As we find ourselves in October we have the opportunity for one last General Assembly this year as the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand gathers at Saint Kentigern College in Auckland.

But this gathering is different than years past as it puts more emphasis on community and less on business, having been rebranded as Assembly Week. (Actually, five days from 3 October to 7 October.)

The Moderator-designate, Andrew Norton, describes the week on the web page:

This year for the first time the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand is having an Assembly Week. One part of the Assembly Week will be what we have known as the General Assembly, this is where the discerning and decision making is done (by commissioners) – but that’s just the beginning!

Assembly Week will also have a full conference known as Inspiring Mission that is open to everyone within our Church family.

When General Assembly 2012 voted to have an Assembly Week and invited me to lead as moderator I started listening! I heard the cries of pain of how we have hurt one another through our debates, I heard expressions of hope that we could be a Church recaptured again by the mission of God and I heard the hunger for belonging and the thirst for inspiration and resourcing. It is my prayer that Assembly Week 2014 will touch and heal our hurts, will inspire us in God’s mission and nourish our souls in a community of prayer and belonging.

In addition to the usual business meetings of the Assembly there is another full program of Assembly week events, some of which run concurrently with the business. In addition, there are four speakers presenting keynote talks, headlined by the Rev. Dr. Steve Taylor, Principal of the Uniting College for Leadership and Theology in South Australia. The theme of his three studies, all drawn from the Gospel of Luke, will be “Hospitality – your place or mine?”

But wait, there is more… For the first time a National Youth Gathering will also be part of Assembly Week.

A lot going on, and in the midst of it all a General Assembly. Here is what you need to know:

• Reports are for commissioners only and they can download them from the White Book page
• Does not look like there will be live streaming or posted updates, but from one of the Assembly pages you can sign up for emailed updates. Keep an eye also on the News Archive page for meeting items that may be posted there. And there is a news feed on the Assembly Week site.
• UPDATE: Daily news pages are being created like this one for Saturday (and did someone get mixed up on the date?)
• However, if you want their polity documents the Statements of Faith and the Book of Order are available for download. The For Parishes page has a number of other resources that a GA Junkie might find interesting.

To follow along on social media probably the first place to start is the PCANZ Facebook Page. In addition, the new Moderator, Rev. Norton, has an official web site and blog that could make for interesting reading.

For Twitter, I am not aware of an official Twitter feed for the PCANZ and so far I have found little conversation about the meeting. I would point you to Jason Goroncy (@jasongoroncy) who is typically actively tweeting and who is using the hashtag #GA14 for the meeting. As usual, I will update if I see additional conversations of interest.

I look forward with interest to see how this larger gathering works out. It is an attractive idea and if the proper balance can be struck between the business meeting and the learning and inspirational workshops and events it will be a model worth repeating and exporting elsewhere.

Best wishes and our prayers are with you for the next few days.