Presbyterian News Service: Bridge over troubled water
CHICAGO — Over the years, disagreements between the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation and the General Assembly Mission Council (GAMC) have sometimes made the gulf between the two agencies seem far wider than the one-mile-across Ohio River that separates them.
The disputes have usually centered around the appropriate use of restricted funds — over which the foundation has fiduciary responsibility but which the GAMC is charged to spend in accordance with the mission priorities established by the General Assembly.
Now, after two years of intense work by a joint working group, the two entities are nearing agreement on a vision, strategy and plan they hope will resolve, if not eliminate, conflicts in the future. ...
It has been my privilege to serve on the Foundation/GAMC work group that developed this agreement in recent months. All of the group members provided great input, but the team's leadership, Karren Garrett and Reg Kuhn, did a great job.
The article notes that the General Assembly created a new seven-member Restricted Funds Resolution Committee (RFRC) to hear appeals from the two bodies when differences aren't resolved (I'm one of the seven members). The RFRC has met once to develop a process should we ever receive any business. More to come on that later. But the birth of RFRC and the adoption of the new agreement have a chance to address problems that have plagued the relationship between the two entities for many years. I'm by no means predicting endless choruses of "Kumbaya," but I really do think there is reason for optimism.
Anyway, I just thought my PCUSA readers might like some good news about our tribe.
(Note to PNS: I think Karen lives on the "promised land" side of the state line, as do I, here in Kansas City, MO, not Kansas City, KS.) :-)
Comments