COMMITTEES AT WORK

At this point during General Assembly, various newspapers will occasionally have a banner headline declaring – “Presbyterians Vote To Do Something Outlandish.” Today, however, is a day for committees, and any vote at this point is only a vote of a committee, not the General Assembly.

General Assembly will not reconvene today. Instead all of the commissioners have separated into their assigned committees. Whatever votes they are taking now will eventually be presented to the whole General Assembly later this week.

In a nutshell, a lot of work has been done by committees and presbyteries in preparation for the General Assembly. Each item being brought to the General Assembly is referred to a committee. The committees look at the items they've been assigned and vote positively or negatively for assembly approval - and they can revise these items, working out the details of precise wording. Sometimes the committees will produce minority reports.

If a committee votes positively, that simply means that they recommend that the General Assembly approve the item. Likewise, if the committee votes negatively, that means they are recommending the Assembly reject that item.

However, the General Assembly can still debate the item and vote as it desires on each item.

That will come later.

For now, it is time for the committees to work.


There are lots of committees at General Assembly, and each is busy. Here is a review of some of the highlights:

THE COMMITTEE ON CHURCH ORDERS AND MINISTRY discussed the role of Certified Christian Educators and Certified Associate Christian Educators in presbytery meetings. The approved an overture calling for evaluating our church’s call system so that the process of calling pastors would be shortened. Most of the committee’s time and energy was focused on the Book of Order G-6.0106b, which has been brought up at every General Assembly since it was approved in the 1990s. It requires ordained officers to practice faithfulness in marriage and chastity in singleness. This committee is continuing its discussion about the future of this requirement.

THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT REVISION COMMITTEE is supporting the adoption of the revised Form of Government. This is an important step in a dramatic revision of our current Book of Order. Many summarize this process as moving from a Book of Order that has become “an operations manual” to a more flexible constitution for the church.

THE COMMITTEE ON CIVIL UNION AND MARRIAGE ISSUES voted 47 to 8, with 2 abstentions, to recommend assembly approval of a report to urge Presbyterians to further study the issues and to stay in covenant with each other during this study. Some see this as progress toward a broader definition to marriage that will permit same-sex marriages.

PEACEMAKING AND INTERNATIONAL ISSUES voted 49-2 to recommend that the Assembly call on the U.S. Government to end combat operations in Afghanistan.

THE HEALTH ISSUES COMMITTEE addressed a number of issues, but spent most of their time debating an overture named, “Making a Statement Regarding Violence Against Pregnant Women.” The members of this committee struggled long and hard over how to re-word an overture from a presbytery before it goes before the General Assembly for a vote – “women” versus “female,” “pregnant women” versus “all women” and “responsible choices” versus “reproductive life.” What may seem like minor differences and knit-picking to many, this committee felt this overture deserved the most carefully constructed language and they took great pains to refine the document.

THEOLOGICAL ISSUES AND INSTITUTIONS COMMITTEE approved of recommending including the Confession of Belhar in the Book of Confessions and providing a new translation of the Heidelberg Catechism, which is currently in the Book of Confessions.
The Book of Confessions is part of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church USA (the Book of Order is the other part). It contains documents that state what we as Presbyterians believe and teach. The Belhar Confession was written in the 1980s in South Africa and offers statements about unity, reconciliation and justice. It presents unity as both a gift and duty for the church.
There are several translations of the Heidelberg Catechism, and many feel that others are more accurate than the one that presently appears in our Book of Confession.

THE SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES COMMITTEE agreed after three hours of debate to “protest the blatant disregard for the sanctity of the Lord’s name in motion pictures and public broadcast by the entertainment industry.

THE COMMITTEE ON MIDDLE GOVERNING BODIES voted to recommend passage of the creation of a commission to act on requests of presbyteries and synods to divide, unite or combine during the time between General Assemblies.

THE ECUMENICAL AND INTERFAITH RELATIONS COMMITTEE voted after a 2-hour debate not to recommend General Assembly approval of the paper, “Christians and Jews: People of God.” Some see this report as helpful, but others believe it is not thorough enough and fails to include the voices of Christians in the Middle East.

THE MIDDLE EAST PEACEMAKING ISSUES COMMITTEE voted to recommend to the Assembly the denouncement of actions by Caterpillar Inc. The report says, “On the basis of Christian principles and as a matter of social witness, the 219th General Assembly strongly denounces Caterpillar’s continued profit-making from non-peaceful uses of a number of its products. Some see this report as anti-Israel, and others see Caterpillar failing to take responsibility for its role in violence in the Mid-East and dismissive of the ecumenical community’s concerns in recent years.

THE MISSION COORDINATION COMMITTEE is working on several funding items.

THE CHURCH GROWTH, CHRISTIAN EDUCATION AND PILP is discussing how union churches can be helpful to smaller communities - not every Presbyterian congregation has to be solely Presbyterian. (PILP refers to Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program).