Jenny Hardin speaks to a fellow commissioner during the Committee on the Standing Rules of the General Assembly meeting on June 27, 2022, at the 225th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Randy Hobson)

Jenny Hardin speaks to a fellow commissioner during the Committee on the Standing Rules of the General Assembly meeting on June 27, 2022, at the 225th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Randy Hobson)

Not only did the Standing Rules of the General Assembly Committee complete all its business Monday it made substantial progress on Tuesday’s items as well. 

So much so that at one point, the Rev. Lynn Hargrove, a member of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly who’s working with the committee joked that as commissioners were set on Monday to address an item docketed for noon on Tuesday, “Boy, that lunch tomorrow was delicious, wasn’t it?” 

By the close of business Monday — Moderator the Rev. Jennifer Jennings of East Iowa Presbytery brought the committee’s work to an end two hours early — the committee had voted on 17 amendments to the Standing Rules of the General Assembly, all brought by COGA. That left 14 items to address over the next two days. 

“We have done a lot of work,” Jennings assured the committee at one point before launching members into even more items of business. 

A summary of Monday’s committee actions is available here. The committee’s schedule over the next two days — subject to change, of course — is here. 

Among Monday’s items, commissioners approved 

  • STAN-22, Regarding Young Adult Advisory Delegates. This item increases the age range for YAADS from 18-26, and permits YAADS from “recognized worshiping communities” to be elected by presbyteries. 

  • STAN-28 completely revises the Standing Rule on Theological Student Advisory Delegates. It allows for two from each of the institutional members of the Committee on Theological Education and one from each theological institution in a covenant relationship with the PC(USA), along with a handful of other categories. 

  • STAN-30 is titled Regarding Communication with Commissioners. This amendment allows entities of the General Assembly, councils or educational institutions of the denomination, PC(USA) members or independent organizations composed mainly of members of the PC(USA) to contact commissioners and advisory delegates through PC-Biz, sometimes for a fee. The Rev. Andy James of COGA told the committee that during the first General Assembly he attended, “everyone had mailboxes.” Commissioners got enough mail sent to them in advance at during the Assembly that many toted it around in four-inch binders. “We don’t have that anymore,” James said. 

  • STAN-32 states that the presence of a quorum may be established by sign-in to the electronic voting platform at the beginning of the meeting. 

  • STAN-37 requires every committee except the Assembly Committee on Bills and Overtures to provide for public hearings on matters before it, including on any commissioners’ resolutions. It says public hearings “are the opportunity for the committee to hear from those who do not have other avenues for addressing the committee — including those who are not Presbyterian.” Committees can limit the time for presentations. 

  • STAN-24 limits the length of reports to 5,000 words, except for the report of the Presbyterian Mission Agency. Requests for exceptions to the rule must be submitted to the Stated Clerk no later than 45 days prior to the report submission deadline. 

  • STAN-26 sets the maximum length for commissioners’ resolutions at 750 words, a limit that includes the rationale. Commissioners’ resolutions are among the last ones submitted, and translation requires a quick turnaround. 

  • STAN-31 adds one more method for dealing with referred items: declining them for referral.