The Christian Post- “Presbyterians Ditch Old Mainline Model for Postmodern One”:
The New Wineskins Presbytery would run under a newly designed constitution based on a grassroots polity, Weaver described. The new polity recognizes the local congregation as the primary decision-making group. And it sends resources to the congregation rather than drain away from, he added.
“It’s almost a total flipping of the pyramid, if you will,” explained Weaver, who also serves as co-moderator of the NWAC. “It’s much more of an adaptive model for the 21st century than the model that got us through the 1920s to the 1950s.”
No other denomination has adopted such a polity, according to Weaver.
Meanwhile, the continuing decline in membership and financial support have led up to the PC(USA)’s first church-wide meeting on the future of its current government structure. The meeting, opening Wednesday, will focus on middle governing bodies - presbyteries and synods. Weaver, however, believes the meeting is “too little, too late.”
“Most churches don’t even know what a synod is,” he pointed out. “I don’t think there’s anybody out there who thinks synods should continue, except for maybe people who work for synods.”
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