Tag Archives: GA Business

Church of Scotland General Assembly 2021

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It is General Assembly week in Edinburgh.. well, sort of in Edinburgh.

A few hours from now, on Saturday morning 22 May the 2021 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland will convene in Edinburgh and around the world virtually. The meeting will be “blended” with some activity in the Assembly Hall, primarily with the major players, and most of the commissioners attending online.

That being said, the meeting is no less significant as there are a couple of major items of business before the Assembly this year.

Church_of_Scotland_Logo

If you are interested in keeping track of the business and activities this year, here are the starting points:

What we all want to know of course is how to follow along on social media and there will be no lack of that. You can begin with the Church of Scotland’s official Facebook page. There is also the Kirk’s Instagram feed and YouTube channel.

On Twitter, the starting point is the Kirk’s main feed at @churchscotland and the official hashtag #ga2021. (And be alert – there is an event called Gamers Assembly that is using the same hashtag so don’t be surprised at the first-person shooter video(s)) There is an official account for the Moderator of the General Assembly, @churchmoderator, but during the Assembly, we will have to see how many opportunities there will be to tweet. The church’s official publication, Life and Work, is also a good source for information on the website, on Facebook and on their Twitter feed @cofslifeandwork. In addition, there is the individual account of the editor, Lynne McNeil, at @LifeWorkEditor, who does the most comprehensive live-tweeting of the Assembly.

In suggesting personal accounts to follow, let me start with past Moderators of the General Assembly: To lead off there is the current Moderator who will shortly be the Very Reverend Martin Fair (@wmartinfair). Others include the Very Reverend Susan Brown (@VicarofDornach) as well as the Very Reverend Lorna Hood who is always an interesting read at @revlornascot and has been very active the past few years with projects related to Srebrenica justice and remembrance and also serves with YouthLink Scotland. Another is the Very Reverend Derek Browning at @DerekBrowning2. I will conclude with two other former Moderators who have Twitter accounts but have not been as active recently: the Very Reverend Albert Bogle at @italker and the Very Reverend Angus Morrison (@angusmorrison6).

As for others following along and Tweeting about the Assembly let me start with two of my regular recommendations, Peter Nimmo (@peternimmo1) and Doug Gay (@douggay). To that, I would add Paul Middleton (@ProfPMiddleton) and Daren Philip (@darphilip). Finally, for the moment, I will add Sue Cord (@sue_cord), Alistair May (@alistairmay), and Susan Pym (@susan_pym).

I should also note that this year the Queen’s representative to the Assembly, the Lord High Commissioner, is a member of the Royal Family and the first grandchild to hold the position – Prince William the Earl of Strathearn (his Scottish title). There is coverage of the appointment from the Church of Scotland and the Royal Family. He will be attending in person and addressing the Assembly from the Assembly Hall. He will also be undertaking the traditional tour of Scotland. No stranger to the area, he is a graduate of St. Andrews University. You can follow his work on the official Twitter account at @KensingtonRoyal and the account has already been covering his activities in Scotland.

Concerning the business before the Assembly there is a nice summary of each report on the Life and Work website. In addition, each of the conveners has recorded their speech for streaming during the Assembly.

And once again, Scott Paget is doing some heavy lifting for us. He has his series of posts on his blog Reading the Blue Book, now the 2021 edition.  He breaks down reports from the Blue Book individually with his comments. You can follow him on Twitter at @smpaget.

The challenge of how to reform the church to remain viable for the future has been an ongoing issue for the Kirk, especially over the last three years. One of the pieces of this has been the Special Commission on the Effectiveness of the Presbyterian Form of Church Government. As part of the restructuring of the Church of Scotland, they will be presenting their final report. It has discussion points regarding the local churches, presbyteries, and the national organization and the deliverance asks that the questions be sent out to all of them for discussion and feedback. There are no proposed changes to the form of government at this time, but a couple of interesting sections of the report:

[T]he Special Commission made a conscious decision not to undertake a detailed comparison of other ecclesial governance models. Contact with and experience of other forms of church government has shown that what is true of Presbyterianism is true of other ecclesiologies. All systems have strengths and weaknesses. Depending on the actions, attitudes and competencies of the people who work within them, all can foster innovation and creativity, and all can equally be prey to inertia and caution. Our task is not to reshape the Church of Scotland into the
likeness of another denomination.

Section 1.33

And the conclusion of the introduction:

The Special Commission wonders if a continuing preoccupation with fixing structures will detract from the work of mission and of being the Church in our communities, nation and world. Whether we tinker with our structures or take much more radical action, the ultimate proof of our effectiveness is not in the machinery of our governance (though to ignore that machinery entirely would be a mistake; we need structures that work). The ultimate proof of our effectiveness is the depth of our personal and corporate devotion to God, the provision of regular opportunity for meaningful worship and the promotion and supporting of mission, provided by local congregations, regional bodies, and the national Church. Our focus has to take into account the ‘what’ of our governance; but this must not take away from the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of what it means for us to be people of ‘The Way’ in the twenty-first century.

Section 1.38

The Special Commission report is scheduled for the first half of Monday afternoon.

Another report related to the restructuring is that of the General Trustees who are looking at the future of the church’s land and buildings. In one line it says ‘there can no longer be an assumption that any building can survive without a critical assessment of its contribution to the future mission of the Church’. Similarly, the report of the Assembly Business Committee talks about their work to streamline the General Assembly and they are proposing a change to reduce the number of commissioners to the Assembly, an action which must be approved by the presbyteries under the Barrier Act. The Assembly Business Committee reports on Saturday morning and the General Trustees on Thursday afternoon.

In one of the more closely watched business items the Legal Questions Committee is bringing an action, requiring presbytery concurrence, to permit a Minister of Word and Sacrament or a Deacon to apply to be authorized to officiate a same-sex marriage. (Polity note: for American readers the office of Deacon, while carrying the same description of one of caring and tending the flock, is a professional position like the position of pastor.) On another note, they outline their work on rewriting the polity of the church courts (i.e. governing bodies or judicatories) and give notice they will bring new material next year. The Legal Questions Committee is scheduled to report on Monday afternoon.

