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 year's 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 denomination's long decline in membership.

- Nancy D. Borst

Mission Coordination and Budgets

The Assembly's Mission Coordination and Budgets Committee will be asked to endorse a major proposal to reorganize and prioritize the denomination's 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 denomination's 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 Congregational Ministries Division.

- Shane Whisler

National Issues

The Assembly's 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 year's 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 Assembly's 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 denomination's 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 group's theological diversity and affirms its conclusion that Jesus Christ is the source of the church's 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 Assembly's 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