News and Views (unofficial!)
about the 
Presbyterian Church (USA)

Commentary by Gene TeSelle
[2-19-09]

It's not only investment banks, car manufacturers, universities, and other non-profits large and small that have been hit by the "downturn" in the U.S. economy. The Presbyterian Foundation has announced a plan to offer early retirement to reduce its payroll. The General Assembly Council faces a projected $5 million shortfall for 2009 and $5.7 million for 2010. Rumors are that an across-the-board pay freeze will be implemented, and "furloughs" are being discussed, too.

This is a very challenging time for staff of the GAC, and for members of the Council as they struggle with many difficult decisions.  We in the wider church will want to hold all of them in our prayers, even as we strive to maintain attitudes and policies that show respect and fairness in our treatment of one another, and particularly of staff members.

Witherspoon remembers the same-day firing of personnel in the Advocacy Committee for Women's Concerns, the National Network of Presbyterian College Women, and Racial Ethnic Young Women Together, and before that the firing of the last three men in the media services unit. We hope that this pattern is not repeated in the coming weeks. But it could happen again, unless the GAC finds ways to act with respect for the human worth and the calling of the personnel being impacting by any changes.

In the meantime it has been pointed out that large amounts are being paid for "outsourcing" to consulting and communications firms.

We note that the GAC has renamed itself the General Assembly Mission Council, and constitutional approval of this change is now before the presbyteries. Certainly there's nothing wrong with mission. But in the rough and tumble of Presbyterian politics it is used as a trump card to reduce the importance of many other activities approved by the General Assembly, including advocacy and service. The Washington Office is under constant attack from the Right, and the budget for the United Nations Office is steadily decreased. And all of this is happening just when the church's concerns are being addressed, if not vindicated, by the new administration and Congress.

One unit, Stewardship and Communications, has been given abundant funding by the GAC leadership. Now it seems to have gone over budget in its search for a message or "brand" to help the church.

The head of the Presbyterian Board of Pensions recently commented on the economic downturn. We must applaud his saying something publicly about it. But much of his language is that of the corporate world, from which he came, and his own salary is in the neighborhood of $600,000, ten times that of most ministers and most GA staffers.

Here is the recent report by PCUSANEWS, with interspersed commentary (in italics) by Gene TeSelle . . .

Analysis by Robert W. Maggs Jr.
President and Chief Executive PC(USA) Board of Pensions

PHILADELPHIA — Given the political reactions to the proposed stimulus package and market uncertainty about TARP II, the immediate future for the economy is not a rosy one.

We might start to feel some benefits from the stimulus in 2010, but the root problems are both too widespread and too complex to handle in legislation that has a little something for everyone. Admittedly, some legislation is better than none, but it is far from clear how much immediate benefit there will be.

Most observers agree that there is "a little something for everyone" in the new legislation. It is the result of bargaining within the Democratic-controlled House and especially by the three Republicans in the Senate who constituted the swing vote. Most observers say that there is "not enough," but of what? Tax cuts? TARP assistance to banks? Job creation? Green investment?

Nevertheless, there is a tension: lending to people who couldn't afford to repay debt was the root cause of the housing crisis, and with unemployment rising each month there are more people who fall into the subprime category.

This looks like the standard line followed by conservative commentators, blaming people who couldn't repay or (farther back) the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, which required all federally insured lenders to meet the credit needs of their communities. It ignores the deregulation of the banking industry (much of it during the Clinton/Gore years) and the invention of derivatives and other hazy legal instruments. It also ignores the fact that many of the bad loans were made by unregulated mortgage companies, exempt from the rules that still were on the books. In their eagerness to make loans to people who "couldn't afford to repay debt," they undercut the lending activities of responsible banks and non-profits which insisted on accurate financial records and required pre-purchase counseling.  [For more on the Community Reinvestment Act, seen in a more positive light than Mr. Maggs' view, click here.  See especially pages 12 and 13.]

The bottom line is to create more jobs — and job creation depends on capital investment. Grousing about planes and perks won't get the job done.

