Category Archives: Moderator

Fourth Moderator Candidate For 220th PC(USA) GA (2012) Endorsed

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Last week a fourth candidate was endorsed to stand for Moderator of the 220th General Assembly (2012) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) when Palo Duro Presbytery endorsed Teaching Elder Randolph “Randy” Branson.

TE Branson is the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Graham, TX, and currently serves as the Moderator of the Presbytery. According to the PC(USA) announcement, TE Branson is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and San Francisco Theological Seminary. (SFTS has posted the PC(USA) announcement on their web site.) He has served churches in Texas and Southern California.

He has provided a quote to the Presbyterian News Service about his vision where he says:

“The middle of the church needs to demand and expect a culture of
respect and appreciation in the PC(USA). Palo Duro Presbytery has been through a lot and we’ve
figured out a way to get along across a lot of viewpoints. I’m hoping to offer that to the denomination. We can’t keep going the
way we’re going.”

In addition to the Presbyterian News Service article, there is also coverage from the Presbyterian Outlook and The Layman.

In looking around for links and chatter it appears that TE Branson has little in the way of a social media presence.  He does have his sermons available on iTunes, but no immediate finding of blog, Facebook or Twitter handles. (Please let me know if I have missed these.)

I congratulate TE Branson on his endorsement and add him to my prayers for the 220th GA.

[ Additional note: It was interesting to find another pastor named Randy Branson on the web who is in the Pentecostal Church of God, actually just down the street from me.  He does have a strong web presence with a web site and Facebook page and I am hoping his links have not kept TE Branson’s information from being found.]

Church Of Scotland Moderator Designate… Two Of Them

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Today the Church of Scotland announced the Moderator Designate for the 2012 General Assembly.  And last week the Church of Scotland National Youth Assembly Moderator Designate was also announced.  Here is some info on both of them.

The Rev. Albert Bogle was selected as the Moderator Designate for the 2012 General Assembly. Rev. Bogle is the pastor of St. Andrew’s Parish Church – Bo’ness and has his pastor’s blog titled iTalker. His Facebook page tells us that he is a graduate of the University of Glasgow and did his final theological training at the University of Edinburgh. (And as an aside, I like the Facebook profile picture better than the darker picture in the press release that the BBC article used.) He was short-listed last year in the Moderator selection process and his church’s web page has echoed the press release announcing his selection this year.

Besides the parish ministry Rev. Bogle has been involved in a wide range of ministries and in service to the church. He is involved with Sanctus Media, a non-profit that provides technology help to churches. He founded the Vine Trust that provides assistance to impoverished areas around the world and is currently working on the Amazon Hope Project that brings medical help to the Amazon region. He has served on multiple committees within the church, was the convener of the Church Without Walls group from 2004 to 2009, and is currently on the World Mission Future Strategy Group. The Church Without Walls is a theme his church has picked up on.

He has done a great job with his social media using the iTalker handle on Twitter (@iTalker), Facebook and his iTalker blog. Congratulations to Rev. Bogle on his selection and I look forward to following him and his Moderatorial year in the virtual world. May our prayers be with him as he undertakes this new calling.

It is also a pleasure to pass on the announcement of the new Moderator of the National Youth Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Mr. Euan Patterson of the Presbytery of Greenock and Paisley. Mr. Patterson can of course be found online on Twitter (@Elfangorax) and Facebook. He has contributed to the COSY Blog and for a good introduction to Euan I highly recommend his 15 minute video about his experience as a youth delegate to the 2011 General Assembly. I congratulate him on his selection and as he takes on this special calling we will be praying for him as well.

Third Moderator Candidate For 220th PC(USA) GA (2012) Endorsed

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On Tuesday October 11 a third candidate for Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) joined the group when Teaching Elder Robert Austell was endorsed by the Presbytery of Charlotte.

TE Austell is the pastor of Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he has served for almost ten years. Previously he was an associate pastor in Lenoir, NC.  His M.Div. is from Princeton Theological Seminary with some coursework at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He also has a D.Min. from Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte. His dissertation was on worship and music and is available through lulu.

