Ordination Task Force has a number of Book of Order amendments it will propose

LOUISVILLE — Meeting last week at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky, the Ordination Task Force moved ever closer to completing the list of recommendations it will bring to the 227^th General Assembly next summer.

Known formally as the Task Force to Explore the Theology and Practice of Ordination, the Task Force is led by Co-Moderators the Rev. Dr. Deborah Boucher-Payne and the Rev. Dr. Juan Sarmiento. The Rev. Dr. David Gambrell, the Associate for Worship in the Interim Unified Agency, staffs the Task Force, which has 12 members, including six teaching elders, five ruling elders, and one candidate for ordination as a Minister of Word and Sacrament.

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The Task Force is considering more than a dozen amendments to the Book of Order, although Sarmiento, the executive presbyter for the Presbytery of San Fernando, said that list is likely to be pared in the coming months as members prepare their report for the upcoming General Assembly, which meets online and in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 22-July 2, 2026.

Both Sarmiento and Boucher-Payne, synod executive for the Synod of Mid-America, highlighted the listening sessions Task Force members held ahead for formulating their recommendations. Boucher-Payne noted the Task Force heard from 14 focus groups, conducted “an extensive survey” through the PC(USA)’s Research Services, met with the Association of Mid Council Leaders and the Association of Stated Clerks, rural pastors, IUA staff, “and many other groups.”

“We want the end result of our work to be responsive to the needs of the Church,” Boucher-Payne said.

“We have been listening deeply, and the recommendations are based on that,” Sarmiento said. Task Force members have heard from inquirers and candidates, from people recently ordained as ministers, and from leaders of new worshiping communities, which “provide a space of hospitality for people who perceive the Christian faith differently,” he said.

Boucher-Payne said she’s “extremely hopeful about the future of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and our ability to add to the innovation already taking place, as we provide recommendations that are both practical and adaptive for an ever-changing ministry landscape.”

The recommendations under consideration by the Task Force include: core competencies for Commissioned Ruling Elders (CREs), provisions for CREs to have voice and vote in presbytery, increased recognition for new worshiping communities and immigrant fellowships, easier exchange of ministers from other denominations, training for those who oversee preparation for ministry at the presbytery level, specified coursework for Ministers of Word and Sacrament (MWS), background checks for anyone in ordered ministry, psychosocial and vocational assessment for candidates for pastoral leadership, better accounting for non-traditional forms of church affiliation, and language emphasizing the communal and collegial nature of ministry in the Reformed tradition.

The Task Force also refined its timeline for completing its report.

“We have a lot to say, and we need to say it in a succinct way,” Sarmiento said. “We have plenty of information, but we don’t want to overwhelm people. We want to offer something that the Church can approve and will be beneficial to the Church. We are working hard to do that.”