Gathered in the Spirit: GA227

Next week, commissioners from across the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will gather in Milwaukee for the 227th General Assembly, the highest governing body of our denomination. Commissioners, advisory delegates, staff, and observers will come together for worship, discernment, conversation, and decision-making as they seek God’s guidance for the future of the church.

The Presbytery of Southern Kansas will be represented by Teaching Elder Melissa Krabbe of Sterling, Ruling Elder Mary Buchele of Garden City, and Young Adult Advisory Delegate Sophia Randle from our own Grace Presbyterian Church. They have already begun participating in online meetings this week and will travel to Milwaukee this weekend along with our Executive Presbyter, Christina Berry, and our Stated Clerk, Joe Wiseman.

The General Assembly will consider a wide range of issues affecting the life and witness of the church, including the denomination’s structure and mission, environmental stewardship, global mission partnerships, matters of inclusion and justice, a proposed new confession, and many other items of business.

Personally, I am especially excited to watch this year’s co-moderator election. One of the candidates is a former classmate and friend. I am also eager to hear the Assembly’s discussion of the proposed new confession for the PC(USA), a project connected to one of my favorite professors at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary who has served on the special committee that drafted it.

What I love most about General Assembly, however, is not any single item of business. It is the gathering itself.

General Assembly is a celebration of what it means to be Presbyterian. It is an expression of our conviction that the Holy Spirit continues to guide the church when we gather in prayerful discernment. It is a reminder that we belong to something larger than ourselves. Commissioners come from every corner of the church: large congregations and small congregations, rural communities and urban centers, different generations, different backgrounds, different experiences, and different perspectives. Yet together they seek to listen for God’s voice and to lead Christ’s church faithfully into the future.

At its best, General Assembly offers a glimpse of the church as a diverse body united in Christ, trusting that wisdom emerges not from any one person but through prayer, conversation, study, and mutual discernment.

As the Assembly begins, I invite you to pray for Sophia, Melissa, Mary, Christina, Joe, and all who will participate in the 227th General Assembly. Pray that the Spirit’s presence will be felt in their midst. Pray for wisdom, humility, courage, and grace. And pray that this gathering may bear witness to the unity we share in Christ even amid our diversity, as together we seek to follow where God is leading the church.

See you in church.

Peace, Love, and Grace
Pastor Kevin