Friday, June 16, 2006

Today I tried to get everything down as it was happening. Please excuse any spelling or grammatical errors. I have also corrected the settings so if someone wants to comment on any of the posts they can. God Bless.

I did not have the same trouble this morning finding the ballroom for the GA Commissioners breakfast. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and prayer.

Fortunately there are several “Ask Me” stations through out the complex to help us find where we are going. The problem that I found was that the signs directing us to the rooms showed ours as Committee 2 and all of the documentation that I have received said that it was General Assembly Procedures (3). I confirmed that I had made it to the correct room when I found my preprinted name placard, found a place to sit and booted up.

We began at 9 AM with opening prayer, introductions, a group building exercise, and opening worship. We reviewed the “How We Will Work Together” document and with very little discussion we adopted the agenda for the committee.

Clifton Kirkpatrick provided our committee with an overview of the Office of the General Assembly. He went through the responsibilities of the OGA. He went through the items that are before our committee. He also provided us with the OGA’s Core Commitment. He then went through the leaders of each of the departments of the OGA. He discussed the benefits to doing biennial assemblies, this one being the first of those. Major items that relate to GA and its Standing Rules were listed out. There are many good publications that are put together to help better understand the role of the OGA along with training materials for all levels of the denomination. The OGA also provides Constitutional Serves. The OGA also deals with ecumenical relations with several different organizations as well as the sharing of pulpits with many different denominations. Another part of the OGA deals with the history of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The Historical Society’s mission fulfills G-9.0406. Clifton also discussed the new LES website as well as the work that they do on the denominational website. The OGA also works together with GAC (General Assembly Council). They are also in charge of the Per Capita Budget. Clifton finished his presentation by sharing the vision of the OGA.

After a short break we began to work of the committee. This started with the assignment of the task groups:

• Thank the Committee on Local Arrangements - This was assigned to the YADs and the TSADs.
• Approve vouchers of commissioners and advisory delegates - Three commissioners volunteered to take on this audit responsibility that will be done on Monday at Noon.

As we began to look at Item 03-07 Les went down giving everyone a “Service Unavailable” message. There was not an advocate from the Presbytery of Trinity to speak to this item, but someone did speak in favor. The vote was approved 33-13-0.

Item 03-10 was next on the agenda. An advocate for the overture spoke in favor of providing an alternate means of reporting church membership. This overture would have the OGA develop the appropriate procedures and policies. The vote was approved 46-1-0.

In order to accommodate Rick Ufford-Chase on item 03-Information Report we moved that to the next item on the agenda. Rick then addressed the committee. Rick talked of how he has turned to the letters from Paul and read a passage from 1 Thessalonians.

Institutional structures … if we stay there we will die as a denomination. We must not quench the spirit. The exciting this he has seen:
o Anything having to do with the missional church. Locally, nationally, and globally. Mission is messy business.
o Development of multi-cultural and new immigrant churches. There is no future in the middle class, Anglo church of the 1950’s.
o There is the possibility to engage more people, especially the youth. They will not come or stay if they sense any type of hypocrisy. Go to them for help in very specific ways. It takes a personal invitation to help; a note in the bulletin will not work anymore.

The things that Rick talked about are the same things that we have been discussing as a congregation for the past several years. What matters to Rick is that we need to work together to grow God’s Kingdoms, we need to step out of our comfort zones – step out of the boat! Sounds like the adult Sunday school book that Judy’s class did last fall, “If You Want To Walk On Water You Have To Get Out Of The Boat.”

We then recessed for lunch.

After lunch we were lead in prayer using Psalm 46:
1God is our shelter and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
2So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and mountains fall into the ocean depths;
3even if the seas roar and rage, and the hills are shaken by the violence.
4There is a river that brings joy to the city of God, to the sacred house of the Most High.
5God is in that city, and it will never be destroyed; at early dawn he will come to its aid.
6Nations are terrified, kingdoms are shaken; God thunders, and the earth dissolves.
7The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
8Come and see what the LORD has done. See what amazing things he has done on earth.
9He stops wars all over the world; he breaks bows, destroys spears, and sets shields on fire.
10"Stop fighting," he says, "and know that I am God, supreme among the nations, supreme over the world."
11The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.


The first order of business for the afternoon was to go immediately to the open hearings.

• The first speaker spoke against overtures 2, 4, and 5. Does not feel that the records should be transferred from a unit of PC(USA) to an independent agency. The governing body records would be out of control of PC(USA).
• Reg Parsons: Spoke against transferring power of the historical documents at Montreat. Concurred with the objections of the first speaker. Keeping and maintaining the records of that are available there are invaluable. There have to be other options.
• Rev. Tracey Stewart speaking to keeping Montreat open. Questioned as to whether it is more costly to close as items held in trust would revert back to the donating families and others sent to many other places. Montreat is a wonderful resource.
• Rev. Joel Alvis came to speak against the overtures that seek to setup an independent board of directors. However maintaining the current setup is not a good use of our money. The record of the church does need to be preserved. We need to be in control of our own records, if it is given to another group it would lead to confusion. We just do not have the money to keep it up, does not believe we.
• David Petty: Supports keeping Montreat as it is. They receive anything that a church deems important. He also believes that there is enough money to continue Montreat as it is.