The Presbytery of Charlotte has issued a two page press release that is full of quotes about Robert. Speaking of his own sense of call he is quoted as saying:

“I have challenged my congregation to stretch beyond their walls and answer the question, ‘What is God doing in and around you, and how can you be a part?’ With the discernment and blessing of my family, elders, and local congregation, standing for Moderator seems to be the clear answer of how God would have me answer that question. I see it as an extension of the calling and work which I have already been doing – loving ordinary and imperfect people and pointing them to the extraordinary grace of God in Jesus Christ. I believe I am being called at this time to remind the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) of the extraordinary God that has called us together into being and leads us out into the world with hope and Good News as a distinct, truth-and grace-bearing people.”

The chair of the presbytery’s nominating committee, Teaching Elder Lee Koontz, provides this quote:

“If I may be allowed some personal privilege here… I personally am excited to support Robert’s candidacy, and I recognize that he has substantial gifts that would serve the denomination well as Moderator. Among those gifts is the ability to speak authentically and faithfully to a wide spectrum of Presbyterians. During a time in which we’re discussing congregations potentially leaving the denomination, Robert is able to relate to those who want to leave, those who want to stay, and everyone in between, and he does so with compassion and understanding. That’s one of many reasons that I’m excited to support his candidacy for Moderator of the 220th General Assembly.”

His candidacy has been covered by the Presbyterian News Service, in an article in the Presbyterian Outlook about the second and third candidates, and by The Layman Online in their article about all three candidates.

The Rev. Dr. Austell has served as the Presbytery moderator, Presbytery Council Vice-Moderator and is the Moderator-elect of the Presbytery Council.  He has served the presbytery in a number of positions and is known as a worship leader for conferences.

Robert was a commissioner to the 218th General Assembly (2008) and may be best known from that Assembly as one of the commissioners who co-sponsored the commissioner resolution On Urging a Gracious, Pastoral Response to Churches Requesting Dismissal from the PC(USA). More recently Robert created the well-known GA Help web site to help guide interested individuals through the 219th GA in 2010.

Needless to say, Robert is well represented in the virtual world with his Moderatorial web site, personal blog lighthouse/searchlight church, and on Facebook and Twitter (@gspcrobert).

So, best wishes and prayers for TE Austell as he stands for Moderator.

Now, how many more candidates are yet to come?

Second Moderator Candidate For 2012 PC(USA) GA Endorsed

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Let me begin with a technical note: The Second and Third individuals to be endorsed to stand for Moderator of the General Assembly were endorsed by their presbyteries on the same day and the news seems to have hit Twitter within a few minutes of each other.  But, media outlets seem to be consistent in the use of the 2nd and 3rd designations so I will use them as well.

On Tuesday October 11 the Presbytery of Great Rivers endorsed their General Presbyter and Stated Clerk, Teaching Elder Susan Davis Krummel, to stand for election as the Moderator of the 220th General Assembly.

There is no bio or statement posted on the Presbytery web site but the PC(USA) news article tells us that TE Krummel has served in a variety of pastoral positions in various sized churches in the first 24 years of her ministry.  She has been in her current position for the last eight years. She received her ministry degree from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and has additional certificate education from McCormick Theological Seminary.

Ms. Krummel has a strong record of service to the denomination including teaching polity at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary, serving as the president of the Association of Executive Presbyters, and Moderator of the General Assembly Nominating Committee.

Her Moderatorial web site is up and it contains the press release and a collection of weekly perspectives she wrote for the Presbytery. It also invites us to follow her on Facebook and Twitter (@skrummel) for which there is one tweet so far.

In the press release, Ruling Elder Gary Davis, the moderator of the presbytery nominating committee, is quoted:

“An inspiring preacher and
teacher of the Reformed faith, Sue Krummel knows about the culture of
our presbytery because she was born and raised here. We recognize that
most of the churches (small membership congregations) in our
denomination are very much like some of the churches that Sue has
served. We believe that in this critical hour, the Presbyterian Church
(USA) needs a Moderator who understands the people in the pews. Sue
does.”

The Presbyterian Outlook has an article about her and the third candidate (I’ll post tomorrow) and The Layman Online has an article on all three of the current candidates.

This endorsement raised an interesting question about the current call of individuals who are standing for Moderator.  It struck me that serving in a higher governing body council was rare for those also serving as Moderator, but after I looked into the statistics it is not common, but not as rare as I though.

The obvious exception right now is Teaching Elder Landon Whitsitt who, while currently serving as Vice-Moderator of the General Assembly, just recently received a call to be the Executive and Stated Clerk of the Synod of Mid-America.  But that change was recent and he was serving as a parish pastor at the time of the 219th GA.  The other Vice-Moderator that came to mind was Ruling Elder Gay Mothershed who was serving as an Associate Executive Presbyter in Texas at the time of the 208th GA.

