Notes from General Assembly, Pt. 3

Week two in Louisville got even busier than week one, at least from a Committee on the Office of the General Assembly perspective. we had a lot of business items in multiple committees. I found myself either providing information to committees that the needed for their deliberations or coordinating the efforts of my colleagues on COGA so they were able to do the same. We had meetings almost every night, as well, as we shared information and made plans for the next day. Due to this schedule, I wasn’t as good at providing updates as I had hoped, but luckily this morning my good friend and colleague, Eliana Maxim, and I were guests on the daily GA News Live video program, so you can hear my updates in video form! Right now it’s available on Facebook, but it will be added to the news section of GA videos soon. Check back soon if you don’t see a video for July 5, 2022 yet. (You shouldn’t have to have Facebook to view this video, I don’t think, but again, the accessible link will be available as well.)

Opening worship for today’s plenary meetings has just finished up, and we’ve get started on the business. At the General Assembly all participants are divided into committees (17 committees this year) who work through items of business in great detail, preparing recommendations for the full voting body. Now is when the final discernment about those items takes place. One hundred twenty-seven recommendations were upheld in a consent agenda. Those items were approved by such a strong margin that they won’t come before the full body individually. Several items that were passed by a strong margin were pulled for later discussion anyway. That’s always an option with a consent agenda. Items that were pulled and will be discussed throughout the next few days include items about antisemitism and islamophobia, reproductive justice, pastoral leadership in congregations of color, the legacy of slavery, and more.

The general order of committees is listed below and are more detailed schedule is found here. All times listed are Eastern. If you’d like to follow the business while an item is being discussed you can go to our custom business site, PC-Biz, select “Committees” across the top, choose the committee being discussed from the menu provided, and all items of business for that committee will appear by title. You can view the text of the item by clicking on the blue title, and it will appear directly below that title.

You can view the livestream any time the assembly is active (10 am CT - 9 pm CT, except for breaks)..

Tuesday:

  • Theology, Worship, and Education

  • Mid Councils

  • Polity

  • Immigration

Wednesday:

  • Race and Gender Justice

  • Standing Rules

  • Environmental Justice

  • Addressing Violence in the USA

  • Health, Safety, and Benefits

Thursday:

  • Ecumenical and Interfaith Engagement

  • Rules of Discipline

  • International Engagement

Friday

  • International Engagement (continued)

  • General Assembly Policies and Procedures

  • Financial Resources

  • General Assembly Ministry Coordination

Saturday

  • Moving Forward/Vision 2020

  • Financial Resources

PC(USA)Stephanie AnthonyGeneral AssemblyComment