The hour was getting late, but commissioners sat up straight again to deal with the question of paid family leave on the last night of the 223rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
A cluster of overtures on family leave had come to the Polity and Church Orders Committee and now were before the Assembly. “Our committee was quick to acknowledge this is a justice issue,” said Ruth Huff, chair of the committee. “But the committee was also quick to realize it’s an extraordinarily complex issue.”
The Church Polity Committee of the 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) maintained what many of its commissioners called the “flexibility” of the Form of Government.
The committee rejected a series of overtures that could have had the impact of making some sections of the Book of Order more precise, but commissioner Tara Brown (Indian Nations Presbytery) said changes seemed to interfere with flexibility. “We have the flexibility to do what we do best. Let’s get back to letting a congregation do what it feels is best,” she said.