Poethig is denied second term as CMD director

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In a move that stunned many and left others clamoring for answers, the Congregational Ministries Division (CMD) Committee voted not to renew the four-year term of CMD director Rev. Eunice B. Poethig during its Nov. 12-15 meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The committee vote constitutes a recommendation that will require confirmation by the entire General Assembly Council (GAC) when it meets in February.

By Parker T. Williamson

In rejecting a second term for Poethig, the CMD Committee concurred with a recommendation from the General Assembly Council’s (GAC) End of Term Review Committee. However, the CMD committee added the unusual recommendation that Poethig’s current term, which is due to expire Feb. 28, 1998, be extended six months, through Sept. 30, when a new GAC executive director is scheduled to be in place.

The committee said it asked Poethig to stay on until September so that her "leadership, gifts and experience may give stability to the staff and program of the division." Interviewed in Louis-ville, Ky., after the meeting, Poethig told the Presbyterian News Service she agreed to stay on under the condition that she be allowed to reserve the option of a standard 30-day separation notice should other options develop.

Whether the GAC agrees to extend Poethig’s term for the requested six months remains to be seen. The Presbyterian Layman has learned that some members of the GAC are questioning the wisdom of keeping her on staff following a decision not to renew her contract. In a similar circumstance, when Executive Director James Brown’s contract was not renewed by the General Assembly, GAC Chair Youngil Cho, with the support of his personnel committee, insisted that Brown vacate his office immediately. At that time Cho, a professor in the business school of North Carolina Central University, argued that continuing a person beyond the terms of his or her contract after having decided not to renew the contract is an unwise management practice that invites a serious dysfunction in staff relationships.

Continuing trend

Poethig’s removal represents the third departure of a top executive brought into the structure during the James Brown administration. The first was Mary Ann Lundy, who left under fire for her leadership in the 1993 ReImagining conference. (Brown himself was a casualty when, in 1996 the General Assembly declined to renew his contract.) The second was Pat Goff, executive director of the Corporate and Administrative Services Division, who resigned under pressure when GAC leaders found serious deficiencies in the denomination’s accounting system. Of the Brown administration’s top executives, only Curtis Kearns, executive director of the National Ministries Division, remains. (Clifton Kirkpatrick, director of the Worldwide Ministries Division during Brown’s tenure, resigned in order to run for election to the stated clerk’s position.)

Poethig was a supporter of the 1993 ReImagining conference, and she strongly defended the GAC staff’s involvement in the event. The division that she led has angered many Presbyterians by publishing curricula, and by sponsoring conferences at denominational conference centers, that undermine the denomination’s standards of sexual behavior for church leaders. Less than one-third of Presbyterian Church (USA) congregations purchase the official curriculum that is published by her division.

"No discussion"

Poethig said she had no warning of the End of Term Review Committee’s recommendation. "What was shocking was that there was no discussion by the [End of Term Review Committee] and I had no advance indication from staff or others that I would [not be recommended for another term]," Poethig said. "The [GAC] Manual of Operations calls for a two- to three-hour dialogue session, which I understand to be a discernment session. That never took place. ... They had already made up their minds that they weren’t going to recommend a second term and therefore no discussion took place. The whole interview [on Nov. 11] took less than 20 minutes."

Rev. John Evans of Davidson, N.C., a member of the Personnel Committee of the GAC Executive Committee and chair of the CMD’s End of Term Review Committee, confirmed the brevity of the interview with Poethig and told the Presbyterian News Service he apologizes if Poethig feels she was not "dealt with in a good way." Evans said he believes Poethig deserves applause and thanks for her service to the church, but added many feel it is time for new leadership as the denomination enters the new millennium.

"Poethig has done a really good job and has great character," Evans said. "It’s not anything like that. The review team simply looked at the data and said it’s time for a new day for the Congregational Ministries Division and we can applaud what [Poe-thig] has done."

Review process

Poethig was asked to give the names of approximately 30 people (with an emphasis on Presbyterians outside the Presbyterian Center in Louisville) to be sent evaluation questionnaires.

In addition to Poethig’s list, the End of Term Review Committee sent evaluation forms to more than 100 other persons, including CMD Committee members who served during 1996-97 and all professional CMD staff. About 90 of 145 questionnaires were returned to the Review Committee, according to Evans.

Evans said the Review Committee then looked at the data and came to its conclusion unanimously.

"We had a level playing field on that," Evans said. "[Poethig] picked her names and I told her we’ve added to that the members of the division committee not on your list who served from 1996 to 1997. Then we added to it the [professional] staff from the division not on her list."

Several committee members expressed concern over the review process. Consequently, CMD Committee chair Rev. John McFayden of Woodbridge, Va., said the committee will forward its concerns and recommendations to the GAC Executive Committee.

McFayden said that in making its decision the committee heard "from a number of people," including several CMD staff members. He said failing to recommend Poethig for a second term as division director was "not an easy process to undertake or decision to make."

"This action came after long hours of prayerful discussion, as we struggled with the many implications of such a decision," McFayden said. "In the process, we reviewed a great deal of data received from staff, committee members and others familiar with [Poethig] and her work. During our discussions we were very aware of [Poethig’s] accomplishments, not the least of which was providing leadership necessary for the successful birthing of the division and its support of the ministry of congregations of our denomination."

Biggest obstacles

Poethig said that one of the biggest obstacles she has faced as a division director is the expectation that she can control decisions that come out of the Staff Leadership Team (the GAC executive director, the three division directors and the director of the Technology and Finance Office) or that the team is able to make the decisions staff want made.

Poethig said that in the present church hierarchy it is the Staff Leadership Team (SLT) in which there is the most difficulty in getting timely decisions made. Poethig said concerns of the SLT are often not the same as the concerns of staff who are working in the divisions.

"This is not a judgment on the members of the Staff Leadership Team," Poethig said. "It’s a judgment on the current environment in which we are trying to do our work and provide leadership to the General Assembly Council and the denomination."

Editor’s note: Source material covering the Santa Fe discussions of Rev. Poethig’s end-of-term review was supplied by the Presbyterian News Service.