Committee moderator Julia Henderson took a few seconds to catch her breath before reflecting on the challenges of the past few days, where passions and emotions often ran high in the 219th General Assembly Mission Coordination Committee.

“God’s presence was evident,” she said. “There was grace; there was passion; there was consideration for one another.”

And there were hard decisions that resulted in cutting $1.9 million from a $2 million request for young adult volunteers, and nearly $300,000 for the executive director position for Presbyterian Health Education and Welfare Association and a task force to examine funding for the Advocacy Committee on Racial Ethnic Concerns.

The Mission Coordination Committee will meet again following Friday evening’s plenary recess to deal with recommendations pertaining to budgetary and financial concerns of the church.