Photo by Redvers
When I served as a commissioner to the 219th General Assembly this past summer, I was assigned to one of the two Social Justice committees. We recommended passing a number of studies about a variety of social issues like education and immigration. As we passed each one, someone would inevitably point out how much money each one cost and question whether a struggling denomination should be spending these kinds of resources on such things. At one point, I made the argument that this is what Presbyterians do. We study things to learn how we can best act in the world. For a national denomination to do this, it will take money.
By the end of GA, my attitude had changed. During the plenary sessions, we were given regular updates about how much money the things we had passed would cost the church. It was like a running total on the cash register at a check out line. With each plenary session, you could hear the “cha-chings” as our bill grew bigger and bigger.
I may have some of the following details wrong, but this is how I remember it. On the very last day, as everyone was trying to finish up business and be done, someone stood up and asked that the assembly reconsider the funding of a wetlands study in Louisiana and redirect those resources toward a national office for campus ministry, which we had acted to restore a day or two before without providing means to fund it. After not much debate, the assembly denied this suggestion. Beyond all the parliamentary procedures, what this boils down to is that we chose to fund a wetlands study rather than support for campus ministry. Some of us, at least, were stunned.
As I’ve reflected more and more on this in the months since, this closing day experience has exemplified for me what is wrong with the PC(USA). Back in the middle of the 20th century, when denominations like ours had grown to become large bureaucracies that functioned as mission agencies, I suppose funding a wetlands study made sense. But today, as our church continues to lose members and relevancy, why in the world should this be a priority for us, especially when there are perfectly good organizations better suited for this task (many of whom may in fact be staffed by faithful Presbyterians)?
As I think about what I would suggest as a better list of priorities for the PC(USA), here is what rises to the top of my list:
Congregational Support
As the front lines of our ministry and mission, every level of our denomination should be oriented toward the support of vital congregations.
New Church Development
I am learning that study after study shows that the best and most efficient way to grow is through new church development, not the revitalization of struggling congregations. Let’s do some pruning of old and ineffective Presbyterian vines and plant some new congregations that will reinvigorate our mission.
Youth Ministry
I realize that my position as an associate pastor with primary responsibility for youth ministry is a rarity in our denomination. At the presbytery and national levels we need to do a better job supporting youth ministry for congregations that cannot afford a full time youth worker. We also need to do a better job connecting our young people beyond local congregations.
Camping Ministry
This is a tricky one, because traditional ways of doing camping ministry—which typically involve owning a camp—are becoming financially unsustainable for presbyteries. Yet we cannot ignore the vital role a variety of camping experiences play in the faith formation of young people and adults. We must think of new ways to maintain and nurture vital camping ministries.
Campus Ministries
If the city of Chicago is any indication, Presbyterians are simply failing at campus ministry. By not supporting campus ministry the way we should, we are losing young adults while other churches and parachurch ministries are picking up the few who might express interest in faith during college. The stereotypical young adult exile from church doesn’t have to be that way, and we sure aren’t doing much about it. Instead of hoping that these young adults find their way back into churches after college, let’s do a better job tending to them during this critical time of life.
If it was up to me, the Presbyterian Church would drop everything else—and I really mean everything—and spend the next decade or two focusing on these priorities. If the Presbyterian Church is really worth saving, this is the way to do it.
John,
I would add only one thing to your right-on-the-money list: Ministers. As the denomination and congregations have changed, so have the demands of ministry (education, emotional, physical, practical, etc.). The denomination should strongly support the caring of those — like you — who are leading it into a new age.
Josh
Thanks, John. I totally take your points and agree with many. The problem is, when I think of the good folks in Louisville, I don’t see many to cut. That said, I definitely support your priorities and wish we could emphasize those. And, yes, I think cutting back on the social justice side of things would be wise — other orgs do some great hunger work, but I don’t see Sojourners creating new churches.
