John Bise: What I’ve Learned about the Administrative Committee

For the past year, John Bise has been working as the provisional stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church in America. Through the experience, he’s had the opportunity to view the work of the Administrative Committee up close. We asked him to provide an insider’s perspective based on his work over the past year. 

What surprised you about working in the Administrative Committee (AC)?

Though I’ve always known the AC supports the church in various ways, I had no idea about the volume of inbound traffic they experience every week. It is very common for a church or a presbytery representative to contact the AC for advice and support on a particular issue they are facing. 

The issues range from items like pastoral search to judicial processes. Many local churches find themselves in situations they may only experience once per decade, like looking for a pastor. I walk through the AC’s office and hear the staff on phone calls providing counsel and advice to folks from around the country. It may seem small, but assisting churches with practical questions is vital to advancing the peace, purity, and mission of the church. 

What type of impact does the AC have?

The impact is both wide and specific. 

• People can look for a church through the AC, which provides a central directory. 
• People can post positions and find candidates because of our pastor search services. 
• Presbyteries can easily maintain and share their rolls and records with the denomination because of the portal the AC provides.
• The church can hold a General Assembly and have study committees because the AC coordinates and supports them.

And much more. The AC provides critical services that are often just taken for granted. It is the hidden work of the visible church. 

But the impact is also highly specific. People look to the AC usually when they have a real challenge they need help solving. People reach out when they feel out of their depth in a particular situation and are looking for help navigating their way through it. They often don’t know how to move forward or what the next step is.

I know a congregation reached out to the AC when they were dealing with a judicial case. There was a sense of distress, and I’m sure it was a source of great stress for those involved. An AC staff member was able to discuss the facts with an active elder of the church and helped bring some clarity and calm.  

As the denomination grows, how does that affect the AC?

The PCA is growing, both in terms of the number of churches and the overall membership. There’s a proposal to form two new presbyteries this year. More presbyteries mean more records to keep, bigger committee meetings for us to host, more minutes to collect, and more clerks to serve. It doesn’t change the work we do, but it does compel us to create tools to operate more efficiently. We are increasingly using technology to make resources more accessible and user-friendly. When you have more people who need to use our systems, it incentivizes us to improve the systems.

And it’s also important for the AC to have a strong financial footing to support and advance the mission of the church. We depend on the generosity of churches and the revenue from General Assembly for our operating budget. As the PCA grows, it is critically important for churches to continue supporting the work of the AC.

What’s been the most “rewarding” part of your work?

Presbyterianism is highly relational. Our form of church government compels us to connect and collaborate with others. At the end of the day, our ecclesiology forces us to live and work in relationships at all levels of the church: the local church, presbytery, and General Assembly.

With that said, the most rewarding part of my work has been meeting the people who are doing the work of the church. The AC staff are people whose daily vocation is to advance the mission of the church in various ways. They pray for churches, they field inquiries, and do whatever the job requires. 

I also found it greatly rewarding to visit presbyteries. I got to meet elders who are volunteering their time to encourage church planters, examine ministers, and oversee campus ministries, among other things. In my presbytery visits, I learned of several TEs in different presbyteries who were seeking ways to encourage and strengthen small, struggling churches. I was easily able to connect men from different presbyteries who are working on similar issues. 

The church is highly relational, and our work is improved when we remember to value the relational aspect of Christ’s body. We depend on each other’s gifts and graces to experience the fullness of Christ. The most rewarding part of my work has been getting to know and work alongside some wonderful people.