Navigating the New Form of Government

One of the most helpful resources I've seen for Sessions to understand the new Form of Government better is this one, that was put together by my colleague, the Rev. Val Fowler, Stated Clerk of the Presbytery of Genesee Valley in New York state. It's essentially a checklist that pastors and clerks of session can use to make sure their church is making the appropriate adjustments for life under the new Form of Government.

The interesting thing about Val as the author of this document is that he started out as an opponent of the nFOG. Once the General Assembly passed it and a majority of presbyteries approved it, though, it became the law of the church. So, Val changed gears and began focusing on how he could best educate the sessions of his presbytery as they prepared to take the necessary actions.

Val's Navigating the New Form of Government guide is the result. It got some great press at the recent Fall Polity Conference in Pittsburgh, attended by executive presbyters and stated clerks from around the nation.

With Val's permission, I pass it on to you, with the recommendation that the session of your church use it to guide their discussions about how to adapt to the nFOG.

Top Ten Things for Sessions To Do To Adapt To the nFOG

It's not every day I recommend an article from The Presbyterian Layman.  Over the years, I've found their reporting on controversial church issues to be far from objective and accurate, and some of their attacks on church leaders I respect and trust to border on the libelous.

Imagine my surprise when I found an article in their current issue called "PCUSA has time to 'live into the nFOG,'" in which they actually refrain from saying anything bad about the denomination!  In fact, the article is filled with useful tips for Sessions that are working to become familiar with the new Form of Government (nFOG).

The article is a straight-up summary of a recent webinar sponsored by The Presbyterian Outlook (a much more moderate independent journal reporting on the denomination).  The teacher behind the webinar was the Rev. Dan Williams, co-moderator of the General Assembly's New Form of Government Task Force.

The article's worth reading in its entirety, but here are some highlights, including a "Top Ten List of Things to Do Sooner, Rather Than Later" with respect to the nFOG:

Sessions should look in the following sections for:

• G-1.03 for membership matters
• G-2.01-2.04 for ordered ministries or deacons and ruling elders
• G-3.01 for general procedures for all four councils
• G-3.02 for specific items that are the responsibility of the session
• G-4.01-4.02 for information on trustees, church property and so forth

Top 10 list

Williams then presented his top 10 list of “Things to do sooner, rather than later.” He told those listening to the webinar that “it’s better to do things thoughtfully and carefully rather than do it right now. … I can’t emphasize enough that you do not have to do anything right away. … No one will rap your knuckles if you do them later.”

10. Study the foundations. “Make sure you have done your homework in that section first,” said Williams. “Building well starts with the foundation.” The “Foundations of Presbyterian Polity” can be found in section F of the nFOG.

9. Quorum. Williams said this issue received a lot of discussion from Presbyterians when the final presbytery votes were being taken. The passage of nFOG removed the system-wide minimum standard for congregational and session forums, he said, “But it does not change your quorum. The number remains your quorum until you have a meeting and take the action to make the change.”

8. Notice for special meetings. Sessions and congregations can now determine how much required notice is needed to hold a special meeting. “It’s now up to you, as to what ‘reasonable notice’ must be,” he said.  “What works best for your situation will inform what your notice will be.”

7.  The nominations process. Williams said that G-2.0401 says the congregation can form the nomination committee in whatever way it deems acceptable. “You can continue to do it the old way,” he said, adding that that the nomination committee must include at least three active members on the committee and one ruling elder who is a current session member.

6. Length of term for the church treasurer found in G-3.0205.

5. Length of term for the clerk of session found in G3.-0104.

4. Strategy for dealing with members who have ceased active participation. “There is no ‘inactive roll’ as a requirement in the nFOG,” said Williams. “You are not required to maintain an inactive roll, but it does not mean you can’t have one. ... If this works best for you and your session then by all means have one.” Williams called the term “inactive member” a “contradiction in terms” and that the task force wanted to get away from that.

3. Sexual misconduct policy. All churches now must have a sexual misconduct policy. This change came from an amendment passed by presbyteries this year to the former Form of Government that also amended the nFOG. Williams advised those on the webinar to “look to your presbytery for guidance.”

