By Jan Blazek, Presbyterian Outlook. CHICAGO – The executive committee of the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board, meeting in Chicago July 27-29 for its annual retreat, spent part of that time reviewing decisions of the 2016 General Assembly, and discussing what steps the board might take in response to the report of the Committee to Review…
By Alan F.H. Wisdom, The Layman Perhaps the most significant action of the 2016 Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly was final approval of the Belhar Confession for inclusion in the denomination’s Book of Confessions. The 1980s liberation theology manifesto exercised an influence that was already apparent in the Portland assembly’s other business—especially its discussions of…
By Jeff Gissing, at jeffgissing.com All creeds and confessions are created in a context, and that context is important both in understanding them and applying them to the life of the church. Some creeds and confessions manage to plumb the depths of the faith in a way that remains true across many times and many…
Following a 94 percent vote in favor of adding the Confession of Belhar to the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Book of Confessions, the 222nd General Assembly celebrated with a standing ovation and singing “Oh, Freedom.” The vote was 540-33 and concluded a years-long process that included an earlier assembly appointing a committee to study the confession,…
The 222nd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is fast approaching and on Thursday, members of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA) received a briefing on the preparations that have been made for the eight-day event. The assembly’s theme will be “The Hope in Our Calling” from Ephesians 1:18 and…
By Emily Enders Odom, Presbyterian News Service As the Rev. Allan Boesak rose to give his powerful testimony of his life under the apartheid regime in South Africa and the genesis of the Belhar Confession there, a hushed reverence fell on Montreat Conference Center’s Convocation Hall. Boesak’s poignant “cry from the heart” from the heart of his own…
Presbyterian Church (USA) presbyteries will soon start voting on seven proposed amendments to the denomination’s Book of Order and one addition to its Book of Confessions. All eight were approved by the 221st General Assembly this past June, and now must be ratified by the PCUSA’s 171 presbyteries. A booklet of the proposed amendments, which…
By Joseph D. Small The 221st General Assembly (2014) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be remembered for its approval of same-sex marriage, but its most lasting effect may be the decisive victory of proceduralism—the displacement of substantive consideration by parliamentary process in the service of prevalent opinion. The church’s reliance on legislative procedures produces,…
by Elizabeth Broschart Before the 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) officially convened, commissioners participated in carefully orchestrated overviews of several key issues on Saturday morning. One of the early sessions presented information on the Confession of Belhar and the committee affirmation of its inclusion in the Book of Confession. In his opening…
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A letter written to accompany the Confession of Belhar declares it to be a “word from God” in the first paragraph, thereby raising the confession to the level of canonical, instead of being what it is – the word of men. Written by the Special Committee on the Belhar Confession, the 3,131-word…