Preface

Our goal in preparing this handbook is to encourage Committees on Ministry (COMs) to focus on building relationships with congregations and church professionals, and nurturing healthy ministries in their presbyteries. COMs have a multitude of tasks and responsibilities, all of which are important and some of which can be quite difficult. It is our hope that even in responding to the most difficult responsibilities, COMs will bring pastoral sensitivity, hopeful faith, and openness to the surprises of God’s transforming power at work. COM work requires tough-minded, tenderhearted people who are willing and able to ask important and sometimes unpopular questions and who are open to hearing honest answers. Most important, COM work requires faith and trust in God and an awareness of working for the sake of the whole church.

This is the 6th edition of the General Assembly Handbook for Committees on Ministry produced by The Office of Vocation, a shared ministry of the Office of the General Assembly and the General Assembly Council,  Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). There have been many authors who have contributed in some way to this evolving document, including past and present staff of this office and other colleagues who work out of 100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, Kentucky. Thanks are due to all who have contributed their time and wisdom to this project.

It is important to acknowledge the special assistance of the Board of Pensions, the Presbyterian Association for Specialized Pastoral Ministries, and the Presbyterian Council for Chaplains and Military Personnel in preparing the sections of this handbook that relate to their ministries.

In addition, several individuals have written specific sections of this Handbook: Wayne Purintun wrote the paragraphs on fostering healthy ministries in Section 8, David R. Sawyer wrote the sections on conflict utilization in Section 6 and Mariko Yanagihara wrote Section 7. Committees on Ministry (COMs), presbytery staff persons, and the congregations and church professionals we serve have made many important contributions as well.

The Committee on Ministry Handbook is an advisory handbook,  a guide for COM work to be used alongside the Book of Order.  This is a compilation of resources and best practices for Committees on Ministry that represents the cumulative wisdom of many COMs in many places.  However, nothing included in this Handbook supersedes the Book of Order or your own presbytery policies.

The Handbook is not complete in and of itself. The Web site includes still other resources and is updated periodically. If you do not find in this Handbook what you need to help with a particular issue, please check the Web site and/or call or email (888-728-7228, ext. 5503 or email the COM Office.) If you create new processes or resources for use in your presbytery, or if you find new resources that are helpful in your work, please share them with your colleagues in the PC(USA) by forwarding them to us.

Although each edition has been written with the intention of being sensitive to cross-cultural perspectives, the Handbook reflects our predominantly European-American denomination. Not every suggestion in this Handbook will be useful in every situation. Some situations will require extra measures of creativity and flexibility. Section 7 includes additional resources for working in cross-cultural contexts or in emerging cultural contexts -- increasingly the reality of COM responsibilities everywhere

This document is available online with the intention that it may be copied, adapted and utilized in the ways that are most helpful to your presbytery’s ministry.

This handbook is dedicated to all of the members of Committees on Ministry who give so generously of their time, their energy, their wisdom, and their creativity to care for congregations and church professionals. You serve the church well and we are grateful

The Office of Vocation
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202-1396
1-888-728-7228
Extension 5503

July 2007

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