When
We Gather at the Table: A PC(USA) Snapshot. Item 04- Report
Many
of us will remember that General Assembly Moderator Heath Rada, during his
years of service since 2014, initiated a church wide “conversation”. This
project became a comprehensive survey seeking input from across the church; in
the end 3,427 Presbyterians participated. A full report has been written,
summarized and provided to the Way Forward Committee at this year’s General
Assembly.
The
concluding section of the report identified several “segments” or “clusters” within
our church. “While these ‘clusters’ are informal and fluid, their
identification may aid us in viewing the diversity within the PC(USA).” This
discussion is interesting, giving us a helpful snapshot of our church today:
Segment 1: Purposeful Progressives (35%)
Segment 2: Disappointed and Discerning (19%)
Segment 3: Family Facilitators (15%)
Segment 4: Rooted and Resolute (10%)
Segment 5: Not categorized (21%)
With
which cluster do you associate? Within the church, do you regularly have
serious conversation with people from other clusters? Do you consider this kind
of wild diversity within the membership of our church a good thing for our
common life, or a burden?
The full report, including
descriptions and definitions for each of these Segments is included in When We Gather At The Table, found as
Item 04-Report within the Way Forward Committee on PC-Biz.