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Co-Moderators of the 226th General Assembly preside over the 12th plenary meeting on July 3, 2024.Photo by Kristen Gaydos.
It took portions of two plenary sessions for commissioners and advisory delegates to the 226th General Assembly to get through GAP-03, sweeping changes to the Standing Rules of the General Assembly. On Wednesday night, commissioners voted 368-34 to approve the changes proposed by the Special Committee on Standing Rules, which toiled for about 18 months to bring the item first to the General Assembly Procedures Committee and then to the Assembly itself.
Commissioners approved one amendment to the proposal, agreeing to cover the transportation expenses of each Partner Advisory Delegate to attend the General Assembly.
On their way to approval, commissioners turned back a number of proposed amendments, including a pair of proposals that would have required developing a platform to allow committee members to communicate with each other remotely while doing their committee business.
Read more on the work of both the Special Committee on Standing Rules and the General Assembly Procedures Committee here, here, here and here.
Following the committee report, Co-Moderator of the 226th General Assembly, the Rev. Tony Larson, spent a moment recognizing two twins, the Rev. Chris Kilbert, pastor of Riverlawn Presbyterian Church in St. Albans, West Virginia, and the Rev. Brian Kilbert, pastor of Puckety Presbyterian Church in Lower Burrell, Pennsylvania. The brothers, who both came to the front of Plenary Hall, were ordained in the same church exactly 20 years ago, on July 3, 2004.
The Assembly spent a moment to recognize two twins, the Rev. Chris Kilbert, and the Rev. Brian Kilbert, who were both ordained in the same church exactly 20 years ago, on July 3, 2004. Photo by Kristen Gaydos.
“I wanted people to know in case there’s a Wikipedia page for this Assembly,” Larson told the roomful of applauding Presbyterians. “We should make a note of this historic occurrence.”
The General Assembly Entity Coordination Committee had two items for consideration. One, GAEC-24, carried a committee recommendation for disapproval. The Presbytery of the Pacific had sought official recognition for the National Caucus of Korean Presbyterian Churches as one of the caucuses of the PC(USA).
The committee voted to recommend disapproval because of the number of Korean clergywomen who told the committee about some of the mistreatment they said they received by the caucus. One told the Assembly she opposed the NCKPC studying its own behavior, as the committee had recommended to the Assembly. “If the study goes forward,” this pastor said, “it will only re-victimize women pastors who were previously victimized by the NCKPC.”
The Rev. Jong Eon Hwang said he was “personally shocked” by this pastor’s comments. “I understand some Korean churches in the U.S. might discriminate,” he said. “But criticizing all Korean churches in the U.S., this hurts me greatly.”
Commissioners disapproved GAEC-24 by a 379-27 margin and ordered the comment by the committee to be stricken. The comment called on the NCKPC to do “immediate work” to research the mistreatment of femmes and women and report the research back to the 227th General Assembly (2026).
Kiyoung Seo, a teaching elder commissioner from Yukon Presbytery, addressed the Assembly as it considered GAEC-24 at the 12th plenary meeting on July 3, 2024. Photo by Kristen Gaydos.
That left GAEC-26 as the final item of business for the penultimate day of the 226th General Assembly. That item, also from the Presbytery of the Pacific, asked the Assembly to realign the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People with its historical purpose.
The committee voted to recommend referring the concerns expressed in GAEC-26 to the new unified ministry agency as part of the ongoing work of the Center for the Repair of Historic Harms along with the Office of African American Intercultural Congregational Support and other ministry areas.
Once the Assembly had concluded its work for the night, Co-Moderator the Rev. CeCe Armstrong told commissioners and advisory delegates that “the good news in this is that good work is being done. The not-so-good news is that there are individuals who are hurting and may be triggered by all this requires.”
“As much joy as there is in our work, there is sorrow, too,” she said, thanking God “for allowing us to finish this good work that gives you honor and praise.”
“Help us to silence any other voice but your own,” Armstrong prayed.
Thursday is not only Independence Day — it’s the final day of the 226th General Assembly. Learn more about the day’s planned docket here.