The hearings on Montreat were completed and we returned to the agenda left from this morning.

Item 03-22, Invitation To Meet in Pittsburgh, PA for the 220th GA (2012) was explained. There was a question regarding the reassessment in 2010 of biennial assemblies and it was clarified that it if we were to go back to annual that it would likely happen in 2013. The item was approved 44-0-0.

Item 03-B was tabled until the second person that volunteered to look at them comes back into the room.

Item 03-Information, Affinity Groups Report was received by consensus.

Item 03-Information, Agency Summary (COGA) and Item 03-Information, Agency Summary (OGA) was brought together and was received by consensus.

Item 03-Information, Agency Summary (GANC) was received by consensus.

Item 03-Information, Agency Summary (Per Capita by Presbytery Report) was received by consensus.

When then went back to Item 03-B to find out where the other person was that read the report. We are in a short informal break while they try to find him. They found him and found that he had not had time to finish reading the report. We are doing one of the open hearing items that were scheduled for 2:30 PM (it is now 2:15 PM).

Mike Herron spoke to item 03-14 Authoritative Interpretation and Standing Rule Amendment Regarding Administrative Review on the General Assembly Level. They like this item but would like to add to Recommendation #2 to have a separate committee to deal only with this item. This would help insure that this is done wisely and well. “Which shall be assigned no other business” is the recommended additional wording to 2b.

Item 03-09 On Amending Standing Rules A.3.c. and A.8. Regarding Overtures and Resolutions Affecting Investment Policies. Because our committee moderator is from the same synod, presbytery, and worships at the same church as the advocate, he turned the job of moderator for this item over to the vice-moderator. The advocate thinks that there should probably be one revision to “5” that would help to satisfy those who do not completely agree with this overture. She also suggest that “that affects the investment policies of the denomination or” be stricken from the overture. A COGA resource spoke that a consultative process is already in place. Another speaker, Rev. Ioso spoke against the item adding that we would be tying a future GA’s voice to a committee. He also expressed that while we need regulation we also need to be free of too much regulation. The recommended wording that the advocate suggested be added was looked at positively by him he is still against the overture. It was moved and seconded urge the GA to disapprove the motion. A commissioner spoke against the motion as he would like to see the overture voted on with the recommended changes. The motion was then voted on. The motion was 28-15-2 that the GA disapprove this overture. There were questions about a minority report and there was a side bar to discuss it. Clarification was then made to whether a minority report could not be made that was directly opposite of the original motion and it cannot be. This was then overruled by a resource from OGA.

We then went back to the open hearings that were to have begun at 2:30 PM (it is now 2:48 PM).

• John B. (Presbytery of Philadelphia) spoke against Item 03-08. The AI goes too far in making it mandatory on the Sessions to pay their per capita.
• This will overture all of the precedents that go before it (7.0201). “To mandate would destroy the fragile trust in several of our presbyteries…”
• Gale Watkins: Our church pays per capita like clock work however they are advocating that Item 03-08 be disapproved.
• Jack Sharp: Asked that Item 03-08 be disapproved. It would overturn the historical precedent that the session has control over it benevolences. Feels that this overture is a reaction by the institutional church a church that will die if it does not change. This should be left to the individual presbyteries.
• Charlie Brown: His church relies on God’s providence and it is not mandatory and feels that it should be the same for the GA. They are opposed to this overture. Also feels that this should be discussed by the presbyteries.

The open hearings were completed and being on time we took our scheduled break. When we returned the parliamentarian gave clarification on minority points (moved with an amendment, etc. would be a minority report) however the parliamentarian is still checking to this absolutely cleared up.