So, looking systematically at the list of Moderators, there have been 25 General Assemblies since reunion.  Of the 25 Moderators there have been 17 Teaching Elders and 8 Ruling Elders.  While the ruling elders could be an executive (cf. RE Mothershed above) it turns out that five were involved in business or non-profit corporations (Wilson, Gwynn, Brown, Ufford-Chase, Bolbach).  Two of them were in academics (I. Rogers, Gardner) and one writer (Marj Carpenter – I was tempted to call her a missionary because she wrote with a mission).

Regarding the Teaching Elders, about half (nine) were parish pastors at the time of election (Taylor, Hall, Fife, Dobler, Bohl, Buchanan, Andrews, Gray, Reyes-Chow).  Three were in academics (Oldenburg, Rhee, J. Rogers), two missionaries (Nelson and Weir – retired at the time of election), and one heading up a ministry non-profit (Abu-Akel).  The remaining two were an Associate EP and an EP (Salmon-Campbell and Valentine respectively).  So while being elected Moderator while serving in a presbytery executive position is not unheard of, it is one of the less common positions of call to be in at the time of election.

So, there is a summary of Rev. Krummel’s endorsement and the EP’s that have gone before her to this position. Our best wishes as she stand’s for the position of Moderator of the General Assembly.

Now, on to number three…

Free Church Of Scotland 2012 Moderator Designate Announced

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There are multiple Presbyterian branches that are moving into the new General Assembly cycle and a couple of days ago we had the meeting and report of the Free Church of Scotland’s October Commission regarding their Moderator Designate.

The Commission has prayerfully selected the Rev. Dr. Iain D. Campbell as the Moderator for the 2012 General Assembly.

Rev. Campbell, or “Iain D” as he is apparently known, is the pastor of the Point Free Church on the Isle of Lewis. He is well known to a much wider audience through is own blog, Creideamh, as well as his writing for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals online magazine Reformation21. (Although to be fair, both of those have been a bit quiet since last May.)

The Point Church is Rev. Campbell’s third charge since his ordination, having served at Snizort Free Church and Back Free Church previously.  He is an active writer and lecturer and serves as an Adjunct Professor of Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary (PA).  He has served the church in multiple ways, recently as a member and the Convener of the College Board, and currently as Convener of the Communications Board.

For more about Rev. Campbell you can check out the Free Church press release, his church bio (which has the link to his sermons), the Reformation21 contributor information (that where I got the “Iain D” from), and his faculty blurb at Westminster.

As always, congratulations to the Rev. Dr. Campbell on his selection and prayers for him as he prepares to Moderate the upcoming GA.

First Moderator Candidate For 2012 PC(USA) GA Endorsed

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Ah, the circle of life polity continues and as we roll out the new Book of Order completing the amendment process from the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), we now start to look ahead to the 220th.  The sure signs of the new General Assembly are in the air with presbyteries working on overtures, PC-Biz has the category (but no content), the logo is out there, advocacy groups are rolling out web sites, and in a sure sign of a new GA season we have a sighting of the first robin Moderator candidate of the new season.  Yes, all is right with the world.

So as we enter this new cycle we welcome Teaching Elder Neal Presa who was recently endorsed by the Elizabeth Presbytery where he is currently serving as the Moderator. His current call is as the pastor of Middlesex Presbyterian Church in Middlesex, New Jersey.

He has an extensive biographical sketch from the presbytery meeting that lists his education and service to the denomination.  Following the meeting there was also a presbytery press release. Since then all the usual media sources have posted their articles including PresbyWeb, Presbyterian Outlook and the Presbyterian News Service. And one of his many alma maters, San Francisco Theological Seminary, has issued their own news story, and in what in my experience is record time for this sort of thing.

After looking through all of this material I have decided not to undertake the daunting task of consolidating all of Mr. Presa’s accomplishments into this story.  Let me summarize his educational background by just saying that he has three different flavors of Masters’ degrees and a Ph.D. in liturgical studies from Drew University. In fact the PresbyWeb article quotes the presbytery info making note of his varied education saying:

1. Neal has diverse theological experiences through attending
Westminster Theological Seminary in California, then obtaining his M.
Div. from San Francisco Theological Seminary, later receiving a Th.M.
from Princeton Theological Seminary, and finally earning a M. Phil. and
a Ph.D. from Drew University. At this juncture in PCUSA history, we believe
Neal clearly understands different theological convictions and has the
acumen to bridge theological divides.

