344 officials, staff and others to attend 218th General Assembly
Craig M. Kibler, The Layman Online, April 24, 2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The General Assembly Council will be sending 344 people to the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), which will meet June 21-28 in San Jose, Calif.
The 344 people – comprised of elected officials, staff, guests and others – was approved by the General Assembly Council’s executive committee Wednesday during a morning meeting at the Brown Hotel.
“It seems like a tremendous amount of people,” said the Rev. Linda Knieriemen, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Holland, Mich., and chair of the GAC’s Evangelism Committee.
The Rev. Curtis Kearns, executive administrator of the GAC, said that the people attending the General Assembly “have many responsibilities. People are required to support the exhibits.”
One person said the number is lower than in past years and the Rev. Tom Taylor, deputy executive director for mission, said that, “although this seems like a large number at a time in the life of our church when we’re being relational, putting a face on things, this is one of the healthiest things for people’s perception of the General Assembly Council. We want to be careful of cutting the number too low because this is a chance to put a face on the GAC.”
The breakdown on the numbers can be found here.
Craig M. Kibler is the Director of Publications and Executive Editor of the Presbyterian Lay Committee.