Assembly Council adopted a new policy for setting executive and professorial stipends that will go to General Assembly for approval. There was confusion regarding the council's role in this matter and the new policy places responsibility with the council, although assembly maintains final say.
Some issues are still being considered including whether or not setting professorial stipends should be included in the policy (which is being worked on in consultation with the committee on theological education). Because of this, the grid of revised executive and professorial stipends will be submitted to the assembly for information only.
The issue of cost-sharing for maternity/parental leave has bounced back and forth between the Pension and Benefits Board and the council since the matter came to General Assembly in 2003. Questions revolve around the clarity of the policy and the responsibilities of the congregation and national church when covering expenses of pulpit supply. Council is recommending placing this matter with Pension and Benefits, who will be the sole group (with some input from the chief financial officer and the associate secretary of ministry and church vocations) to further study the issue of cost sharing and to continue reviewing the policy currently in place.
As FLAMES comes to an end, the long range planning committee has devised a new focus for the church. Recommendations will go to the assembly to make the next year (beginning Nov. 27, the first Sunday of Advent) a year of preparation for the Sabbath and the following year (beginning Nov. 26, 2006) a Sabbath year, with the theme of Weaving the Church that Needs to Be. Rev. Scott McAndless, convener, said, "The committee recommends the church focus on four areas during this time: renewing God's purpose, using the gifts of God's people, engaging the world and healing divisions. This is not a time to do nothing, but rather a time to set hearts and minds on God and on his call to the church."
- The Healing and Reconciliation Task Force will be formally dissolved as of June 10. The team had spent the last year working on a national strategy for engaging congregations in the healing process with aboriginals. Continuing where the original team left off, the newly formed Healing and Reconciliation Program Design Team will work on creating a national program, addressing concerns the council had about the former team's report. The new team has already met once and is expected to finish its work by year's end.
- Rev. Stephen Kendall, principal clerk, reported on the legal matters surrounding the Alternative Dispute Resolution process for former students of residential schools. It is expected that the Presbyterian church will see at least 70 claims settled in the next 12 months, thanks to a push by the Canadian government's Office of Indian Residential Schools Resolution to facilitate at least 1,000 ADR cases in the coming year.
- Moderator Richard Fee will be the sole nominee put forward for the position of General Secretary of the Life and Mission Agency. He will succeed Rev. Ian Morrison, who is retiring after nine years. The succession is slated for Sept. 1, with about one month of overlap. Morrison thanked the council for its well-wishes and said he is "looking forward to other ways of serving the church."
- The 132nd assembly be in St. Catharines, Ont., in 2006, although its fate was momentarily threatened by an overture from the Presbytery of Peace River. The request hoped to suspend next year's assembly and redirect the funds (about $500,000) to world crisis needs. The clerks of the assembly and the council resigned the request, saying the Book of Forms implies that the assembly will meet each year. Therefore, any change would require a change to the church's laws under the Barrier Act. They also said the work of the church need not be suspended in order to foster generosity. An overture from the Presbytery of Cape Breton to host the 136th assembly in 2010 was granted.
The moderator in his report mentioned the openness with which he has been received by congregations and the honest conversations he's had with Presbyterians. He spoke of his recent visit to Israel where he attended the opening of the new Holocaust museum, Yad Vashem, about the death of Pope John Paul II, about meetings with members of parliament, about the response of the church to the tsunami disaster and the need for a response to lesser-known tragedies such as the spread of AIDS due to rampant prostitution. He also responded to the Presbyterian Record's sliding subscriptions due to the reporting of controversial issues. Fee urged the council to stay loyal to the Record. He said he realizes change is difficult, and that individuals should continue to express their views to the magazine, but it is an important forum for discussion and debate.