2. Preparation and examination of those elected to ordered ministries, found in sections G-2.0402; G-2.0403 and G-2.0104b.

1. Develop or amend a manual of operations.  Williams said that nFOG takes the “how” and “who” matters out of the constitution, and these matters now belong in a church’s manual of operations. “You may not have a manual of operations, but you have standing policies that will likely be in a manual of operations,” he said. Examples include policies on creating committees and on building use. All of those policies should be collected into a manual of operations than can be as “detailed or brief as you need,” he said. “For smaller churches that operate more informally it may be a few pages.”

Hurricane Recovery: Where to Find Help

President Obama has issued a Major Disaster Declaration for damage resulting from Hurricane Irene in our state, which makes many New Jersey residents eligible for a number of Federal disaster relief programs. These programs offer grants and loans to individuals and loans to businesses. Churches can do a real service to their members by putting them in touch with these resources.

The Federal Government has set up a website that allows people to apply online for assistance. This website consolidates the application process across several Federal agencies, including FEMA and the Small Business Administration. The website also reduces the number of forms applicants will ultimately have to fill out, shortens the time it takes to apply and allows them to check the progress of their applications online.

Those who prefer to apply by phone rather than the Internet may may call 1-800-621-FEMA (1-800-621-3362).

In addition, churches will want to note that Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) has One Great Hour of Sharing funds available to help people in need as a result of Hurricane Irene. Churches that are providing for the basic needs of those affected by the disaster may apply through the Presbytery for these funds. An initial amount can be disbursed rather quickly, with little in the way of an application process, other than the endorsement of Presbytery leadership. Further assistance is available through a more formal application process.

For more information about disaster-recovery funds available through PDA, please contact me.

Urgent call for volunteers from PDA

From Presbyterian Disaster Assistance...

URGENT CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS

Hurricane Irene and its immediate aftereffects are what many people are seeing in the news. The most significant damage from Irene will be from flooding that is occurring inland, where the storm’s rains have caused rivers, streams and creeks to swell and drain onto land that in many areas was already saturated from a summer of heavy rainfall.

As with most flooding situations, assessments cannot be determined until the water recede; this is not expected for another couple of days. Because of this situation, PDA is not currently asking for volunteers to help with Hurricane Irene.

We have recently been reminded however that 3,000 homes are still in need of repair from Hurricane Ike that struck Texas in 2008. Volunteers are desperately needed to help families put Hurricane Ike behind them, repair their homes and restore their lives.

The Presbytery of New Covenant will be operating the Presbyterian Volunteer Village in Texas City, Texas, this fall, from September 12 through November 19, 2011.

To reserve space for your Mission Team, contact the PDA Call Center toll-free at (866) 732-6121 or register your interest online.

Contact Kendall Boyd, Ike Recovery Coordinator, with any questions or to discuss this ministry further by email or (713) 526-2585 x213

Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
A One Great Hour of Sharing Ministry
(800) 728-7228, x5839

PDA is Ready and Waiting to Help

One of the great things about being Presbyterian is Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), our denomination's emergency-relief agency. Many of us are familiar with what PDA does overseas, but the agency responds here in the USA as well, to all manner of natural disasters. Whether at home or abroad, PDA's policy is to work closely with local presbyteries (or comparable councils overseas), to insure that assistance is delivered in the most efficient and faithful way possible.

PDA is one of the three major recipients of the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering, and often it is OGHS funds that are dispersed at the first news of a natural disaster.

I've recently been in touch with Bruce McGraw of Lawrenceville and Dick McClain of Allentown, Pennsylvania, volunteers who are part of a 3-person Hurricane Irene response team PDA has put together. Their team is ready to leap into action and work with New Jersey presbyteries as soon as Irene has passed us by. We'll all be hoping the need will be minimal, but it's good to know PDA is there in any event.