Have to agree there – WTS California to SFTS is a unique theological combination.

His service to the denomination is also extensive and among the many ways that he has been involved maybe the most timely one is as Chair of the General Assembly Special Committee on the Heidelberg Catechism which is due to report to the 220th GA.  (Note a trend here – Ms. Bolbach was the Co-Moderator of the nFOG Task Force that reported to the 218th and 219th GA.) 

It is also worth noting that he has authored multiple books, as well as being a Cub Scout leader and soccer coach.

As he stands for Moderator of the General Assembly he has launched his web site introducing himself and his thoughts about the denomination. On the front page are his bullet points “for such a time as this” we are called to:

  • A Renaissance of service for Christ’s mission.
  • A Recommitment to journey together.
  • A fresh sense of being Reformed and always being Reformed, according to God’s Word and Spirit.

He invites us to connect with him by means of Twitter (@nealpresa) or his Facebook page.

So we have entered the new cycle and we know that there is much more coming in the nine month we have until the 220th General Assembly convenes in Pittsburgh.  I hope you will join me on the journey.

Two Brief News Items From The Church Of Scotland

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In the last couple of days two simple, but important, news items have come out of the Church of Scotland.

First, you may remember that just before Christmas last year a burglary at the home of then Moderator John Christie resulted in the loss of the ceremonial ring of the Moderator.  Well, this week part of the ring was returned to the Church of Scotland in an anonymous envelope.  The stone from the ring, an amethyst engraved with the seal of the church, is now back in the possession of the Kirk.  It is presumed that the gold from the ring has been sold. The news and a picture of the ring as it was originally is in a story from the BBC.

The second news item is the announcement of the first ordination of a new variety of minister, an Ordained Local Minister, earlier today.

Congratulations to Dr. Fiona Tweedie, previously a university statistics lecturer, who will be serving at Barclay Viewforth Church. She is the first in a class of five that has been training for this position and who will all be ordained over the next month.

The form of service as an Ordained Local Minister was approved by the General Assembly back in May and is described in the press release like this:

The Ordained Local Ministry (OLM) was approved by May’s General Assembly, the Church’s decision-making body. Unlike parish ministry,
OLMs will be deployed by their Presbytery rather than being called to a
specific congregation and participate in around 10-hours of work a week.

With a flexible approach to training and serving, the new scheme is
expected to be popular amongst congregational members feeling a call to
ministry but unable to work full-time as a minister due to other work
and family commitments.

In line with that description, the article says Dr. Tweedie’s new responsibilities are:

She has been appointed as Edinburgh Presbytery’s mission facilitator and
researcher – an unpaid post in which she will contribute to the
Church’s strategy to engage with communities across the city.

Looking at the Ministries Council Report from the last GA, the concept of Ordained Local Minister (OLM) is described this way:

1.8.2.4 Concept of OLM: OLM is conceived as a nonstipendiary form of the ministry of Word and Sacrament, aimed at engaging those with an appropriately tested sense of call towards ordination, but who wish to serve primarily in a localised ministry. This would often, though not exclusively, be in support of those working in leadership roles as Parish Ministers (whether full-time or part-time). The normal expectation would be that OLMs would offer around 10 hours per week in an unpaid role, though it is recognised that some may find themselves in situations where they are able and willing to offer more time. It is also likely that in some circumstances OLMs will be appointed to work in other roles specifically designated by Presbyteries, for some of which they may receive payment (eg as a Locum).

In function, the report describes the OLM like this:

1.8.2.12 The function of the OLM would be a localised one. Appointments to OLM posts would be the prerogative of Presbytery, in a manner analogous to that of the existing Auxiliary ministry, to a particular locality or a specific role. If an OLM should move Presbytery for one reason or another, he or she would be eligible to take up an appointment in that Presbytery, but only able to do so as directed by Presbytery (and obviously where an appointment exists!). It is clear that existing Auxiliaries work in a wide variety of roles and there is no proposal to diminish the spheres of activity. On the contrary, it is anticipated that OLMs will gradually come to be deployed in creative and innovative ways by Presbyteries.

