After a week off from live streaming General Assemblies we were back at it again this week with two live streams and three meetings total to track. The first to kick off was the 144th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
I have been swamped with various items this week – Presbyterian and otherwise. So I will do some minimalist notes on each of the meetings, and noting that this one concluded yesterday, but the information could be useful.
- There was live streaming of the Assembly meetings and the sessions were recorded and available on that page for viewing
- From the GA 2018 page you can download the Book of Reports and the Supplementary Reports. Also downloadable from that page is a good Summary of Reports piece that gives an overview of the meeting and there are links to highlights pieces.
- Official regular news updates are available on the news feed.
- There is a Flickr site with pictures from the Assembly.
- The General Assembly Resources page is where you will find the important doctrine and governance documents including the Book of Forms and a link to the Acts and Proceedings page.
The theme for the meeting is “With Glad and Generous Hearts”.
The Assembly had a presence on social media through the PCConnect Facebook page and through their official Twitter feed @PCConnect. The hastag for the meeting was #pccga2018.
Again this year a closely watched topic were the overtures and items related to human sexuality. From the many proposals and requests the updates give two important action items. The first was that a special listening committee called the Rainbow Communion, had their terms of reference amended so a broader range of people could provide input in their work. In addition, “The Assembly also suspended indefinitely censure for LGBTQI minister and elders who serve on the committee and/or tell their stories, allowing them to participate freely and honestly in the work of the special committee.” And yesterday the Assembly agreed with a proposal to form another special committee composed of the last 12 GA moderators “to review the issue and propose a way ahead that allows for the mission and ministry of the PCC to continue.” It is expected to report back at next year’s General Assembly. I would add that in my following the live stream I was aware that a significant process for the commissioners was listening to each other, and reflecting in silence.
There are the quick notes. Check the reports, minutes and updates for more.