The Rev. Jihyun Oh, Stated Clerk Elect of the General Assembly of the PC(USA), officially takes a seat at the table at the closing of the 226th General Assembly on Thursday. Photo by Kristen Gaydos
With one hand each on their gavel, the Co-Moderators of the 226th General Assembly, the Rev. Tony Larson and the Rev. CeCe Armstrong, brought the Assembly to a close Thursday morning, jointly declaring “the 226th General Assembly now adjourned.”
“For all that’s been shared, all that’s been communicated with honesty and courage, in disappointment, sorrow, joy, and exuberance — all of it in faith — we give you thanks,” Larson prayed, adding shared discernment and the relationships made to the list of God’s gifts given during the Assembly. “We pray these ties will continue to grow, even as we go back to our communities.”
“We leave this place knowing we never leave your sight, still collectively the body of Christ,” Armstrong told the Almighty. “It is with our whole heart that we love you, God, and it’s in Jesus’ name we pray.”
Commissioners made quick work of their final agenda, turning back a process motion to reconsider GAEC-24, Wednesday’s disapproval of an item that would have recognized the National Caucus of Korean Presbyterian Churches as a caucus of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Larson took a moment to point out that with Wednesday’s adoption of new Standing Rules, “this will be the last Assembly with Mission Advisory Delegates. We wanted to take a moment to acknowledge that, to thank the Mission Advisory Delegates for advising this Assembly and for the faithful work they’ve done over the years.”
The Co-Moderators of the 226th General Assembly, the Rev. CeCe Armstrong and the Rev. Tony Larson, toss pom poms into the crowd at the conclusion of the final plenary. Photo by Kristen Gaydos
By a count of 319-6, commissioners approved FIN-14, setting per capita rates of $10.84 for 2025 and $11.26 for 2026. Those figures include 64 cents during each of those years for items with financial implications approved by the Assembly. By approving 14 items of business with financial implications for 2025 and 10 items for 2026, commissioners added about $625,000 to the 2025 budget and about $607,000 to the 2026 budget.
They also approved FIN-13, the 2025-2026 unifying budget by a vote of 340-2. Ian Hall, the chief financial officer and chief operating officer of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation, said revenues in 2025 are forecast to be about $94.9 million, with expenses of about $91.8 million.
Those anticipated figures for 2026 are revenues of about $95 million and expenses of about $94.4 million.
Kathy Lueckert, A Corp President, said Unification Commission decisions about staffing patterns will be decided and announced in October.
At that point during Thursday’s plenary, it was time to celebrate and to thank people.
“I hope everyone has had a great experience here in Utah,” said Kerry Rice, an associate Stated Clerk in the Office of the General Assembly. “We want to recognize and thank members of the Presbytery of Utah.”
The Rev. Bronwen Boswell, Acting Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA), receives a hand-blown glass statuette from the Rev. Eliana Maxim, moderator of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, in recognition of her year of service to the Office of the General Assembly. Photo by Kristen Gaydos
“Thanks for coming, and thanks for being so wonderful to us,” said the Rev. Dr. Mirjam Haas-Melchior, the presbytery’s executive presbyter. “Good luck in Milwaukee! We are praying for you.”
“Over the past several days, you have experienced online committees and in-person plenaries, danced in the aisles and discerned God’s will together,” said Kate Trigger Duffert, Director of General Assembly Planning. “As always, the General Assembly does not belong to any particular group. It’s a body of the whole Presbyterian Church.”
The assembly “does not happen without the work of dedicated staff,” she said, naming dozens of people working behind the scenes, many of them backstage.
The Acting Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, the Rev. Bronwen Boswell, told the assembly that when she was appointed last year, “the planning of this Assembly was one of my charges. It wasn’t perfect, but I think we had some fun,” she said. “We deliberated and we danced. We worshiped, had thoughtful conversations, and you made history — you elected a new Stated Clerk to lead this denomination into the future.”
A year ago, a female friend of Boswell, the PC(USA)’s first female Stated Clerk, told her, “Don’t mess this up for the rest of us.”
The Rev. Dr. Mirjam Haas-Melchior, executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Utah, thanks the volunteers and the PC(USA) staff for the work to bring the assembly to the state. Photo by Kristen Gaydos
“With a grateful heart, I ask [the Rev.] Jihyun [Oh] to take the chair,” Boswell said. “My sister, you have the conn,” she said, relinquishing her seat on the platform at Plenary Hall.
“It’s been a great joy to have been here with you this week,” Oh told the Assembly, settling into her chair. Acknowledging all the moving parts that will need to be coordinated in the coming two years, Oh told commissioners and advisory delegates, “You will be the muscles and the sinews to carry the work back to the rest of the body.”
The Rev. Eliana Maxim, Moderator of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, presented Boswell with a beautiful and colorful hand-blown glass statuette.
“We entered into a time of discernment as we sought an active Stated Clerk [in 2023], someone with grace and humor, wisdom and patience,” Maxim said. “Does that not sound like the Rev. Bronwen Boswell?”
“This has been a blast,” Armstrong told the Assembly. “We have had fun and we have also been faithful. We’re now declared no longer the ‘frozen chosen.’ I need you to fix that in your communities by doing the work we’ve been called to do.”
“On Saturday, you put pins on a map. Now you’re going back to those places, where you will be required to make a report,” Larson said. “But I also charge you to tell the story — the commissioners, the Young Adult Advisory Delegates, the Ecumenical Partners and the Mission Advisory Delegates you met. Tell the story of this assembly.”
“We are the most representative gathering of the PC(USA),” Larson said. “People need to understand this is not an entity issuing orders from above — it’s the church from every corner of this land coming together to discern God’s will.”
“Let them feel what you felt,” Larson said. “Let them experience it through your stories.”
“Y’all, we made it,” Armstrong said. “The real work of what you’ve done in this place must be implemented in the world.”