If you are interested in further details there is the full description of the OLM in the Ministries Council Report beginning on page 46. The Ministries Council is still refining the position and more adjustments are expected at the 2012 General Assembly.

In the mean time we congratulate Dr. Tweedie and her colleagues and offer our prayers for their ministry.

Presbyterian Church Of Ghana And Their Stand On Homosexuality

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For those of you who follow things generally Presbyterian on your news or Twitter feeds you know that a recent development related to the Presbyterian Church of Ghana went viral, or at least high-profile.

The specific development is a news story about an announcement that the church “is to establish therapy centres
for homosexual victims for counselling and rehabilitation in the various
communities.” But what you might suspect is true, that this is not a sudden revelation and there is more to this story in the church and Ghanaian society.

Let me acknowledge right up front that this conversion or reparative therapy is a controversial topic and there are critics and defenders in professional circles, the community, and the church.  And it is worth mentioning that in “western” circles the critics currently outnumber the defenders in all these groups.  A week ago NPR ran a story on this and with the critical listener response the story brought the NPR Ombudsman wrote a great piece giving more background on the topic.

Having said that, let me move on because I want to focus more on the background to this announcement than on the announcement specifically.

On one level it is important to recognize that the level of discussion on the topic of homosexuality has risen a bit recently in the PCG because the it seems to be a topic of particular interest to the current Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt. Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Martey, and he has been outspoken about it.  About a month ago he did a radio interview aimed at an international audience with Isaac Kofi Amissah, host of the program “Alpha and Omega Gospel” on “Volta Power FM.”  An article about the interview is long and covers most of the standard discussion regarding the view that homosexuality is sinful.  Rev. Martey does give a hint about today’s announcement when it is reported that the host asks about what he would do if he finds a member of the Presbyterian Church is gay or lesbian.  Martey is quoted as replying:

I will approach such a person and counsel him or her and offer my help
to make him or her change for the better to please God and feel
comfortable to live in society. But if such a person does not repent
after all such assistance, I will not hesitate to sack or give him the
marching orders from the Church because if such a person is allowed to
remain there, his immoral action could go a long way to affect other
members of the church.

Within the PCG the opposition to homosexuality has become a significant theme.  Other pastors are also preaching against it, including the Second Minister of a District and another District Pastor who told the Ghana News Agency that “homosexuality and lesbianism are against our culture, which the builds society” and “More importantly, it was against God’s rules as the bible clearly points out”.

But it is not just the PCG that is currently making statements. Almost a month ago on July 18th the Christian Council of Ghana, of which the PCG is a member, released a statement urging Ghanaians to vote against politicians who support LGTBQ rights.  The press conference to announce the stance was covered by Joy Online (story republished by Modern Ghana) and in an account published by Church Ministry Center and another by the Christian Post.  The Joy Online article begins “The Christian Council of Ghana has condemned in no uncertain terms the practice of homosexuality in Ghana.”  The article from Church Ministry Center is full of quotes including these from the Rev. Dr. Fred Deegbe, General Secretary of the Council:

“We call on all Christians to vote against politicians who promote and support homosexuality.”
…
“We Ghanaians and for that matter Africans cherish our rich and strong
values on issues such as homosexuality and we must not allow anyone or
group of people to impose what is acceptable in their culture on us in
the name of human rights.”
…
“[If] this detestable and abominable act is passed into law, the
passage of a law allowing the practice of homosexuality in the country
will bring the wrath of God upon the nation and the consequences will be
unbearable.”

The Rt. Rev. Martey was at the press conference and made similar statements, and the Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Church in Ghana, the Right Rev. Matthias Mededues-Badohu, received coverage for his remarks as part of an article in Changing Attitude.

This debate, brought to the forefront by statements by religious leaders, is one within the Ghanaian culture in general.  Just before the Christian Council statement there was a report that President Mills had made a comment to the press supporting the opposition to homosexuality but Ghana News Now reports that President Mills denies making those comments and demanded, and got, a retraction from the government owned Ghanaian Times. But last week President Mills encouraged the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana to maintain “the moral sanctity of society” but apparently without mentioning homosexuality specifically. Others are weighing in against legalizing homosexual conduct, including an Imam in an op-ed piece in Ghana Web.  Finally, there is a long article from Daily Guide which provides a more balanced and comprehensive look at the issue as well as a bit of coverage from the Council announcement.

