The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) began the second day of its fall meeting by hearing from its third working group, which is focusing on the issue of merger between the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) and the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA). COGA established three groups this summer, made up of COGA members, to look at specific issues currently facing the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
In response to feedback from the Moving Forward Implementation Commission (now a special committee) and others, COGA formed the Merger and National Unity Group to look at the PC(USA) structure.
COGA member Eliana Maxim, who is convener for the group, says it has two goals: to learn why the option of merger continues to be lifted up as a possible restructuring model and to learn the “pinch points” experienced between OGA and PMA.
“I’ve had this conversation for the last six years in various capacities. One of the things I’ve been wrestling with is maybe we’ve been using the wrong words,” said Maxim. “Maybe we should look at it as right-sizing or streamlining. If that means blending two agencies together, so be it.”
Maxim says the group has already engaged in conversations with the Moving Forward Implementation Special Committee (MFISC), A Corp, organizational leadership, consultants, and church historians among others. Those conversations, she says, have helped identify several issues around the merger question.
“There have been numerous questions and confusion as to where the money is located and distributed between the two agencies. There is confusion on where ministries are located and a perceived duplication of work with little or no cooperation,” she said. “Other questions include how to bring the mission and ecclesial arms into alignment to talk to each other.”
Maxim says the working group has continued to ask what congregations need from the denomination.
“How can we organize to deliver more efficiently and fully with flexibility as the church continues to change?” she asked. “Is merger a good way of bringing the two agencies together?”
Maxim says merger offers its own challenges.
“The decision to merge cannot be driven simply by money. Merger would not guarantee an end to silos or missional territorialism,” she said. “It would require common vision and that’s what would be needed to drive the movement.”
The working group intends to talk with mid council leaders, former stated clerks, staff, and others for feedback in the months to come.
“The conversations have been enlightening and rich. There have been quite diverse opinions and wisdom shared with us,” said Dave Davis, who also serves with the working group. “It has been an interesting journey so far.”
“The idea of right-sizing is the best way to describe it. I like it because it provides a more theological understanding,” said COGA member Wilson Kennedy. “It’s not a corporate merger; this is truly us coalescing our efforts to do ministry in the most creative and nimble way for the future.”
COGA also heard on Tuesday from Kathy Lueckert, president of A Corp, on plans to form a coordination table made up of leaders from OGA, PMA, and A Corp.
“One of the charges the Moving Forward Implementation Commission sent to the General Assembly was the formation of a coordination table, modeled after the budget summit meeting held by church leaders last November,” she said. “This group would build on that work, hammer out relationships and responsibilities, and dig deep to create a truly unified budget for the denomination.”
Lueckert says there will be a lot of work for this group to take on over the next several months.
“There will be heavy lifting for this first year, creating a memorandum of understanding and figuring out a unified budget,” she said. “This will be the focus through next summer as we try and untangle all of the pieces to create a unified budget. That will be a significant body of work.”
Lueckert says the hope is to keep this newly formed coordination table to no more than 25 people, including the three agency heads, two representatives from the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board (PMAB) and COGA, and two senior staff people from each agency.
COGA also heard from Tali Hairston, director of community organizing, advocacy, and development for the Presbytery of Seattle, about the growing debate on the church’s role in social justice issues such as Black Lives Matter.
“Predominantly white churches have seen significant fractures over the last four to six years. Pastors have shared that they’ve lost friends and family, regardless of what side they’re on, and congregations have split on this issue,” he said. “The idea of Black Lives Matter has become a symbol of what that fracture means. That fracture is heightened when you say the phrase.”
Hairston told the group the church must be clear there are not two sides in the Christian story, but the gospel and one hope.
“We are reliant on a God who just asks us to sing his praises,” he said. “One way to praise God is to associate ourselves with the people who say Black Lives Matter.”
COGA concludes its fall meeting on Wednesday.