From the Desk of Don Wilson, Presbyter
![Picture](/uploads/1/4/7/2/147292458/ga226-medallion-lg-500w.png?250)
The 226th General Assembly, a significant event in our church's calendar, will be from June 25 to July 4. This year, we are honored to have Elder Dana Hartman from the Punxsutawney Church and myself as commissioners from Kiski. We will begin our work from home from June 25 to 27, diligently conducting committee work through Zoom meetings. Then, on Saturday, June 29, we will travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, for the Plenary session, where the culmination of our collective efforts will take place.
Recently, I’ve been asked about our positions on overtures introduced to the General Assembly. Most of these comments revolve around one overture that individuals from other Presbyterian denominations have attacked. So, let me take a second to explain our church's polity and how we are governed.
Let's delve into the process of submitting overtures. It's open to anyone within their church’s session. If you have an overture you'd like to propose, you can present it to your church’s session. The session then decides whether to endorse your submission and forward it to the Presbytery, or they may choose not to. This is how overtures start their journey towards the national meeting at the end of June.
Next, the Presbytery steps in to review the session’s overture. If we deem it a good idea or a positive change to the Book of Order, we, as the Presbytery, vote on it and send it to other Presbyteries for concurrence. If another Presbytery agrees with our overture, it is submitted to the General Assembly for consideration. If no other presbyteries concurred, then the overture dies.
Side note: I was asked if we could vote or say something against a proposed overture. The answer is no. We can only concur with an overture. Concurrence only means we are interested in what the overture is said. Remember, this is like someone in your session making a motion to change the carpet in the church office from blue to red. And now, after being seconded by someone (a second Presbytery), we are discussing the idea. So, consider an overture as an idea, not Church policy; it can still be amended.
That's it—the overture is placed on the docket and assigned to a committee of the General Assembly to consider. The overtures are posted on the pc-biz.org website so everyone can see them. Also posted with the overture are commitments made by the Advisory Committee on the Constitution (ACC) and special interest groups recognized by the denomination.
Next week, I will join about 50 commissioners from around the nation on the Polity Committee in a Zoom meeting. Our role is to prayerfully discuss the merits and problems of each overture on our agenda. We will dedicate time to 15 overtures over the three days of Zoom meetings. This committee has the authority to accept and recommend to the General Assembly that an overture be adopted, reject and not recommend it, combine an overture with another if it makes sense, or amend and change the overture as alterations may be needed.
If an overture makes it to the floor of the General Assembly, it can still be amended before a final vote by the Assembly. If the General Assembly approves an overture, it is sent to the presbyteries for a final vote. Now we have to say if we agree or disagree with the motion, which is the overture coming to us from the General Assembly. If 75% of the Presbyteries vote to ratify the overture, it will become part of the Book of Order or a Program of the Church.
I hope this helps explain some of the work Dana and I will engage in in the coming weeks. I know several people have become upset and angry with Pol-001. All I can say is that I will be sitting on the committee dealing with this overture. The ACC has already posted an extended three-page response to the overture. I expect that we, as a committee, will work hard to figure out how to deal with several problems identified with the overture's current language. But what will happen? I have no idea. I can say that we will pray and seek God’s guidance, and we humbly ask for your prayers and support in this journey.
Recently, I’ve been asked about our positions on overtures introduced to the General Assembly. Most of these comments revolve around one overture that individuals from other Presbyterian denominations have attacked. So, let me take a second to explain our church's polity and how we are governed.
Let's delve into the process of submitting overtures. It's open to anyone within their church’s session. If you have an overture you'd like to propose, you can present it to your church’s session. The session then decides whether to endorse your submission and forward it to the Presbytery, or they may choose not to. This is how overtures start their journey towards the national meeting at the end of June.
Next, the Presbytery steps in to review the session’s overture. If we deem it a good idea or a positive change to the Book of Order, we, as the Presbytery, vote on it and send it to other Presbyteries for concurrence. If another Presbytery agrees with our overture, it is submitted to the General Assembly for consideration. If no other presbyteries concurred, then the overture dies.
Side note: I was asked if we could vote or say something against a proposed overture. The answer is no. We can only concur with an overture. Concurrence only means we are interested in what the overture is said. Remember, this is like someone in your session making a motion to change the carpet in the church office from blue to red. And now, after being seconded by someone (a second Presbytery), we are discussing the idea. So, consider an overture as an idea, not Church policy; it can still be amended.
That's it—the overture is placed on the docket and assigned to a committee of the General Assembly to consider. The overtures are posted on the pc-biz.org website so everyone can see them. Also posted with the overture are commitments made by the Advisory Committee on the Constitution (ACC) and special interest groups recognized by the denomination.
Next week, I will join about 50 commissioners from around the nation on the Polity Committee in a Zoom meeting. Our role is to prayerfully discuss the merits and problems of each overture on our agenda. We will dedicate time to 15 overtures over the three days of Zoom meetings. This committee has the authority to accept and recommend to the General Assembly that an overture be adopted, reject and not recommend it, combine an overture with another if it makes sense, or amend and change the overture as alterations may be needed.
If an overture makes it to the floor of the General Assembly, it can still be amended before a final vote by the Assembly. If the General Assembly approves an overture, it is sent to the presbyteries for a final vote. Now we have to say if we agree or disagree with the motion, which is the overture coming to us from the General Assembly. If 75% of the Presbyteries vote to ratify the overture, it will become part of the Book of Order or a Program of the Church.
I hope this helps explain some of the work Dana and I will engage in in the coming weeks. I know several people have become upset and angry with Pol-001. All I can say is that I will be sitting on the committee dealing with this overture. The ACC has already posted an extended three-page response to the overture. I expect that we, as a committee, will work hard to figure out how to deal with several problems identified with the overture's current language. But what will happen? I have no idea. I can say that we will pray and seek God’s guidance, and we humbly ask for your prayers and support in this journey.