The moderator, teaching elder Wendi L. Werner along with vice moderator, teaching elder Jim Huang, Executive Consultant teaching elder John Williams and the Transition Task Force, call a special meeting of the New Brunswick Presbytery to be held on Tuesday, June 14 at 7:30pm at the First Presbyterian Church at Dayton, 362 Georges Road, Dayton, NJ 08810. These are Stated Purposes of the Meeting: for presbytery to receive the Urban Mission Cabinet financial reports, which have been received by the UMC, Transition Task Force and Administrative Commission. for presbytery to receive the FAQ document answering questions submitted by the body between June 4-10, 2016 to the moderator at wendi.daytonpres@verizon.net, to be published by the morning of June 13, 2016. for presbytery to have opportunity to ask for further clarification regarding the Urban Mission Cabinet financial statements. to ask presbytery to consider the following motions which come from the Task Force: Motion: The Presbytery of New Brunswick vote to create and bless the Urban Working Group. It is to reflect a partnership between 1) congregations not only eligible for an urban designation as defined by the UMC, but those whose Sessions adopt the Covenants and Recommendations document of May 7, 1985 2) affiliate members who represent non-profits partnering with urban churches (i.e. The Crisis Ministry of Mercer County, Habitat for Humanity, The Trenton s Children s Chorus, Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Centurion Ministries) and 3) teaching and ruling elders from specialized and congregational ministries with a demonstrated desire and passion for urban ministry Urban congregations shall be permitted two representatives (one to be a ruling elder) each. The total number of teaching and ruling elders from non-urban congregations shall not exceed four, with majority membership belonging to urban representatives. The Urban Working Group shall self-determine its number of affiliate members. The Nominating Committee, in consultation with the UMC shall recommend to presbytery the teaching and ruling elders from non-urban congregations. Motion: The Urban Working Group strive to develop 1) new and renewed vision regarding the purposes of a urban mission entity, 2) clarity of its evaluative definitions, including urban designation and 3) assessment of tools used to determine to which extent the presbytery s communities qualify as urban. The UWG must either amend or adopt the language found in the former plan of presbytery in reference to the identity and plan of the Urban Mission Cabinet or redefine its mission. This shall be shared with the Task Force in October, brought before the presbytery for consideration at its stated meeting in November and adopted into the new plan of presbytery. New Brunswick Presbytery June 4, 2016 Page 1
But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body s growth in building itself up in love. Ephesians 4:15-16. In Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all creation, the Church seeks a new openness to God s mission in the world. In Christ, the triune God tends the least among us, suffers the curse of human sinfulness, raises up a new humanity, and promises a new future for all creation. In Christ, Church members share with all humanity the realities of creatureliness, sinfulness, brokenness, and suffering as well as the future toward which God is drawing them As it participates in God s mission, the Presbytery Church (USA) seeks.a new openness to see both the possibilities and perils of its institutional forms in order to ensure the faithfulness and usefulness of these forms to God s activity in the world. F-1.0404 Book of Order We, the urban churches of the Presbytery of New Brunswick: Believe that the cooperative support, communication, strategizing, and implementation of urban ministry and mission of those involved in the Urban Mission Cabinet should not be separate adjunct to, but rather an integral part of the Presbytery. Urban Mission Strategy Covenant and Recommendation document May 1985 As presbytery leadership finalized preparations for the final stated meeting of the program year, our presbytery s treasurer completed research and appraisal of the finances of the Urban Mission Cabinet. The results of the treasurer s findings, subsequent conversations between presbytery leadership and the UMC, the need for specific action and the early formulations of a new beginning need to be brought before the wider body for the sake of transparency, discernment and prayer. Considering that the June meeting marks the beginning of our shift to the Milwaukee model, adding the vitally important conversations about the UMC into a full docket was deemed to give short shrift to both. The Task Force has therefore called a special meeting of the presbytery. The Task Force does not consider having a special meeting a few days after the stated meeting to be ideal. Before the slower pace of the summer months unfold, however, there are several needs that call for attention. There is a need to share the full financial summary of the distribution of Urban Funds, since their inception in 2002. There is a need for the presbytery as a whole to join the UMC in its call to the work of urban ministry. There is financial need which calls for consideration of immediate action. We hold that making a time and space where together we can as one listen, discern, pray and act is how we live with integrity into our connectional system. The Urban Mission Cabinet has a rich history within the Presbytery of New Brunswick, and over the course of the last three decades has provided a vital witness to the cooperative efforts of churches within our presbytery that are linked by their urban designation. As the primary instruments of urban ministry and mission, the network of churches has supported one another, developed strategies for urban ministry and led its churches to be effective instruments of God s love and justice. The early 90 s saw the adoption of the Urban Property Policy, which moved the UMC into the role of making recommendations to distribute 85% of endowments received, New Brunswick Presbytery June 4, 2016 Page 2