Related to the expense side of things, I’d humbly suggest cutting back General Assembly meeting costs drastically: meeting every 3 years, and with many fewer commissioners (say two from each presbytery and four from the big ones). I’m not convinced the work of GA is worth the money, and this is from a guy who’s been something like 8 times. It’s fun, but it’s not pretty and it’s not worth the expense — it pains me to say that, but it’s true.
Why were we doing a wetlands study in the first place? Stewardship of creation is important, but that does not mean that it’s the job of General Assembly to play Sierra Club. There are secular organizations that do those things very well. On the other hand, who else can really take on the issues you highlighted in this post? All sounds like a job for the church to me…
One point of clarification:
The GA didn’t fund a “wetlands study” but a center for the study of the theology of the southern Louisiana Wetlands region.
Now, I think you’re overarching point is well taken and whether we think that is more worthy than Campus Ministry of monies is another question, but we can at least rest in the fact that the PCUSA is not doing the work of the Sierra Club.
Here is a news release from General Assembly about the project.
It does, in my opinion, sound like it is long on environmental education and lobbying, and short on God.
Here is the irony I see in the campus ministry issue. The
trend has been away from an independent campus minister toward
congregations in university towns doing campus ministry. The shift
GAMC was trying to make was away from older model toward
congregation based campus ministry. All people saw was a cut to
“campus ministry” and abandonment of young adults. It was precisely
the opposite and the action to restore the funding, IMO, hampered
efforts to adapt to new realities. At GAMC, we divided our work
into 14 categories of ministry. We asked various groups to give us
their top two priorities. The one with the highest level of support
had 35%. Every type of ministry has committed enthusiasts but every
type of ministry is seen as NOT a top priority by two-thirds of
respondents. I like your list. We need to be focused on those
things that a national office is uniquely qualified, or better
qualified, to do and leave the rest alone. But there is no
consensus and what those things are. There are highly motivated
pockets of Presbyterians to preserve every program and there is no
consensus to be able to discontinue any of them.
Don’t worry John, little by little all those funds will be redirected and the GA activities will be curtailed. And the last one out of the building will turn off the lights.
Michael Neubert
Presbytery of Southeastern Illinois
I, too, like your list. I would like to see the elimination of Louisville employees at GA except for those actually required to make the meeting work. Stop the agency propoganda campaigns. Ministers do need more support.
A provocative piece. I would change “youth ministry” to “youth discipleship.” Much of what passes for youth ministry is, to put it mildly, crap. And while I support camping and campus ministries, these are increasingly being “outsourced” to parachurch organizations, like it or not. More to the point for the MGB Commission is that a model that puts more emphasis on MGB gatherings and less on national gatherings would be consistent with your thesis. Someone has to cut the Gordian knot of special interest politics that hogties the GA, which is a remnant of the 1970s era bureaucratic model.
Glad you are shining sunshine here. Why are they doing stuff on immigration, wetlands, etc? I can send money to lobbying groups for that.
John, there’s probably few things we’d agree on, but I’m with you on this. I was at GA as a commish too and I was baffled by this. The wetlands study is a perfect example of how we throw away money on real issues that are simply out of the area of our expertise and influence. We’ll spend thousands of dollars on this, write a report no one will read or care about. When will we learn how useless this is?
On the flip side, just establishing an office for campus ministry without any funding for program is pretty much throwing money away too.
Excellent post, John. Though we all may have our own way of tweaking this list, the first priority of the denomination should be enhancing and working those portals where people enter the faith or where Christ becomes real to them. There are never going to be enough resources to do everything a deonomination, especially a diverse one like the PCUSA, wants to do. So to paraphrase Stephen Covey, the main thing is for us to keep the main thing the main thing. Any Christian body, regardless of theological persuasion, that does not first and foremost bring new disciples into the faith is doomed to failure. I don’t think the Great Commission says, “Go and recycle old Lutherans and Methodists and lapsed Catholics and turn them into lukewarm Presbyterians.” It says loosely, “Go and make disciples of all nations…baptizing them…and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” New churches, campus ministries, youth ministries, camps, etc. is where that most typically happens.
Mike Armistead
Charleston-Atlantic Presbytery