Groups want 'diversity' in church growth study By John H. Adams The Layman Online Wednesday, May 31, 2006 Why do some congregations in the Presbyterian Church (USA) have healthy growth while the denomination continues in a 50-year tailspin? That's the question posed in an overture to the 217th General Assembly by the Presbytery of Eastern Virginia. The presbytery wants the General Assembly to create a task force whose members would examine growing churches to determine why they're bucking the PCUSA's 50-year backslide. Perhaps, the rationale goes, the evaluation might provide some guidance for shrinking congregations to stanch their hemorrhage. But two politically active groups in the denomination – the Advocacy Committee for Racial-Ethnic Concerns (ACREC) and the Advocacy Committee for Women's Concerns (ACWC) – have called for some embellishments to the presbytery's overture. Specifically, they want an amendment requiring that 20 percent of the task force members be "racial-ethnics" – meaning, according to the denomination's guidelines, black, Asian, Hispanic, Native American and other. The 2004 comparative statistics, the latest available, say only 7.9 percent of the members of the PCUSA are racial-ethnic (92.1 percent are white). Another proposed amendment would require the task force to factor in considerations about "racial and cultural diversity, theological perspective, involvement of women, and social justice viewpoint." In their rationale for the proposed amendments, ACREC and ACWC suggest they're not interested in high-growth models that deviate from the denomination's demand for diversity and multiculturalism. The two groups say, "The ACREC and the ACWC also affirm the vision of becoming a multicultural church that has been lifted up by the General Assembly Council in its Mission Work Plan Goals and Objectives for 2007?-2008, the Racial Ethnic/Immigrant Evangelism and Church Growth Strategy (1998) as faithful expressions of the church's commitment to embodying the diversity of God's creation as defined in the Book of Order, paragraph G-4.0403. If we are truly committed as Christians to invite all of God's people regardless of ethnicity into the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); then we must be intentional about identifying and promoting models of ministry that successfully respond to the increasing racial and cultural diversity of communities across the U.S." Even before the two groups weighed in, the overture followed the Ps & Qs required for equal numbers of men and women, clergy and lay people, white and ethnic, etc. It called for somewhere between 18 and 28 Presbyterians who would try to determine what growing congregations were doing to put more people in their pews. Both the overture and the ACREC/ACWC comments will be reviewed by the General Assembly Committee on Church Growth and Christian Education. They are listed as Item 12-08. The text of the overture and the response of ACREC/ACWC: The Presbytery of Eastern Virginia overtures the 217th General Assembly (2006) to do the following: 1. Direct the Moderator of the 217th General Assembly (2006) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – in consultation with the Vice-Moderator, the Executive Director of the General Assembly Council, the Stated Clerk, and the chair, vice-chair, and one additional member of the National Ministries Division-to constitute a task force to analyze at least forty-five randomly chosen congregations that have shown significant growth over the past 24 to 36 months prior to the previous General Assembly, construct a report on this analysis, and present it to the 218th General Assembly (2008). 2. Direct that this task force shall consist of at least eighteen people and not more than twenty-eight. It shall be composed of equal numbers of male and female clergy and equal number of male and female laity. One half of the task force shall be from churches with total average Sunday worship attendance of 150 or less. One fourth shall be from churches with total average Sunday worship attendance between 151 and 300. The remaining fourth shall be from churches with average attendance of 300 or more per Sunday. 3. Significant growth shall be defined as increasing membership by at least 10 percent for two consecutive years. This data shall be derived from the annual statistical reports to the General Assembly. 4. Direct that the task force shall consider such factors as geographic location, visibility of the church, socioeconomic levels, mission emphasis, mission goals, prevalence of small groups, Christian education efforts, youth ministry, worship styles and frequency, overall feelings about the church among officers and members, and any and all other factors that the task force may perceive as affective growth. 5. The churches to be analyzed shall be stratified as follows: at least fifteen shall be churches with average Sunday worship attendance of 150 or less; at least fifteen shall be churches with average Sunday worship attendance of 151-300; at least fifteen shall be churches with average Sunday worship attendance of 300 or more. 6. Direct the task force to interview the staff of the churches and as many lay leaders as the task force deems appropriate. Other clergy and lay leadership in the selected churches' presbytery may also be interviewed. The majority of these interviews may be by telephone and conference calling. However, at least one-fourth shall be face-to-face. The task force shall also consider such print and visual media (e.g. newsletters, bulletins, web sites, advertising, etc.) as deemed significant by the task force and interviewees. 7. The task force shall analyze, with prayer and spiritual discernment, all of the data and interviews to determine commonalities and differences as to the reasons for the growth among the churches. The task force shall then publish its findings to the 218th General Assembly (2008) and through the assembly to the congregations of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as a means of helping all of our congregations to begin focusing on realistic growth strategies appropriate to each of our congregations. 8. Direct that the task force discuss and, if they deem appropriate, recommend some form of apt recognition from the denomination for those churches that exhibit significant growth (as defined by the task force). Advice and Counsel on Item 12-08 – From the Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns (ACREC) and the Advocacy Committee for Women's Concerns (ACWC). Item 12-08 directs the creation of a task force to study growing congregations. It was submitted by the Presbytery of Eastern Virginia. The Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns (ACREC) and the Advocacy Committee on Women's Concerns (ACWC) advise that Item 12-08 be approved with the following amendments. Amend Recommendations 2. and 4. as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through and with brackets; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic and with brackets.] "2. Direct that this task force shall consist of at least eighteen people and not more than twenty-eight. It shall be composed of equal numbers of male and female clergy and equal number of male and female laity. One half of the task force shall be from churches with total average Sunday worship attendance of 150 or less. One fourth shall be from churches with total average Sunday worship attendance between 151 and 300. The remaining fourth shall be from churches with average attendance of 300 or more per Sunday. [Twenty percent of the task force shall be persons of color.] ... "4. Direct that the task force shall consider such factors as geographic location, visibility of the church, socio-economic levels, [racial and cultural diversity,] mission emphasis, mission goals, prevalence of small groups, Christian education efforts, youth ministry, worship styles and frequency, [theological perspective, involvement of women, social justice viewpoint,] overall feelings about the church among officers and members and any and all other factors that the task force may perceive as affective growth." Rationale The ACREC and the ACWC share with all Presbyterians the concern for the decline in membership throughout our denomination and applaud the intent of this overture to examine growing churches so that we might learn from their examples. The ACREC and the ACWC also affirm the vision of becoming a multicultural church that has been lifted up by the General Assembly Council in its Mission Work Plan Goals and Objectives for 2007?2008, the Racial Ethnic/Immigrant Evangelism and Church Growth Strategy (1998) as faithful expressions of the church's commitment to embodying the diversity of God's creation as defined in the Book of Order, paragraphG-4.0403. If we are truly committed as Christians to invite all of God's people regardless of ethnicity into the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); than we must be intentional about identifying and promoting models of ministry that successfully respond to the increasing racial and cultural diversity of communities across the U.S. Furthermore, ACWC is charged with the responsibility of monitoring the full inclusion of women into the denomination. Information gathered from the study would assist ACWC in its responsibility.

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