Special Committee on Standing Rules
Livestream
Next Meeting: February 18, 2024
Watch the live meeting on Vimeo for full-screen viewing.
Upcoming Meetings:
| February 18, 2024 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Zoom |
February 24, 2024 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Zoom |
| February 25, 2024 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. Zoom |
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| All Times Eastern Time Zone | |
More Information, or to address or observe the meeting:
Laurie Griffith
laurie.griffith@pcusa.org.
Members:
| Adriana Soto Acevedo, Deacon (Co-Moderator) Presbiterio de San Juan Young Adult Advisory Delegate - GA225 |
Teaching Elder Cindy Kohlmann (Co-Moderator) New Castle Presbytery At-Large |
| Ruling Elder Jeannie Dixon Florida Presbytery Commissioner - GA225 |
Ruling Elder Byron Elam Mid-South Presbytery General Assembly Committee on Representation |
| Ruling Elder Kathy Martin Cincinnati Presbytery Commissioner - GA225 |
Teaching Elder Andy James Greater Atlanta Presbytery Committee on the Office of the General Assembly |
| Ruling Elder Jeff Moles Middle Tennessee Presbytery At-Large |
Teaching Elder Leanne Masters Homestead Presbytery Committee on the Office of the General Assembly |
| Vacancy General Assembly Committee on Representation |
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| VOICE BUT NO VOTE | |
| Teaching Elder Kamal Hassan San Francisco Presbytery Advocacy Committee for Women and Gender Justice |
Ruling Elder Bisi Shofu Coastlands Presbytery Racial Equity Advocacy Committee |
STAFF RESOURCE |
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| Laurie Griffith Associate Stated Clerk Associate Director for Constitutional Interpretation laurie.griffith@pcusa.org |
Assembly Mandate:
The committee is authorized to review the current Standing Rules of the General Assembly and related documents and propose a new set of Standing Rules to the 226th General Assembly (2024), along with any amendments to related documents required to enable those changes.
- Reviewing past revisions and proposed changes to the Standing Rules, including the work of the Committee to Review Biennial Assemblies; Consulting with the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and the six agencies and other entities and standing committees of the assembly regarding any changes to the Standing Rules necessary to enable their work; and  Promoting broad access and participation by the whole church in its work.
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The new set of Standing Rules proposed by the special committee will:
- Use language that opens the General Assembly to an expansive understanding of gender;
- Reflect the church’s commitments to unity and diversity and full participation and representation (F-1.0403);
- Assist the General Assembly in promoting equity throughout its processes and in its decisions;
- Look at the role of advisory delegates in the life and deliberations of the General Assembly to ensure a continuing voice of constituencies that represent the breadth of the present and future of the church;
- Promote broad access and participation in the General Assembly by the whole church, particularly providing for translation services, accommodations for persons with different abilities, and other circumstances as they arise;
- Provide permission for spaces that encourage innovation and creativity in the General Assembly’s discernment;
- Simplify the language of the Standing Rules and the processes of the General Assembly to reflect more fully the 21st-century church, embodying the flexibility of the current Form of Government in the life and work of the General Assembly;
- Incorporate technology to promote communication, conversation, and discernment in the deliberations and processes of the General Assembly;
- Adjust the scale and complexity of the General Assembly meeting envisioned in the Standing Rules for a church that has substantially fewer people and financial resources; and
- Reflect any decisions of the 225th General Assembly (2022) regarding the location and format of future General Assembly meetings.
Membership Composition:
- Two members (current or former) from the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly
- Two members (current or former) from the General Assembly Committee on Representation
- One Young Adult advisory delegate or 1 Theological advisory delegate to the 225th General Assembly
- Two commissioners to the 224th General Assembly (2020) or the 225th General Assembly (2024)
- Two at-large members
- Also including with voice but no vote: One member from the Racial Equity Advocacy Committee and; one member from the Advocacy Committee for Women and Gender Justice.