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Note #8310 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

What theyll be talking about in General Assembly committees
GA04019
June 27, 2004

What theyll be talking about
in General Assembly committees

RICHMOND, June 27 -- Every measure to be considered by the 216th General
Assembly will be taken up first by one of 14 GA committees that will meet
Monday and Tuesday in sessions that are open to all. Each of the 765
commissioners and advisory delegates is assigned to one committee, and each
committee is headed up by a moderator and vice moderator chosen by the
previous years GA moderator, in consultation with the Committee on the
Office of the General Assembly.

The committees will recommend how they believe the Assembly should act on
each item of business. Committee reports are made available Wednesday
morning, when time is provided for commissioners and advisory delegates to
read them and prepare for plenary sessions on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and
Saturday.

The following is a list of some of the matters to be taken up in committee.

Church Polity

The Assembly Committee on Church Polity will consider a host of amendments to
the section of the Book of Order called the Rules of Discipline.

Some of the proposed amendments were recommended by the Independent Committee
of Inquiry (ICI) that investigated the sexual abuse of at least 20 daughters
of missionary parents at a boarding school in the Congo between 1946 and
1978. The goal of the ICI, and of the amendments, is to promote healing for
victims, for their loved ones, for the missionary community, and for the
church as a whole, in the words of the ICI report.

The panel will also receive two related overtures, from the presbyteries of
Baltimore and Northern New York, on the use of administrative leave in cases
of alleged child abuse by clergy.
 Emily Enders Odom

Church Orders and Ministry

The docket of the Assembly Committee on Church Orders and Ministry will be
dominated by discussion of PC(USA) ordination standards.

Five overtures have been submitted that seek to overturn section G-6.0106b of
the Book of Order, which prevents the ordination of non-celibate gays and
lesbians, or authoritative interpretations of the constitution that do the
same, or both. G-6.0106b was added to the Book of Order in 1996.

The committee will also address constitutional language about temporary
pastoral relations, programs to support clergywomen and proposals to expand
the rights and responsibilities of Christian educators.
 Jerry Van Marter

Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations

The Committee on Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations deals with several
issues related to the proper role of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in an
increasingly pluralistic religious society.

An overture from the Presbytery of Hudson River would direct Presbyterians to
study and reassess the relationship between Christians and Jews, specifically
with regard to evangelism and new-church development efforts. It would also
suspend funding of any additional proposals Messianic Judaism congregations
until the study is completed. The overture came in response to a Messianic
congregation supported by the Presbytery of Philadelphia, the Synod of the
Trinity and the General Assembly Council.

The committee will also be asked to endorse a report, Presbyterian Church
(USA) Understanding 16th and 17th Century Condemnations of Other Churches in
The Book of Confessions, and a related policy statement. It also proposed to
amend the preface of the Book of Confessions to point out that historic
condemnations and characterizations of the Catholic Church are not the
position of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The panel will receive a report on a review of the National Council of
Churches of Christ in the USA. It recommends that the Assembly seek to
sustain the basic level of its support of the council.
 Emily Enders Odom

Evangelism and Higher Education

The Assembly Committee on Evangelism and Higher Education will consider
overtures that would give immigrant PC(USA) fellowships privileges of voice
and vote during presbytery meetings and permit fellowship leaders to be
ordained as elders. One sponsor of the overtures, the Presbytery of Des
Moines, has been involved in ministry to Sudanese immigrants for five years,
in partnership with the Presbytery of Missouri River Valley and the Synod of
Lakes and Prairies.

The panel will also consider overtures calling for the PC(USA) to be more
intentional in its evangelism; proposing the creation of a mission magazine
to be run by young people; and calling for decisive action to halt the
denominations long decline in membership.
 Nancy D. Borst

Mission Coordination and Budgets

The Assemblys Mission Coordination and Budgets Committee will be asked to
endorse a major proposal to reorganize and prioritize the denominations
mission programs. The Mission Work Plan (MWP) would establish four priorities
for the mission work of the PC(USA): evangelism, justice, leadership and
spiritual formation.

The panel will also receive the final report on middle governing body
relations, a result of visits by General Assembly Council (GAC) Executive
Director John Detterick and the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the denominations
stated clerk, to 115 synods and presbyteries around the country over three
years. The recommendations in the report, jointly authored by the Committee
on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) and the GAC, are intended to
strengthen partnerships between PC(USA) governing bodies.

The panel will also consider several proposed changes in the distribution and
GAC review of the PC(USA)s four annual special offerings, and a proposal to
allow the Committee on Theological Education (COTE) to approach the General
Assembly directly, without prior review by the Con-gregational Ministries
Division.
  Shane Whisler

National Issues

The Assemblys National Issues Committee will receive the latest version of a
controversial policy paper on the changing nature of families in the United
States.

Transforming Families, a product of the Advisory Committee on Social
Witness Policy (ACSWP), documents the changing structures of families 
including single-parent households, homes in which children are raised by
grandparents or other non-parent relatives, and domestic partnerships other
than marriage.

