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The PC(USA) General Assembly
The 225th General Assembly of the PC(USA) will take place June 18-July 9 in a hybrid format. An article in the Presbyterian Outlook gives a brief preview of topics we can expect to be discussed. You can also find a PDF file of what to expect here.
Ecumenical statements. The General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations is asking the assembly to distribute a study document on antisemitism and Islamophobia — the result of work a writing team has done over the last four years.
Racism. This assembly has a committee dedicated specifically to issues of race and gender justice. One significant report comes from the Special Committee on Racism Truth and Reconciliation, which was created by the 2016 General Assembly with a mandate to “listen to the voices of those long silenced” regarding racism and oppression within the PC(USA).
Gun violence. Another General Assembly committee will focus on violence in the United States – including issues of bullying, polarization and gun violence. The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy wants the assembly to approve a 10-year campaign, the “Decade to End Gun Violence,” from 2022 to 2032, “to be conducted at all levels of the church.”
International issues. Presbyterians are raising concerns about human rights and justice issues around the world — calling on the PC(USA) to use its voice and influence to support the disenfranchised. Recommendations coming to this assembly include:
- A call for the PC(USA) to support U.S. efforts to provide humanitarian support for sub-Saharan Africa, and particularly to support work towards peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo;
- A call to support work for human rights in the Philippines, including asking the government there to “affirm the lives and human dignity of the urban poor, farmers, and indigenous peoples of the Philippines”;
- A request that the PC(USA) urge the U.S. government to support a peaceful solution to violence and civil unrest in Cameroon;
- Proposals for how the PC(USA) can “respond to the suffering of the Syrian people,” by working to end sanctions, promoting reconstruction, and more;
- A call for Presbyterians to support the Korean Peace Appeal.
(Many of these overtures were submitted before Russia attacked Ukraine — so whether or how the assembly might be asked to address that conflict is not yet clear.)
Equity. The LGBTQIA+ Advocacy Task Force is recommending that the assembly create a new LGBTQIA+ Equity Advocacy Committee as a permanent committee of the General Assembly. The task force found that equity issues continue to be a concern, both in the church and society.
Congregations of color. Increasingly, the PC(USA) is becoming a denomination of small congregations, some of which cannot afford to pay a full-time minister. The Racial Equity Advocacy Committee (REAC) has submitted a recommendation asking the assembly to consider particularly the implications of the lack of installed pastoral leadership in many congregations of color.
Please be in prayer as elder and minister commissioners from around the United States who have been elected by their presbyteries to discern important decisions on behalf of the church. We look forward to sharing more updates in the weeks ahead.
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