Finally, one of the items I have been keeping an eye on is the report of the Theological Forum. Three years ago there was an overture to examine the place of the Westminster Confession of Faith and the possibility of other subsidiary standards. The Forum put together a workshop on the topic and the papers were published in Theology in Scotland. This interim report presents discussion questions about options presented in the report for the church to give feedback to the Forum. They are scheduled to give their report on Tuesday afternoon.

So here we go. It will be an interesting week and among the questions the Assembly Business Committee is bringing is whether the use of videoconference technology should be used regularly for General Assemblies. We will see how this year goes.

So stay tuned…

224th General Assembly Of The PC(USA) – A Summary Of Summaries and Responses

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GA 224 logo

Now that the 224th General Assembly of the PC(USA) has concluded I will be collecting the various summary pieces I see and linking them on this page.

I will begin with my summary.

GA224BriefSummary

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There are a couple of summaries that I am expecting that I don’t see yet, but I will insert them here when they appear.

Some local summaries include ones from…

In addition, there have been several reactions to the General Assembly, particularly in regards to how it handled racial justice issues. Here are the blog posts and open letters I know about that address this

224th General Assembly of the PC(USA) – GA Business Resumes

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Logo - The GA Business resumes

In a short while today, Friday June 26, the plenary sessions of the 224th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) resume. Looking ahead at the GA business on the docket it will be interesting to see how the next two days develop.

Meeting Structure

The approved docket has the meeting starting at 11 am EDT on both Friday and Saturday. On Friday it begins with Worship followed by a recess of one hour. On Saturday it begins with an order of the day for the election of the Stated Clerk to serve another four-year term.

The order of business, proposed by the Business Referral Committee, is posted and awaiting Assembly approval.

The objective is to do two hours of work followed by an hour recess to help avoid videoconference fatigue.

On Friday the meeting is docketed to recess for the day at 6 pm EDT and on Saturday the adjournment is docketed for 6:30 pm EDT. There are a total of nine and a half hours of business meeting time listed. Will that grow?

Growing list of business

Coming into the meeting the Assembly Committee on Business Referral and the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) brought a list of business items sorted into categories of Information Only, Critical Business, and Referred to the 225th General Assembly.

From that, the Business Referral Committee constructed a consent agenda from which a few items were pulled last Friday night so that 17 items remain.

Also last Friday night some more items were added to the list of GA business. The first was a list of late-submitted items to add to the Critical Business list. Most of these were information items or routine but necessary matters.

From that list, there is a new item from COGA “On the Church in this Moment in History” [00-29]. There is also a separate item from Business Referrals that was added: “On Responding to the Covid-19 Pandemic” [00-30].

And from the opening night, while there were several items proposed to be moved from the referrals, only two items related to Native American ministry and related property were approved to be pulled from the referral list. These are now numbered [00-95] and [00-96].

After that work on Friday night, on Saturday morning the motion has been made to reconsider the action on Item 01-04 that contains the list. At the time the Assembly closed debate on the item on Friday night the Moderator let it be known that there were up to eight commissioners waiting to move that other items be pulled from the referral list. I am not sure what all of these items might be, and I suspect that there are multiple people proposing the same ones, but a clear favorite is one of the actions to add the requirement for family leave to the Book of Order. ( Items 02-092 and 02-122) Another item I have heard a suggestion of is fossil fuel divestment, maybe Item 02-126. And I would expect at least one more social justice-related item to be moved. It will be interesting to see how some of these topics are handled when there are multiple overtures or recommendations related to them in the referral list. UPDATE: The motion to reconsider was not approved by a commissioner vote of 97 to 377.

So we will first see if the motion to reconsider is successful – it is one of the first items when business resumes, right after adopting the order of business. Then we will see which items are requested and whether the Assembly agrees. And as most of these are not routine matters but will probably have a certain amount of debate, we are most likely looking at extending the meeting if a couple of them get added.

Assembly Operations

One of the interesting things to watch in Plenary 1 (last Friday night) and Plenary 1A (the election of the Co-Moderators) was how the Assembly operated in the virtual format. As noted previously, the Co-Moderators of the 223rd General Assembly, Ruling Elder Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri and Teaching Elder Cindy Kohlmann, did a great job of running the meeting from their multiple screens. What we learned is that extra time is needed because of the latency and time delays in the videoconferencing system as well as the time necessary for translation for some commissioners.

The other component is that commissioners and advisory delegates have none of the visual and audio ques that they have in person. Cindy Kohlmann had to announce that there were still eight individuals waiting to make a motion rather than commissioners looking around to see the lines at the microphones and what color cards each waiting speaker was holding. The other interesting thing is that with an in-person meeting it was common for an advisory delegate to find a commissioner to make a motion for them to get something on the floor and then they could speak to it. In the virtual setting we discovered that this assistance is harder to get and it seems that some networking has been established in the last week.

So considering everything mentioned above, I have to wonder if an extra session will be tacked on tonight or tomorrow night to get everything accomplished. The good news is that there is no physical conference center that the Assembly has to be out of at noon on Saturday. But with the anticipated extra business and the necessary deliberative pace of the Assembly we saw last Friday night, how much will the Assembly fall behind schedule? We will see that as today goes on.

UPDATE (Friday afternoon): So yes, the business agenda is sliding. Plenary 3 has gone almost two and a half hours and the only business completed was 00-29 “On the church at this moment in history.” The Assembly agreed to recess for just over an hour and pick up the other three items on the Plenary 3 agenda. At least it will be caught up in the morning.

The other thing that would extend it, of course, is a long debate or set of parliamentary motions on controversial items. Right now nothing strikes me as controversial enough to add significant amounts of time, but maybe if something like fossil fuel divestment makes it into the necessary business a longer debate might be in the offing. As understand the rules of engagement the Assembly, on a controversial business item there will probably not be a minority report and the time necessary for that process to happen. And will the SFTS/COTE debate arise again? I suspect it will, but based on the tone of the Assembly Friday night it will probably not get very far. That topic will be left for the remedial case now before the GAPJC.

