Steve Shussett, (left) assistant to the Christian Formation Committee; Lucas Keppel, vice-moderator (right) and Carlton Johnson, (center) resource coordinator, participate in committee conversations during second day of meetings. Photo by Randy Hobson
Steve Shussett, (left) assistant to the Christian Formation Committee; Lucas Keppel, vice-moderator (right) and Carlton Johnson, (center) resource coordinator, participate in committee conversations during second day of meetings. Photo by Randy Hobson.
The Christian Formation Committee of the 226th General Assembly reconvened on Wednesday morning with an eye toward details while revisiting similar issues and themes concerning theological education for the whole church and its related institutions. The first items of business to approve minutes, summaries and reports of the Committee on Theological Education (COTE) were brought forward by the respective subcommittees that reviewed them. The motions to approve the minutes of 2022 and 2023 were approved with exceptions in separate votes (CF-MIN-01). The narrative reports of PC(USA)-related theological institutions (CF-INFO-02) and COTE’s agency summary (CF-INFO-01) were also approved.
The Rev. Landon Whitsitt, a teaching elder commissioner from Indian Nations Presbytery, chaired the subcommittee to approve the narrative reports and the agency summary. Whitsitt praised COTE for prioritizing mutual support and advocacy, fostering collaboration over competition, and continuing the discernment of what defines theological education in the church to go “beyond just training ministers” and into “training the whole church, because theological education is vital for the living of daily life.”
The committee then turned to approve the list of secondary schools, colleges and universities that are PC(USA)-related (CF-02). Susan Sumrall, a ruling elder commissioner from the Presbytery of Mississippi, noted that the list had fewer names in 2024 than in 2022. Resource person the Rev. Dr. Ray Jones gave some context: “At the General Assembly in 2002, we affirmed a new set of criteria by which schools would be placed on the list of related schools, colleges and universities.” The process, as explained by Jones, involved the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities (APCU) and the schools that were already members of the association. Member schools were invited as part of their renewal to APCU each year to affirm a 2013 statement by college chaplains of PC(USA) schools about what it means to be Presbyterian-related. The list of Presbyterian-related schools, colleges and universities was approved 44–0.
The committee spent the majority of the day considering and amending an item of business asking certain denominational agencies to study and formulate a plan for the future development of educational resources for faith formation and nurture, especially for congregational use (CF-01). An amendment and several amendments to amend the amendment were introduced and voted on, resulting in an amended version of the overture from the Presbytery of Riverside titled “On Development of Educational Resources for Faith Formation for Congregational Use and to Meet the Needs of the Small Church,” which was approved 43–0. The amendments that were added and approved specified that the educational resources be “Reformed/Christian” and that, in addition to paying attention to affordability, the “new educational resource design” also pays attention to “inclusivity that includes but is not limited to LGBTQIA+, racial, and disability equity.” While commissioners and resource people discussed possible ways to research the need to fund and develop these resources, these solutions were not the task of the current committee. The resolution asks that a concrete proposal regarding funding, staffing and implementation come before the 227th General Assembly in 2026.
When a motion to approve the covenant between the Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation (OPSF) and the Committee on Theological Education was presented (CF-11), the Rev. Shelli Latham, OPSF’s president, spoke of the seminary’s original vision to provide theological education “on the frontier” and how this call resonates with where the church’s needs are today in regard to theological education. “In reality, we are all on the frontier today,” said Latham. The motion passed unanimously with 44 votes.
“I’m in favor of this covenant because OPSF represents truly the future of theological education and what we need to attend to,” said Whitsitt, who drew a connection to the work OPSF has been doing for decades with the directions imagined by the five seminary presidents who spoke to the committee. The Rev. Patricia Stetson-Warning, a teaching elder commissioner of the Presbytery of Plains and Peaks, praised the programs OPSF has to support pastors serving rural churches. “They are in mid-America with so many rural churches with difficult pulpits to fill.”
Dr. Mark Douglas presented the motion to consider a study paper on higher education (CF-16). The paper, titled “More Than Knowledge and Training: Cost and Value in Higher Education in the United States,” could inform the PC(USA)’s Office of Public Witness located in Washington, D.C., and leaders in PC(USA)-related schools, colleges, universities and seminaries, as well as mid council leaders and congregations, in their role as citizens considering public investment in higher education. Douglas, a resource person from the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, cited the strong legacy of supporting higher education in the Reformed tradition and the need to update church study documents around higher education in today’s context when rising costs and increasing debts are an issue. In addition, the study paper addresses more contemporary understandings of how higher education, as its writers describe it, is being “politicized and weaponized.” Douglas noted that while some of the programs regarding financial resources for scholarships and debts cited in the recommendation are already programs of the PC(USA), they are not widely known. The hope of the committee is that the resolution will help raise awareness of systemic issues and practical solutions.
Two Young Adult Advocacy Delegates (YAADs) spoke to the reality of debt that faces their generation and acknowledged that they both had learned about funding through serving on this committee. “Student debt is crippling our generation,” said Em Rau, a YAAD from West Virginia Presbytery. “People who are my age are going through this,” added Christian Smith, a YAAD from the Presbytery of Northumberland. “A lot of these programs I hadn’t heard of until this overture. Anything we can do to get the word out there to help people is very vital and needed.” The resolution vote came with some verbs amended from “direct” to “urge,” after hearing concern from Barbara Bundick, representing the Advisory Committee on the Constitution.
Due to the referral of two commissioner recommendations, committee leadership could not wrap up their committee business as planned Wednesday evening. The committee will reconvene Thursday morning to consider CR-06, which calls on the whole church to be in prayer during a divisive time for our country, and CR-07, which calls for the transparency of PC(USA)-related seminaries in regard to their investments.