The Revised Form of Government

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The Revised Form of Government

• An introduction

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Form of Government Task Force Mandate

• (1) The new Form of Government shall preserve our
  foundational polity (perhaps most concisely laid
  out in the first four chapters of the current
  Form of Government).
• (2) The focus of the Form of Government shall be
  on providing leadership for local congregations
  as missional communities.

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(3) The presbytery shall continue as the central
governmental unit, as it has been throughout most
of our history. The Form of Government shall
provide sufficient authority and flexibility to
allow the presbytery to assist congregations in
addressing the changing cultural, economic, and
societal challenges in our new millennial world.
The FOG Task Force shall take notice of and
address the institutional and structural
impediments that currently cripple so very many
of our presbyteries.
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• (4) The new Form of Government shall provide
  flexibility at all levels, granting authority
  while permitting governing bodies to develop the
  structures to carry out their respective
  missions.
• (5) The FOG Task Force shall be guided by the
  principles proposed by Recommendations 1-4 from
  the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and
  Purity of the Church, using those principles as a
  guide for its own processes and deliberations.
  They shall incorporate this new Presbyterian
  ethos into the Form of Government so that it
  truly functions as the Presbyterian Church
  (U.S.A.)s.

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• (6) The FOG Task Force will release the proposed
  revision of the Form of Government including
  advisory handbooks by September 1, 2007.

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Committee Members

• Elder Cynthia Bolbach, co-moderator
• Clerk of Session, National Capital Presbytery
• Elder Sharon Davison, co-moderator
• Committee on Ministry, New York City Presbytery
• Elder Diana Barber
• Committee on Preparation for Ministry, Synod of
  Lakes and Prairies
• Rev. Gemechisa Guja, Immigrant Pastor,
  Philadelphia Presbytery
• Rev. Paul Hooker, Advisory Committee on the
  Constitution
• EP and Stated Clerk, St. Augustine Presbytery
• Rev. James Kim, Pastor, Grace Presbytery
• Rev. Neal Lloyd, Pastor, Presbytery of Twin
  Cities Area
• Rev. Paige McRight, EP, Central Florida
  Presbytery
• Rev. Stephen Smith, Stated Clerk, Presbytery of
  the Pacific

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Why a new Form of Government?

• Restore the constitutional quality of the Form of
  Government
• Create a flexible polity that encourages
  creativity while maintaining national standards
• Move from regulatory to missional polity
• Clarify the theological and historical
  foundations of our polity
• Focus on the mission of congregations

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A short history of FoG revisions

• 1993 - Special Committee report polity should
  both maintain uniform national standards and
  allow for diversity of practice within
  presbyteries and sessions.
• 1999 - Form of Government revision proposed by
  ACC three-part FoG referred back for further
  study.
• 2001 - Revision of Chapter XIV fails in
  presbyteries, but GA refers proposed revision to
  OGA
• 2002 - GA asks OGA to develop a plan to revise
  entire FoG
• 2006 - Assembly approves OGA revision to Chapter
  XIV and recommends creation of Form of Government
  Task Force to revise entire FoG

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Is now the right time?

• Do we trust each other enough to permit change?
• We build trust only by trusting each other
• as we form new patterns of relationship
• Should we delay adoption and allow a longer
  period of study?
• The only way to know whether this polity will
• work is to put it to work in the life of the
  church

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Missional PolityA Paradigm Shift

• What the church must learn is that the church
  does not have a mission, but the very reverse
  that the mission of Christ creates its own
  church.
• Jürgen Moltmann
• The focus of our polity should be on equipping
  Gods people for Gods mission in Gods world.

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Foundations of Presbyterian Polity

• I The Mission of the Church
• II The Church and Its Confessions
• III Principles of Order and Government

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Why a new Foundations section?

• Clarifies that the foundational principles apply
  to whole Book of Order, not just to Form of
  Government
• Preserves the basic principles on which our
  polity rests
• Better organization suitable for teaching
• New material with connections to confessional
  tradition

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The Form of Government

• I Congregations and Their Membership
• II Ordered Ministry, Commissioning and
  Certification
• III Councils of the Church
• IV The Church and Civil Authority
• V Ecumenicity and Union
• VI Interpreting and Amending the Constitution

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Key Changes

• Flexibility for mission -
• mandates functions, not structures
• Emphasis on the calling of all believers
  -Membership as covenantal calling, not status
• Ministry as calling of all believers, not just
  ministers of the Word
• Ordered ministries, not offices
• Recovery of the parity of presbyters -
• Ruling and teaching elders
• Less hierarchical -
• Councils, not governing bodies
• More/less inclusive not higher/lower

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Some Pending Issues

• Validated Ministry requires proclamation and
  administration of sacrament
• Interim Ministers may succeed with presbytery
  supermajority
• No more inactive members, ministers

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Resources for Studyat www.pcusa.org/formofgovernm
ent

• The Foundations of Presbyterian Polity
• The Form of Government
• Missional Polity
• The Revised Form of Government An Introduction
• Advisory Handbooks for Church Councils
• Study guides for sessions and presbyteries

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Thanks

• For your time
• For your commitment to study the proposed new
  Form of Government
• For your faithfulness to the Church of Jesus
  Christ and the PC(USA).