Committee on the Office of the General Assembly will hold its spring meeting in Louisville

The agenda will be full for the upcoming meeting of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) when it begins its two-day meeting on Tuesday morning, March 24.

Routine business for the committee will include hearing reports from the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow and the Rev. Byron Wade, moderator and vice-moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008), respectively; the Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly; and elder Linda Valentine, executive director of the General Assembly Council. All four individuals are COGA members by virtue of their positions.

Also on the docket will be the election of the COGA moderator and vice-moderator. The current moderator, the Rev. Dennis Hughes (Seattle Presbytery), and vice-moderator, elder Barbara Corwin (Kendall Presbytery), are eligible for re-election.

The committee will be asked to approve an adjusted budget for the Office of the General Assembly for 2009-2010. The proposal includes offering a voluntary separation package to OGA staff. Despite per capita receipts continuing at a traditional rate, the adjustment is necessary because of a drop of investment income experienced by others in the country and the church.

The committee will hold a joint session and dinner with the General Assembly Council (GAC) on Wednesday afternoon. COGA and GAC members will spend the majority of their time gaining a fuller understanding of the work of the six agencies of the PC(USA), of which COGA and GAC are two. The remaining four are the Board of Pensions, the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, the Presbyterian Foundation, and the Presbyterian Loan and Investment Program.

Additional COGA members are the Revs. Barbara Campbell-Davis (New Hope Presbytery), Eileen Lindner (Palisades Presbytery), Jerrod Lowry (New Hope Presbytery), John Purcell (Grace Presbytery), and John Wilkinson (Genesee Valley Presbytery), and elders Jack Baugh (Los Ranchos Presbytery), Kent Grimes (Memphis Presbytery), Leah Johnson (Donegal Presbytery), Michael Kruse (Heartland Presbytery, GAC representative), Virginia Raney (Huntingdon Presbytery), Chris Rhodes (Redwoods Presbytery), Vince Thomas (Twin Cities Presbytery), and Bob Wilson (North Alabama Presbytery).