Plates are full for GA special committees
Final reports are due for most at next year’s assembly
It appears that the upcoming summer months may be far from leisurely for members of various General Assembly special committees that are currently at work.
Six special committees and task forces grew out of actions of the 218th General Assembly (2008) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). In most cases, committee members were appointed by the Reverend Bruce Reyes-Chow, Moderator of the 218th General Assembly. For some committees, the assembly asked the two most recent GA Moderators to join Reyes-Chow in making the appointments.
Announcements of the committees’ members began in early February. By the end of June, the majority of the committees will have held at least one face-to-face meeting.
Timelines are tight, given that five of the six committees are slated to make their final reports to the 219th General Assembly (2010) next summer in Minneapolis. Yet, all of them appear to be on track to meet their deadlines.
An update on the work of the six special committees:
The mandate given to this 15-member task force by the 218th General Assembly is “to seek input from youth, young adults, and adults … find and present model programs; and focus on the needs and development of youth ministries, and report back to the 219th General Assembly (2010) specific recommendations for designing and conducting various youth ministries under a ‘new vision’ for youth.”
The task force’s first face-to-face meeting will take place June 11–15 during the Big Tent event in Atlanta. Members will spend a significant portion of time at the youth booth in the exhibit hall, gathering input from as many of the expected 1400 participants as possible. The task force will also work to specify and prioritize its tasks, given the geographical spread of its members and the relatively short amount of time in which to do their work
Subcommittee work will take up most of the meeting when this group of 13 gathers for the second time on June 18–20 in Louisville.
Four subcommittees will focus on completing initial drafts of particular pieces of the special committee’s mandate. Areas of study included in the mandate are “the history of the laws governing marriage and civil union, including current policy debates; how the theology and practice of marriage have developed in the Reformed and broader Christian tradition; the relationship between civil union and Christian marriage; the effects of current laws on same-gender partners and their children; and the place of covenanted same-gender partnerships in the Christian community.”
The committee is slated to meet again in September.
The 15 members who make up this special committee will hold their initial organizational meeting June 21–23 at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. The group plans to get to know one another and become more familiar with the Belhar Confession.
Also on the agenda will be time for conversation with representatives from the Christian Reformed Church and The Reformed Church of America, two denominations that are also currently in the process of considering the Belhar Confession.
This group of 15 is in the process of considering proposed changes to the catechism made by the 218th General Assembly. According to the assembly action, the proposed changes revolve around correcting “translation problems in five responses of the Heidelberg Catechism as found in The Book of Confessions and to add the original Scripture texts of the German Heidelberg Catechism.”
In addition to getting acquainted with each other at its first meeting in late March, committee members gave careful attention to the requirement in the Book of Order (G-18.0201b) that they consult with the governing body — in this case, Newark Presbytery — in which the overture originated. The consultation provided helpful information about the intent underlying the overture.
The committee also learned of a joint translation project of the Heidelberg Catechism being conducted by two other denominations. The committee anticipates further conversation about the implications of this project on their own work.
The nine-member study team held its initial meeting in Washington, D.C., earlier in the spring. They reviewed the PC(USA)’s mission and social witness history, listened to a range of religious perspectives, met with State Department officials, and began the theological and ethical analysis necessary for a report to the 219th General Assembly (2010).
Since its meeting, the Reverend Byron Shafer (New York City Presbytery) has been appointed to the team to replace the Reverend John W. Wimberly (National Capital Presbytery), who resigned.
The group is finalizing plans to travel to the Middle East from August 16 to September 1.
The 218th General Assembly called for a special task force to “review the current Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity (AA/EEO), contracting and purchasing policies, and recommend revisions.” The eight members on the task force will hold its first meeting this fall.
Of the six special committees and task forces at work, this is the only one that will not make its final report to the 219th General Assembly next summer in Minneapolis. It will make an interim report next year, and deliver its final report to the 220th General Assembly in 2012.
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