Today, Westminster Presbytery held its 200th Stated Meeting at Eastern Heights Presbyterian Church in Bristol, Tennessee. RE Kerry Belcher was Moderator at this meeting, and he is the son of RE Klynard Belcher, who was Moderator of the 1st Stated Meeting. Several original members of the Presbytery stood up at this meeting and made comments about their experiences in the Presbytery and the PCA in general.
At this meeting, Westminster Presbytery voted unanimously to overture the 40th General Assembly to require the Cooperative Ministries Committee to involve more committees (including the Overtures Committee) and agencies in the strategic planning process. The overture would change the rules so that Cooperative Ministries Committee (CMC) initiatives would be sent to committees and agencies in the same manner as Presbytery overtures (for more on the Cooperative Ministries Committee, see this article).
This issue first came up at the 38th General Assembly when the CMC proposed all of its “Strategic Plan” initiatives through the Administrative Committee (AC). There was a written protest concerning this procedure. The protest stated in part:
Second, the Assembly violated its Rules of Assembly Operations (7-3.c), which require recommendations from the CMC to come to the Assembly through respective Committees and Agencies, whose works are involved in the recommendation: “Any matters requiring General Assembly actions shall be referred to the appropriate Committee or Agency for its consideration and recommendation.” (M38GA, p.343–344)
In spite of this protest, all CMC proposals were sent to the AC at the 39th General Assembly, even though the matters proposed related to Mission to the World and Christian Educations and Pupblications (among others).
In addition, at last year’s 39th General Assembly, TE David Sarafolean of Great Lakes Presbytery offered a personal resolution to change the rules to require the CMC and all other committees to send any rule changes or constitutional changes to the Overtures Committee instead of to the AC (see here at 4:45 p.m. for more details). This personal overture received just under the 2/3 vote necessary for it to be considered.
The CMC, like the Presbyteries, cannot send matters directly to either the Committees of Commissioners or to the General Assembly. Thus, if a Presbytery sends an overture to the General Assembly, Rules of Assembly Operation (RAO) 11-5 requires that the Stated Clerk send all such overtures to the appropriate permanent Committee or Agency for recommendation to its Committee of Commissioners (which then passes it on to GA with its own recommendation). The RAO also requires the Stated Clerk to send and rule changes or constitutional changes to the Overtures Committee.
Over the past two years, the AC Committee of Commissioners has had more and more work because of these CMC proposals while the Overtures Committee has had less and less. This amendment would change that situation and send all rule changes to the Overtures Committee and spread the CMC’s recommendations to other committees besides the AC.
Here is the overture:
Whereas, RAO 7-3.c. specifies that any matters from the Cooperative Ministry Committee (CMC) requiring General Assembly action “shall be referred to the appropriate Committee or Agency for its consideration and recommendation”; and
Whereas, the word “appropriate” in RAO 7-3.c. may be subjective and imprecise; and
Whereas, there has been confusion and division concerning the process specified in RAO 7-3.c. in the past;[1] and
Whereas, all matters from the CMC requiring General Assembly action in the past two (2) years have been referred to the Administrative Committee; and
Whereas, several such recommendations involved the nature or responsibilities of other permanent Committees or Agencies; and
Whereas, these permanent Committees and Agencies had no opportunity to formally consider and approve the recommendations having to do with their nature and responsibilities; and
Whereas, RAO 11-5 already requires that the Stated Clerk refer all overtures having to do with the nature or responsibilities of a permanent Committee or Agency to the appropriate permanent Committee or Agency; and
Whereas, RAO 11-5 also requires that the Stated Clerk refer all overtures requesting amendment to the BCO or RAO to the Committee on Constitutional Business for its advice to the Overtures Committee; and
Whereas, the Overtures Committee has been specifically designed to consider changes to the BCO and other constitutional amendments (RAO 15-1);
Therefore be it resolved, that Westminster Presbytery hereby overtures the 40th General Assembly, at the earliest possible place on the docket, to amend RAO 7-3.c. as follows (strike-through for deletions; bold for additions):
7-3.c. Facilitate integrated long-range planning that supports progress toward the overall mission and ministry of the PCA. Such planning shall be with respect to matters that fall within the ordinary scope of the respective responsibilities of the PCA’s Committees and Agencies, particularly with a view toward the mission of the PCA as a whole. Any matters requiring General Assembly action, other than proposed amendments to the constitution, having to do with the nature or responsibilities of a permanent Committee or Agency shall be referred by the Clerk to the appropriate permanent Committee or Agency
for its consideration and recommendation.All other matters requiring General Assembly action shall be referred to the Overtures Committee.So that RAO 7.3.c. would read:
7-3.c. Facilitate integrated long-range planning that supports progress toward the overall mission and ministry of the PCA. Such planning shall be with respect to matters that fall within the ordinary scope of the respective responsibilities of the PCA’s Committees and Agencies, particularly with a view toward the mission of the PCA as a whole. Any matters requiring General Assembly action, other than proposed amendments to the constitution, having to do with the nature or responsibilities of a permanent Committee or Agency shall be referred by the Clerk to the appropriate permanent Committee or Agency. All other matters requiring General Assembly action shall be referred to the Overtures Committee.
