The long days — and the even longer nights — that await participants at the 226th General Assembly (2024) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Salt Lake City will be enlivened by the Holy Spirit, always at work in the life of the Church and the world.
And a General Assembly is no exception.
One of the major outcomes of the 226th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be the election of a new stated clerk. In her final weeks as Acting Stated Clerk, the Rev. Bronwen Boswell is sharing some advice to her successor, including the need to be open to the Spirit and what God has in store for the church of tomorrow.
This year, the PC(USA) General Assembly gathering is making its way west — the destination? Salt Lake City. This isn’t the first time the denominational meeting has crowded the streets of Salt Lake, though.
On Thursday morning, the Christian Formation Committee reconvened to consider two resolutions that had been referred to them on Wednesday by the Committee on Bills and Overtures. The commissioners’ resolutions called for the church “to turn to Scripture and prayer” (CF-17) and seminaries to make their divestment practices more transparent (CF-18).
The final business day for the International Engagement Committee kicked off with Moderator Rochelle Shaw prompting the worship team, led by Young Adult Advisory Delegate Ellie Stewart of the Presbytery of the Mid-South, and Theological Student Advisory Delegate Ximena Leroux of Columbia Theological Seminary, to open the meeting with prayer.
After briefly revisiting the topic of fossil fuel divestment, the Environmental and Climate Justice Committee wrapped up its business Thursday by approving a motion to help educate the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) about funds available through the Inflation Reduction Act.
After two long days of rigorous business, the sole remaining items on the Ordination Committee’s schedule for its final online meeting were three overtures, ORD-01, ORD-02 and ORD-03, from Lake Erie Presbytery, all of which call for greater clarity surrounding “shared ministry.”
In the summer of 2022, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) directed the Presbyterian Mission Agency to offer the denomination’s official apology and monetary reparations for the racist manner in which Memorial Presbyterian Church in Juneau, Alaska, was closed in 1963.
The Environmental and Climate Justice Committee voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to divest from the fossil fuel industry to address the planet’s global climate crisis.
As the second day of work resumed Wednesday, Vice-Moderator Anthony Dawson of Foothills Presbytery led the consideration of RSG-04, a joint recommendation from the Advocacy Committee for Women and Gender Justice and the LGBTQIA+ Equity Advocacy Committee (ACQ+E) which recommends that the assembly direct the Presbyterian Mission Agency (or any successor agency) to recognize March 31 as Transgender Day of Visibility in all future printings and distributions of the Presbyterian Planning Calendar.