BMPC Members on PC(USA) Boards

As Presbyterians, we take pride in the ways that we have built a church that is connectional by its nature. We are bound to one another through the promises that we make in the sacrament of baptism, the vows that our pastors and leaders make in their ordinations, and the ways that we, as a single church, relate to and support all of the other congregations in our Presbytery, Synod, and the national General Assembly. 

An important way that we also live into these connections is through what we call “service to the larger church.” Through these commitments, clergy and laypeople bring their gifts, experiences, and, most importantly, their time to contribute to the work of our national church – the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). 

In this moment, we are especially glad to celebrate that two of our members, Jean Reynolds and Brad Baturka, serve the larger church as board members of two vital Presbyterian agencies – The Presbyterian Board of Pensions and the Presbyterian Foundation. 

Jean Reynolds began her service on the Board of Pensions in 2024. The Board of Pensions supports those who serve the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) through retirement, health, financial protection, and assistance programs. It also oversees the church’s pension assets, stewarding the multi-billion-dollar investment portfolio that funds the Defined Benefit Pension Plan and helps ensure long-term financial security for members and retirees alike.

Jean brings her lifelong experiences as a Presbyterian, a BMPC Trustee and Treasurer, as well as her professional background and decades of experience in institutional investing, asset management, and financial strategy. 

In reflecting on her work with the Board, Jean reflects, “I have had the privilege of serving the BMPC congregation in a number of ways over the years, but my work on the Board of Pensions has opened a door to something broader. The Board is a national agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) whose ministry is benefits — providing comprehensive benefits including healthcare and pension, as well as programming that supports the holistic well-being of tens of thousands of ministers, employees, retirees, and family members across our denomination, regardless of whether their congregation has 25 members or 2,000. In the two and a half years I have served, sitting on the Investment Committee and the Audit and Finance Committee, this work has connected me to Presbyterians across the denomination and opened new ways for me to contribute to our shared mission. BMPC has so many gifted members who give generously within our community; this work has reminded me of how much we can contribute to the wider church and to the mission it pursues around the world.”

Most recently, Jean also served on the search committee that recommended the new President and CEO of the Board of Pensions, Krysten Carter Holloway, who is both the first woman and person of color to lead the agency. 

This summer, the General Assembly while meeting in Detroit elected Brad Baturka to serve on the Board of the Presbyterian Foundation. The Presbyterian Foundation gathers, stewards, and distributes funds for mission across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Serving congregations, mid councils, ministries, and individuals, it helps Presbyterians practice faithful generosity through charitable giving, investments, endowments, and planned gifts, strengthening the church’s mission today and sustaining it for generations to come. The Foundation has more than $3 billion in assets entrusted to its stewardship. 

Brad has served at BMPC as both a Trustee and Elder, and in many other volunteer capacities. In reflecting on his decision to join the board of the Presbyterian Foundation, Brad writes: 

“All of my experiences in service at BMPC sparked my interest in serving the church beyond our congregation. At the presbytery level, I have served on the Commission on Financial Management and on an administrative commission charged with walking alongside the good people of Salt and Light Church during the merger of PC(USA) and UCC congregations. More recently, I agreed to chair the board of West Kensington Ministries at a time when the presbytery is seeking to further strengthen that important ministry.

So, when the opportunity arose to serve the Presbyterian Foundation, it felt like a natural next step in a journey that began in my own congregation and has gradually connected me more deeply with the broader PC(USA).

The timing also felt right. I recently retired and made a commitment to spend this next chapter of my life doing things that reflect my values, engage my interests, and allow me to be useful. Serving the Foundation brings those things together, and I’m grateful for the opportunity.”

Serving the larger church is also built into the expectations we have for our pastors as they give their time and talents to the work of our denomination. In these days, both the Rev. Rachel Pedersen and the Rev. Rebecca Kirkpatrick serve as members of national boards and committees that are helping to support the work of the church as a whole. 

The Rev. Rachel Pedersen has a rich history of leadership in the larger church, especially in the area of Christian Education. A former member of the board of the Association of Partners in Christian Education (APCE), Rachel currently serves on the Educator Certification Committee of the General Assembly, which oversees the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) process for certifying Christian educators. Elected by the General Assembly, the committee establishes certification standards, oversees approved coursework, works with certification advisors, evaluates examinations, supports certified educators, and maintains relationships with theological institutions and APCE. 

A Certified Christian Educator is a person called to educational ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who has completed rigorous training in Scripture, Reformed theology, worship, faith development, educational practice, and Presbyterian polity and mission. There are currently over 300 people in the process of becoming certified who will go on to serve a wide variety of congregations and ministry settings in our denomination. 

The Rev. Rebecca Kirkpatrick has served for the past eight years as a Board member for the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, our denominational publishing house that creates curriculum, textbooks and books aimed at readers both inside and outside of the church. As an outgrowth of that service, Rebecca continues to serve as a representative of PPC on what is essentially the board of trustees for our denomination — The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation. 

ACorp, as it is affectionately called within the larger church, serves at the intersection of the church’s ministry and its business responsibilities. Accountable to the General Assembly, it holds funds and property and provides essential administrative services—including finance, legal services, human resources, technology, risk management, and research—helping ministries across the denomination flourish. For the next two years Rebecca will be serving as the Co-Moderator of the ACorp Board. 

What all four of these stories remind us of is that the Presbyterian Church is held together not only by structures and institutions, but by people who are willing to offer their gifts beyond the life of their own congregation. The larger church depends on pastors, educators, financial professionals, elders, trustees, teachers, and countless others who are willing to carry what they have learned in one place into service for the whole.

That is one of the particular gifts of our connectional tradition. We believe that no congregation exists only for itself, and no Christian calling is meant to be exercised in isolation. The wisdom, experience, and faith nurtured within a local church can ripple outward—to a presbytery, to the General Assembly, to agencies and institutions, and ultimately to ministries and congregations we may never see ourselves.

We are grateful for Jean, Brad, Rachel, and Rebecca, and for the ways their service connects BMPC to the wider life of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Their leadership is also a reminder that “service to the larger church” is not something distant from the ministry we share here. It is one more way we live out our baptismal calling: offering what we have been given for the building up of the whole body of Christ.