Meeting via Zoom Thursday, members of COGA, the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, debriefed over what they observed and some of the feedback they received following the 226th General Assembly, which concluded last month in Salt Lake City, Utah.
For part of their meeting, current COGA members were joined by a handful of former members, including the Rev. Andy James, the Rev. Eliana Maxim and the Rev. Lynn Hargrove. Also joining the meeting were the co-moderators of the 226th General Assembly, the Rev. CeCe Armstrong and the Rev. Tony Larson, as well as the new Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Rev. Jihyun Oh.
The co-moderators have been in meetings and in conversations at the Presbyterian Center this week to help them plan the ministry they’ll focus on during the 23 or so months they still have in office.
“While brand new to me, it pulls at every heartstring I have,” Armstrong said of the work before the co-moderators. “I don’t know what is yet to come, but I do know God has brought me thus far and has no intentions of dropping me off.”
Larson, who’s also a COGA member, said he and Armstrong have been busy to date “telling the story of the 226th General Assembly” and hearing from people including mid council leaders “about what’s on their minds and in their hearts.” The co-moderators are looking for ways to engage people who don’t normally attend mid council meetings, including those who’ve found their home in new worshiping communities. “It feels like there’s a lot of transition and change on the horizon,” Larson said. “We are cognizant of being a pastoral presence around the church.”
Two weeks into her new position, Oh has been “onboarding myself in a variety of ways,” including developing statements and meeting with staff supporting the denomination’s advisory and advocacy committees.
“A priority is to deepen relationships with ecumenical and interfaith partners and mid councils,” including “thinking about ways to lift up mid councils and highlighting vital ministries they’re doing. I really look forward to that work,” Oh told COGA members, “and to working with the Unification Commission.”
The Rev. Dr. Dave Davis, COGA’s moderator, said the committee “will have to make decisions” about the location of the 228th General Assembly in 2028. That conversation will commence at the next COGA meeting Sept. 24-26 at Zephyr Point Presbyterian Camp and Conference Center in Zephyr Cove, Nevada.
Kerry Rice, Deputy Stated Clerk in the Office of the General Assembly, updated committee members on staff transitions, especially in Mid Council Ministries, which is impacted by Oh’s departure into her new role and a pair of upcoming retirements.
Dr. Dianna Wright, Director of Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations, spoke on the proposed composition of a pair of delegations, both of which were approved by COGA as requested by the General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations. The first is the delegation to the Caribbean and North America Area Council of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, which will meet Oct. 25-30. The second is the 2025 General Council of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, which will meet in Chiang Mi, Thailand, Oct. 14-23, 2025.
A look back at GA226
Kate Trigger Duffert, Director of General Assembly Planning, said staff has debriefed with committee leadership and received “a lot of feedback” about technology and training, the latter of which will be “an ongoing conversation.”
Davis then asked for feedback from COGA members past and present.
The Rev. Leanne Masters touched on refining the requirements for committee leadership and avoiding detours brought by committees bringing conflicting motions to the Assembly. She said she missed beginning the Assembly with worship “together as a body.” Instead, commissioners and advisory delegates worshiped at Salt Lake City-area churches.
The Rev. Robin Pugh suggested updating the format for the “On the Road to GA” reporting that appeared ahead of the Assembly.
The Rev. Joe Chu recommended making it more explicit to online viewers that a question — during this Assembly, it was a question about the temperature in the room — is being asked to test the software and to get commissioners and advisory delegates used to the voting procedure.
James also had feedback on holding the reception as the Assembly’s first gathering, saying, “There is inherent tension between worship/church discernment time and a conference.”
Maxim suggested focusing on communicating more evenly with the Young Adult Advisory Delegates. She also shared conversations about not offering an exhibit hall during GA226. “What I culled was, it’s an opportunity to connect, access resources and learn more about the PC(USA) and parachurch organizations,” Maxim said. “It would serve the denomination well if we could do that [somewhere] without having an exhibit hall.”
“I think people are grieving the loss of a place for people to gather,” said the Rev. Dr. Sallie Watson. “Might there be an ongoing way for folks to meet and greet?”
For Hargrove, “I don’t know how we could have addressed Covid better,” despite dozens of Presbyterians reporting coming home with the virus following the Assembly. “I thought the backstage crew was fabulous,” Hargrove said, “and the meeting itself went really well.”
“Some of the tension I noticed” during the online committee meetings came out of generational and cultural differences in communication styles and expectations, Masters said. “It’ll be increasingly important for us to take that into consideration.”
Maxim suggested the possibility of adding trouble-shooting onsite to the job duties of committee equity managers.
The Rev. Dr. Cheni Khonje, COGA’s vice-moderator, noted that accommodations for people with mobility issues “were really nicely done.”
“People were joyful to be there doing the work of the church,” Larson noted. “I walked away with a deep appreciation for the commitment required. Some commissioners had to set aside huge things going on in their personal lives or the lives of their congregation to participate fully.”
While they were still candidates for co-moderators, Armstrong and Larson took time to sit with the YAADs, Armstrong said. “They were appreciative of that, and I think it offered them an opportunity not to feel used for advice only.”
“Maybe,” Armstrong said, “we can bookend conversations with other advisory groups.”
One of those YAADs showed up for worship last Sunday at the church Larson serves, Trinity Presbyterian Church of Surfside Beach, South Carolina. The YAAD’s family was on vacation, and the YAAD helped steer the family toward Trinity “to continue the relationship we had built,” Larson said.
At the General Assembly, “I was struck by how many people wanted to stop and have a prayer or take a selfie” with the co-moderators. “That was an awakening for me,” Larson said.
Armstrong said she reminded more than one commissioner that by the end of the Assembly, their work was just beginning.
“When you’re called as a commissioner, for the next two years you’re still doing the work of the General Assembly in the various places that you are,” she said. “I think that needs to be emphasized so people remain connected to the work beyond those moments.”
“Be with us as we turn off our screens,” Khonje prayed to close the meeting. “You still call us to be the church wherever we are in the world.”
Learn more about the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly here.