The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) has issued a statement calling the work of three bodies created by the 222nd General Assembly (2016)—The Way Forward Commission, the All-Agency Review Committee, and the Vision 2020 Task Force—“prophetic and provocative.”
The recommendations of the three panels “can refocus and retool our denomination to serve God and to follow Christ into the 21st century,” the March 19 statement says.
The full text of the COGA statement:
“Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isa. 43:18–19, NRSV).
The new things God invites us to embrace often outstretch our imaginations. And learning to trust such change can be challenging. Our denomination is moving toward a new thing. And we are being called to trust God and each other as we live into a new day.
The 222nd General Assembly (2016) created and called on three bodies (Way Forward, 2020 Vision, and the All-Agency Review) to help lead the profound changes that are required of the PC(USA) at such a time as this. These bodies have worked diligently, exhaustively, and creatively to explore how God is moving throughout our denomination. The fruits of their labor are prophetic and provocative. The recommendations they are bringing to the 223rd General Assembly (2018) can refocus and retool our denomination to serve God and to follow Christ into the 21st century.
As the body elected by the General Assembly to support the work of the Office of the General Assembly (OGA), the Stated Clerk, and the work of the General Assembly, we are grateful for these faithful servants. We affirm their work and commend their recommendations to the 223rd General Assembly (2018).
The Presbyterian Mission Agency Board (PMAB) recently approved a document to be recommended to the 223rd General Assembly (2018) that would divide the corporate entity that contains both the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) and the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA). The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) does not support the division described in the PMAB document.
We look forward to witnessing the Spirit’s movement in St. Louis and trust that God will provide us all with healing opportunities and a promise-filled future.
The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) consists of 14 elected members plus the Co-Moderators of the General Assembly and is responsible for overseeing the work of the Office of the General Assembly.