Burke (Virginia) Presbyterian Church was awarded the Nancy Jennings Award from the Presbyterians for Disability Concerns during the 222nd General Assembly (2016) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The award recognizes exemplary efforts of affirmation, support and advocacy for the gifts, rights, and responsibilities of persons with disabilities in the life of the church.

General Assembly is a family affair for Greg and Heidi Bolt, pastors from Nebraska who came to Portland with their children, 6-year-old Sophia and 4-year-old Thaddeus.

A crowd of nearly 1,000 Presbyterians paused during the 222nd General Assembly (2016) Wednesday night to pay tribute to Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons, who is retiring at the end of the assembly after 37 years of ordained ministry, including the last dozen as the denomination’s chief ecclesiastical officer.

A key element of Reformed theology is that all believers are ministers, and that faith informs every aspect of life, not just “church life,” – whether it’s preaching on Sunday mornings, driving a delivery truck or waiting tables.

For two hours Wednesday morning, the candidates nominated to be the next Stated Clerk of the General Assembly stood and delivered to special constituents – the commissioners who will choose one of them Friday morning at the 222nd General Assembly 2016 of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Drawing on the biblical story of Micaiah and his unpopular advice to King Ahab, Bishop Reginald Jackson of the African Methodist Episcopal Church on Wednesday urged Presbyterians – and other people of faith – not to be dismayed by the volume of dissenting voices.

As a principal author of the Confession of Belhar, Allan Boesak brings a truly unique perspective to the 222nd General Assembly (2016), which voted Wednesday to include the document in the denomination’s Book of Confessions.

Belhar “is a confession that stirs us, humbles us, and inspires us … It’s a unifying document,”

Boesak said Wednesday at the General Assembly Ecumenical Breakfast.

Fifty years after it was birthed in South Africa by the Dutch Reformed Mission Church during its battle against apartheid, the Confession of Belhar has been included in the Book of Confessions of the Presbyterian Church(U.S.A.), a majority-white mainline American denomination.

The assembly committee on The Way Forward voted overwhelmingly Tuesday evening to ask the 222nd General Assembly (2016) to create an administrative commission of 12 or fewer members to explore what national structural changes may be needed to carry the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) through the next part of the 21st century.

Kris Schondelmeyer, a Presbyterian pastor of a congregation in Toledo, Ohio, shared his harrowing story as a survivor of sexual abuse in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).