Cheesehead has been pondering whether or not to accept a position as moderator (chairman for you non-presbyterians) of a presbytery committee and Reverendmother responded with some thoughts about her own experience attending presbytery committee meetings with baby in tow.
I'm interrupting my campaign for Mom of Congress to add my two cents' worth to the discussion.
There's a lot of dutiful talk in the PCUSA about having "diversity" of representation at all levels of the denomination. In practice that means a lot of attention to whether male/female, clergy/lay, and racial ethnic ratios are met when nominations are made. And there's the token "youth" representation which encompasses high school and sometimes college age students.
But where are the thirty and early forty- somethings? I look around my presbytery committees and find they are heavily weighted towards retired folks. Certainly their experience and leadership is valuable, but it isn't very diverse. The viewpoints of younger people in the church are not being brought into the system in significant numbers--especially that of younger women with children still living at home. Presbyteries are often not sensitive to the needs of this group and then are surprised when they cannot serve.
I speak from my own experience here. I'm currently a member of the General Council of our presbytery, but in the past when asked to serve on presbytery committees, I had to decline because the meetings were scheduled downtown (20 miles from my house) at the same time school let out and ended at the peak of rush hour traffic. Drag two tired cranky little girls along with me at that hour to a meeting? I thought not.
I'm glad to report that today our presbytery has more midday meetings, which helps those who work and those who are stay at home moms participate. But where are they? Nominating committees too often keep going back to the same group because that's who they know. Every time someone in the younger demographic agrees to serve there is an opportunity to expand this group's participation because that person knows others of their own age and circumstance and can recommend them to the powers-that-be.
If you are a thirty or forty-something and are asked to serve the denomination at any level, I encourage you to do so if your other responsibilities will permit it. The PCUSA needs the involvement of our younger members if there is any chance that the precipitous membership decline of the past several decades can be stabilized or reversed.
I'm interrupting my campaign for Mom of Congress to add my two cents' worth to the discussion.
There's a lot of dutiful talk in the PCUSA about having "diversity" of representation at all levels of the denomination. In practice that means a lot of attention to whether male/female, clergy/lay, and racial ethnic ratios are met when nominations are made. And there's the token "youth" representation which encompasses high school and sometimes college age students.
But where are the thirty and early forty- somethings? I look around my presbytery committees and find they are heavily weighted towards retired folks. Certainly their experience and leadership is valuable, but it isn't very diverse. The viewpoints of younger people in the church are not being brought into the system in significant numbers--especially that of younger women with children still living at home. Presbyteries are often not sensitive to the needs of this group and then are surprised when they cannot serve.
I speak from my own experience here. I'm currently a member of the General Council of our presbytery, but in the past when asked to serve on presbytery committees, I had to decline because the meetings were scheduled downtown (20 miles from my house) at the same time school let out and ended at the peak of rush hour traffic. Drag two tired cranky little girls along with me at that hour to a meeting? I thought not.
I'm glad to report that today our presbytery has more midday meetings, which helps those who work and those who are stay at home moms participate. But where are they? Nominating committees too often keep going back to the same group because that's who they know. Every time someone in the younger demographic agrees to serve there is an opportunity to expand this group's participation because that person knows others of their own age and circumstance and can recommend them to the powers-that-be.
If you are a thirty or forty-something and are asked to serve the denomination at any level, I encourage you to do so if your other responsibilities will permit it. The PCUSA needs the involvement of our younger members if there is any chance that the precipitous membership decline of the past several decades can be stabilized or reversed.
I agree that the 30 and 40 somethings are missing from Presbytery and Presbytery committees. Let me think... what is the "general" feeling concerning committees? Answer: they are a group that meets monthly and accomplish very little. Our Presbytery committees have three year terms. I think this requirement scares people away.
ReplyDeleteI am burnt out on Presbytery committees! I have served on almost every imaginable committee. Unless the committee had real deadlines (Camping Committee) very little truly happened. I've served four years (a 1 year term and a 3 year term) on General Council and felt that almost every meeting was a total waste of time. Pet projects of the moderator and the General/Executive Presbyter were the order of the day.
No more Presbytery Committees for me for a LONG, LONG time.
how do you get on the nominations committee. Seems that's where the change would have tohappen first :)
ReplyDeleteThey also have to be willing to pay for child care! With dwindling funds, this is hard to do.
ReplyDeletePlus, most committees assume that YOU will find the child care!
If they really want us younger parents to be on these committees----
Meet at Chuck E. Cheese!!
the trouble with being one of those young people is often the way we're asked, I think. As a young-ish person (now 25), I find that when I am asked about these things, I am told it's "not a lot of work/responsibility/commitment/etc" or "we need a young person on our committee and you seem young." Talk about two ways to make me feel unimportant and not valued.
ReplyDeleteThen there's my CPM, which hesitated to advance me to candidacy (they finally did) because "you're the youngest candidate we've ever had under care." At age 24. If they want young people in the church and in the pastorate, then do some encouraging. Just saying.
When I get back to the US, I hope to be on a committee partially so I can prove that younger people have valuable and important things to add, that we aren't just a token you use to fill the quota.
I had lunch with a clergy pal today. He is on the same committee that I just agreed to moderate. He is 30, and I will be 43 in one month. Then the demographic leaps over the rest of the 40's and most of the 50's for this particular committee. And we're the 'young' one.
ReplyDeleteFor the past 2 Presbytery meetings, I have not had an elder commissioner because the 'retireds' are all tired of doing this, and the working people cannot come to a 4:00 meeting in the next county.
I begged, pleaded, and practically wept trying to get the Council of my previous Presbytery to approve child care as a voucherable expense, (like mileage, meals, and lodging) if incurred in order to attend a meeting of a Presbytery Committee. No deal. AND childcare at meetings of Presbytery itself was limited to children 5 and younger. Then they scheduled one meeting on a day all the schools in Portland were out for conferences. Several of us parental types asked if we could wave the age restriction for that particular meeting only. No deal. And they had the gall to wonder why they couldn't find younger folks to serve on committees.
ReplyDeleteThe Presbytery where I previously worked as the Recording Clerk and Admin to the Stated Clerk used to have meetings over a day-and-a-half period. (The Presbytery stretches from Eureka to the Golden Gate Bridge) Mileage, meals, lodging were all voucherable.
ReplyDeleteBut...childcare? What's that?
Sigh...
Grace, I agree. The representation I see at Presbytery meetings and on committees is old folks.
ReplyDeleteEverything needs to be fixed.
Thank you for posting this.
ReplyDeleteSeveral of you pointed out problems with childcare, extended meetings, and useless meetings that discourage participation by younger people, especially women. That's why I say that whenever one of you can overcome these obstacles then you have a chance to raise these issues and maybe get some changes made. Or be like me and remember them and bring them up when you are older and able to participate!
ReplyDeleteTeri, thanks for pointing out that HOW someone is asked is also important.