GeneralAssembly

217th Assembly Archives: | Ecumenical and interfaith decisions | Middle East decisions and followup |

Decisions of the 218th General Assembly concerning ecumenical and interfaith relations potentially have greater impact in the future than in 2008 itself. Several involve intermediate steps that will require the attention of interested commissioners, presbyters, and church members:

• The fruits of long hours of bilateral dialogue between churches have yielded preliminary acceptance of new agreements that will go to PC(USA) presbyteries and to the other churches that are affected

• A basic ecumenical stance has been adopted that will lead to many implementation steps as the future unfolds

• Recommendations for Christian-Muslim dialogue and for the study of our theological understanding of the relationship will hopefully elicit strong support at the local level, where dialogue becomes meaningful in daily interactions

07-05. Adopted, with amendment, "The Ecumenical Stance of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)," a new ecumenical policy statement brought to the Assembly by the permanent Committee on Ecumenism and reaffirmed the PC(USA) commitment to our historic conciliar relationships in the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the National Council of Churches, and the World Council of Churches (See information on the ecumenical consultation that prepared the document used by the writing team for the Ecumenical Stance.)

Members of the General Assembly's permanent Committee on Ecumenical Relations (GACER)

00-01. Elected Scott Anderson (new) to the class of 2010 and Vincent Das (renewed), Sarah Segal McCaslin (renewed), Joseph Pallikkathayil (renewed), George Telford (renewed), Aimee Moiso (new), and Rodney Petersen (new) to the class of 2012.

07-11. Adopted the Episcopal-Presbyterian Agreement as an ecumenical statement to be sent to the presbyteries for ratification (includes agreement for eucharistic hospitality and calls for further dialogue re diaconal ministries, the historic episcopate, the officer of elder, etc.). The Episcopal Church will vote on the agreement in July 2009.

Read a news report that the Episcopal Church will consider the agreement in July 2009. The agreement is less than a full communion one but is "the way to take one step forward on a local level" which eventually "helps advance the whole ecumenical cause," says the Episcopal ecumenical officer.

07-10. Adopted the Covenant Agreement with the Moravian Church as an ecumenical statement to be sent to the presbyteries for ratification (uses "covenant" rather than "full communion" language) See the backgrounder, "FAQ About Moravian Agreement."

07-08. Adopted The Common Agreement on Baptism, on mutual recognition of baptism with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, to be sent to the presbyteries (See the background document, These Living Waters: Common Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Baptism: A Report of the Catholic Reformed Dialogue in the United States, 2003 - 2007.)

See an account of the dialogue leading to this agreement, which was said to be important locally.

07-04. Adopted a “Covenant Relationship Between the Korean Presbyterian Church of America and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.),” as an ecumenical statement to be sent to the presbyteries for ratification (calls for orderly exchange of ministers and congregations) Note comments from the Advisory Committee on the Constitution and see the backgrounder, "FAQ About Covenant Agreement with KPCA."

07-13: Adopted the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on the Constitution concerning the Question on Transfer of Ministers and Congregations to Transitional Presbyteries [of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church]—From the General Presbyter/Stated Clerk, Presbytery of Charlotte

07-03: Referred to the General Assembly's permanent Committee on Ecumenical Relations the overture from Peace River Presbytery "On Investigating the Actions and Conduct of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church"

04-24. Adopted the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on the Constitution concerning an Authoritative Interpretation Regarding Discretionary Powers of Presbytery in Relation to the Formula of Agreement and Orderly Exchange originating with the Stated Clerk, Presbytery of Giddings-Lovejoy

04-11: Approved Truckee (California) Lutheran Presbyterian Church as a union church (with Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)

04-10: Approved establishing Cornerstone Community Church of Lansingburgh, NY, as a union church (with the United Methodist Church)

04-09: Approved establishing the Star Valley United Church in Thayne, Wyoming, as a union church (with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)

07-09. Elected the PC(USA) delegation to the National Council of Churches, 2008-2011