So get ready and buckle your seat belts out there all you GA junkies. As the first virtual General Assembly, today will be interesting even if everything proceeds smoothly today. And will one of these days go long? I have to think it will. But we will see if it is for technical reasons, parliamentary reasons, or because a lot of GA business needs to be accomplished in a relatively short amount of time.

Stay tuned…

PC(USA) 224th General Assembly – Election Of The Moderators

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The session for the Moderator Election was delayed a day due to the length of time dealing with business Friday night, but the election evening went smoothly and finished a bit ahead of what some of us expected.

It helped that we had the Co-Moderators on the first ballot with Elona Street-Stewart and Gregory Bentley receiving 304 of the 459 commissioner votes. And yes, the YAAD’s called it with 41 of the 71 Young Adult Advisory Delegates recommending that team.

For more on Elona and Gregory, you can look back at my Moderator Team Introduction of them.

Elona Street-Stewart and Gregory Bentley at the Press Conference after the Moderator election
Elona Street-Stewart and Gregory Bentley, Co-Moderators of the 224th General Assembly (screen shot from the post-election news conference via Zoom)

The election process began with short statements by each of the teams, and the teams generally echoing their pre-Assembly materials. Marie Mainard O’Connell and Arthur Fullerton talked about the denomination continuing to moving forward and their skill-sets to help make that happen. Elona Street-Stewart and Gregory Bentley emphasized their backgrounds and heritage and place in the Presbyterian heritage and how they want to move forward in the context of the Matthew 25 initiative. And the third to present, Sandra Hedrick and Moon Lee, emphasized addressing inequality and inclusion in the context of sharing the Gospel and being empowered by the Holy Spirit.

There was time for five questions from the commissioners to the candidates.

  • How do you envision yourself being an agent for change? What three things would you do immediately?
  • How can we as a church come together and unite as a people and make everyone feel included and feel the love of God?
  • How can we expand the work within congregations and communities?
  •  In light of the current unrest, what is the role of the Presbyterian Church regarding racism? And how do the local churches address the issue of racism in light of being mostly white?
  • So far we have been discussing domestic issues. The center of Christianity has been shifted to the Global South. How can we learn from them?

The first four questions were submitted in advance by video and of these four only the fourth question was asked by a person of color. The fifth question was asked live by a Mission Advisory Delegate. The responses to the question included that the world is becoming a globalized place, that we have a lot to learn from them, and important to visit to get to know them. Answers to this question did avoid some of the rough patches that the PC(USA) has had in the last decade in its relationships with other churches regarding ordination standards, for example with the Mexican Presbyterian church.

Following this, it was time to vote and as noted above 41 (57.7%) of the 71 Young Adult Advisory Delegates voted for the team of Elona and Gregory. With the commissioners, the support was even stronger with 304 (66.2%) of the 459 commissioners voting for them.

Veteran GA observers might note that the first ballot election is the less frequent occurrence and 66.2% is a fairly high level of support. Since reunion 11 of the 29 moderator elections have been decided on the first ballot. Of those, only one was a two person or team choice (the 222nd in 2016). The only Moderator since reunion to receive a higher percentage of votes was Robert Wayne Bohl in 1994 with 73.9%. It is important to point out that for three years, 1985 to 1987, the posted minutes do not include vote totals. Therefore, the support for first-ballot moderators William H. Wilson (1985) and Benjamin Weir (1986) are not readily available.

And in terms of firsts, it is important to celebrate that Elona Street-Stewart is the first Native American to serve as a Moderator of the PC(USA) General Assembly.

Sankofa bird symbol for Elona and Gregory (from the Moderatorial Candidate booklet)
Sankofa bird symbol for Elona and Gregory (from the PC(USA))

At the post-election press conference, one of the early questions was about the team’s symbol of the Sankofa bird. The bird itself is a mythical animal and symbol from the Akan tribe of Ghana with the feet facing forward but retrieving, or carrying, an egg while looking back. The Elona and Gregory chose to place the bird in water, representing the Mississippi River, a river that flows across the nation with importance to both the indigenous peoples and the African American culture. The symbolism of the bird is the bringing of the best of the past to what lies in the future. As their statement in the Moderatorial Book says “Like the Sankofa bird of our logo, we look back beyond this time of uncertainty and fear to learn from those who have gone before, even as we look forward to a faithful and fruitful future.” At the press conference, it was discussed that the symbol ties the best of cultures together merging Native American and African American cultures.

Since a major emphasis of their materials and comments has been the Matthew 25 initiative that was also a major topic of the press conference. They emphasized the number of resources that have already been developed and that one of the three parts of the initiative is congregational vitality. Gregory Bentley emphasized that the church in general, and individual congregations, need to align priorities with the initiative. This is another add-on – it’s purpose is not to supplant but to supplement. In terms of getting the initiative into churches, Elona Street-Stewart emphasized that we “need a beachhead.” The initiative gives clarity and focus to our mission and what the defining features of Christian ministry are.

In talking about the business of the Assembly, especially the business that will be referred to the next Assembly, Elona discussed how the church needs to understand that there is the formation of work going on all the time. There is a fear that if we don’t deal with it at the GA it won’t get done.

Asked about whether GA has too much business to deal with and whether the volume is a problem for people in the churches to understand or participate with GA actions, Elona discussed the nature of GA. She said that many in our churches view GA like they view the civil government, particularly a legislative body. If you have a problem you send a request to GA to fix it. Rather, GA should be viewed as a fellow participant in ministry and should reflect on-going work. If there is a ministry a church is involved in and participation or resources from the national level would be useful – that is the role of GA.

And it was no surprise that when asked about how the church can support them the response was “Pray for stamina, perseverance and patience.” But they added that they are aware of and will need to address and overcome stereotypes. They are not what some people imagine a moderator would be. Elona Steet-Stewart said that they will be “Going to go to places where we are unimagined yet.” They are aware that they won’t fit the profile and will need the whole church to be able to talk about the stereotypes.

And so, as the General Assembly prepares to return to business sessions tomorrow, we do pray for them and many hours ahead. They have now travelled from their respective homes to Louisville so they can moderate in close proximity to their polity and technical support. May they indeed have the stamina, perseverance, and patience for the task ahead.

