On its final evening (July 6), the 220th General Assembly approved a long list of recommendations intended to show the church’s solidarity with immigrants and refugees in the United States. A number of those recommendations affirm actions of previous General Assemblies.
Commissioner Joann Lee, moderator of the Assembly on Immigration Issues, said the committee changed language that reflects an “us” and “them” mentality to language that “reflects the reality that our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) includes persons, churches and mid-councils that are predominantly immigrant.”
The 220th General Assembly approved the recommendations of its Church Growth and PILP committee Saturday night (July 6), which included the following:
The 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) voted to neither re-affirm nor change the denomination’s definition of marriage as “a civil contract between a woman and a man.”
Instead, after about four hours of debate, the Assembly approved a proposal generated from within the Assembly Committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues calling for two years of “serious study and discernment” regarding Christian marriage.
The 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) rejected a return to the language of “fidelity and chastity” in its ordination standards and instead approved a statement saying the Assembly acknowledges that the PC(USA) “does not have one interpretation of Scripture on this matter.”
The Assembly approved the recommendation of its Church Orders and Ministry Committee, which included a comment with the recommendation that “this statement be brought before each presbytery at a stated meeting in which the report” from this Assembly is given.
The 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been saturated by prayer this week. The Rev. Tammy Wiens and her team have seen to that.
A prayer team, organized through the Pittsburgh Presbytery’s Committee on Local Arrangements, saw to it that prayer at the Assembly was layered and multi-faceted. In addition to a prayer team, identified by their red t-shirts—emblazoned across the back with “We’re praying for Yinz”—there was a prayer room, a quiet chapel, a city prayer walk, a full size labyrinth, prayer boxes and “presence keepers” in prayer in committees during the Assembly.
The 220th General Assembly today (July 6), elected the entire slate of nominees for Assembly-level committees and commissions proposed by its General Assembly Nominating Committee (GANC).
In the only challenge to the slate, the Rev. Daryl Fisher-Ogden of Santa Barbara Presbytery―the GANC’s nominee―prevailed over challenger the Rev. Kathryn J. Runyeon, stated clerk of San Francisco Presbytery, by a vote of 403-223 (64%-36%).
The United States and Israel need to understand and appreciate the change taking place this year across the Arab world because “you have for the first time nations with popular legitimacy.”
Rami Khouri, director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University in Beirut, brought that message to the Israel/Palestine Mission Network at the 220th GA on July 4 when he spoke at the organization’s luncheon.
The National Presbyterian Multicultural Network (PMN) hosted dinner Thursday evening (July 5) for commissioners, delegates, and visitors to the 220th General Assembly (2012). Speaking a variety of languages from a variety of cultures, people came to connect with colleagues and learn more about the organization; many attendees had not attended a PMN event previously. Commissioner Anna Maddox (Holston Presbytery) said, “I wanted to see what people did, to get ideas, and take them home to help us.”
After three failed attempts to bring divestment back to the table, commissioners to the 220th General Assembly voted with a 71% majority to boycott “all Israeli products coming from the occupied Palestinian Territories.”
An earlier motion to reconsider the previous night's decision about divestment lost, 252-415-1.
The chanting of harmonious alleluias opened the thirteenth annual Voices of Sophia (VOS) breakfast at the 220th General Assembly on Tuesday morning (July 3), an event sponsored by Presbyterian Voices for Justice.
Sylvia Thorson-Smith, new co-moderator for Presbyterian Voices for Justice, spoke to the gathering, reflecting on the Re-Imagining Conference nearly two decades ago as she offered several points for the church as it moves forward into the future.