About PBM
PCUSA/NPCM Timeline
A HISTORICAL TIME LINE
by: Rev. Jerry Stacy
1872: The First U.S. missionaries from the Presbyterian Church USA (northern stream) arrived in Mexico ; from the PCUS (southern steam) in 1873.
1918: U.S. Presbyterians, Methodists and Disciples of Christ meet in Cincinnati , OH and divide up Mexico for mission work. Presbyterians agree to do mission work in the south, and the northern region becomes the mission field of the Methodists. Those Presbyterians in the north are told to become Methodists, and any Methodists in the south are told thereafter they would be Presbyterians.
1919: Presbyterians in the state of Nuevo Leon meet and resist the accord, forming the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico (NPCM). They label the “Plan de Cincinnati� in Spanish as the “Plan of Assassination.� As the newly formed NPCM they agree 1) to be responsible for the salaries of ordained pastors; 2) Only national clergy would preach -- they would respect the laws of Mexico ; 3) The government of the church would remain in the hands of national presbyteries and synods. The Presbytery of Nuevo Leon , which includes the city of Monterrey , is today one of the strongest of all the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico’s presbyteries.
1972: The Moratorium. The National Presbyterian Church of Mexico celebrates its centennial and decides to cease reception of U.S. missionaries - to cut the mission umbilical and seek autonomy - and asks all active missionaries to return to the U.S. At this point in time there are five existing Presbyterian Churches in Mexican cities along the 2000 mile border. Because of it growth in Southern Mexico , the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico is one the largest denominational churches in Mexico
1973: Project Verdad is started as a binational ministry between El Paso and Juarez . It serves as the initial model for Presbyterian Border Ministry, and as a point of dialogue between Presbyterians -- U.S. and Mexican -- during the moratorium.
1979: A delegation from the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico attends the General Assemblies meeting jointly in Kansas City , and proposes a new relation in mission for The National Presbyterian Church of Mexico, and the Southern and Northern branches of the U.S. Presbyterian Churches. The document is approved and the International Joint Commission is proposed as the coordinating body for the new mission partnership. Primary tenants of the document are that all mission decisions will be made mutually, and neither church will make unilateral decisions regarding mission in the U.S. or Mexico . The document highlights as a priority for the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico the planting of churches in growing cities along the U.S./Mexican Border, in State capitals and centers of tourism. The document acknowledges the efforts of Project Verdad and suggests that binational ministries be expanded where possible. Of particular interest to U.S. Presbyterians is the opportunity to respond to the blatant poverty so obvious when the U.S./Mexican border economies are contrasted and compared - particularly in light of the rapid growth of Mexican border cities as the Twin Plan assembly phenomenon begins to provide major employment opportunities on the border.
1980: Members from the First Presbyterian Church of McAllen, TX, invite leaders from Project Verdad to assist them in launching a binational in the Reynosa/McAllen area. The ministry is baptized Puentes de Cristo.
1984: Two missionary couples initially designated to work in the interior of Mexico are reassigned by the Joint Commission to begin ministries at San Diego , CA / Tijuana , BC , and Douglas , AZ / Agua Prieta , Sonora . The Joint Commission begins to recognize the coordinated efforts along the border and officially recognizes its work as “Presbyterian Border Ministry.�
1985: Project Amistad is launched as the fifth ministry, between Eagle Pass , TX and Piedras Negras, Coahuila.
1986: The Presbyterian Border Ministry Corporation is formed as the ministry’s trustees in charge of fund raising and fiscal oversight. It is composed of nine representatives from the PCUSA and three from the NPCM.
1986: Presbyterian Border Ministry is the recipient of the Birthday Offering of the PCUS, which provides the financial support for each of the existing ministry sites, and support for beginning a sixth ministry between Laredo, TX and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. Sixty women who will be interpreters for the offering visit Project Verdad and Puentes de Cristo in preparation for sharing how the offering will be used in their home presbyteries. The result of their efforts provides $487,000 for the mission of Presbyterian Border Ministry.
1988: Laredos Unidos is initiated between Laredo , TX and Nuevo Laredo , Tamaulipas as the sixth ministry
1989: Tensions between Mexican and U.S. board and staff leadership at Project Verdad cause the Joint Commission to step in and dissolve the ministry. It was a hard and bitter lesson, but we were reminded of the deeper implications of a covenant ministry, All other churches and agencies who engage in ministry along the border do so seasonally, and have no direct and permanent relationship with, or accountability to, those they relate to while in Mexico . Presbyterian Border Ministry lives by a binational covenant entered into by the General Assemblies of our respective churches. Our partnership is not unlike a marriage. We live and work together 365 days a year, seven days a week. Learning how to do so is one of the 6 primary goals of Presbyterian Border Ministry. To date we have had only the one divorce.
1992: The seventh ministry is launched between Nogales , AZ and Nogales , Sonora . Companeros en Mission , intentionally reaches far beyond the border in an attempt to respond to the priority of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico to plant churches in state capitals. Hermosillo , Sonora , the state capital 200 miles south of the border, is included in the ministry, significantly broadening our concept of the border.
1996: The Joint Commission creates the Presbyterian Border Ministry Council as an autonomous entity to oversee the work of the border, with representatives from those border presbyteries and synods (and one GA representative) with ministries within their bounds.
1999: Project Verdad which was closed in 1989, is reopened as a binational ministry under the name Pasos de Fe. Its board includes U.S. representatives from both Tres Rios Presbytery as well as Sierra Blanca Presbytery.
2000: The 20 year covenant between the PCUSA and the NPCM is revisited, evaluated and the two churches make minor changes in the covenant and agree to renew it for another 20 years with joyous worship and celebration.
2001: New Church Development. In twenty years of life the ministry has planted eleven missions which are today self governing Churches. It has planted nineteen missions which today are congregations. A congregation has its own governing board but does not have adequate numbers of members nor ordained elders to be come an organized church. It has recently planted nine missions which are still in the early stages of development and are yet to be advanced to the stage of congregation, and then to organized church.
Each of the seven ministries has an outreach component which varies from site to site; each has an active board of directors which oversees the ministry; each engages in mission education by receiving mission teams which live in and learn about the community, worship and work with members of local congregations, and share their experiences in mission with their home church. Each year 2000 Presbyterians come to the border, which is 48% of all Presbyterians who annually participate in a mission experience.
Presbyterian Border Ministry is a joint labor of the Presbyterian Churches of the U.S. and Mexico . It is called to share a holistic gospel with those who live along the 2,000 mile U.S./Mexican border, by responding to their spiritual, emotional, physical, and material needs.
The mission of Presbyterian Border Ministry is to proclaim and witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ by:
- Engaging in new church development with the presbyteries of jurisdiction.
- Engaging in ministries of compassion and justice which empower people and communities.
- Promoting mission education by providing opportunities for U.S. and Mexican Presbyterians to directly experience the work of Presbyterian Border Ministry.
- Promoting mutuality in mission through binational structures for oversight and implementation of ministry.
- Collaborating with and supporting existing border churches.
- Promoting justice in all areas; always raising a prophetic voice in those places where the Kingdom of God is being promoted and realized on Earth.
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