For more on the Election of the Co-Moderators and Elona Street-Stewart and Gregory Bentley, there is the PC(USA) News article, as well as an election article and a press conference article from the Presbyterian Outlook.

Friday Evening At The 224th PC(USA) GA

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Well that was an interesting evening.

The 224th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has begun and the opening session certainly is one for the history books.

Under normal circumstances, the opening session of the General Assembly on Saturday afternoon is mostly training and business done as a formality. This includes the adoption of the Standing Rules, report of the outgoing Co-Moderators, the first report of the Nominating Committee and information on challenging a nomination, and a formal vote on distributing the business to the Assembly commissioner committees. It is mostly routine business to get the meeting going and do the decent and in order stuff to be sure the business and polity is set for the rest of the week. Then everyone comes back Saturday evening to elect the Co-Moderators.

For this Assembly it was already known that things would not be that routine. A special set of standing rules had to be adopted to facilitate a virtual GA with less time to do business. There were none of the regular committees so the business had to be tailored to fit a meeting that was always in plenary. And with the limited time some items had to be removed from the docket so the load was manageable.

The docket originally had scheduled one hour for this work. At a meeting yesterday afternoon the Business Referrals Committee – the only committee at this assembly which will handle the schedule and polity matters – added an extra hour to the opening business. So into tonight we went…

Four and a half hours later the GA finished the opening business. Since it was 11:30 pm on the east coast the Business Referrals Committee recommended adding another session by moving the election of the Co-Moderators to tomorrow night and the commissioners agreed by a vote of 349 to 120. So, another meeting and a change to my dinner plans.

The good news for the week was that only two closely-related items were removed from the list of business that was not considered critical or necessary enough to squeeze into this year’s abbreviated meeting. That is good news in the sense of the business load for this meeting has only increased by a little. It is bad news for the eight commissioners who were waiting in the queue to make motions removing other items from the list to refer. In particular, multiple individuals expressed disappointment that the Family Leave provisions would have to wait a couple more years. (And since it was a Book of Order change, two years beyond that.)

In the midst of all this there we a few interesting polity issues that arose.

The first are the necessary steps to allow this General Assembly to happen online. With an in-person GA not practical for a number of reasons, and with the Book of Order requiring a GA, pretty much the only option was to go online. The problem is that the PC(USA) does not have the bylaws or standing rules in place to make this happen so it was mentioned by a couple of individuals that this meeting is sort of happening outside Robert’s Rules of Order but everyone was trying to be clean and transparent about the whole thing. As the polity wonks know, this can be cleaned up by having the next regular, in-person meeting of the body – which would be the 225th GA in two years – ratify all of the actions taken by this assembly. (And I think it is a good bet that some language will be proposed to provide the option for virtual GA’s again if the need should arise.)

Another polity issue that was of concern and on the floor a couple of times was one of the special standing rules for this meeting that prohibited commissioner resolutions and new business to be brought to the assembly. The first instance was when the rules were being adopted and multiple commissioners had concerns about that prohibition. A motion was made to amend that standing rule to add an exception to allow motions to create “an Assembly-wide committee to discuss how PC(USA) will address social injustice prior to the 225th General Assembly.” The motion was defeated by 132 yes to 335 no. From the debate, the opposition to the amendment included both those who did not think adding such a significant item to a short meeting was wise and those that felt that carving such a narrow loophole was the way to go.

The second instance was when the Business Referrals Committee made a motion to suspend the standing rules to add two items of new business to the list of business for the meeting. That passed with the necessary 2/3 super-majority for suspending the rules. And one of these new business items helps address the issues for which the loophole noted above was concerned with.

And it was pointed out a couple of times that this latter approach is a permissible way for new business to be introduced. If the standing rules don’t allow it then move to suspend the rules and see if you can get the 2/3 vote.

The hot topic of the evening was the relationship of the San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS) to the PC(USA) through the Committee on Theological Education (COTE). The first instance was when a commissioner moved that the Dean of SFTS, the Rev Dr Jana Childers, be seated as a corresponding member as the other seminary leaders are. Turning to the Stated Clerk for advice, J. Herbert Nelson explained that when SFTS was “bought” (yes that is the term he used) by the University of Redlands they ceased to have status as a Presbyterian Seminary. As he said, “At this time there is no standing that would allow them to be seated.” The moderator ruled that the motion was out of order and moved on.

A couple minutes later the motion was made to challenge the ruling of the Moderator and after some discussion and explanation of this parliamentary procedure the ruling of the Moderator was sustained 334 to 133 and the challenge failed.

A bit later in the meeting when the business sorting was before the Assembly, the motion was made to not refer the Assembly Organization for Mission section related to COTE to the 225th GA but to deal with it in this Assembly to help sort out the status of SFTS. This move was defeated by a vote of 102 yes to 363 no.

So, the first plenary of the 224th General Assembly is suspended and will resume at 7 PM tomorrow, Saturday June 20th, with the only item of business being the election of the Co-Moderators.

But in a general sense, this was a slow start to the meeting and it raised some concerns in some peoples minds about whether the pace would pick up later in the week. A couple of the SMADs (Social Media Advisory Delegates) on Twitter wondered if the 224th GA would finish by the time the 225th begins. As I pointed out, at least with a virtual GA there is no convention hall that has a hard limit for the meeting to clear out on Saturday.

So that’s the opening night. Big credit to the Co-Moderators of the 223rd GA who handled the online meeting with grace, humor and a steady hand. Best wishes to them as they finish their term tomorrow – and I hope they enjoy this extra day. And prayers continue for all of those standing for Co-Moderators of the 224th GA. Being ready for the pressure of the election and suddenly having it moved back 24 hours can not be easy. Blessings on you as you regroup and get ready to do it again tomorrow.

Sleep well everyone.

224th General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

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One of the few General Assemblies to be held on schedule this year will be gavelled to order about this time tomorrow and it will be an interesting experience in a number of respects. First, it will be virtual with all business and events happening online. Second, it will be significantly shortened, both in daily schedule and in the length of business meetings. So with the time limitations, a lot of business is getting pushed off to the next Assembly two years from now.