This seems consistent with the Republican line that tax cuts are the key to investment. And it dismisses public dismay over the actions of Wall Street executives as "grousing." There is no evaluation of the way these executives have used other people's money. And there is no recognition that "job creation" is likely to be quicker if money goes directly into the marketplace, not into the balance sheets of banks and wealthy people who may or may not make new investments. "Job creation," furthermore, includes public services and major public investments, decided by public, not private, agencies.

Once we get over the hump of the economic downturn, all this new government debt will likely result in serious inflation down the road. So we're in for some tough sledding on several fronts for some time to come.

Who created the massive federal debt, most of it financed by foreign investors? The Bush administration, with its tax cuts combined with massive military spending. The responsibility is broader than that, however, since the Federal Reserve did essentially nothing to prevent the high tech bubble of the Nineties and the housing bubble that triggered the recent downturn.

What does this mean for the Board of Pensions? In a nutshell, it means that we have to do some contingency planning. We should consider what we might do in the next twelve to thirty six months if we are facing a stalled economy, a steady economic downtrend (at varying rates) or a precipitous decline.

Beyond that, what are our alternatives if inflation comes back at unacceptable rates on the heels of a recovery? As investors, we would be foolish to make a "big bet" based on any one analysis, so we should be prepared to move in facile and observant increments. We'll be gathering some ideas and meeting on this subject in the next few weeks.

One thing is certain: riding out the storm, while one alternative, should not be our only option.

For the Board of Pensions 2008 Investment Review — by senior vice-president, treasurer and chief investment officer Judith D. Freyer — click here.

To read the PCUSANews article in its original posting >>

Topics of study to include Heidelberg Catechism and Israel Palestine

by Sharon Youngs, Communications Coordinator, Office of the General Assembly

LOUISVILLE — February 6, 2009 — The membership of two General Assembly special committees have been released, bringing the total of special committees named by the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to three this week.

Reyes-Chow earlier named his appointees to the Assembly’s Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Unions and Christian Marriage.

All three special committees were formed out of actions of the 218th General Assembly (2008), which met last summer in San Jose, Calif.

Heidelberg Catechism

The Special Committee on Correcting Translation Problems of the Heidelberg Catechism will consider proposed changes to the catechism made by last year’s assembly. According to the assembly action, the proposed changes revolve around correcting “translation problems in five responses of the Heidelberg Catechism as found in The Book of Confessions and to add the original Scripture texts of the German Heidelberg Catechism.”

The Book of Order (G-18.0200) calls for a special committee of no less than fifteen individuals to be formed when a General Assembly proposes any changes to part of the PC(USA) Constitution. The Heidelberg Catechism is in The Book of Confessions, part of the Constitution.

The special committee will consider the proposed changes to the catechism; consult with Newark Presbytery, which sent the original overture to last year’s assembly; and report back to the 219th General Assembly (2010) in Minneapolis.

Minister members of the special committee chosen by Reyes-Chow are the Revs. Heidi Husted Armstrong (Olympia Presbytery), Warner M. Bailey (Grace Presbytery), Shelly Barrick Parsons (West Virginia Presbytery), James R. Edwards (Inland Northwest Presbytery), Christopher Elwood (Mid-Kentucky Presbytery), Gary Neal Hansen (John Knox Presbytery), Neal D. Presa (Elizabeth Presbytery), Lorna A. Shoemaker (Redwoods Presbytery), David L. Stubbs (Lake Michigan Presbytery), and Floretta L. Watkins (Charlotte Presbytery)

Elders chosen for the panel are Dawn DeVries (James Presbytery), Sylvia Dooling (Plains and Peaks Presbytery), Susan N. Haskell (Sheppards and Lapsley Presbytery), Patrick Hunt (San Francisco Presbytery), and David Mulford (South Louisiana Presbytery).

The committee membership covers a spectrum of ages. Of the fifteen, three are between the ages of 26-35, two are between 36 and 45, four are between 46-55, six are between 56-65, and one is over 65 years old.

Presa will chair the committee. The Revs. Charles Wiley, coordinator in Theology Worship and Education (General Assembly Council), and Tom Hay, director of operations for the Office of the General Assembly, will staff the group.

