Unification Commission votes unanimously to recommend a hybrid 228th General Assembly in 2028
A proposal for online committee work and in-person plenary at a to-be-determined site will be voted on next year by the 227th General Assembly
LOUISVILLE — The Unification Commission voted unanimously Friday to recommend to the 227th General Assembly (2026) a format for the 228th General Assembly (2028) that will include online committee work, plenary held in-person at a location to be determined and the inclusion of a Community Day which will feature an opportunity for local public witness and a time for resourcing of participants.
The proposal, which came from the UC’s Ministry Coordination Committee, also includes language that the format “will be accompanied by budget provisions for data and statistical analysis of GA227 [meeting online and in Milwaukee, Wisconsin June 22-July 2, 2026] and GA228 to guide future assembly format recommendations starting with the 229th General Assembly (2030).”
Under the proposal, the data collection and statistical analysis project will include:
- In coordination with the agency’s governing body and key constituents, the Stated Clerk/Executive Director and GA planning staff will identify “key evaluative markers” for the success of the General Assembly in accordance with the assembly’s governing documents.
- Creation of evaluative documents and management of their implementation.
- Development of models for interpretation and analysis, including preparation of reports to the Stated Clerk/Executive Director, agency governing bodies, and others if identified by the Stated Clerk.
“I believe that our recommendation to continue a hybrid format for GA228 supports the church’s desire to offer inclusive, accessible assemblies that work for a diverse group of commissioners,” said the Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Executive Director of the Interim Unified Agency.
Denominational leaders say this online component reflects the realities of a changing church where online meetings are becoming the norm. It also supports the need for sustainable financial decisions regarding large-scale gatherings. This format enables the whole of the church to engage in community and public witness.
The recommendation is rooted in the work of the former Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, which evaluated past assembly formats with the goal of equipping discernment equitably, sustainably and connectionally. At its final in-person meeting last year, COGA members reflected on the improved representation regarding age, race/ethnicity, and ruling elders in recent assemblies due to the online meeting component.
“In addition to being supportive of staff who are responsible for preparing for the assembly, the format will also help us to continue to develop broader inclusion of commissioners,” said the Rev. Dr. Dave Davis, a member of the Unification Commission and the former COGA moderator. “The work done by Research Services on the 226th General Assembly showed that younger commissioners were in greater numbers when we used this format.”
Since 2020, the General Assembly has undergone major operational changes due to the Covid pandemic, shifting from traditional in-person formats to a variety of hybrid and online structures. Previously, the most notable change was the move to biennial assemblies in 2006, but the pandemic demanded rapid adaptation. These new formats required major logistical adjustments, including technology, staffing, training and partnerships. The 224th General Assembly (2020) was fully online, while the next two gatherings in 2022 and 2024 experimented with different hybrid models. Four different models have been used across the last four assemblies.
The 226th General Assembly (2024) voted to repeat the format of online committees and in-person plenary for the 227th General Assembly in 2026, a format that allows for greater stability and process refinement, especially under the new Standing Rules and recent staffing transitions. This recommendation is data-driven and built upon flexibility and nimbleness. In early conversations regarding this recommendation, COGA emphasized inclusive, sustainable participation, noting gains in diversity and representation. The proposed format from the Stated Clerk and Executive Director leans into this, and maintains a stable format to enable evaluation and strategic improvement grounded in evidence rather than anecdote.
According to a rationale supplied by Oh and attached to the recommendation, each different GA format “has required significant reworking of technology supports, staffing structure, training and relationships with partner organizations via events and functions. The decision of the 226th General Assembly to repeat the format of online committees and in-person plenary has provided stability to address key concerns and work towards refining processes.”
It's also given staff time “to address new approaches outlined in the rewritten Standing Rules and changes to staffing due to retirements, departures and the restructuring of unification,” Oh wrote. “The recommendation reflects these realities along with the need for intentional reflection on the efficacy of the assembly via strategic development of evaluations and analysis of data.”
Oh noted that the newly approved Standing Rules, which went into effect at the conclusion of the 226th General Assembly in 2024, require that the format, date and location of a General Assembly be determined four years in advance. “Due to the transitions experienced in the planning process of past years, we will not be in compliance with this rule until 2032,” Oh wrote. Data analysis and a review of format refinements will occur following the 228th General Assembly (2028) and will allow for a proposal to the 229th General Assembly (2030), which would include recommendations for the 230th General Assembly in 2032 and the 231st GA in 2034, establishing the four-year pattern. Recommendations for the 229th General Assembly will still be made by the 228th GA.
Oh wrote that should the assembly choose to comply with the Standing Rule earlier, the recommendation is that the 229th General Assembly (2030) replicate the recommendation for the 228th General Assembly, with recommendations for upcoming assemblies reflecting that work and staying on a four-year planning cycle.
Also during Friday’s wrap-up of the Unification Commission, Co-Moderators the Rev. Dr. Felipe Martínez and Cristi Scott Ligon shared a timeline of upcoming meetings. “We want to share a general sense of what tasks will keep us busy over the next few months,” Martínez told fellow commissioners.
Every two months or so, the commission will meet via Zoom or in person at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville, Kentucky. During its Sept. 25-26 meeting, for example, commissioners will be approving budget priorities for the 2027-28 budget cycle and workshop an early draft of its report to the 227th General Assembly.
By Dec. 4-5, commissioners are scheduled to approve a location for the plenary portion of the 228th General Assembly (2028) and hold a first hearing on the Organization for Mission, which the commission is rewriting.
The Co-Moderators called the commission’s most recent meeting, held in part in conjunction with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation Board, a “productive and helpful commission meeting.”
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