And so, we welcome the 224th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), set to convene at 7 PM Eastern Time tomorrow, Friday, June 19. While the formal business will then take a break for a week there are other events that will be included in the general program during that hiatus. To accommodate time zones the two days of formal business will run from 11 AM to 6 or 6:30 PM EDT. The plan is to do business in two-hour time slots followed by a one-hour break.

The site of the meeting was supposed to be in Baltimore before it got transferred to the ether. Instead, the Presbytery of Baltimore will now be the online host for the meeting

As usual, the source for information on all this business is the on-line PC-Biz system. It is important to remember that with the condensed meeting schedule there will be no committee action this year. The one actual Assembly committee, the Assembly Committee on Business Referrals, has acted upon a recommendation of the standing Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) that has divided all business into three parts: Information (received, no action), items of a critical or necessary nature (to be acted on this year), and everything else (which gets pushed to the 225th General Assembly). Changes to these lists can be made from the floor so keep an eye on that on opening night.

Other items of note on the docket include the election of the Co-Moderators from the three teams standing for the position on Friday night beginning at 9 PM EDT (new time from a meeting today) and the vote to renew the call of the Stated Clerk for another 4-year term on Saturday, June 27, at 11 AM EDT.

The schedule, including the docket and the other events, can be found on PC-Biz under Resources. There is also the Manual Of The General Assembly available there but also a recommendation from COGA for suspension of most of the standing rules and adoption of special rules to apply to this assembly, including that there shall be no new business. Finally, the information booklet on the Moderatorial Candidates can be found there as well.

For the doctrine and polity documents, you can get the Book of Confessions and the Book of Order as free downloads from the PC(USA) Store, or you can find them at this handy website.

The commissioners will be operating using videoconferencing technology, and for the rest of us who want to follow along the proceedings will be streamed on the GA website and on the Spirit of GA Facebook page.

The theme for this Assembly is “From Lament to Hope” based upon Lamentations 5:20-21. To go along with the theme a Bible study will be offered online on Wednesday. There are two sessions on Wednesday June 24 at 7 and 10 PM EDT. The study will be led by James Elisha Taneti and Mary Florence Taneti.

In addition, there are a series of video testimonials related to the theme posted on the GA website where various people from around the PC(USA) talk about the GA theme and their experience.

And just a note that before the pandemic, the chosen theme was “Called to a Movement Beyond Institution,” based upon Romans 12:2.

Another event that will be happening between the business sessions is the Poor People’s Campaign event that was to be a march on Washington but is now a digital rally at 10 AM EDT on Saturday, June 20th. The Stated Clerk, J. Herbert Nelson, will be one of the speakers. Note that there is a registration link, but not clear if registration is required.

There is also the Youth Rising Coalition event at 3 PM EDT on Tuesday, June 23. This is a group in Baltimore that is joining with the GA participants “To hear the voices and stories of Baltimore area youth who have compelling ideas about creating a more just and opportune environment for young people.”

To follow the action on official Twitter feeds the PC(USA) does have a general Twitter account (@Presbyterian). Usually, during the Assembly, the General Assembly feed (@presbyGA) provides more play-by-play, but it has not been active for six months. There is also the Presbyterian News Service on Twitter (@PresbyNews). The hashtag for the meeting is #ga224.

News items will also appear on the GA224 news feed as well as the Presbyterian News Service feed. There are also updates on the Facebook page.

For individuals of note let me start with the accounts for the Co-Moderators (@GAModerators) and for the Stated Clerk (@PCUSAstatedclrk) as well as J. Herbert Nelson’s individual account (@jherbertnelson) which seems to be fresher. Watch the #GA224 hashtag and we will see who else is active for the meeting. (And I will update here.)

Out in the press corps, keep an eye on the Presbyterian Outlook on their website (pres-outlook.org) and Twitter (@presoutlook) as well as their special correspondent Leslie Scanlon (@lscanlon).

I plan to be on all the live-streamed events and tweeting (@ga_junkie) and maybe some live blogging. The Outlook printed one article I wrote for them on business coming to the Assembly related to overtures concerning Constitutional changes but all those items have been referred to the 225th GA. One of the controversial items for this Assembly will be how the Committee on Theological Education has reclassified the San Francisco Theological Seminary following their merger with the University of Redlands. My article for the Outlook on that business looks at the situation, at least at the time of publication. It is an evolving situation and it will be interesting to see how it evolves further in the hands of the GA. I will have a bit more to say on that in a couple of days as well as a couple of other evolving items before the Assembly. I would also mention my Outlook article “GA or Not GA? That is the Question” where I mused about what a virtual GA would look like. Personally, I think I got pretty close.

Finally, I expect this summary to be a living document over the next week and I will update at various points throughout the week as systems and patterns develop. I also hope to get out a modified GA Bingo card appropriately modified for a virtual GA.

So it will be an interesting week in the virtual assembly hall. We pray for patience for all involved as new technology is navigated and technical glitches are confronted. And there is some very important business, like the Way Forward Commission and the Vision 2020 group, that did not make the cut and have had their reports referred to the 225th General Assembly. It will be interesting to see if some other items docketed to be referred do creep back into the agenda for this meeting.

With all that going on we offer our prayers for the commissioners and for the leadership of this meeting. May they be guided by the Holy Spirit, particularly to discern God’s will as a body while not actually gathered in one physical space. It will certainly be an interesting GA week. Blessings upon you.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:17

223rd General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

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With the largest American General Assembly (about 1300 commissioners) having just concluded it is time to turn to a few more. The big one this coming week is also the highest numbered, and therefore, I guess, oldest or longest running.

logo+pcusaStarting today we have the 223rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in St. Louis which begins on Saturday 16 June and finishes a week later on Saturday 23 June. There is a lot to look forward to in this meeting as the denomination works to connect with the host city, connect with itself, and decide how to position itself for the future.

The source for information on all this business is, as usual, the on-line PC-Biz system. And the PC(USA) event guide for the Guidebook App  is back as well. There are Android and iOS apps and it can be viewed in a web browser. The full program guide with schedules and worship resources is available from the GA web site home page.

A proposed docket is posted is posted as well as a full schedule including the non-business events, and you can also find the schedule, reports overtures/business items on PC-Biz as well as all the Constitutional documents, the Manual of the General Assembly, and other useful items on the PC-Biz Resources tab.

