wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Committee votes to stay the course on biennial

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #7726 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Committee votes to stay the course on biennial meetings
GA03036

Committee votes to stay the course on biennial meetings

by Bill Lancaster

DENVER, May 26, 2003 - The Committee on General Assembly Procedures voted on
Monday to recommend that the 215th General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church (USA) stay the course on moving to biennial meetings of the Assembly.
	
	The committee recommended disapproval of an overture that would have
returned the denomination to annual meetings.

	If the Assembly agrees, the first year to be skipped will be 2005, as
planned. The Assembly meets in Richmond, VA, in 2004, and would next meet in
Birmingham, AL, in 2006.

	Arguments in favor of upholding last year's decision to go to
every-other-year Assemblies included cost savings and the value of giving
church leaders more time to think and pray about the issues it faces.
Arguments for returning to annual meetings included the idea that meeting
more often would help foster trust and participation.

	A motion to approve Overture 03-15, to return to annual meetings, was
defeated by a vote of 23-31-1.

The committee then voted 31-23-1 to recommend disapproval of Overture 03-15.

Elder Floyd Gilbert, of Eastern Virginia Presbytery, spoke in favor of
biennial assemblies. "Last year we voted yes. This year we are asked to vote
no. What are we going to do next year?" he asked. "If we wait until something
is broke to fix it, it is too late. We need to try something to fix our
church."

Judith Geraci, a Youth Advisory Delegate (YAD) from Western Reserve
Presbytery in Ohio, drew a laugh from the committee when she said: "YAD
representation is much more important than cost. I feel like a girl being
pressured by her boyfriend to have sex. He says, 'Honey, let's just try it.
It will be OK.' I'm in favor of annual meetings."

Elder Kenneth Smith, of Detroit Presbytery, spoke for biennial assemblies. "I
love coming to annual assemblies," he said. "I'm very concerned with loss of
connection, but it doesn't appear to me that annual assemblies have succeeded
in building that trust. This is a trial period. I think we should give it a
fair trial."

Rev. Lorena Wickham, of Geneva Presbytery in New York, spoke in favor of
annual assemblies. "Last year, our elder commissioner was from our church,"
she said. "She came home ecstatic that we would save $5 million by going to
biennial assemblies. Over and again, we hear the cost issue. What is it? Our
presbytery executive is paid whether he comes here or not. It is important
that we are representative and connectional. If we never sit down together,
we don't form strong connections. We need to meet every year."

		    Per-capita budget

The committee approved a 2004 per-capita budget of $14,708,259, with a
per-member assessment of $5.49. It turned down an amendment that would have
reduced per-capita funds that go to the World Council of Churches and make
its restoration contingent on the contributions of other denominations.

		    Open hearings

The committee spent part of its day in open hearings on two overtures, 03-13,
on amending G-13.0104 to change the number of requesters required for calling
a special meeting of the Assembly, and 03-15, on setting aside the action on
biennial assemblies and returning to the denomination's historic practice of
holding annual meetings.

	Alex Metherell, the elder who gathered signatures for a called
meeting of the assembly last spring, was the only person to speak on the
first issue. He spoke against the change, saying that it took him a
monumental effort to get the required number under the present rules. He said
he had 10.3 percent of the commissioners to last year's Assembly requesting a
called meeting. In light of the fact that there has never been a called
meeting of the Assembly, he said he thinks it would be unreasonable to
increase the required number. Metherell said the issue is protecting the
rights of minorities. He urged the committee to keep the present language.

In the second open hearing, six people spoke in favor of returning to annual
assemblies and five spoke against it. Four of those who spoke against annual
assemblies were former moderators, John Buchanan, Jack Rogers, Freda Gardner
and Marj Carpenter.

Carmen Fowler, the executive director of the Presbyterian Coalition, spoke in
favor of annual assemblies.  "Consider how much has changed in two years,"
she said "in your personal life, in your congregation, in your presbytery, in
your denomination, in the United States of America. We would be dealing with
Afghanistan, the threat of terrorism, issues of war that are now two years
old."

Gardner, moderator of 211th General Assembly, said she likes annual
Assemblies but has concerns about stewardship of time and money. "There is
terrific stress put on staff to process what goes on in such a short time
between Assemblies," she said. "We live in technological world of immediacy.
Part of being a Christian is taking our issues to God in prayer, over time,
not under a gun. We vote yes on something one year, and no the next." 

		   Other business

The committee approved holding the 2008 Assembly in San Jose, CA, and the
2010 Assembly in Minneapolis, MN.

*** For instructions on using this system (including how to UNJOIN this
meeting), send e-mail to mailrequests@ecunet.org
------------------------------------------
Send your response to this article to pcusa.news@pcusa.org

------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send an 'unsubscribe' request to

pcusanews-request@halak.pcusa.org