A Brief Look at the 219th General Assembly

Note: the body of this post came from my August Newsletter article for the Boulevard Presbyterian Church Good News.

Last month Presbyterians from all over the nation gathered in Minneapolis, Minnesota for the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), our denomination’s biennial gathering. General Assemblies or GA, for short, can often be ripe with hot-button issues and less than civil behavior, and while the 219th GA was full of controversial issues, it was reported that all was civil and faithful dialog was the norm. By the end the seven day event, some 300 actions were taken, including the following:

• Elder Cindy Bolbach, a lawyer from the National Capital Presbytery (Washington DC area) was elected Moderator after 4 ballots. Her Vice-Moderator is a very good friend of mine, the Rev. Landon Whitsitt, a pastor from Liberty, MO. The photo above is of Landon's installation as Vice Moderator
  

• The assembly voted to approve the report of the Middle East Study Committee entitled “Breaking Down the Walls” which affirms Israel’s right to exist as a sovereign nation within secure and internationally recognized borders. The assembly also recommended for study “A Moment of Truth”, a statement by Palestinian Christian leaders, and a paper on Christian-Muslim relations that calls for greater dialog, understanding and cooperation was adopted.

• The often debated section in the Ordination Standards of the PCUSA that requires “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and woman or chastity in singleness” was recommended for deletion by a close vote of the assembly. This action will be sent to the individual 173 presbyteries for approval.

• The assembly voted to maintain the PCUSA’s current definition of marriage as “between a man and a woman.”

• By an over 200 vote margin, the massive revision of the Form of Government that has been in the works for four years was approved. The hope of this revision is to make the way we do government more in line with the changing shape of “being church” now and into the future.

• The Belhar Confession, 1980s response to racism and apartheid by South African churches, was approved for inclusion in the PCUSA’s Book of Confessions.

• 15 new Missionaries (known as Mission Co-Workers) were commissioned and sent out to their various appointments.

• A number of actions were taken falling under the heading Social Justice, including a vote to refrain from holding national meetings in states where immigrant Presbyterian or Presbyterians of color might be subject to harassment or racial profiling. Similarly, a number of peacemaking actions were taken including a call for the end of military operations in Afghanistan.

For those of you who are interested in learning more about the actions taken at GA and the ramifications of these actions here are some links to explore:

1. The 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA website
2. A post-General Assembly letter from PCUSA Leadership
3. The GA Junkie: The Politics of Presbyterianism (Blog)