The Assembly will begin with opening worship with celebration of the Lord’s Supper scheduled for 11 AM local time and will be live streamed in the window embedded in the GA home page or directly from ustream.tv. Formal business will begin at 2 PM in the afternoon followed by the election of the Moderator Saturday evening. Sunday is worship in churches throughout the St. Louis area and a plenary session with reports of special committees and commissions in the afternoon. Committee work begins in that evening and it will run into Tuesday afternoon, maybe into the evening for some. During that time PC-Biz is the place to find out what the committees are doing with the pieces of business near and dear to you.

The meeting moves back to plenary on Wednesday morning and then it is a mad push to get all the business done by Friday night or in the wee hours of Saturday morning. But one of the realities is that there is no real schedule of when particular committees report until later in the week when committees have finished their business and they are assembled on the docket like a jigsaw puzzle. The final Saturday morning session is highlighted by worship and the closing business formalities.

One new feature of this Assembly is the Hands and Feet initiative to connect with the local community. This effort is under way and has been part of preliminary meetings in St. Louis, and it is planned to continue in the cities that will be hosting future General Assemblies. At this Assembly many of the Mission Tours are opportunities to get out into the community and help with various forms of service. On Tuesday there will be two different opportunities to participate in rallies/protests. In in the early afternoon there will be an immigration rally and later in the afternoon the “Hands and Feet Community Action.” The offering from today’s opening worship will be used for the local bail relief fund project to help out people in jail for minor offenses because they do not have the money to pay the fine. (And you can donate online if you won’t be there in person.) The community action is an un-permitted public action march to the City Justice Center that will deliver the offering and hopefully bail out some individuals on the spot. Finally, Hands and Feet will be offering a special concert on Thursday evening – Hands and Feet Celebration featuring Kirk Whalum sponsored by Northern Trust Securities. This is the first such concert I can remember since the Dave Brubeck concert in 1997.

Another similar point is the theme of the Assembly. The original theme of the Assembly was from Matthew 6:33 – “But strive first for the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” That has been tweaked slightly to change kingdom to kin-dom and incorporated as the preaching theme – “Kindom building for the 21st century.”

Opening worship and plenary sessions should be live streamed and the viewer can be found embedded in the GA 223 Home Page.

The tracking utility on PC-Biz is the best place to follow business. While the PC(USA) does have a general Twitter account (@Presbyterian), the General Assembly feed (@presbyGA) usually provides more play-by-play. There is also the Presbyterian News Service on Twitter (@PresbyNews). The hashtag for the meeting is #ga223.

News items will also appear on the GA223 web page as well as the Presbyterian News Service feed. There is also a Facebook page, and the daily GA news is now by email – you can register on the main GA web page. The daily news roundup is also available from pcusa.org/ganews.

There are numerous entities of the PC(USA) that have Twitter accounts and you might want to watch the hashtag or check the list I compiled in a post a while back. One not on that list is the Committee on Local Arrangements (COLA) at @StLouisGA.

For individuals of note let me start with the candidates for Co-Moderator and Moderator/Vice Moderator that I know of Twitter accounts for: Eliana Maxim (@elianamaxim), Cindy Kohlmann (@cindykohlmann), Chantal Atnip (@atnipchantal), and Ken Hockenberry (@clerkkennyh). To this let’s add the outgoing Co-Moderators: Jan Edmiston (@jledmiston) and Denise Anderson (@thesoulstepford). There is also a twitter account for the Stated Clerk (@PCUSAstatedclrk) as well as J. Herbert Nelson’s individual account (@jherbertnelson). Moving on to Moderators of previous assemblies we can begin with Bruce Reyes-Chow who tweets at @breyeschow and @brc_live. Neal Presa, can be followed at @NealPresa, and as the incoming vice-chair of the Presbyterian Foundation Board of Trustees his insights could be interesting. And we will see if Heath Rada (@heathrada), is there as well. For previous Vice-Moderators watch for Larissa Kwong Abazia at @LarissaLKA, and Landon Whitsitt (@LandonWhitsitt). In this list of individuals let me throw in the Director of Operations, Thomas Hay (@DirOfOp) and also a true GA Junkie in his own right, Andy James (@andyjames). Finally, for color with a degree of snark (yes, some of us need this during the meeting) you can follow Jodi Craiglow.

Out in the press corps, keep an eye on the Presbyterian Outlook on their website (pres-outlook.org) and Twitter (@presoutlook) as well as their special correspondent Leslie Scanlon (@lscanlon) who will be covering the hot-topic Way Forward Commission.

I will be at the meeting for the opening weekend. I plan to live blog the plenary sessions here, but maybe not as closely as in the past. The rest of the week I will try to be glued to the live stream as much as possible and will post as appropriate and able. (I still have my day job) The Outlook has posted two articles I wrote for them on business coming to the Assembly related to Constitutional Overtures, and a backgrounder on Per Capita. I do plan to tweet extensively but not completely during the Assembly at my regular Twitter handle – @ga_junkie. And if someone is planning to live tweet the Assembly let me know and I will point people in your direction.

Finally, I will once again be passing out my “I’m A GA Junkie” buttons. Find me if you want one. Also, the Bingo Card is available for the meeting.

A few notes on the business of the meeting are in order. First, both the PC(USA) and the Presbyterian Outlook have produced summary articles for the different committees and business categories. There will be lots of the usual with fossil fuel divestment appearing to headline the social justice issues and Middle East issues coming to that committee.

The Assembly will have to deal with some important and controversial internal issues as well. The Way Forward Commission is already hard at work and they are bringing a proposal to unify a lot of the high-level workings of the national structure, something the Presbyterian Mission Board opposes. And as I discuss in my Per Capita article, the Office of the General Assembly originally proposed a 38% increase in per capita, which they scaled back to 10% annual increase each year for the next two years, after some significant negative feedback.

And so I am looking forward to an exciting week in St. Louis, some in person and some on the live stream.

But the decisions facing the commissioners are significant and our prayers are with them as the prayerfully, and critically, discern God’s will this coming week. Best wishes and get your sleep when you can.