There is at least one prominent voice with a contrary opinion and a voice advocating for LGBTQ rights, Prof. F. T. Sai.  Prof. Sai is an expert on population and sexual-health studies, the former chair of the Ghana AIDS Commission, and an adviser to a former president of Ghana.  And in this piece from Ghana Web he takes on the statements made by Moderator Martey, with his response paraphrased like this:

If homosexuals are too filthy to meet the criterion of charitable
Christian acceptance, then wherein lies the authoritative designation of
the Church as an unreserved sanctuary for the bereft, deprived and
destitute? Of course, a confessing Christian may or may not accept the
lifestyle of the homosexually inclined, but does such acceptance or
rejection warrant any provocative name-calling on the part of those
fully convinced of their Christian moral self-righteousness?

Another article by VibeGhana.com provides a similar report, but Prof. Sai is not without his detractors and The Herald has a critical and negative op-ed piece about his position.

As you might expect there is a lot of negative reaction to these recent developments in Ghana, much of it coming from outside the country.  The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission has announced the Coalition Against Homophobia in Ghana. And while the blogosphere has been covering the issue for some time, such as Doug Ireland’s 2006 article “Ghana: Media Leads Anti-Gay Witch-Hunt,” new reaction comes from Behind the Mask, Str8talk, LGBT Asylum News, and South Florida Gay News. And three sites, African Activist, Youth and Human Rights Ghana, and gagelouis701 make a point of contrasting the PCG with its partner church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) which, at about the same time as the Council statement, made its ordination standards more flexible.  On the other side, Samuel Obour reports that the PCG “would decide later this year whether or not to continue relations with
churches which had decided to ordain homosexuals in any part of the
world.”

This is not an issue that will resolve itself quickly or easily, as many other Presbyterian branches know.  It is also important to realize that much of this increased rhetoric is aimed at having input and influence in the election process looking ahead to Presidential elections over a year from now. And it reminds us that in many parts of Africa the churches, and in this case the Presbyterian Church, is a major part of the country’s culture and politics. We shall have to wait and see where this goes.

Presbyterian Mutual Society — Payout Begins And The Cost Of The Failure

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There has been a flurry of activity in the Presbyterian Mutual Society situation in Northern Ireland over the last few days.  The Administrator’s web site provides a nice timeline in their press releases.  The Court approved the Scheme of Arrangement (Press Release, FAQ) back on 4 July.  Then last Thursday (28 July) they put up an “almost there” notice — they wanted everyone to know that with the complexity of the bailout they were making sure all the conditions were met for the transaction to proceed.  Finally on Monday ( 1 August ) they posted the cheques. (Translation for American readers: “The check is in the mail.”)  The investors were getting their money the next day.  Today the Administrator put a clarification up on the web site about a mistaken report regarding the recovery amounts to the different level investors.

Needless to say, the media is all over this including the Irish Times, Belfast Newsletter and BBC. And the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, is getting a lot of credit for making this happen.  The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has issued a statement welcoming the payments and saying:

In particular [Moderator of the General Assembly] Dr Patterson joined [Former Moderator] Dr Carson in expressing thanks to
those who had voluntarily deferred a return of some of their money so
that others would benefit. “I would express sincere thanks to every
Congregational Committee and every individual who has opted to leave an
extra amount in the PMS so that smaller savers could be paid off first.
It is evidence that there is a spirit of kindness and generosity and
compassion within our Church. It’s been heart warming to see that those
who could have left money in the society so that the small savers could
get all their money back,” he commented.

The statement also expresses continuing concern for the investors who have had to wait almost three years for the return of their money, in many cases the tied-up funds represented a good deal of their retirement savings.

Dr. Stafford Carson has his own comments on his blog. He includes this statement about how the distribution worked out:

The other area of interest is the actual percentage required from those
who opted to make an additional deferment. Individuals and congregations
were given the option of leaving an additional 5% or 10% of their funds
in the PMS so that smaller savers could get all of their money back. I
hear that the response to that appeal has been so good that the actual
amounts may be less than half of that which larger savers were prepared
to defer. That is a tremendous response and shows that there is a
reservoir of generosity and compassion within PCI in spite of the PMS
debacle.

