Four GA227 committees take care of their business
Committees make progress as they near the finish line
MILWAUKEE — Four committees of the 227th General Assembly made substantial progress on their remaining items of business on Tuesday.
The Constitutional Interpretation Committee took on seven items of business. It disapproved with comment CON-04, On Establishing a Special Committee to Evaluate the Implementation of Amendments 24-A and 24-C. It also disapproved CON-07, On Removing Required Participation in the Board of Pensions Medical Plan.
CON-08, On Expanding Healthcare Options for Ministers, was referred by a vote of 54-3. The committee recommended that the Board of Pensions, in consultation with the Racial Equity Advocacy Committee, study and report to the 228th General Assembly “to provide an equitable, just and consistent process to permit expanded choice for ministers.”
CON-09, On Ethical Conduct Training, was approved as amended. Three requests for authoritative interpretations — CON-11, CON-13 and CON-14 — all gained approval.
The Financial Stewardship and Witness Committee took on two items of business on Tuesday.
FIN-04 is the Report of the Funding Model Development Team. Committee members approved the report by a 40-1 count.
On FIN-06, Agency Pay Equity Recommendations and Rationale, the committee referred the item back to the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy “to conduct discussions with the boards of the agencies and entities of the PC(USA)” and bring the work back to the 228th General Assembly (2028). Its comment was that “the concern for solidarity in ministry across the agencies of the church is real, especially in light of the vast discrepancies in compensation among these servants of the church …”
The General Assembly Operations Committee decided four items of business on Tuesday.
GAO-01 is the recommendation for holding the 228th General Assembly (2028) in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The committee voted 40-14 to recommend the site to the 227th General Assembly for its approval.
On GAO-02, On In-Person Assemblies, the committee voted 32-22 for approval as amended, beginning with the 229th General Assembly in 2030.
For GAO-03, the Recommendation for the Election of Associate Stated Clerks from the Unification Commission, the committee voted unanimous approval.
It voted 53-4 on GAO-09 on directors for New Covenant Trust Company, a subsidiary of the Presbyterian Foundation.
The Gender and Sexuality Justice had four items of business to discern on Tuesday.
It disapproved GEN-03, On Redefining Sexual Abuse in Church Discipline to Reflect Current Clinical Understandings, by a 57-6 vote.
On GEN-04, A Resolution on Sexual Misconduct, Transparency and Accountability from the Advocacy Committee for Women and Gender Justice, the committee voted 52-12 for approval.
Committee members approved, by a 59-2 margin, GEN-05, Resolution for Survivor Support, also from ACWGJ.
Committee members approved with comment GEN-06, the addition of a question on the Ministry Discernment Profile, a request of the Advocacy Committee for LGBTQIA+ Equity. The change will allow congregations to indicate their openness and readiness to call an LGBTQIA+ candidate and allows an LGBTQIA+ candidate to view the congregational response about their openness and readiness to call an LGBTQIA+ candidate.
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