Unification Commission takes a big stride toward this summer’s General Assembly

LOUISVILLE — Ahead of its 120-day deadline, the Unification Commission on Thursday voted on a slew of recommendations to the 227^th General Assembly, which meets online and in person in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 22-July 2.

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Among the items the UC will recommend to the General Assembly:

• One recommendation is on the sizes of certain bodies. If approved by GA commissioners this summer, the Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment will have 13 members in two classes. The Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People will have 10-12 members in three classes. These bodies will have 7-9 members in two classes: Administrative Commission on Mid Councils, Educator Certification Committee, Presbyterian Historical Society Advisory Committee, Presbyterian Hunger Program Advisory Committee, Mission Development Resources Committee, and the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Advisory Committee.
• UC members approved the remainder of the rewritten the Organization for Mission, the manual of administrative operations for the General Assembly. Last month, commissioners approved most of the rewritten material, then came back Thursday to approve the remainder. They also approved a requirement that any amendments “needed to fully effectuate” the Organization for Mission in other documents, including deliverances, articles of incorporation, bylaws and manuals, must be made within 180 days of the conclusion of this year’s Assembly and that the language used in such documents be approved by the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly/Executive Director of the Unified Agency.
• Commissioners approved the report of the UC to the General Assembly.
• They approved changes to the deliverance for the Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program and approved PILP’s report to the General Assembly.
• They approved recommending five people to be associate stated clerks: the Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, Kerry Rice, Dr. Corey Schlosser-Hall, the Rev. Mienda Uriarte and Dr. Dianna Wright. All are members of the Unified Agency’s senior management team.
• They approved UC comments on two overtures set to come before the commissioners to the 227^th General Assembly: OVT-04, On Prohibiting Non-Disclosure in Employee Relations, and OVT-05, Call to Review the Restructuring of the PC(USA) World Mission. In its comment on that second overture, the UC notes that “the call to partner in God’s mission remains. What is shifting is how the church shows up to engage in mission work with deeper listening, broader collaborations, and a renewed emphasis on justice and local context. This is a living process. It is likely that further improvements may present themselves which will help refine this new model of global engagement. The work for Global Ecumenical Partnerships is clear: bring the right people together, tend the relationships, and let local discernment set the next faithful step.”
• The UC also approved a motion to forward to the 227^th General Assembly the responses to referrals from previous assemblies.
• It also recommended forwarding to the Assembly the list of schools and colleges related to the PC(USA) for approval as well as the institutional relationship agreement between Presbyterian Women and the PC(USA).

"Today marks a significant milestone in the Unification Commission’s work. At this meeting, the UC voted to recommend both the new Organization for Mission and the Report of the Unification Commission to the 227th General Assembly for approval,” said the Rev. Dr. Felipe Martínez, the Unification Commission’s co-moderator. “These documents came together through the Spirit’s guidance and reflect nearly four years of faithful discernment and collaboration by the dedicated members of the UC and staff.”

“As this chapter closes, the Commission now shifts its focus to preparing for the General Assembly,” Martínez said, “and fulfilling its governance responsibilities in the months ahead.”

The Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Executive Director of the Unified Agency, reported on the all-staff gathering that occurred at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky, and online last month. “Through it all we saw a committed and dedicated group of people who desire to do good work with one another and live into the Unified Agency,” Oh told the UC. “There was also a time for some hard conversations. There was the naming of a lot of pain from various causes and recent processes [around unification], and a desire for more clarity on a number of fronts.”

An outside facilitator was engaged to do grief work during the gathering, Oh noted. “It’s not just losses. It’s unmet hopes and expectations” that can create grief, she said. The Unified Agency’s senior leadership team is working on next steps based in part on a survey being circulated on the four-day gathering.