Presbytery cites urgency for annual assembly meetings
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, February 25, 2004
When does the General Assembly’s no mean no?
Layman Online archiving
216th General Assembly news
The Layman Online has already published numerous stories about the upcoming 216th General Assembly, which will meet in Richmond, Va., in June.
Those articles are now archived for quick access by Layman Online readers. As additional stories and information about the 216th General Assembly are gathered, they will be added to the archives. Once again, the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) will be asked to undo the 2002 decision to go to biennial meetings instead of meeting annually.
The Presbytery of National Capital has submitted an overture to change the Book of Order to say, “The General Assembly shall hold a stated meeting annually.” The current language is, “The General Assembly shall meet at least biennially.”
The overture goes on the docket just as the General Assembly is expecting to hold its last annual meeting in Richmond, Va., in June. No meeting of the General Assembly is scheduled in 2005 and the biennial meetings are scheduled to begin in 2006.
It is not likely that the overture could be approved by the June Assembly and obtain the necessary ratification from a majority of presbyteries in time to call the assembly into session in 2005 – soon enough to avoid a single year’s lapse in meeting annually since 1789.
The National Capital overture underscores an urgency to maintain annual meetings. “The Presbyterian Church (USA) is rife with contention over a variety of issues,” it declares.
It disputes the argument that it is too expensive – even in a time when the denomination’s income and membership are both spiraling downhill – to hold annual meetings.
“Dialogue ought never be exchanged for dollars,” the overture says. “It is a central belief of the Reformed tradition that the reason we gather together in dialogue and debate is to collectively discern the guidance of the Holy Spirit and to be accountable to one another.”
The overture expresses the concern that “much can happen in a two-year span that the Church has a moral imperative to address.”
The overture does not address the increased volume of business that could come up with biennial meetings instead of annual sessions. But the Office of the General Assembly has reported receiving 40 overtures for the June session, already more than the total submitted to the 2003 General Assembly.