In recent years, the Rev. Bill Walker has been designated as Monmouth Presbytery's "Disaster Pastor," a volunteer role. Because Bill has been ill recently and isn't up to doing this sort of thing at the moment, I've asked his predecessor in the role, the Rev. Suzanne Schafer-Coates, to step in and be ready to assist. Suzanne will fill a support and liaison role to pastors of local churches. Once the storm is past, she and I intend to reach out and contact the pastors of the Presbytery, to make sure everything is OK with their congregations, and to see if there are ways Monmouth Presbytery and PDA may help.

We don't know what sort of electricity or phone service may be available immediately after the hurricane, of course - both for us and for people we may be calling - so we'll do the best we can with that.

One immediate request we have from our PDA team comes through one of the relief-agency networks they're part of. There's an immediate need for experienced volunteers to work in the various shelters that have been set up in Monmouth and Atlantic Counties. The following is from Bruce McGraw:

"I thought you might want to know that I received overnight an email from New Jersey VOAD (Volunteers Organized to Assist in Disasters) that the Office of Emergency Management in Monmouth and Atlantic Counties are looking for volunteers who have experience in shelters. The contact for both counties is President of NJVOAD:

Cathy McCann
Vice President of Operations
Community FoodBank of New Jersey
31 Evans Terminal - Hillside NJ 07205
Direct: 908-242-3960 - Cell: 908-884-0769 - Fax: 908-355-2341
Main number: 908-355-3663
E-mail: cmccann@njfoodbank.org - Website: www.njfoodbank.org

If you have folks with such experience, this is one opportunity to help. I assume these shelters will be run by the Red Cross."

Claire and I are sitting it out here in Point Pleasant Beach with some family members; our part of town is not subject to mandatory evacuation. Suzanne is battening down the hatches at her home in Hightstown. We hope and pray all of you are warm and safe, and will remain so. Remember, we're all in this together, and God is with us most of all.

Learn Spanish in Cuba

Due to our current transitional status in the Presbytery office, with Barbara Wasylyk, our Presbytery's Administrative Assistant, slated to go in for hip-replacement surgery this week, I'm including news of this opportunity here, even though it's a bit beyond the scope of this blog. We'll catch up on getting it into a promotional flyer a little later.

I've learned from John Walter, an elder who's been the driving force behind Baltimore Presbytery's very active partnership with the Central Presbytery of the Presbyterian and Reformed Church of Cuba, that those two presbyteries are cooperating on a new Spanish-language immersion program. The first class will be for a week in January 2012, the exact dates not yet set, and will be limited to 10 people. Subsequent plans call for a two-week immersion opportunity that will take place at a later date, as well.

(Photo courtesy of John Walter)

The program is intended for those who already have some basic knowledge of Spanish, and would like to improve their conversational skills.

Since Monmouth Presbytery likewise has a mission partnership with the Central Presbytery of Cuba, our colleagues in Baltimore, with the encouragement of our Cuban friends, are inviting us to publicize this opportunity. They would be pleased if some members of Monmouth Presbytery's churches, and/or some of our ministers, would be interested in participating.

Under travel restrictions maintained by the U.S. government, Americans are permitted to travel to Cuba only for certain purposes, including educational exchanges and religious work. This trip would be permitted under Baltimore Presbytery's religious-purposes travel permit.

Full details, including costs and information about applying, may be found on the Baltimore Presbytery Cuba Partnership web page.

If you have questions, John says you may send him an email, or email Deb Milcarek of the Baltimore Presbytery staff.

Catholics, PCUSA and Two Other Churches Mutually Recognize Baptisms

From the National Council of Churches:

Catholic Church and four Reformed churches recognize validity of one another's baptism

New York, July 14, 2011 – The general secretary of the National Council of Churches today celebrated an historic agreement among the Roman Catholic Church and four historic Protestant reformed churches to recognize the validity of one another's baptism.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, staff head of the nation’s leading ecumenical body, said, "these five churches have taken a significant step on this road to unity."

The United Church of Christ was the most recent church to adopt the “Common Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Baptism” during its synod earlier this month in Tampa, Fla.

The agreement was approved by the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. in 2008, the United States Council of Catholic Bishops in November of last year, and the Reformed Church of America and the Christian Reformed Church at their denominational meetings last month.

Check out the full article.