223rd General Assembly (2018)

June 16 - June 23

The PC(USA) General Assembly has concluded its meeting. The GA meets biennially in even-numbered years. It consists of commissioners elected by each of its 173 presbyteries. The GA is business comprises of business session, committee meetings, an exhibit hall and worship. The assembly acts on hundreds of items of business which it receives through the reports and recommendation of various synods and presbyteries. Here are just a few items that passed this year, given in no particular order or priority. For a full list of the official record, see the link below for the pcusabiz site.

The Way Forward Commission (WFC) and a new corporate structure-

The “A Corporation” is the secular corporation that the church uses to handle its business. A new approved structure moves the “A Corp” away from the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) to a shared governance model. The board will now be comprised of eleven members from the five Presbyterian agencies (Presbyterian Foundation, PMA, Presbyterian Publishing Corp, Presbyterian Investment and Loan program and Office of General Assembly, and other at large members). Before the “A Corp” was compromised only of PMA members. The new change was made in order to allow power to be shared more equitably. The new changes were recommended by the Way Forward Commission (WFC). An interim report of the 2020 Vision Team was also approved, that sends the team's draft for further study, in part it contains a statement that uses the acronym for PC(U.S.A) to describe our mission this way, “God calls the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) to be Prayerful, Courageous, United, Serving, Alive.” Also approved was a committee statement that the “Great Ends of the Church” a description of the church's mission in our Book of Order be used in the evaluation of the church's mission.

New department for small church ministry- the proposal to create a new department for small church assistance was amended, there will now be a report submitted at the next GA on the current status of existing and new programs to help small churches.

Role of the Stated Clerk-The PC(USA) does not have a visible head, the GA speaks for the church in its actions and decisions. The Stated Clerk is an elder that functions as the chief ecclesiastical officer of the GA. The Assembly also approved to clarify the Clerk's role stating that the clerk “will exercise pastoral authority over concerns of the church in times of crisis” and be the chief ecumenical officer to speak for the church.

Per capital rate increase- There was tension between funding new programs, raising the per capita rate and the impact that could have on congregations. The per capita rate was raised to $8.95 in 2019, 2020. A plan to conduct a financial sustainability review and analyzing the church's assets and income was also approved.

#MeToo and #Churchtoo. A number of constitutional amendments regarding sexual misconduct were proposed, including changing the current five year time limitation for filing charges of abuse to no time limit. A second proposal will add the following to the Book of Order, sexual abuse “shall be considered contrary to the Scriptures or the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and therefore an offense...”, this clarifies that the definition of offense includes sexual abuse.

Family leave policy: Another overture called for a required and expanded family leave policy across the church. It instructed Presbyteries and Synods to develop family leave policies that all congregations can adopt. This will likely be on the docket in 2020.

Congregational polity issues. The GA declined to permit a member of the session to moderate a session meeting in emergencies. Declined a motion to permit ruling elders to be ordained without assuming a seat on the session, and prohibited public endorsement of individuals running for public office.

Puerto Rico- Close to 3,000 death in Puerto Rico have been attributed to Hurricane Maria. Puerto Rico is undergoing a social and economic crisis due to the storm and aftermath. When laws limited aid from other parts of the world, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance was able to help and continues to work with the Presbyteries in Puerto Rico, over 1,500,000 have been distributed.

“Letter From A Birmingham Jail”- An overture from the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area recommended to adopt Martin Luther King Jr's “Letter from Birmingham Jail” as a contemporary statement of faith and an aid for use in Christian study. The Assembly however has put it on a path towards the Book of Confessions. Adopting a statement to the Book of Confessions is a long process and eventually would require a super majority of 2/3 of the Presbyteries.

Divestment from fossil fuels- One issue followed closely was the recommendation to divesting from holdings in the fossil fuel industry. It was emphasized by the Board of Pension (BOP) that funds that the Board holds are not the church's funds, they are held in trust for members of the BOP Plan (not all are Presbyterians). The actual investment decisions are not subject to GA review. The BOP is not required to follow the GA decision. The recommendation to divest from all fossil fuel assets was ultimately rejected in favor of the minority report which encouraged effecting change from within as shareholders. This issue related to fossil fuel industries held in the BOP plan.

Israel and Palestine issue- voiced support for every effort to be made to bring Palestinians and Israelis together peacefully. Asked that Israel fully comply with the Universal Declaration of Human rights, and commend the recent violence along the Israel/Gaza border.

Racism/Poverty/Violence- Assembly engaged in various acts of public witness including collecting an offering of $54,000 which was dramatically marched by nearly 1000 assembly goers from America's Center to the City Justice Center on Tuesday afternoon and given to ArchDefenders, a faith based group that bails low level offenders who cannot afford to pay bail.

Immigration- Following on statements issued by the GA, Stated Clerk J.Herbert Nelson II, called on the federal government to end the family separations at the border. The assembly also addressed war, violence and human right issues in Central America, Asia, and Africa.

Gun violence- The assembly reaffirmed previous GA policies aim to reduce gun violence and called on Presbyterians to pray for a movement of the Spirit to engage national action to prevent gun violence and finds new ways to address this pressing issue.

The 224^thGeneral Assembly will convene in 2020 in Baltimore.

Official Record of the Actions of the GA2018