This leads me to a moral of this story. While there are plenty of lessons in all this regarding denominations running investment funds or mutual societies straying too far from their stated purpose, an article in the Belfast Newsletter probably has the most important take-away for those of us in ministry — The headline is “Savers tell of dismay at losing trust in church.”

As you read the story you will see that where the church members lost trust was not in the failure in the first place but in the denomination’s response.  You had to be a member of the church to invest in the Mutual Society but the denomination at first tried to hold the investment failure at arms length.  The story has this extended quote from Mr. Mervyn Redmond of Ballywalter:

“The church disowned us from the start and it just didn’t want to know,” he said yesterday.

“They
deceived us and we were told lies by members of the Presbyterian
Church, and we have been so hurt that we can no longer call ourselves
Presbyterian.

“I’ve never given up my faith or Christianity, but I don’t belong to a church any more.”

It is interesting to note that two of those interviewed for this story specifically single out Dr. Carson for his advocacy and compassion. (And people are posting their thanks to him in the comments to his blog post.)  As Mr. Redmond put it:

“Dr Carson never turned his back on us at any stage,” he said.

“There
were times when he was wearing two coats – he had to be on the church’s
side and he had to be on our side. He was in a very awkward position on
our behalf.”

There are a total of four interviews in the article, each individual having a varying degree of estrangement from the denomination and some from Christianity in general.

But let me leave you with Dr. Carson’s closing line which adds some additional perspective to the situation.

It would be good if, on this day of thanksgiving, those who are in
receipt of PMS cheques remembered the really needy people in our world
and considered sending a thank offering to Tearfund or Christian Aid.

General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church In Ireland 2011

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Beginning tomorrow, June 6, we have the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

The General Assembly will convene with worship and installation of the Moderator at 7 PM local time on Monday June 6 in the newly renovated Church House in Belfast, and will continue to Friday afternoon.

The Moderator Designate is the Rev. Ivan Patterson, pastor at Newcastle Presbyterian Church.  For a good opportunity to get to know Rev. Patterson I recommend a video of an interview with him by Alan in Belfast. Alan has a great article on his blog with a discussion of this interview as well as the video and discussion of the interview with the outgoing Moderator the Rt. Rev. Norman Hamilton. (And a note that there is a slightly recast version of this article by Alan on the blog Slugger O’Toole.)

So where do you find the info on this meeting?  The PCI has put together a great narrative of the daily business on the same page as the official programme.  The links to all the Assembly reports can be found on the reports page.  For official announcements and press releases keep an eye on the Press Office page.

There will be live coverage of the meetings of the Assembly, but I don’t see a link available yet.  I will update here when it is announced, but keep an eye on the General Assembly page for the link and Twitter updates in the widget.

Speaking of Twitter, it looks like an active Twitter community is gathering for the meeting. Official tweets come from @pciassembly and the announced hashtag is #pciga11.  Other official accounts for the PCI include @PCIYAC (PCI Youth and Children) which have responsibility for the 12 youth delegates from the Youth Assembly known as SPUD (Speaking, Participating, Understanding and Deciding).  And keep an eye on @AlanInBelfast for his twitter insights. (I will update others as appropriate)

And if you want to refer to their polity document, you can have a look at The Code.

As I said already, if you are looking for a good review of the business you can do no better than the narrative from the PCI.  I will point out just a couple of items.

One of the traditional highlights of the Assembly is the Wednesday evening Celebration that is held in the context of worship.  This year the celebration will focus on the 400th Anniversary of the Authorized Version or King James Version of the Bible.  The theme is “The Word Is Life.”  More details are available on the worship poster for the meeting.  Based on the great worship at this event in past years even non-GA junkies might want to consider tuning in.  (I hope it is being streamed.)

A couple of other business items include the consideration of holding the 2013 Assembly in Londonderry. (Holding the meeting somewhere other than Church House in Belfast is rare but not unheard of.)  Another is a proposed change in the process of electing the Moderator that would accomplish it in one evening by having the presbyteries not adjourn until the first count is complete in case there is a tie so a second vote can be held that same night.  The Board of Finance and Personnel is presenting new formulas for ministerial pay and congregational assessments.

There is more so read the summary, and I might find time to say something about the Board of Christian Training’s Accredited Preachers Scheme. And there will be time to consider and respond in a couple of different ways to the approval of a plan to help out the savers and investors in the Presbyterian Mutual Society.

So tune in and join me in praying for the Assembly.  I’ll see you on the live stream.