This week, the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly is in session in Detroit. The “GA” is the biennial gathering of Presbyterians from all over the country. This week, the GA will debate matters of theological importance, articulate the Church’s witness at home and internationally, and attend to the more mundane issues of budgets and organizational issues.
Our own Courtenay Willcox is an elder commissioner from the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and is chair of one of the “hot topic” committees. To follow the final debates and deliberations of the GA, click here for live streaming and news releases, or visit the independent news source, The Presbyterian Outlook. Courtenay will give a personal report to us later this summer.
Usually the PC(USA) GA captures 45 seconds or so on the evening
news, if the Assembly takes a provocative action on issues like Israeli-Palestinian relations or same gender marriage (this year, the GA is addressing both). These are important issues, to be sure, and the witness of the whole church on matters of national and global concern is an important part of what the PCUSA GA does.
What is of greater importance, I think, is what the PC(USA) General Assembly is. The GA is an expression of the diversity, depth, and breadth of our church: we are people from many cultures and perspectives. The GA is also a witness to the unity of our church: despite our differences of opinion, we Presbyterians are united in our conviction that our faith matters and led by God’s Spirit, what our church says to the world and what our church does in the world makes a difference.
With God’s help, may it always be so.
Prayer:
As the PC(USA) General Assembly meets, let your Spirit rule, so that our church may be joined in love and service to Jesus Christ, who, having gone before us, is coming to meet us in the promise of your kingdom. AMEN.
