Report of Ruling Elder Commissioner Amy Fleming from 223rd (2018) General Assembly of PCUSA
It was wonderful developing relationships and friendships with Rachel Gibson, Emily Alonso, Vivian Bryant, Alex Sosa, Bill Wildhack, and Robert Shaw.
What a talented team from the Tampa Bay Presbytery!
Loved my roommate from Nebraska – Ruling Elder Commissioner (REC) Maggie Horak. She is involved in Presbyterian Women, and their Lakes and Prairies Synod holds training sessions on how to be an effective Ruling Elder, serve on the Presbytery staff or Synod Staff.
Enjoyed the Synod breakfast with The Rev. Joyce Lieberman. What a great way to start the day.
Loved the Presbytery dinner with Patrice Hatley. Learned about being a GA Junkie. Patrice is helping me get funding for ECHO!
The committee meetings for Middle East Issues (Committee 12) were difficult, and fights broke out. However, we passed some good overtures, while realizing they will make little or no difference to the war going on between the Palestinians and Israel. We endorsed support for grassroots efforts for youth on both sides to play basketball and develop relationships. We also stated our support for refugees from Syria.
In the Expo Hall, I met Jim Kirk and Susan Krehbiel from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA). They are starting a new group for refugee assistance. Jim will donate money to ECHO to help the Puerto Rico refugees in the Brandon and East Hillsborough area. I volunteered to help in this area.
The following are selected items from the Plenary meetings:
- Committee 14-Theological Issues – “Reclaiming Jesus” movement. http://www.reclaimingjesus.org Watch the video
- From the Stated Clerk, J. Herbert Nelson – White Privilege must be recognized, and with Privilege comes Responsibility. What can we do to help people of color and other languages, people who are disadvantaged in some way; feel more welcome in our churches?
- Side Note: we collected $74,200 for bail money
- The Hands and Feet Initiative collected or made 2400 pairs of socks, 300 summer reading kits, 160 GO bags, 30 first aid kits, 40 menstrual care kits, 200+ scarves
- From Committee 4 – The Way Forward – Expand the Circle Wider: get braille bibles and hymnals for blind people, add captioning services or a sign language interpreter for deaf people. Expand the T-Coil loop into Mauldin Hall and the classrooms in CDC so that the hard-of-hearing can more fully participate in church life.
- PCUSA will be hiring 4 translators for Korean, Spanish, English. Work on documents, books, websites, etc….
- ‘Please rise on your feet or in your heart’
- ‘Minister of Word and Sacrament’ instead of ‘Teaching Elder’
- Committee 8 – Environmental Issues – Divesting in fossil fuels – NO 332-178- instead we will ‘keep our seat at the table’
- Committee 11 – Social Justice -Overture 11-18: Responding to Racist Nationalism in the Federal Government – YES 454-48
- Committee 9 – Peacemaking and Immigration: Commissioners Resolution 9-14 – Stop the Separation of Families – YES 484-34 Condemns the Presidents June 20th 2018 Executive Order
- Committee 3 – Per Capita increase in 2019 to $8.95 in 2020 remains $8.95
- Mike Miller, Acting Director of Shared Services: they get 13% of Per Capita money
- Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA) gets 9%
- 5 Presbyteries pay no Per Capita. 2 of them are in Puerto Rico. The others are Dakota, Mid South and Mississippi.
- The new PMA President and Executive Director is the Rev. Diane Moffett from the St. James Presbyterian Church in Greensboro NC. This is a 4-year term.
- Baltimore is the site of the 224th General Assembly from June 20 – 27, 2020
- Cleveland is the side of the 225th General Assembly in 2022
My Limerick was well received:
We’re not in a frozen box, we give the homeless socks.
Water and food too, at least they’re not locked up like animals in a zoo.
I met the fine folks at PDA, now I’m a volunteer, Yea!
This is my first GA, and every hour of every day, I am surrounded by Presbyterians guiding my way.
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