GA08046

Mission Coordination and Budgets Committee endorses Dallas covenant

by Duane Sweep

SAN JOSE, June 23, 2008 — The General Assembly Mission Coordination and Budgets Committee strongly endorsed a call to mission partnerships Monday (June 23) when it forwarded “An Invitation to Expanding Partnership in God’s Mission” to the floor of the 218th General Assembly meeting here.

After unanimously endorsing the invitation, the entire committee read the document out loud.

Commonly known as the “Dallas Covenant,” the statement was developed in January during a consultation called by the General Assembly. The invitation asks all mission entities within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — from individual churches to the General Assembly Council (GAC) — to carry out mission together and in ecumenical partnerships.

Incoming General Assembly Council chairperson Carol Adcock, who participated in the Dallas consultation, said, “I wish all of you could have been with us” when the covenant was developed, noting that it was apparent the Holy Spirit was at work. She described the invitation to expand partnerships as “a wonderful opportunity.”

Bill Young, former executive director of Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship, said a pledge to partner and cooperate is essential to make mission work more effective. “Everybody’s out there doing [mission],” Young said, but cooperation is minimal. The question is, “How do we make this work?” he said.

The growth in Presbyterian mission efforts, but the lack of coordination of those efforts, led to the call for a consultation.

The covenant is a pledge to cooperate.

Hunter Farrell, director of world mission for the GAC, said the covenant “brings folks together from across the church.” He said, too, that “global partners are begging us to partner.” Without effective cooperation with global partners, Farrell said three churches may show up to “paint the same church three times.”

The covenant seeks a pledge to trust the Holy Spirit and one another, engage in service and proclamation, communicate openly and transparently and be particularly sensitive to the contexts in which mission is carried out. It also encourages diverse approaches and structures for Presbyterian mission.