We then moved on with Item 03-14 Authoritative Interpretation and Standing Rule Amendment Regarding Administrative Review on the General Assembly Level. George Adams gave a brief overview of who the Advisory Committee on the Constitution is. He made it clear that the advisory committee is not an advocate, they simply give advice. Item 03-14 is to approve the AI of G-4.0301f and to amend GA Standing Rule C.4.b. Recommendation 1b states that if a lower governing body rules based on facts that if it gets referred to a higher governing body that the facts in place on not at issue, just the ruling of the lower governing body. It was recommended earlier in the day by Mike Herron to add to the wording “which shall be assigned no other business” be added to 2b. Mr. Adams was not here to debate the recommended addition, but to give the rationale for this item. After several questions for clarification on this AI it was moved and seconded to put this to a vote. There were then a few more clarifying questions before we actually got to a vote. A motion was then made to make an amendment to 2b as it was recommended earlier today by Mike Herron. The amended motion was then seconded and spoken to. Mr. Adams then advised that by doing this we would be setting up a committee that may only have one item to work on if that is all there was for that year’s GA. The motion was spoken for and against and then the amendment was brought to a vote. The amendment was defeated 5-35-3. The main motion was then brought to a vote. Then there was a question how the AI and the rationale should be handled. Before it could come to a vote, another amendment was made to ensure that the rationale is not lost from the AI. A motion was made as a substitute to the current amendment. After review substitute motions were clarified. The original was perfected and then the substitute amendment was discussed and perfected. The substitute motion was approved 21-20-3 and became the amendment to the main motion which was then brought to a vote and was approved 29-14-2. The amended main motion was then brought to a vote. The trouble is that the rationale cannot be attached to a Standing Rule hence why the amendment to add “d” to #1. This brought additional questioning about how to get the rationale placed #2. The discussion then came to whether we are calling attention to the rationale or adding it to the recommendation which is Item 03-14. A motion was made and seconded to reconsider the amendment which had been the substitute. The motion to reconsider passed 36-0-4. A substitute amendment was then made to the current amendment, seconded, and with no debate was taken to a vote. The substitute amendment was passed and became the amendment to the motion. The amended motion was then voted on and passed 44-0-1. Item 03-14 finally passed!

Item 03-15 Amend Standing Rules Regarding Election of the Stated Clerk was next. This was to clear up any issues that came up after switching from the annual assemblies to the biennial assemblies. It was designed to make the process of nomination, election, and review fair. This item passed 46-0-0 and will be recommended to the General Assembly.

The leadership has determined that Item 03-16 Amend Standing Rules Regarding Advisory Delegates be separated into two separate items. The reason #1 is being recommended is that there were a significant number of YADs who had not completed their paperwork prior to the assembly. When it was questioned as to whether this would apply to the Elder and Minister Commissioners the answer was no as only 10 of 534 adult commissioners who had not completed their paperwork in a timely manner. If the YAD could not make it and had not yet registered within the 45 day timeframe then the alternate would not be able to register to go. #1 was moved and seconded and was the placed up for debate. This item received much debate both for and against. This item was tabled for dinner and evening worship.

The worship service was wonderful.

I left the service early so that I could get a substitute amendment drafted for Item 03-16 #1. This substitute amendment would replace recommendation #1 with:
1. Replace standing Rule #2.b and re-lettering as follows:
(b) to (c) Text unchanged
(c) to (d) Text unchanged
(d) to (e) Text unchanged
(e) to (f) Text unchanged
(f) to (g) Text unchanged
(g) to (h) Text unchanged
New (b) to be worded: Presbyteries shall deliver in sufficient time to permit the list of appointed Advisory Delegates to the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly 120 days prior to convening of the session of the General Assembly to which they will be delegates.
Motion Made by: Terry Van Wyk
Presbytery: East Iowa Date: 06/16/2006

After prayer we left Item 03-16 tabled and moved directly to Item 03-19 COGA Recommendation Regarding Election of Associate Stated Clerks. Clifton Kirkpatrick introduced each of the current Associate Stated Clerks who in turn spoke to us about their call. A motion was made and seconded to move to accept the COGA recommendation and send it to the GA for a vote of the body. The motion passed 48-0-0.

We postponed 03-16 again so Clifton Kirkpatrick could give us the “Overview of Per Capita” due to his tight time constraints. He provided a definition of Per Capita from GA Minutes 1995. He also went over G-9.0404d. He proceeded to tell us where the money for per capita went starting with how it came about (for mileage in the 1800’s) however he did not know how they calculated it. This lead to Item 03-13 Per Capita Budget Recommendations. They are also increasing the per capita apportionment rate per member to $5.72 for 2007 and 2008. This means that the increase in 2007 will still be under the rate of inflation by an estimated .8%. PC (USA) is making a concerted effort to get the budget under control. Each of the recommendations for 03-13 were placed for a vote:
Recommendation 1: approved 48-0-0
Recommendation 2: approved 48-0-0
Recommendation 3: approved 48-0-0
Recommendation 4: approved 48-0-0
All recommendations for Item 03-13 were approved unanimously. We then moved to Item 03-08 On Providing an Authoritative Interpretation of G-9.0404d Regarding Session Responsibility to Pay Per Capita. An advocate then spoke in favor of. There were several questions regarding this. We then moved to debate which, while not heated, was lively. An amendment was made to disapprove with a comment. This was then placed into debate and then a vote. The amended motion passed 32-9-6. The amended motion then was put up for debate. Debate ended unanimously. A vote as amended was then put to a vote. It was recommended that the overture be disapproved by General Assembly by a vote of 37-8-3.

The buses will run until the last committee has finished so we are going to finish the per capita business. The committee decided to close with prayer and reconvene in the morning. We were closed in prayer.

Because of Him,

Terry