The committee will begin its work at the end of March.

The 218th General Assembly (2008) also asked the Moderators of the 218th, 217th, and 216th General Assemblies (2008), (2006), and (2004) to “select a nine-member committee from a broad spectrum of viewpoints from PC(USA) members to prepare a comprehensive study, with recommendations, that is focused on Israel/Palestine within the complex context of the Middle East.

The Assembly said the study “should include an evaluation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s mission and relationships, including an assessment of the future for the Christian presence and witness in the Middle East; an overview of the complex interactions among religions, cultures, and peoples that characterize the region; an analysis of U.S. policies that impact the area; and steps to be taken with our partners in the Middle East and the United States to foster justice, improve interfaith relations, and nurture the building of peace toward a secure and viable future for all.”

This Special Committee to Prepare a Comprehensive Study Focused on Israel Palestine is also to report back to the 219th General Assembly (2010).

Elder Rick Ufford-Chase, Moderator of the 216th General Assembly (2004), and the Rev. Joan Gray, Moderator of the 217th General Assembly (2006), joined Reyes-Chow in naming the special committee’s members.

Minister members are the Revs. Susan R. Andrews (Hudson River Presbytery), John Huffman (Los Ranchos Presbytery), Rebecca Reyes (New Hope Presbytery), Marthame Sanders (Greater Atlanta Presbytery), Ronald L. Shive (Salem Presbytery), and John W. Wimberly, Jr. (National Capital Presbytery).

Elders serving on the panel are Frederic W. Bush (Los Ranchos Presbytery), Nahida H. Gordon (Muskingum Valley Presbytery), and Lucy Janjigian (Palisades Presbytery).

Staffing the committee will be the Rev. Christian Iosso, coordinator of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy; the Rev. Victor Makari, coordinator for the Middle East, Asia Minor and the Jinishian Memorial Program for the General Assembly Council; Elder Doug Dicks, a PC(USA) mission co-worker in Israel Palestine; and the Rev. Kerry Clements, director of Communication, Development, and Technology for the Office of the General Assembly.

Fledgling “Global Oikonomics Project” aims at ‘well-being of all’    [1-28-09]

As the world struggles with the current economic crisis, the Presbyterian Church, through its Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP), is beginning to add a moral and ethical dimension – a concern for justice – to the concern for economic recovery.

“There needs to be a moral, justice-seeking dimension to this work and above all an acute sense of its likely impact on the poor,” retired San Francisco Theological Seminary dean Lewis Mudge told his fellow members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) at their recent meeting in Berkeley, CA.

and the Word became flesh

Presbyterian Health, Education & Welfare Association
Social Justice Biennial Conference
in the Big Tent

June 11 - 13, 2009
Atlanta, GA

[1-16-09]

Isaiah 54:2 says, "Enlarge the site of your tent…" Is our Tent large enough for those with no tent or those who stand outside, waiting for hospitality to be offered? Our participants will connect with those working at the grass- roots of our denomination in justice ministries. Listen, learn and share how congregations can be in ministry with persons and families affected by disabilities, mental illness, human trafficking, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, substance abuse, immigration, child welfare, health disparities… These are ministry, justice, and biblical imperatives! Atlanta, with its deep history of involvement in civil rights, is the perfect landscape to engage in this discussion.

The Big Tent is a celebration of the Presbyterian Church (USA) as 10 conferences of the Church come together in Atlanta. There are some common meal, worship and workshop times, as well as separate conference schedules.

Engage the Church in more diverse ways than ever before.

JUNE 11 – 13, 2009 • Atlanta, GA

Click here for the conference brochure, in PDF format

To register >>

Hunter says focus is on strengthening ties to congregations

Presbyterian News service reports that the Rev. Rhashell Hunter, director of the General Assembly Council’s Racial Ethnic and Women’s Ministries/Presbyterian Women has announced a redesign of the office to focus on racial ethnic and women’s leadership development.

Five new positions have been created as a result of the redesign, and five existing positions have been eliminated.  More >>