Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation Board names Ian Hall as A Corp president

LOUISVILLE — On Friday, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation Board of Directors named Ian Hall, who’s been serving as interim president, as president of the A Corporation. Hall, who’s also the chief operating officer and chief financial officer for the A Corporation, has been interim president for more than a year.

Hall's election is subject to approval by commissioners to the 227th General Assembly, which meets this summer online and in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

He told Presbyterian News Service the announcement brought him “a sense of relief, but also clarity and a kind of excitement. I enjoy what I do, and I couldn’t possibly imagine five years ago when I joined the team this would be the outcome.”

The Rev. Noha Khoury-Bailey, the A Corp Board member who chaired the search committee, said that Hall’s humility set him apart from “the many qualified candidates the search committee encountered.”

Image

“Ian graciously stepped into the role of interim president of the A Corporation while remaining committed to his work” as COO and CFO, providing “a seamless transition and strong foundation in uncertain times,” Khoury-Bailey said. “Ian’s knowledge of and respect for our denomination’s polity and structure, his intimate understanding of the current climate within the PC(USA) amid the ongoing work of the Unification Commission — along with his adaptability, the intentionality he employs in building and fostering relationships and the integration of these skills into this niche role will continue to serve him, the A Corp and the denomination well into the future.”

Through the work of the Administrative Services Group, the A Corporation provides services including finance, accounting, legal, human resources, internal audit, Global Language Resources, information technology, distribution, mail and print, research, risk management, Stewardship and Funds Development and property upkeep to clients including the Unified Agency, Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation and Presbyterian Women.

“A lot of what we do from a ministry perspective revolves around relationships,” Hall said. “My vision for ministry and the PC(USA)’s vision just align. The A Corporation has changed me and maybe I’ve changed the A Corporation just a bit.”

Image

Carol Winkler, co-chair of the A Corp Board, said it's "exciting" that Hall has been elected president.

"He has been a stabilizing leader in the past year who has approached the challenging changes in the church with calm, relational leadership," she said. "He steps into challenges looking for creative input that will move the work of the Administrative Services Group forward, helping to prepare for the future.

She called Hall a "people person," adding that "his concern for all staff helps create a community where all are valued."

Asked about any accomplishments that stick out over his 13 months as interim president, Hall cited “compliance and regulatory stuff,” including payment card industry compliance, improvements in cyber security and “our information technology infrastructure.”

“We’ve been allowed to build on some of that technological advancement,” Hall said. “We exist so that mission and ministry can flourish. That’s our mission statement, and I think we’ve been able to help with that.”

He said the first conversation he had with the A Corporation’s former president, Kathy Lueckert, “sealed the deal” for him to become the COO and CFO of the A Corporation, leaving his post as chief financial officer and chief administrative officer for the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church.

“It was the vision she had,” he said. “She wanted partners to help her in that endeavor.”

Worth celebrating in recent months, he said, are “the strides the Unified Agency and ASG have made with the unifying budget.”

“It’s work that continues to evolve,” he said, “and it will continue to evolve as clarity is created,” including the role “that ASG plays in that new type of ministry.”

He expects more clarity to emerge by April around the proposed 2027-28 budget. Once it’s completed, the budget proposal goes to the 227^th General Assembly for ratification.

“The budget that’s being drafted will be a balanced budget,” he said. “One of the continuing pieces of the puzzle is the alignment of historic designation of funding to the ministry that is today.”

“Unrestricted funding is a precious resource,” he said. “Funding that’s restricted to a purpose is a balancing act. Aligning that historic funding with today’s ministry priorities will always be a work in progress.”

Image

Hall said the A Corporation Board “has some work to do to determine what the leadership looks like” as far as his duties as COO and CFO are concerned.

“There needs to be a CFO role,” Hall said. “We need time as a board to evaluate what was and think about what that looks like.” He said he doesn’t expect the person to be hired before the upcoming General Assembly, which runs online and in person from June 22-July 2.

“It’s not a long-term strategy for me to do multiple jobs,” Hall said.

Asked what has brought him joy in the interim role, Hall said one thing “is all the hard work that happens behind the scenes that nobody sees, the things that people take for granted that allow ministry to continue and make an impact.”

“My default is not an A-type personality,” Hall said. “I am more comfortable assisting others. It gives me joy to support the ministry that is PC(USA).”

He said the Unification Commission and the Unified Agency “have put in place a lot of jigsaw pieces to bring the puzzle together.” More than a work in progress, the work of unification “is in the process of being polished.”

“A lot of people have put time and effort and thought into [unification],” he said. “It just needs some time to flourish.”

After the 227^th General Assembly concludes, “I’d like the ASG leadership team take a step back and consider what the future might have in hand for us,” Hall said. “I’d like to focus on how some key strategies in the ASG can lead to fulfilling that vision and purpose” that’s articulated in the ASG’s vision statement: “In response to God's call and through collaborative and supportive partnership, we steward diverse resources entrusted to our care so our partners can do mission and ministry now and into the future.”

“For a year, we’ve had an interim senior leadership team and an interim structure,” Hall noted. “Now we have the opportunity and the responsibility to evaluate how that’s going.” He said some of the work was reassigned among senior leadership during the interim “so that it was a manageable task in the short term.”

There’s “a lot of mission and ministry ahead for the PC(USA),” Hall said. “The delivery mechanism may change, but the core message doesn’t.”

He expressed gratitude to the A Corp Board “for giving me this opportunity.”

“They must see something in me,” he said. “I hope to be able to contribute in my own little way.”

Do you want to see more about the work of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)? Sign up for the PC(USA) Daily News newsletter to get the latest stories sent to your inbox weekday afternoons.