“These proposals are intended to entrust presbyteries with the flexibility and responsibility of working together to discern and create mid council structures and relationships that will enable their missional congregations to thrive and adapt,” the report states. The trial period will expire in 2021 unless extended by the GA.

Sweeping structural changes may come to the Presbyterian Church (USA) if the finalized recommendation of a denominational commission gets the final thumbs up.

By a 17-1 vote on Feb. 13, the PCUSA’s Mid-Councils Commission approved a slate of eight recommendations that will dismantle the denomination’s 16 synods and pave the way for an experiment in non-geographic presbyteries.

The recommendation calls for replacing the ecclesiastical functions of synods with five regional administrative commissions of the General Assembly as well as establishing a number of regional judicial commissions.

“Our first recommendation is to flatten the hierarchy and bureaucracy of our church by eliminating one level of ecclesiastical structure,” the report states, adding that the proposed changed stemmed from “a call for structures that prioritize the vitality and mission of congregations.”

Congregations may get a chance to form new “provisional” presbyteries under a recommendation that would open up a “season of experimentation.”

Provisional presbyteries would retain most of the rights and powers of current presbyteries. However, the provisionals would have no authority to “dissolve, dismiss or divide congregations.” Also the new presbyteries could not approve the sale, mortgage, lease or transfer of real property of its congregations without the consent of the presbytery of origin.

Read More [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]