ARLINGTON, TX — Synod and presbytery executives flexed their muscle last week while discussing an evolving new design for mission funding in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

        The Dec. 13-25 meeting, billed as a conversation between PC(USA) middle governing body (MGB) leaders and the Mission Funding Task Force (MFTF), was meant to provide input to the task force as it reviews denominational mission-funding systems.

        The MFTF, which was created by the General Assembly Council (GAC), said a new design is emerging, but many of the details aren't settled.

        The task force's latest proposal calls for the creation of a separate division for mission funding and interpretation, to be supervised by the GAC executive director. The proposed new agency would also coordinate regional mission advocates.

        The new division would change the PC(USA)'s stewardship and mission programs by consolidating fund-raising, promotion and interpretation, task force members said.

        "The MFTF doesn't have any answers," Conrad Rocha, the group's chairman, said at the start of the recent meeting. "We're here to gather information. … We want to hear what you have to say."

        Rocha said the task force wants to know what works and what doesn't work.

        About 150 people took part in the meeting, representing presbyteries and synods from Oklahoma to New York.

        "We're in a crisis, and we are going through a 1955 approach to dealing with the crisis at hand," said the Rev. Linda Culbertson, general presbyter of the Presbytery of the Pacific in Los Angeles, complaining that the MFTF is mired in past practices and blind to new approaches.

        "Is this gathering really going to make a substantive difference?" Culbertson asked. "The same old processes will not move us beyond where we already are."

        The group raised broad questions: How should mission be defined in the current church? Do potential donors have enough trust in the denominational structure? How long can the PC(USA) afford to wait for answers?

        "If we wait four or five years, some presbyteries will be out of business," said the Rev. Graham Hart, general presbyter of Peace River Presbytery in North Port, FL. "We've got a problem."

        Among Hart's suggestions: a survey of "best practices" employed by synods, presbyteries and congregations.

       About halfway through the meeting, several of the MGB executives pressed the task force for more time to formulate mission-funding approaches and articulate a vision for PC(USA) mission.

        "This is a unique gathering in terms of number of executives in one room," said the Rev. Craig Palmer, interim executive presbyter of Heartland Presbytery. "Let's use that creativity and come up with something that might surprise us and the General Assembly."

        An impromptu work session produced a hodge-podge of suggestions, most of which were scribbled on paper and photocopied for the participants.

        One note said: "People in the pews continue to be confused about per capita and mission. We hear that the (present) structure does not encourage mission giving."

        Another photocopied suggestion: " A new funding system should connect the giver in more personal, life-changing ways with the mission of the church. It will help our church members to develop spiritually and grow as disciples of Jesus Christ."

        One sheet had a sketch of what a new system might look like, complete with pie chart and percentage breakdowns.

       "I have heard today a great deal of honesty. … anger and frustration … (and) love for the church," the Rev. Linda Knieriemen, an MFTF member, said as the meeting ended. "I've heard you say that stewardship is central to our lives. … I've heard you say that we should use what we already have. I've heard a degree of urgency, and I have heard a number of comments about trust. ... (There have been) differences of opinion. But, ultimately, we are in this ship together."