Mitchell Church Hosted our meeting. We appreciate the hospitality of the Mitchell Church, especially in times when the weather may turn sour. Mitchell is the most geographically central church to all of our churches. The facility is wonderful and the members do their best to help us know we are welcomed.
Worship is a part of every Assembly in all aspects of our meetings. It always includes business, preaching and the celebration of Communion. Anne Marshall preached for this meeting. Anne and Mitch Coggin celebrated the sacrament together.
We Voted on Amendments to the Constitution of the denomination. The Assembly voted “yes” to all the proposed changes except a change in the Confessions. That last item will be voted in June. The breakdown of our vote and a comment are below: —
| Amendment | Description | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14-A | this would prevent work in the church by those who have renounced jurisdiction of the church during a judicial process. | 47 | 29 |
| 14-B 1&2 | these amendments clarify the intent of the preparation for ministry 1&2 process. | 74 | 2 |
| 14-C | this would require all sessions, presbyteries and synods to have child protection policies in place. | 74 | 2 |
| 14-D | this would establish a flexible minimum size for a presbytery. | 72 | 4 |
| 14-E | would make a clear statement about dialogue between our church and other faith expressions. | 65 | 11 |
| 14-F | would allow a broader definition of marriage, while maintaining the right of each session to determine if a marriage ceremony is to be performed on church property, as well as maintaining the discretion of teaching elders to determine if they will officiate at any given wedding. | 56 | 18 |
A Parental Leave Policy was adopted. A condition of call to pastors, Commissioned Ruling Elders and Certified Christian Educators is that Parental Leave is available for the birth or adoption of a child. The full policy is on the Presbytery website.
Larry Jackman, Stated Clerk