Reformed Presbyterian Minutes of Synod 1995 - Rparchives.org

82 MINUTES OF THE SYNOD OF THECOVENANTER WITNESSThe Covenanter Witness continues to be used by all the ministries of thedenomination as a source of timely information about the RPCNA. Whenpeople want to send a message to the entire denomination, when people areinterested in finding out that a congregation is looking to extend its work to anearby location, or when mission congregations are interested in becoming"tied in" to the denomination, they often go to the Witness as the instrumentto accomplish their task.We are encouraged that a high percentage of RP's have found theWitness valuable as nearly 2000 households have remained loyal insubscribing. The Witness, therefore touches nearly every household in theRPCNA. We are also encouraged that most of the newer congregations haveshown enthusiastic support by subscribing to the Witness.Our year long focus on "Reaching Out" has been a direct application ofSynod's emphasis on the "health, growth, and multiplication ofcongregations." It has covered different facets of outreach, evangelism,assimilation and discipleship.COST CUTTINGWe continue to be concerned about being able to finance the work ofthis Board. Since 1987, the EscP Board's share of the RPMscM has beenreduced from $ 142,000 to $80,000. We have done as much as we can toreduce costs by reducing staff, cutting production costs, using up ourinvested funds, and increasing our income by increased sales. This March,the Board decided to reduce the number of meetings to one per year inorder to save travel funds. Instead we will hold a fall meeting by conferencecall.We have concerns about the wisdom of this move as we think it isimportant to meet face to face to encourage our staff and properly overseethe activities of the Board's work. The absence of Youth Ministries, Crownand Covenant Publications, or the Covenanter Witness is not something thatwe believe the denomination wishes to do. However, the Board will have tomake additional reductions in program if the RPMscM funding remains thesame in 1996.RECOMMENDATIONS:1. That Synod hear from James Pennington for 10 minutes and from Drewand Lynne Gordon for 10 minutes.2. That the Nominating Committee consider the names of Paul Finley, andIngrid Birdsall for the Class of 1998 to replace Wendell Spear whoseterm expires.3. That the following persons be considered for reelection for a second termto the EscP Board:Class of 1998: Christian Adjemian, Norman Carson.Class of 1999: Andrew McCracken, Erma Prutow, David Willson.