GAC Executive Committee Charged to Review Joining Hearts & Hands Campaign

The Rev. Dave Peterson, co-chair of the Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts & Hands Steering Committee, speaks at the September 2006 GAC meeting. Photo by Bill Lancaster.

In 2002, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) received a call from God through the voice of the 214th General Assembly to renew the church for mission. That renewal was to be accomplished through the Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts & Hands.

For those whom God has called to this ministry, the commitment to the General Assembly mandate has not wavered. The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church at Corinth, writes, "Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58)

In its short history, the campaign has achieved miraculous success despite a host of obstacles. The immediate challenge that Joining Hearts & Hands has been called to overcome relates to a shortfall in funding for the campaign's operating costs. This critical issue, within the context of a complete history and chronology of Joining Hearts & Hands since its inception, was brought by Jan Opdyke to the attention of the Executive Committee of the General Assembly Council on Tuesday, September 26.

On Thursday, September 28, the Rev. David Peterson, co-chair of the Joining Hearts & Hands Steering Committee, boldly called upon the General Assembly Council to support the campaign. "Joining Hearts & Hands is the most important thing the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is doing today," he said. "The Mission Initiative is about making the gospel of Jesus Christ available to the world in a way that has not been done before."

Citing people in the Cameroon who are alive today because of Joining Hearts & Hands, Peterson lifted up the power of the Mission Initiative to "bring life." In asking that funding be made available to continue this worldwide effort, Peterson said, "It's yours to do, to elevate this as the central focus of the church's life." He challenged GAC members to "write on the big blackboard, 'We Are Still Open.'"

Three days of discussion and debate, both in committee and in plenary, culminated in a referral of the matter to the GAC Executive Committee. The Executive Committee of the General Assembly Council has been charged to look into the implications of the Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts & Hands on funding international mission and the sending of mission co-workers, and if the five-year fundraising effort is the way to accomplish that. The council also asked its executive committee to "seek sources of funding through 2007" for the campaign's operations and authorized it to "approve the source of funds once identified."

The Presbyterian News Service has reported on the General Assembly Council's actions relative to Joining Hearts & Hands as follows:

• GAC committee to review Mission Initiative fundraising effort
• WMD committee seeks reassessment of Mission Initiative fundraising campaign
• Mission Initiative campaign financially squeezed

In his own impassioned response to the debate in plenary on Friday, September 29, Joining Hearts & Hands Steering Committee member Tom Gillespie said, "The cardinal rule of fund raising is that you never, ever have an unsuccessful capital campaign. Let us not abandon it; we'll regret it if we do."