07-12. Approved a recommendation from the permanent Committee on Ecumenical Relations on the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) gender, leadership, and power consultation (asks North American regional study of the report of this consultation and inclusion in GAC work plans)

13-11. Approved a recommendation from the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly to Participate in the Calvin Jubilee (includes responding to the call of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches to recommit to three causes central to Calvin's vision -- the unity of the church, the honoring of creation, and the commitment to justice)

13-07. Adopted, with amendment, a resolution to Study the Belhar Confession for Inclusion in the Confessional Documents of the PC(USA) (inclusion of the South African confession

associated with the racial struggles in the Reformed churches made known worldwide through the World Alliance of Reformed Churches). [Note that the Christian Reformed Church, another WARC member church in the U.S., is considering possible recommendation of this confession in a coming year.]

11-14: Approved, with amendment, an overture from the Presbytery of Chicago Endorsing the “Publish What You Pay” Campaign (relates to the WARC Accra Confession's implications)

09-09. Adopted a Social Creed for the Twenty-first Century (a one-page ecumenical consensus statement on social justice that updates a 1908 Social Creed of the Churches for the 21st century, with a focus on globalization and ecological sustainability) See a news story about the Assembly action. ACSWP has developed accompanying resources. The PC{USA}, as the first church to act on this, has received the thanks of the National Council of Churches (NCC) general secretary for its leadership.

11-13: Approved a recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Women's Concerns to Expand the Church's Ministry with and Advocacy Against Human Trafficking (directs partnering with ecumenical and interfaith entities to build coalitions against trafficking)

03-11: Disapproved an overture from Santa Barbara Presbytery On Amending G-9.0404d to Delineate the Use of Per Capita Funds (would have removed ecumenical dues from per capita budgets)

03-10: Disapproved an overture from the Presbytery of Sierra Blanca On Transferring Funding of Items from the Per Capita Budget to the General Assembly Mission Budget (would have transfered funding for ecumenical and agency relationships)

03-09: Disapproved an overture from Grace Presbytery On Eliminating the General Assembly Per Capita as Part of the Mission Funding System by 2010 (would have had an indirect relationship to funding of ecumenical relationships).

03-08: Disapproved an overture from the Presbytery of Indian Nations On Transferring Funding of Items from the Per Capita Budget to the Mission Budgets (would have moved PC(USA) funding of ecumenical relationships). Note that there was advice from the Advisory Committee on the Constitution.

Note: See a downloadable brochure on per capita funding for information on the amount expended for grants to ecumenical groups.

A negative evaluation is given on the Institute for Religion and Democracy blog site (June 26, 2008).

07-07. Adopted an overture from Chicago Presbytery On Peaceful Relations Between the Christian and Muslim Communities (calls for a study of the theological understanding of our relationship with Muslims)

07-02: Adopted an overture from Baltimore Presbytery On Response to an Invitation to Interfaith Dialogue (commends A Common Word Between Us and You to congregations, governing bodies, seminaries as a basis for substantive dialogue).

07-01: Adopted, with amendment, an overture from the Presbytery of Newton On Calling for Tolerance and Peaceful Relations Between the Christian and Muslim Communities

See a news story about the Assembly's decisions and another on the earlier committee deliberations.

See an item on the Institute for Religion and Democracy blog site protesting the process as manipulative (June 26, 2008); note its misunderstanding about rules in the Manual of the General Assembly as they applied to the Islamic Society of North America representative to the Assembly, who had a right to offer information "germane to the decision-making process" (Manual B5f, p.18 of PDF file).

See also the report of an interview with interfaith visitor Muneer Fareed, general secretary of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). ISNA, he said, plans to invite the leadership of the PC(USA) to a series of meetings “that would help us take the dialogue to the grassroots."