and of net proceeds from the sale of Presbyterian church buildings, properties, within the greater city limits of Trenton and New Brunswick, subject to the approval of Presbytery council. (70% for the Urban Fund, and 15% for the Urban Leadership Fund) According to Urban Mission Cabinet documentation, all of those churches who embraced their urban identity and sought ways to carry out transformation and revitalization efforts and new ministry initiatives were empowered by the use of these funds in the first 10 years of the policy s adoption. The Urban Mission Cabinet has been subject to the same dynamic experienced throughout the presbytery. Similar to our other standing committees, the Cabinet has been led faithfully by a group of passionate leaders but has operated with a shrinking base of people. Insufficient oversight, a lack of clear presbytery financial policy and inadequate tools for accounting led to poor business practices. While executive staff turnover may lend contribution, it is important to note that financial oversight has not been a job expectation of executive staff since Rev. Vernon Van Bruggen (Van Bruggen job description dated December 1989). While UMC recommendations about money usually went to Presbytery Council for approval, the dwindling base on Council, its heavy task load, and overall lack of joint vision pushed things to a rubber stamp process. There was trust that some entity within the presbytery was steadily keeping watch over the larger UMC financial picture, but awareness was limited at best. Money continued to flow out to less than a handful of urban churches. Always, that money was utilized to empower and support mission and ministry for people living in urban environments. Funds, however, were being disbursed without a real sense of what might be left to draw from. Because no one for such an extended period of time took responsibility for strong financial oversight, everyone in leadership is in some way responsible for where we now find ourselves. When the body voted to put the plan of presbytery aside in November of 2014, the rationale presented by the Leadership Transition Team offering the following: All of our congregations and specialized ministries, while possessing all the gifts necessary to be the church, are nonetheless not sufficient in themselves to be the church. While presbytery has many functions, its primary role is to facilitate our mutual interconnection as a sign of unity. If we are to have any chance of living into our presbytery s defined purpose, which is to share with others both within and beyond the congregation the task of bearing witness to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in the world through our particular responsibility of nurturance, guidance and governance 1 this transitional period must be used for the purpose of regaining and/or solidifying interconnection through a streamlined system with intentional interconnection at its center. The Transition Task Force supports the recommendation of the UMC to form an Urban Working Group. In its earliest period of formation, the Cabinet declared that it should not be separate adjunct to, but rather an integral part of the presbytery. Since its inception it has had voice in the central leadership of the presbytery. Should we, however, hold true that integral means necessary to make the whole complete, there stands a greater chance for wholeness through symbiotic relationship. 1 Book of Order G-3.0101 New Brunswick Presbytery June 4, 2016 Page 3
As a collective force, the Urban Working Group will honor all ongoing work in urban ministry, including those who serve urban settings and those non-urban churches and specialized ministries who contribute to urban ministry in vital ways. This working group is to bring the work of urban ministry out of isolation, giving it a centralized focus through interconnection. The intention is to make urban ministry integral to our presbytery, instilling within the body the call for ministry within diverse, economically challenged areas. But it must first start with an examination of terms and identity, including wrestling with the definition urban. Additionally, the Transition Task Force presents the following motions: Motion: The Presbytery vote to make an exception to the Urban Property Policy, allowing $40,000 to be drawn from the Presbytery of New Brunswick Urban Leadership Fund in order to honor the financial commitments made by the Urban Mission Cabinet and endorsed by the Administrative Commission. It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not fulfill it. Ecclesiastes 5:5 Prior to gaining a full understanding of their financial circumstance, the Urban Mission Cabinet made several financial commitments to its churches, inclusive of payment for chaplaincy services for the Bethany House of Hospitality, grants for The English School and LOGS at Lawrence Road Presbyterian Church, the final payment of a mission critical grant for Westminster Presbyterian Church, and an Urban Leadership grant for Covenant Presbyterian Church. Yet there is no money to draw from the Urban Fund to fulfill promises made. There is, however money set aside in the Urban Leadership Fund defined by the Urban Property policy as money set aside for continuing education, leadership and skill development in urban ministry for leaders serving in urban congregations. At the request of the UMC the Task Force, with the support of the Administrative Commission, requests presbytery make an exception to the policy so that money can be taken from the Urban Leadership Fund and used to fulfill its outstanding financial commitments. Motion: The Urban Property Policy of the Presbytery of New Brunswick be suspended until such time as the trustees of the presbytery: 1) have adopted financial policy which will determine good financial practice, 2) have evaluated and adopted appropriate tools for financial accounting and 3) have evaluated through joint meetings with the Urban Working Group and central presbytery leadership the Urban Property Policy as a whole. An adopted, amended or re-written Urban Property Policy is to be brought before presbytery at its November meeting for the body s consideration. During this period of suspension, any monies received via loan repayments or building sales will be credited to the Urban Fund line items but are to be frozen. New Brunswick Presbytery June 4, 2016 Page 4
That truth is in order to goodness; and the great touchstone of truth, its tendency to promote holiness, according to our Savior s rule, By their fruits yet shall know them. And that no opinion can either be more pernicious or more absurd than that which brings truth and falsehood upon a level, and represents it as of no consequence what a (person s) opinions are. On the contrary, we are persuaded that there is an inseparable connection between faith and practice, truth and duty. Otherwise it would be of no consequence either to discover truth or to embrace it. F-3.0104 Book of Order Circumstances have proven that the lack of clear financial policy has led to poor business practice, leaving our presbytery unnecessarily vulnerable in a time when resources require careful stewardship. Ethically, we cannot facilitate the Urban Property Policy without the framework of presbytery financial policy. Further, it has been 14 years since the Urban Property Policy was actively considered by the presbytery. This transitional time within our presbytery calls for the re-examination of all policies and practice. New Brunswick Presbytery June 4, 2016 Page 5