Presbyterians For Renewal just posted a nice interview of Rob Weingartener and Bill Young. Rob and Bill are the Executive Directors of The Outreach Foundation and PFF. The question and answer session addresses the current state of things in the denomination, how to continue supporting a missionary, the joint efforts of their organizations and more. They answer some really good questions about how churches and sessions can maintain and increase their mission giving most effectively. The issues they mention are similar to many large businesses are currently struggling with: bureaucracy, agility, transparency, etc. These problems aren't unique to the PCUSA.
Rob's perceptive conclusion resonates strongly. He calls for us to use these tumultuous times to pursue opportunities that wouldn't present themselves normally. New generations must learn and embrace the Presbyterian tradition and embrace the established relationships.
To be clear, I am not an official voice of the New Wilmington Mission Conference. This is just a suggestion, but it seems to me that the 2007 NWMC presents a prime opportunity for Christian mission leaders to meet and carry on real discussions in open forums. I'm not speaking of free time in the afternoon. Instead I would suggest a moderated evening meeting supported by an open forum set in a week long mission study or vespers. Don't make it an adult mission study, but engage the Young Adult or even High School delegates. Then we will be pursuing Joel's prophecy.
"And afterward,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
your young men will see visions." Joel 2:28 (NIV)
As a side note, I wish these conversations used fewer acronyms (or took time to introduce them). GAC, WMD and ECO don't mean much more to me than XML, ASP.NET or SSL mean to most people. It's just a matter of making the information more accessible to people who aren't as intimately involved. We aren't just targeting Presbyterians with this conversation. In spite of that, I thank everyone involved for the great resource online.
Special thanks to the PGF Outbox for the heads up on this. As always, I love seeing the open conversation online.