A previous version prompted heated debate at last years Assembly. Critics
said it failed to make moral distinctions and placed families headed by
same-sex couples on the same moral plane as those headed by married
heterosexual couples.

The committee will also consider an overture from the Presbytery of Santa
Barbara that the Assembly approve A Christian Declaration of Marriage, as
an apt expression of PC(USA) belief; a recommendation that the church
establish an Antiracism Institute; an overture from the Presbytery of
Northern New York Expressing the Desire that the Patriot Act Be Repealed;
and a ACSWP resolution calling for a legalization program for immigrants in
the United States.
 Evan Silverstein

Peacemaking

The Assemblys Peacemaking Committee will devote much of its attention to
matters arising in the Middle East, including a call for Presbyterians to
support Iraqi Christian churches.

The panel will consider overtures from the Presbytery of Chicago opposing the
use of U.S. funds to build the wall separating Israelis and Palestinians and
decrying Christian Zionism as the product of misguided theology.

A resolution on Violence, Religion and Terrorism from the Advisory
Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) urges the Assembly to affirm that
those who do evil can be led to change, and that this conviction must
inform political action.

An overture from the Presbytery of Baltimore would express support for
Christians being subjected to persecution in Colombia, and urges U.S.
Presbyterians to visit the country to experience the repressive political
climate there.
 Alexa Smith

Pensions, Foundation, and PILP

The Committee on Pensions, Foundation, and PILP will consider an overture
from the Presbytery of Abington urging the Assembly to appoint a task force
to review the medical-insurance plan of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Board
of Pensions (BOP). Another overture calls for a task force to review the
denominations pension and medical plans and decide whether they should be
separated.

The panel will also receive an overture urging the Board of Pensions to
revise its rules for calculating salaries of clergy couples sharing a
position.
 Evan Silverstein

General Assembly Procedures

The role of advisory delegates at the General Assembly will be a focus of the
Assembly Committee on General Assembly Procedures.

Two overtures before the panel would increase the number of Youth Advisory
Delegates to keep pace with the increase in the number of commissioners for
the biennial Assembly in 2008. Two others would revoke the advisory
delegates right to vote in Assembly committee hearings while retaining the
right to speak at committee hearings and plenary sessions.

The committee will also consider measures that would make changes in the
per-capita budget, determine the future of Presbyterian Historical Society
facilities in Philadelphia, Louisville and Montreat, NC, and move up the
deadline for submission of commissioners resolutions from 24 hours after the
convening of an Assembly to the end of	the final business session of the
first day of the Assembly.
 Jerry Van Marter

Theological Issues and Institutions

The Committee on Theological Issues and Institutions will receive the
preliminary report of the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and
Purity of the Church.

The panel will be asked to approve a recommendation that all PC(USA)
presbyteries and sessions create intentional gatherings of Presbyterians of
varied theological views to covenant together to discuss the affirmations of
the  preliminary report.

The task force is scheduled to make its final report to the 2006 General
Assembly. The interim report describes the process it has undertaken and the
fellowship that has resulted despite the groups theological diversity and
affirms its conclusion that Jesus Christ is the source of the churchs peace,
unity and purity.

The committee also will consider an overture from the Presbytery of John
Calvin that would change parts of the Book of Order to more clearly define
the essential tenets of the Reformed faith; receive the report of the
Trinity Work Group on the proper language for Reformed Christians to use in
talking about the Trinity; and study the feasibility of creating a new
Presbyterian hymnal, a process that can take as long as 10 years.
 Bill Lancaster

Health Issues

The Committee on Health Issues is scheduled to deal with measures concerning
abortion and contraception. It will consider overtures from the Charlotte and
Beaver-Butler presbyteries advocating protection of unborn babies who could
live outside the womb; an overture from the Presbytery of Upper Ohio Valley
that opposes abortion and proposes to amend the Book of Order to forbid it;
and an overture from Baltimore Presbytery urging the FDA to make
over-the-counter emergency contraception available.

The committee also has received an overture from Savannah Presbytery opposing
a proposed change in federal rules on smokestack emissions.
 Erin Cox-Holmes

International Issues

The docket of the Assemblys International Issues Committee includes proposed
funding for AIDS prevention and treatment in Africa, an expression of
solidarity with the people of Taiwan, a call for global population control,
and expressions of concern for human rights in many nations.

An overture from the Presbytery of Newcastle would designate 25 percent of
the One Great Hour of Sharing special offering for the fight against HIV/AIDS
in Africa between 2005 and 2010. Overtures from the presbyteries of New
Covenant and Pacific urge the PC(USA) to be more forthright in its support of
the people and the Presbyterian church in Taiwan. The Presbytery of Baltimore
wants the PC(USA) to recommend that the World Health Organization (WHO) grant
observer status to Taiwan so it will have access to WHO benefits in case of
public-health emergencies.
 Corey Schlosser-Hall

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