226th General Assembly

In our last series about the Book of Confessions, one topic that came up frequently was the role of the PCUSA’s (and prior Presbyterian denomination’s) General Assembly.  General Assembly (GA) is the PCUSA’s national gathering that is held every other year.  The Next GA will be in the summer of 2026 in the Presbytery of Milwaukee.  While the national gathering is over, the work of GA has just begun.  While GA is a time to make decisions, vote on changes, and assemble commissions, much of the work of GA is carrying out what has been decided upon at the gathering.  Think of it like this: in a church worship service, we worship God and hear about how we should live our lives in faith, but the work of the church really only begins once the service is done.

With the 226th General Assembly having officially come to a close, here are some of the things we can expect to hear more about in the coming two years:

• GA226 advanced a two-part inclusivity changed to the Book of Order that added, “gender identity and sexual orientation to the list of the “rich diversity” reflected in the church’s membership (recommendation 1, section F-1.0403) and then recommended an examination of these principles for ordination and installation (recommendation 2, section G-2.0104b).”  This change, called the Olympia overture, now heads to presbyteries following GA for majority approval.
  Read more about this here.
• The discussion of divesting from fossil fuels continued.  Initially, GA226 approved full divestment, then changed course and committed to working for a fossil-free future without fully divesting but engaged companies instead.  Read more about this here.
• Changes were made at GA226 to the PCUSA’s special offerings. The number of special offerings were reduced from four to three by eliminating the Pentecost Offering.  Additionally, the structure of the Christmas Joy Offering will be changed.  Read more about these changes here.
• For those who like parliamentary proceedings, GA226 adopted a complete overhaul of the Assembly Standing Rules.  In other words, GA226 changed the rules that governed how GA meeting are run. Read more about these changes here.
• GA226 also set a budget for the Office of General Assembly for the next two years of $94.9 million and $95 million respectively.  These budgets include an increase of Per Capita of just under 15%. Read more about this here.

The PCUSA has the stereotype of needing to create a committee to create a new committee.  In some ways, this image of how we do things is not correct: much of the work of our bigger meetings is done by committee work and we often have many layers of committee work.  Some folks find this method slow and tedious, but it also means that there are many points for discussion, discernment, input, and collaboration.  That means when the PCUSA does come to a decision, it hopefully represents the whole body of believers and the movement of the Spirit of God.  Yes, we could move faster if we ran out ahead of the pack, but by moving together we journey farther.
So come with me, for the journey ahead is long.
 
Blessings,
Pastor Chris