This amendment to be voted on by the presbyteries would replace the currently elected General Assembly Council (GAC) with two appointed bodies. The current GAC of over 90 members is elected as a result of nominations from lower governing bodies. This current GAC would be replaced by two smaller appointed bodies. The following statement by the Presbyterian Renewal Network was adopted at its meeting October 25, 1999, in Louisville, KY.
The Presbyterian Renewal Network [includes renewal leaders from 15 independent renewal organizations] expresses its concern that the proposed amendment to the constitution creating the Council of the Assembly would be a step away from traditional Presbyterian representative government. The effect of the amendment would be to remove power from local governing bodies and vest more power in a small, appointed body. We urge all Presbyterians to seriously review the implications of this proposed change in the Book of Order.
We believe it is essential to uphold a church government of elders and ministers called and commissioned by congregations and presbyteries. All church bodies must be open and accountable to the Scriptures, the church’s constitution, the decisions of governing bodies, and the input of all its members.
Amendment F would make significant changes in six sections of the Book of Order. It would introduce another layer of government between the current General Assembly entities and the General Assembly itself. The new Council of the Assembly would take over various functions now exercised by the General Assembly Council. But the GAC, downgraded and renamed as the Mission Agency, would retain other responsibilities. In itself, this multiplication and blurring of structures tends to diminish accountability.
Most seriously, the newly created and empowered Council of the Assembly would be less representative than the current General Assembly Council. Today it is presbyteries and synods that elect over two-thirds of the members of the GAC. But, under Amendment F, none of the 21 members of the new Council of the Assembly would be elected by the lower governing bodies that fund the General Assembly mission programs. Nine would be appointed by General Assembly entities that receive funding—five from the Mission Agency and one each from the Board of Pensions, the Presbyterian Foundation, the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, and the Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program. Three would be the moderators of the three most recent assemblies. The remaining nine would be three commissioners apiece from the three most recent assemblies. The language of Amendment F leaves undecided the crucial question of who would select those nine. It makes no provision for them to be chosen by presbyteries or synods.
We appreciate the goal of the proposed amendment—the desire for a body of more manageable size that would coordinate the work of all entities carrying out the General Assembly mission directives. We urge presbytery commissioners to vote against it because it moves us away from elected representation.
This statement first appeared in Theology Matters, Vol. 5, No. 6 (Nov/Dec 1999).