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[1] At the 38th General Assembly, following the voting down of the motion to recommit recommendations 16 and 17 of the Report of the Committee of Commissioners on Administrative Committee, a Protest was received and spread upon the Minutes. There were two reasons given for the Protest, the second reason given was the following: “Second, the Assembly violated its Rules of Assembly Operations (7-3.c), which require recommendations from the CMC to come to the Assembly through respective Committees and Agencies, whose works are involved in the recommendation: ‘Any matters requiring General Assembly actions shall be referred to the appropriate Committee or Agency for its consideration and recommendation.’” (M38GA, p.343–344).
Tags: Cooperative Ministries Committee, Westminster Presbytery
The divisive process by which much of a “strategic plan” for the denomination, with large last minute re-writes and far reaching proposals must not be allowed to be repeated.
Like all organizations, self serving or insulated bureaucracy must be limited and checked.
Procedurally, it would be appropriate to further require comprehensive strategic plans to in some way be sent out to the presbyteries for approval, like BCO amendments.
The vague, broad powers purportedly conferred to denominational agencies as part of the strategic plan ought not have passed constitutional muster (for clarity), and, as strategy, ought not have been run through with bare majority votes. Consultation and approval ought to have been much broader, the bar much higher.
The process needs to be addressed fundamentally so this does not happen again, and so that the large body of “strategy” passed can be re-evaluated, with an eye toward clarity, specificity and promoting denominational strategy only upon broad popular support of the denomination-
that for the peace and purity of the church.
This proposed overture is a step in the right direction.
I signed that protest at the 38th General Assembly (2010). Any lingering naivete I may have had before that week vanished like the morning dew.
2011 PCA State Clerk’s Letter
”
….
Strategic Planning[1]
Since 2000 the PCA has been involved in an ongoing process of Strategic Planning on how best to minister the Gospel in our changing culture. From 2000-2005 that was done through a sub-committee of the AC. For 2005-2006 there was an ad interim committee for that purpose. The General Assembly in 2006 created the Cooperative Ministries Committee (CMC) and gave it the ongoing task of long range planning. The CMC is composed of the ten chairmen of the General Assembly Committees and Agencies, the ten Coordinators and Presidents of the General Assembly Committees and Agencies, and the six most recent moderators of the General Assembly (advisory members). The CMC is required to make recommendations to the General Assembly through a Permanent Committee or Agency (RAO 7-3 c.). Since the Strategic Planning recommendations affect all ten committees and agencies, the recommendations came to the Assembly through the AC because the CMC referred the matter to the AC as the appropriate committee and because all committees and agencies have voting members on the AC.
The AC met on April the 8, 2010. After that meeting, the Strategic Planning information was posted on the AC web site (pcaac.org) and byfaithonline.com. (For fuller information on this and other issues, visit http://www.pcaac.org). Though there was discussion of the plan on some Internet blogs, less than a dozen contacts were made directly to the AC. AC members and staff conferred with contacts who had offered decorous and reasoned criticisms and initiated conversations with others. As a result, several clarifying changes to the report were made by the AC permanent committee before the Assembly convened. The AC committee of commissioners met over a three-day period and considered the report at length. The document recommended that the Assembly focus in the upcoming year on three major themes and related goals, approve means to accomplish those goals, and authorize the responsible entities and persons to proceed with implementation. The AC also recommended that the means be voted on individually and that the funding proposal for the AC be voted upon separately….”
The Honorable Stated Clerk’s Letter reviews the history leading to the 2010 Strategic Plan.
It illustrates an area needing biblical insight and clarity to further the peace, purity and unity of the denomination.
One thought is that anything “strategic” for a biblical, reformed denomination as a whole must come from a spiritual court, and be carefully deliberated among its courts, and with broad input.
The history of the way this was approached reveals uncertainty and even some inconsistency from year to year as to this ought happen both substantively and procedurally.
Frankly, it appears the end result, a massive plan, with significant re-writes at the last minute, and with mandates that are in some cases vague, and language that is unclear, caught many off guard.
Toward the biblical ends, a strategic plan ought originate in a spiritual court, not an administrative agency. Nor ought it be comprehensively or primarily advanced outside of a spiritual court.
For example, a (temporary) commission of General Assembly, with its instructions, could gather input from permanent agencies and committees, then vet them through General Assembly committee of commissioners, including the Overtures Committee.
After that initial approval, the strategic plan ought go out to the Presbyteries for input. Amendable input and consent of the Presbyteries. Eventually requiring overwhelming supermajority approval by them (perhaps 3/4).
This would take a few years. It’s possible that a strategic plan might not be agreed. But, as the history shows, it has taken much longer than a few years to produce a result that has not furthered the church, its peace, purity and unity.
The Overture recognizes one aspect of the need, but far more is needed to accomplish its ends.