Rev. Greg Goodwiller, Synod of Living Waters
Plans are coming together for the 226th General Assembly Meeting this summer, the plenaries for which will bring commissioners, delegates, and church leaders all together in one room for the first time since the last pre-pandemic assembly in 2018. While the opening “organizational” plenary (which is necessary to establish any convention-like gathering) will take place online, followed by online committee meetings June 25-27, the assembly participants will then all travel to Salt Lake City, Utah for meetings from June 30th through July 4th, beginning with the election of moderators on Sunday evening, June 30th.
It’s been a long time. Too long. And while I am grateful for the technological marvels that have allowed us to work remotely, I am so looking forward to being together again.
It won’t be like the pre-pandemic assemblies, unfortunately. Because committees are working remotely, it isn’t feasible to have an Exhibit Hall. There won’t be as many luncheon and dinner gatherings of groups with common interests and involvements. The room will be smaller, and won’t have space for hundreds and hundreds of visitors, all of which I will miss immensely.
But we’ll be together. And in the post-pandemic world of 2024, that is a grace worth celebrating.
Pray for the assembly and its participants – especially the 36 commissioners and young adult advisory delegates from the 12 presbyteries of the Synod of Living Waters.
Also, both the committee meetings and plenary sessions will be livestreamed and are open to the public. All the information you need is (or will be) available on the GA226 website, www.ga-pcusa.org. The assembly’s business is posted on “PC-Biz,” and is likewise available to the public. Business items have now been assigned to the various committees, and so you can read through the items each committee will consider, as well as read advice on some of the items that is being written and submitted by various advisory and advocacy committees (including the Advisory Committee on the Constitution, on which I serve). PC-Biz can be accessed through the GA226 website, or directly at: www.pc-biz.org.