11-28: Approved, as amended, a recommendation to Prepare a Study on Israel/Palestine Within the Context of the Middle East (includes studying steps in interfaith relations and with partners in the region)

11-27: Approved a Report from MRTI of Corporate Engagements in Israel, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank

11-23: Disapproved an overture from San Francisco Presbytery On Divestment from Caterpillar and Motorola for Profiting from the Israeli Military Occupation of Palestinian Territories

11-11: Approved, as amended, an overture from Providewnce Presbytery On Addressing the Violence and Suffering Inflicted on Iraqi Women During the Current Prolonged War (expresses solidarity with ecumenical partners)

11-06: Approved an overture from National Capital Presbytery On Being the Voice for Victims of Violence in Israel and Palestine ("we will not over-identify with the realities of the Israelis or Palestinians")

11-01: Approved an alternate resolution On Peace and Justice in Palestine and Israel in response to an overture the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta

The offices of theology and worship, interfaith relations, and evangelism in the General Assembly Council were directed by the General Assembly in 2004 to study the implications of our relationships with Jews for evangelism and new church development. Their response reports on consultations that have been held, indicating that results are being published by Westminster/John Knox Press. They say their final report will come to the Assembly in 2010. See 2004 Referral: Item 06-09.

09-Info. The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) convened a consultation on the Iraq War and Muslim-Christian peacemaking work at Stony Point in September of 2007.
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Economic justice
The office of theology and worship was asked to consider drafting a report on the theological language appropriate to addressing social and economic justice, in an action originating with the PC(USA) delegation to the World Alliance of Reformed Churches general council. It says the report will come to the Assembly in 2010. See 2006 Referral: Item 07-06.

The Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) sponsored two globalization consultations which will contribute to the development of study material with diverse viewpoints on globalization to go with the 2006 policy and with PC(USA) study -- as members of WARC -- of the Accra Confession.

The General Assembly Council reports that the General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical Relations has created a sub-committee on interfaith relations to review developments and needed actions of an interfaith nature regularly, based on input from the interfaith relations office.

The Manual of the General Assembly

makes provision for fifteen ecumenical advisory delegates, ten of them from outside the U.S. They are selected by their churches in response to an invitation of the previous General Assembly.

07-06. The 218th General Assembly selected churches to be invited to send ecumenical advisory delegates to the 219th General Assembly.

The following churches had been asked by the 217th General Assembly to send official ecumenical advisory delegates to the 2008 Assembly:

From overseas: Communaute Presbyterieene au Congo, Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, Church of Central Africa, Armenian Apostolic Church in Iraq, Presbyterian Church of Chile, United Protestant Church of Curacao, United Church of Christ in the Philippines, United Church of Christ in Japan, Reformed Church of France.
From North America: African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Church of God in Christ International, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, International Council of Community Churches, Korean Presbyterian Church in America.

Interfaith representatives
The Manual of the General Assembly

made provision for three interfaith observers who would be representatives of recognized religious bodies of non-Christian traditions, to be invited by the permanent committee on ecumenical relations.They were to be present for deliberations and to speak "for the purpose of bringing greetings or messages, or bringing information germane to the decision-making process."

On June 25, the Ecumenical Breakfast featured the first official interfaith guests to be invited to a General Assembly: Muneer Fareed representing the Islamic Society of North America; Rabbi Melanie Aron (pictured), representing the Conservative, Reconstructionist and Reform Jewish movements; and Rev. Ron Kobata, representing the Buddhist Churches of America. In her introduction, Robina Winbush said, “The 217th General Assembly took action to invite at least three interfaith leaders into the life of future General Assemblies, and today we are bringing that invitation to fruition.” A response to the three interfaith presentations was given by Michael Kinnamon, general secretary of the National Council of Churches. He laid out five requirements for Christians:

Over 3,000 people gathered in San Jose for the 218th General Assembly and more than 13,000 logged in to observe online. Of these numbers, 752 were commissioners. Lists of commissioners

and committee leadership

are posted on the web. Extensive news and photos from the Assembly are available on the Assembly's web pages. Additionally, Presbyterian Outlook covered the meeting, and its national editor wrote the Thoughtful Christian online curriculum item on "What Happened at the . . . General Assembly?" #TC0285.

MORE on General Assembly actions related to the Middle East on the following page

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Ecumenical & Interfaith Network - PCUSA

Ecumenical & Interfaith
Network - PCUSA