Split P Soup

I read a shocking proposal for the future of the PCUSA. The proposal itself was not shocking, but who made it was. Bob Howard is a ruling elder at Eastminster Presbyterian Church in Wichita, KS. I attended there in the '80s and I knew him then. Bob is a little-p puritan, seeking to "purify" the church rather than separate from it. He is also very patient. While others, including myself, have bailed out of the PCUSA, Bob stayed. I don't know what to make of the proposal, but when people like Bob propose the following, others should take note.

Proposed steps for "Gracious Separation"

1. The General Assembly would create a Reorganization Task Force and impose a moratorium on all constitutional changes during a 4-year interim period.
2. Balanced/equal representation on Planning Groups and teams formed cooperatively to deal with specific aspects of PCUSA assets and entities.
3. Interim arrangements for governance would be implemented while detailed work is completed to divide into two new corporate entities (neither will keep name PCUSA).
4. Every congregation would vote under strict due process guidelines to determine which new denomination it would become a part of. Likewise, boards of colleges, seminaries and other corporate entities of the PCUSA would determine by vote which denomination they would relate to.
5. The task force would approve both new denomination names to avoid too much similarity to old name.
6. The existing GA staff would downsize by attrition. Creation of two new denominations, with double the number of presbyteries, would create ample employment opportunities.
7. At the end of the four-year interim reorganization period, the two new legal entities would exist and the old PCUSA would be dissolved. The two new denominations would determine the size and powers of their own GAs, presbyteries, etc.
8. The pension fund assets would eventually be divided in proportion to the number of ministers who elected to affiliate with each denomination.
The Presbyterian Foundation would be divided by two criteria: 1) donor intent; 2) if donor intent is not discernable, then in proportion to the membership of the two new denominations.