the PMA,” Kruse said. “When I began my service eight years ago, I had deep concerns. The transformation that is under way is beyond anything I might have imagined. Truly God called the right person for the right time when Linda Valentine was elected executive director.”

In introducing Schramm and the PMA Board’s incoming vice chair, Arthur Canada, to the Assembly, Kruse emphasized one of the Assembly’s most prevalent concerns.

“There is something I need to tell you about Matt,” said Kruse. “At 32 years old, we believe that Matt will be the first young adult chair of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board. And let me add that, by my calculation, two of our four programmatic chairs are also young adults.”

Both Schramm and Canada—a teaching elder from Charlotte, N.C.—were elected at the May meeting of the PMA Board.

Schramm prefaced his words of gratitude by acknowledging another former PMA Board chair and “a true saint of the church,” Carol Adcock, along with Kruse, whom he commended for his “passion for strategic focus and alignment, as well as thoughtfulness in every sense of the word.”

“It is my pleasure and honor to try to carry on that legacy, however impossible it may be, and to step into their role as chair of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board,” said Schramm. “I look forward to serving with Art Canada, not only as successors to such wonderful leaders, but as partners, working alongside Linda Valentine and the staff of the Presbyterian Mission Agency.”

Schramm added, “We are excited about Presbyterian Mission and are thrilled to partner with you as we inspire, equip, and connect Presbyterians to serve Christ in the world.”