"They are all historic," I said.
"Well, why is it so potentially divisive?"
"They are all potentially divisive," I said.
But they are also all have the potential for bringing about healing, wholeness, peace, unity and purity.
General Assemblies are the national level of our church's govenment and are held every other year in a different city. This year the 220th General Assembly meets in Pittsburgh during June 30-July 7. Among the issues that will be addressed:
Sex! What's a General Assembly without discussing human sexuality? Same-sex marriage, gay ordination and same-sex partner benefits in the Board of Pensions will certainly be robustly debated. These issues will also receive the most attention in the secular press - and these are the issues that may be inaccurately reported by those secular writers who will not understand the whole process of the General Assembly.
But the General Assembly is not all about sex. These are just a few of the roughly 800 individual items of business to be handled by the 688 voting commissioners, one of who will be Laura Miller, one of the ruling elders of the Chapel by the Sea.
1. Same-gender marriage: There are overtures to allow gay marriage. An "overture" is a motion that comes from a presbytery or session. If the General Assembly approves of an overture, that will not be the end of the process. A majority of presbyteries have to ratify that overture over the next several months.
The Presbyterian Church, USA, currently defines marrage in the Book of Order, W-4.9000, as being between “a woman and a man.” There are overtures to change that definition of marriage as being between “two people.”
There are also proposals from five presbyteries to adopt “Authoritative Interpretation” of the constitution that would allow pastors to officiate at wedding ceremonies in states where same-gender marriage is legal. Unlike an overture, an authoritative interpretation does not require presbytery ratification, but can be approved by either the General Assembly or its Permanent Judicial Commission. There are also proposals for authoritative interpretations that take the opposite view.
2. Ordination standards: In 1996, we added a statement in our Book of Order requiring all ministers, elders and deacons to practice “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness.” That provision was removed by the 2010 General Assembly. Some presbyteries will seek to overturn that deletion. Others will provide for each presbytery or session to set standards for ordaned service.
3. Middle East peace: Once again we will be considering recommendations that the PC(USA) divest itself of stock in three corporations ― Caterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and Motorola Solutions. It is the opinion of some that these corporations are “profiting from non-peaceful pursuits in Israel-Palestine.” One of several overtures on this subject calls for “a plan of active investment in projects that will support collaboration among Christians, Jews, and Muslims and help in the development of a viable infrastructure for a future Palestinian state.”
Some overtures asks the Assembly to “recognize that Israel’s laws, policies and practices constitute apartheid against the Palestinian people.” Another seeks to condemn the "production and sale of Israeli products that come from the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
4. Church government and councils: The Presbyterian Church has several levels of church government. The local council is the Session. The next is the Presbytery (our Peach River Presbytery is composed of 39 congregations of SW Florida). The next is the Synod (ours is made up of SC, Georgia and Florida), and the national level is the General Assembly. In my opinion, the Syond no longer has a function and should be eliminated. That might happen.
There are also proposals for creating non-geographic presbyteries that would be united by a "particular missional purpose."
The 16 Synods might be replaced with 5 regional administrative commissions to support the work of the presbyteries.
5. Special Offerings: There are four Special Offerings in our denomination. In the past decade or so, the income of these offerings have declined by 25%. No one is suggesting that we eliminate these offerings, but there are proposals regarding the goals and timing of these offerings. Chapel by the Sea promotes three of these offerings: the One Great Hour of Sharing, Peacemaking Offering and Christmas Joy Offering. We do not participate in the Pentecost Offering, which goes to support ministries with youth, young adults, and children at risk.
6. Immigration: The last General Assembly voted to "refrain from holding national meetings in states where travel by immigrant Presbyterians or Presbyterians of color might subject them to harassment or racial profiling.” That action was prompted by anti-immigrant legislation that was being adopted in Arizona at the time of the last General Assembly, and that was being considered in other states. One proposal seeks to rescind that action.
Other proposals support a variety of ways to build bridges and serve as advocates for immigrants.
7. Confessional statements: The church has a Book of Confessions, which has several doctrinal statements. This General Assembly will consider two doctrinal statements to be included in the Book of Confessions - the Belhar Confession (adopted by churches in South Africa as a theological response to racism) and a new translation of the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563.
Our last General Assembly recommended inclusion of the Belhar Confession, but that proposal failed to be ratified by the presbyteries. National Capital Presbytery is reintroducing the proposal this year.
8. “The Nature of the Church in the 21st Century”: As we continue to move into the 21st Century, the church faces a number of challenges. This Assembly might strengthen the role of the "tentmaking ministry" in which a pastor works within a secular field while working part-time in a pastorate. There will be proposals to emphasis recuiting pastors who are from racial ethnic and immigrant students.
One proposal calls for presbyteries to develop plans to bring below-minimum pastoral salaries up to established minimums while also setting a maximum compensation level.
9. Election of a new moderator: One of the first actions of a General Assembly will be the election of a new moderator. The moderator presides over the meeting, but also serves as a spiritual leader of our denomination over the next two years.
10. Worship: Without question, my favorite part of the General Assembly is the wonderful opening worship service in which thousands gather to give glory to God. Part of this worship is the celebration of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. Local artists are usually commissioned to design and make the chalices for this service, which are later sold to the public to pay for the costs of the worship service (which require the use of a large facility). I have a collection of these chalices from several previous General Assemblies I have attended. If you have been in my office, you may have seen them. I look forward to adding to that collection, but mostly I look forward to the worship service.
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