Free Church Of Scotland (Continuing) General Assembly – May 22, 2018

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Yesterday I had the pleasure of observing the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) as they met in their first full day of business. This is a group that knows what they believe and are very forthright and clear about that in their conversations, their business, and their preaching.

I think a bit of context is helpful before I start discussing the Assembly itself. The Presbyterian Church in Scotland has almost as many splits and reunions as the American Presbyterians do. Focusing specifically on the Free Church of Scotland, the denomination was formed in The Disruption of 1843 when just over a third of the pastors walked out of the Church of Scotland General Assembly and a few days later constituted their own GA. After the Free Church went through a couple of unions it then, in 1929, reunited with the Church of Scotland. But there were a number of congregations that resisted the union with the United Presbyterian Church and continued as the Free Church of Scotland, essentially the Free Church body that is present today.

Then, in January 2000, in the midst of a church discipline case, a group within the Free Church walked out of the Commission of Assembly meeting when they regarded that church discipline was not properly exercised in the case of a leader in the church. This was the causative incident but differences had been building for a number of years. (And as expressed to me yesterday, the doctrinal gap between the two groups has been widening in the 18 years since.) As the Moderator put it in his address yesterday, they consider themselves the branch that represents “Truly unqualified subscription to the Westminster Confession.” For a bit more you can see the the History page on the web site and for the whole story from their perspective there is a recently released book, A Divided Church. (I picked up a copy yesterday and look forward to reading it.)

So yesterday I caught the bus to the LIberton section of Edinburgh, about three miles south of the Town Centre. The Assembly meets in the Liberton Kirk, the building of a Church of Scotland congregation which works very well for their Assembly.

Liberton Kirk building, Edinburgh

Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) General Assembly

I want to thank the Moderator, the Principal Clerk, and the whole assembly for their warm welcome. I have worked on press credentials at a few different assemblies now and their level of hospitality is second to none. The press are invited to join them for their group meals at their expense and the press seating is in the first row. Here was the view from my seat.

Free Church (Continuing) General Assembly – view from the first row press seating

The press row

Throughout the day there was Psalm singing from the volume on the right in the picture, which is a modern printing of the Scottish Psalter of 1650. While I was there we sang one song in Gaelic. Can’t say I did well but I tried. For that one, it was helpful that the precentor lined the psalm for us as we sang. (And I would note that occasionally I would hear conversations around me being held in Gaelic.)

Following the opening singing the Moderator, the Rev. David Blunt, read the scripture for the day, the Book of Jude, and then gave his Moderatorial Address from the book, focusing on Jude 3 and “Contending for the faith today.” While I won’t try to summarize his address here (you can read it at the link above) I will say that he spoke of the need for zeal in contending for the faith and that all in the church – pastors, elders, deacons, and members – have a role to play. It would be easy to read into the address the message that the Free Church (Continuing) is the inheritor of the true Presbyterian heritage of Scotland, and in a conversation with him and the Principal Clerk later in the day I confirmed that I was not reading too much into the address.

In fact, throughout the day in subtle, and sometimes not so subtle ways, this was woven into the fabric of the Assembly.

From the Address they moved into business and the first item of business was the Loyal and Dutiful Address. (A formal letter to the monarch, for those who might not be familiar with it. Each GA produces one.) There were a couple changes accepted from the floor. There was a question about why the recent Royal Wedding was not included in the letter along with other congratulations, and the Moderator confirmed it was related to fact that the bride’s previous marriage had ended in a divorce on other than biblical grounds. The body was content with that answer and no move was made to add that to the congratulations. Another interesting feature is that, where applicable, members of the royal family were addressed by their Scottish-related titles.

The most substantive debate of the day came in the report of the Committee on Ecumenical Relations. (Starting on page 10 of the reports.) The positive news for the denomination is that the Free Church (Continuing) is back in full Ecclesiastical Fellowship with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. On the other side the committee expressed concern about the path of the  Synod of the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands (liberated), or GKN(v). Last year the Synod began the process of admitting women to ordained office and in response the International Conference of Reformed Churches (ICRC) suspended their fellowship with the denomination with a final decision on their membership to be made when the GKN(v) makes the decision final. The Free Church (Continuing) was asked to follow the lead of the ICRC and suspend the church-to-church level relationship. The Assembly concurred with the recommendation.

There was an addendum proposed to the report that as an aid to evaluating ecumenical relationships the church should “draw up a comprehensive statement of Free Church principles” and doing the same for other Scottish denominations for the next GA. There was some reasoned discussion of this and there were questions as to whether this is a needed document. In the end the addendum was defeated by a wide margin, but it brought some important issues to light.

This discussion reminded me of a proposal, also defeated, in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) a few years back to define what the phrase “essential tenets of the Reformed faith” in the Book of Order meant. The argument for the proposal was similar – how do we evaluate standards of discipline if there is no standard? The argument against was the there are confessional standards and how do you condense a confession down to a few bullet points while still doing justice to the subordinate standard? And would the summary be held, or used, in place of a full, recognized, subordinate standard? And while the proposal did not get traction in the PC(USA) when the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians (ECO) was formed they did create such a document.

Most of the rest of the day was made up of fairly routine reports. The Committee on Finance and Sustentation was presented on ministerial pay and new proposals that were being worked on for life insurance coverage coverage for pastors to assist families if the need arises. The General Trustees reported that the church budget was in good shape but spoke of seeking creative ways to help with capital needs of church planting. The Special Committee on Psalmody reported that the new Psalmody was now in its third printing due in large part to the hard work of some dedicated member of the church. And the Welfare of Youth and Education Committee distributed the annual Sunday School prizes as well as reporting on the holiday camps. Attendance has been an issue and a challenge to their viability. One in particular, the All-Ages Holiday Camp has been canceled this year and they are looking for a more affordable venue for future years.

