General Assembly planning director is the first guest on GA Daily
Fred Tangeman’s initial guest is Kate Trigger Duffert
MILWAUKEE — If you want to know what’s going on at the 227th General Assembly — behind the scenes or in the spotlight — there’s no better go-to than Kate Trigger Duffert.
Fred Tangeman, the host of GA Daily, which runs through Thursday, landed Trigger Duffert to be his initial guest. She will also be his final guest on Thursday. Watch their Saturday conversation here starting at 4:28.
“This morning was a public witness, a time to support the policies of the PC(USA) and to really be present in Milwaukee,” said Trigger Duffert, director of General Assembly Planning in Presbyterian Life & Witness. Saturday’s event was coordinated by the Presbytery of Milwaukee’s Committee on Local Arrangements, “who know what it’s like to be in a community that experiences gun violence.” The event featured speakers and a blacksmith transforming gun parts into garden implements, followed by a prayer-infused march to Milwaukee City Hall. “It was a beautiful Saturday morning to be out in Milwaukee to show people what we believe as Presbyterians.”
Trigger Duffert said GA planners “have been lucky to always have excellent COLAs. The idea of a Community Day was forming as we started working with them,” she told Tangeman. “We asked, ‘what might that look like for you?’ They immediately dove into gun violence prevention and their local connections. They took off, and we were pleased to partner with them. The Office of Public Witness partnered with them as well, but it was driven by people here in the Presbytery of Milwaukee.”
The Town Square event Saturday afternoon gives attendees the chance “to see the breadth of PC(USA) ministry and find resources that can build your ministry,” she said. It’s a tabling event “that enables groups to be present and help build those relationships,” she said. There’s nothing else scheduled against it, Trigger Duffert noted. “We’re saying that this is important and we want nothing else to be happening at this time so we can do the work of relationship-building and resourcing, and prepare people for plenary,” which begins Monday.
Worshiping in Milwaukee-area churches is another “opportunity that the COLA took and ran with,” she said. On Sunday morning, commissioners and advisory delegates will worship in Milwaukee churches or in churches across the presbytery, at churches in urban and rural settings. Some are led by ruling elders.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity, not just for local congregations to share what it means to be Presbyterian, but also for people across the denomination to take in different kinds of worship,” she said.
Asked by Tangeman to describe the work going on backstage, Trigger Duffert said she sometimes wishes the crew could redirect the lights, lift a scrim during plenary, and show everyone present the diverse and coordinated work going on backstage during plenary.
“It’s not magic. There are human beings that do that,” she said of the production team that ensures a speaker’s name and presbytery come up on screen right when they’re recognized by the Moderator.
“It’s a dynamic thing to see,” Tangeman said.
The Rev. Dr. David Gambrell, Associate for worship in PL&W, has been working with COLA members, a former Moderator, current Moderators the Rev. Tony Larson and the Rev. CeCe Armstrong, and ruling elders and teaching elders “in different contexts across the country” to plan GA worship services.
“The music you will hear will be diverse in its origins,” Trigger Duffert said. Local brass players will play during closing worship on Thursday.
Space in the Baird Center has been set aside for LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities, she said. The Rev. Danny Morales and the Rev. Dr. Alonzo Johnson, respectively, are hosting the spaces.
“It’s for times when you don’t want to wear that mask and have a time of respite,” Trigger Duffert said.
Tangeman pointed out that rest is being centered during the Assembly, including “taking a nap when it’s necessary.”
“I love a nap,” Trigger Duffert said.
“Who doesn’t?” Tangeman responded.
“The teams you work with do such a great job,” Tangeman told Trigger Duffert. “We’re all so proud of the work you do and we appreciate it. We look forward to talking to you at the end of the Assembly.”
GA Daily airs daily at noon each day through Thursday here. Go here to sign up for General Assembly News.
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