[ White women between the ages of 56 and 65 make up the largest group of commissioners and advisory delegates for the 224th General Assembly (2020) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The General Assembly Committee on Representation (GACOR) released a 12-page report Friday, breaking down the numbers on race, age, sex, and time zones for individuals taking part in the online assembly.
According to the report, this is the first time that the number of white women had the largest representation at General Assembly. White men between 56 and 65 years of age make up the second largest representation. Black women and men and Asian men fall far behind as the third, fourth, and fifth categories.
Research also found that a majority of commissioners and advisory delegates participating this year are in the Eastern time zone followed by the Central time zone.
Of the 149 advisory delegates responding, a vast majority are young adult advisory delegates (YAADs) at 127, who are between the ages of 17 and 23. White women make up the largest number followed by white men.
The report also points out that the youngest commissioner is 21 years of age and the oldest is 82.
“A virtual assembly provides new challenges for participation as people gather across nine time zones. Without committees we could not use the process observation web application. We do not know how these shifts will impact participation patterns. GACOR and my office changed how we assess participation for this assembly,” explained Molly Casteel, Assistant Stated Clerk (Equity and Representation).
“GACOR members are curious how the gathered community navigates difference. We have process observers in the meeting to see what happens,” commented Byron Elam, GACOR executive committee member and corresponding member to GA224.
“Participants in all categories had members who requested language interpretation, most commonly Spanish and Korean,” said Anna Kendig, co-moderator elect, GACOR. “Few people reported disabilities and fewer requested accommodations.”
The report also breaks down age, race, sex, and time zones for ruling elder and teaching elder commissioners. The entire report can be found at PC-Biz.