Finally, there were several ecumenical delegates that were invited to speak. Two in particular caught my attention. The Rev. Josh Rieger from the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of England and Wales spoke of the context of his own church in Northumberland. This is an area that a centenary ago had ninety Presbyterian churches. Today his is the only one. And the Rev. Dr. John P Wilson brought greetings from the Presbyterian Church in Australia, of which he is the Moderator. He briefly outlined the history of the Presbyterians in Australia and commented on the formation of the Uniting Church 41 years ago. For him, this was a very positive event in the church as the progressive side of the church departed leaving a group more dedicated to the confessional tradition. He spoke positively of the trajectory of the church and what the future holds. (I would add that having read much of the book issued for the 40th anniversary last year, Burning or Bushed, that more comprehensive evaluation give a much more nuanced view of the state of the church at this time.)

Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) General Assembly in session

Three quick notes:

For those tracking minister/elder participation the elder numbers are just about two-thirds the number of pastors – 38 pastors to 24 elders

It was an interesting juxtaposition to be in the session on Ecumenical Relations discussing the concerns over a partner denomination moving towards ordination of women at exactly the same time the Church of Scotland had their celebration of the 50th anniversary of the GA vote to ordain women.

And finally, I have been trying to characterize this GA and what struck me was the tight focus in doctrinal standards I saw. While the Assembly discussed matters tied to doctrine, doctrine itself was not really on the table. Unlike many other GA where commissioners with broad, or at lease broader, doctrinal interpretations where business is discussed through those filters, at this GA I found in neither the floor discussions or the many personal conversations I had with commissioners, did I find much variation in doctrine.

So again, my sincere thanks to the Free Church (Continuing) General Assembly and its officers for the stimulating day, enlightening conversations, and warm welcome. Best wishes and prayers for the conclusion of your Assembly and I hope to visit again at some time in the future.

[Update 26 May 2018: The text regarding the royal wedding and the bride’s earlier divorce and the spelling of Northumberland were corrected. Thanks to Mr. Blunt, the Moderator, for bringing it to my attention. We regret the errors.]

Commissioner Resolutions To The 222nd General Assembly Of The PC(USA)

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The deadline for new business passed about 24 hours ago and the Bills and Overtures Committee has looked them over and referred those that are in order.

Thanks to the Office of the General Assembly for letting me know that in total 12 Commissioner Resolutions were submitted. I hope that later in the meeting that the full list will appear on PC-Biz.

UPDATE: The full list is now in the Bills and Overtures report. One of the declined items was related to a two state solution in the Middle East and was declined without explanation. The other declined report asked for the release of the investigation report into using New Worshiping Communities money to set up a California non-profit corporation. Declined because civil action is ongoing and because a predecessor denomination said the GA would not be an ecclesial court.

Ten of these Resolutions were found to be in order and were assigned to committees in whole or in part. Here is a quick rundown of those ten:

  • [06-17] Seeking Support for Settlements of Disputes Regarding Church Property: Three of the four points of the CR were retained. It asks for recognition that the legal challenges over property are a challenge to presbyteries and they are “working to adapt to a difficult and changing legal landscape.” It asks for prayers and “conversation about the long-term implications of court rulings that property is a legal issue and not an ecclesiastical issue.” [Editor’s note: For some context, the CR is from two Texas commissioners who’s presbyteries have been engaged in legal cases that involve neutral principles but find that in the civil courts that line between legal and ecclesiastical can get quite fuzzy. A while back I wrote about one of the legal decisions that has been an issue.]
  • [07-04] “Prayer for the Persecuted Church”: This CR asks for “Encouraging all Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations and councils to make prayer for the persecuted church around the world a regular part of their common life,” and that at least five minutes be set aside in the committee report for these prayers as well.
  • [07-05] Recognition of the 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation: Invites churches and all councils in the PC(USA) to (1) study the historical significance and individuals involved; (2) to find occasions to “emulate the zeal of the early reformers” in study of scripture, practice of worship, re-invention of church structure, and expansion of mission; (3) acknowledge where reformers fell short and contributed to error or abuse; (4) invite PMA to provide a list of existing resources; (5) consider adding a component to scheduled events; and (6) encourage ecumenical conversations.
  • [08-08] Standing for Reconciliation and Ending Affiliation with Divisive Coalition: That the GA shares the concerns expressed by the 2016 United Methodist Church General Conference and calls upon all PC(USA) church entities to refrain from financial support and affiliation with the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation due to its opposition to peacemaking tactics that can create a lasting peace for all people in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
  • [10-16] To Withdraw the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) from Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC): would have PMA and other entities withdraw immediately.
  • [12-11] Reaffirming the Ministry of Sanctuary by Congregations: The CR reaffirms the support for Sanctuary expressed by previous Assemblies and the ethical responsibility of congregations to defend the unity and integrity of families with a member threatened by deportation. It calls on congregations and individuals “to provide hospitality, accompaniment, and sanctuary” and “recognizes that offering sanctuary is one way in which Presbyterians are living out the Gospel call to love our neighbor and welcome the stranger.”
  • [12-12] On Affirming Principles of Sanctuary in Response to the Global Escalation in the Number of Displaced: This is the longest CR but it basically reaffirms the principles of response to refugees and calls on the PC(USA) to work for a humane response to migrants in our borders, socially and politically. [Editor’s note: This is interesting language as the idea of Sanctuary appears primarily in the title and only once in the rest of the official language.]
  • [12-13] Peace, Justice, and Reunification in the Korean Peninsula: Another long CR but the heart of it is affirming the World Council of Churches “Statement on Peace and Reunification of the Korean Peninsula,” and advocating, praying and providing resources to help unify the Korean Peninsula. It specifically asks that the Sunday before August 15 be designated as the “Day of Prayer for the Peaceful Reunification of the Korean Peninsula.”
  • [13-08] On Creating a Special Committee to Conduct an Administrative Review to Assure Compliance with Donor and General Assembly Restrictions on the Administration of the Jarvie Service: The Jarvie Service is an old age and relief service for people in the Greater New York City area operated from a trust. This CR asks that the recent restructuring of the Jarvie Service be investigated to be sure the new structure is in compliance with the Trust Agreement and to pay for the investigation from the trust.
  • [14-15] “The Foundations of Presbyterian Polity“: To call to the attention of the church this section of the Book of Order and to help councils better access, understand and use this section. [Editor’s Note: Seems like a tough sell if there will also be a new Directory for Worship sent out from this GA.]

There you go. We will see how these fare.