Friends in the Presbyteries of the PCUSA - 

    The Presbyterian Church in Guatemala, during its General Assembly, began a major reform of its institutions and understandings about the nature of being the church of Jesus Christ. Members affirmed that the structure of the reformed church (Presbyterian) is sound, and that the problems they have faced were flaws in their human ability to live within the context of the Church. The church dismissed from their posts all Synod staff and committee members of the National Synod - cleaned the table - and established new guidelines for future service by members.  No member may serve more than one term in any church office, including committee posts.  No member may serve on more than one committee, and may not be reelected to that committee until they have been out of that committee for at least three years. At the same moment, the Synod Assembly strongly suggested that the sixteen presbyteries in Guatemala submit themselves to the same guidelines and standards of service.  For two full days this General Assembly was made up of persons filled with the joy of being disciples of Jesus. We ask that you celebrate with them.

    At the close of the May General Assembly, Pastor Carlos Lara was elected as General Secretary to finish the term of Roberto Lopez who was discharged from his position as General Secretary.  Rene Morales, from Occidente Presbytery, was elected Moderator (President), and Carlos Estrada (like Daniel Lopez in honesty) was elected Treasurer. To continue the reform process, a special Synod meeting has been called for July 11 and 12 of 2001 to act on the recommendations made during the May meeting and to finalize elections of members to the committees of the Church.

    This is a partial new beginning, but the IENPG and its Presbyteries will need all of your help to continue along the lines established during this General Assembly. However, racism and separation along cultural lines remain a major challenge for the Guatemalan Church.  Ways and means must be encountered by the IENPG and the PCUSA, as partner, which will enable just participation for all members within the Presbyterian Church in Guatemala.

    Following are some key ways that we in the PCUSA may strengthen the Guatemalan Church and this reform movement away from personal interest groups which have controlled the offices of the Synod and Presbyteries in Guatemala: 

• The poor within Guatemala must not be seen as objects of need or of our compassion - they are friends and neighbors who have significant gifts and talents that strengthen the community of Christ in the world.  The Guatemalan people are not a problem to be solved, but rather a gift to be enjoyed.
  
• We need to find new ways of thinking about being together with our neighbors in Guatemala so that we may come to be one people who share life together in Christ.  The most important thing that you in the PCUSA may do here in Guatemala is to accompany the church in Guatemala and to interactively share your lives with your Guatemalan neighbors. This also means to see, to understand and to accept, as a gift, the lives and being of our Guatemalan neighbors.  This is the work of mission.
  
• Members of the PCUSA must encourage and model ways of being that encourage equity and justice for all peoples.  Cultures must be respected as unique ways of being children of God while actions and understandings which marginalize and oppress some cultures and races must cease.  Members of the PCUSA should participate in just ways with men and women, and with all races and cultures, within the Guatemalan Church, and end all participation in programs, agencies and forums which do not demonstrate full equity for all.
  
• Private relationships, even personal friendships, because of their exclusivity, do not provide a basis for meaningful partnerships between Churches, Presbyteries and Synods.  Partnerships are build on connective structures, open forums, transparency and a lack of personal ownership.  We must learn to work through the connective systems provided within our reformed understandings of how to be church.
  
• Money, resources, and information, when controlled by a few, provide a power base for the manipulation and marginalization of others. The most destructive reality within the Guatemalan Church has to do with money received from the churches, presbyteries and general assembly of the PCUSA, and the almost complete lack of accountably for those funds. May we truly be partners without sharing responsibility and accountability?
  
• We must stop trying to fix Guatemalan problems out of our northern understandings and with our resources. The problems we need to fix are those within our own society and culture which support and encourage the marginalization and oppression of people within Guatemala.  We need to learn to listen to our partners as we join with Jesus who questions all of the bases of power and meaning found within the context of the "world".
  
• Our partnership with the Church in Guatemala needs to become a place and time where people share their lives, joy, suffering, liturgy, and hope. We should be willing to surrender our will and our ideas so that God may lead us:

Robert and Linda Moore