March 25, 2008
DearMembers of the Governance Followup Team,
We, the Pacific Islander and Asian American Ministries, receive the work of the Governance Task Force and would like to express our extreme gratitude to former Executive Council Chair and long time PAAM member, Rev. Sharon MacArthur, for her diligent work on the committee. However, after serious review and discussion by the PAAM Executive Committee, we cannot support the recommended restructure proposal for the following reasons:
-Wedo not agree with the collapsing of the Boards of Directors of thefour Covenanted Ministries; we affirm the resolutions passed by allthe Covenanted Ministries boards in 2002 declaring that we should bea “board-driven church” and not a “staff-driven church”. We feel that collapsing the Boards into one large, “superboard” would make the UCC a more staff-driven, corporate church.
-PAAM believes under the proposed structure, passion for the different ministries would be seriously diluted. Presently those nominated to the Covenanted Ministries boards are nominated partly for their passion for JWM or WCM or LCM. This passion is not divisive and should be prized within our church. Under the proposed structure, there is no guarantee that a person with a heart for one of these ministries would be able to serve in that particular capacity. For example, a person with a passion for the local church might be asked to participate on the justice committee, which does not fully utilize a person’s skill-set or energy creating just as much inefficiency as four boards that have gaps in communication.
-Bycollapsing the boards into one larger “superboard,” therewould be more decisions made by fewer people, and new leaders in thechurch would not have as many opportunities to gain experience byserving at the national level. Whereas years ago PI/AA churches made up only 2% of the new church starts, in 2006 PI/AA churches made up 33% of all new church starts. These are mainly Samoan andMicronesians churches that are filled with young people who we wantto feel welcome and a part of the larger church. PAAM currentlyhas 6 members on the Covenanted Ministries boards and ExecutiveCouncil (and one COREM seat), giving more opportunities for newmembers to participate and become leaders within the church. Under the new plan, this would be reduced to 2 seats. Presently, we have 16 ethnic groups within PAAM and with a reductionof 6 seats to 2, there is no way we would be able to give voice to all of our different communities.
-Also, under this proposed new structure, the board members who are chosen to serve would have to set aside more time to attend longer board meetings, meaning that students, workers, young adults, etc. would have difficulties serving, further limiting the diversity of those who were chosen to serve.
RecommendedAlternative Actions:
-Ifa primary reason why the church feels like there is need torestructure is because of lack of communication between the fourboards, and the church sees gaps of efficiency, then PAAM recommends,as a solution, that the boards always meet simultaneously rather than
only once every two years.
Furthermore, we recognize the importance of local churches increasing their giving to OCWM and the other major offerings. In light of this, PAAM is making it a priority to work with local PAAM churches and encourage them to increase giving to OCWM and other major national offerings.
Thank you.
Respectfully yours in Christ,
Eppie F. Encabo
National PAAM Moderator
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