wfn.org | Paul's Letters Provide Themes For Future General Assemblies

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15-April-1999 
99146 
 
    Paul's Letters Provide Themes 
    For Future General Assemblies 
 
    by Alexa Smith 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has 
announced that the  themes of General Assemblies from 2000 to 2002 will be 
drawn from Pauline texts. 
 
    The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick proposed to the Committee on the Office of 
the General Assembly (COGA) themes for the 213th Assembly in Louisville, 
Ky., and for the 214th in Columbus, Ohio. They are: "Rooted and Grounded in 
Love," Ephesians 3:17, and "Ambassadors for Christ," II Corinthians 5:20. 
 
    The biblical themes complete a three-year-cycle that began when the 
Committee on Local Arrangements Committee in Los Ranchos Presbytery 
proposed "For All Are One in Christ," Galatians 3:28, as the theme of the 
212th General Assembly, which will convene in Long Beach, Calif., in the 
year 2000. 
 
    "One of the things we've discussed over the past couple of years ... is 
how to ground and center Assemblies and the life of the church," 
Kirkpatrick told COGA members, emphasizing that the mission emphasis, such 
as the popular "Year With ..." themes, ought to be coordinated with the 
biblical ones. "Focusing on biblical themes is the way to go," he said. 
 
    That's the tack that Director of Assembly Services the Rev. Jan DeVries 
takes as well.  "We've just come off of two years focused on the six Great 
Ends of the Church,"she said in an interview just after the COGA meeting 
here April 7-9. "That's a constitutional way of thinking about our unity. 
 
    "It seems very natural for us to be thinking about the biblical basis 
of who we are and how we go about ministry," DeVries said. 
 
    But getting Assembly themes to mesh with mission themes hasn't been 
easy. On top of that, local committees historically have chosen General 
Assembly themes that may offer some local flavor, but have little to do 
with the life of the wider church. Even in Long Beach there will be two 
distinctively different mandated mission emphases - Native American 
ministries and the "Year of the Child."  That's the kind of awkwardness 
COGA is trying to eliminate. Both emphases were proposed to and approved by 
General Assemblies. 
 
    That's why in 1998, COGA asked the stated clerk to develop themes for 
future General Assemblies in consultation with the executive director of 
the General Assembly Council (GAC), the Joint Executive Committee of the 
COGA and the GAC, and staff of the host presbyteries, no later than three 
years in advance of a particular Assembly. COGA, then, has to give final 
approval to any proposed theme, according to the committee's bylaws. 
 
    Kirkpatrick said he hopes resources will be written, bible studies 
taught and hymns composed that tie into the themes, which are meant to draw 
together the Assembly, the church and its mission outreach. "The hope is 
that the Assemblies will not only deal with business items ... but set the 
biblical and theological context for the life of the church in the year 
ahead," said Kirkpatrick. 
 
    Kirkpatrick told COGA that he would like to follow the Year 2000 
Assembly -- with its emphasis on unity -- with focuses on spiritual renewal 
and missionary outreach, which are reflected in Ephesians and Corinthians 
respectively. The GAC is considering the corresponding mission themes of 
"Ministering With the Uprooted" and "Answering God's Call to Serve." 
 
    Kirkpatrick said that he is considering prophetic emphases for the 
2003-2005 General Assemblies, which are set for Denver, Col.; Richmond, 
Va.; and Sacramento, Calif., respectively. 

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