PCI General Assembly

General Assembly Agenda

Preview of 2010 Presbyterian General Assembly and Annual Reports

The focus of the church conference season moves to Belfast this month when the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland gathers in Church House, beginning its four day meeting, as it traditionally does, on the first Monday of June.

Every General Assembly is unique. It's not just another meeting of the General Assembly but specifically the 2010 General Assembly with its own particular membership made up of every minister and an accompanying representative elder from each congregation selected by its Kirk Session. And, of course, every Assembly selects its own Chairman or Moderator and for 2010 that is Dr. Norman Hamilton.

Every session is open to non-members of Assembly, except for a brief private session, though only members can take part in debate or vote.

So when would be an interesting time for a Presbyterian who isn't an Assembly delegate to come and see and hear what their church is doing and what decisions it is making? Here is brief guide to some of the highlights of four days of Presbyterian praise, prayer, planning, decision making and inspirational thinking between Monday, 7th and Thursday, 10th June.

Opening Meeting - Monday, 7th June 7.00pm

No tickets are required and in recent years there have been plenty of free seats available to join with members and invited guests in an atmosphere of praise and celebration. Dr. Carson will lead the Assembly in worship and briefly report on his year of office before asking the Assembly to elect his successor. After his official appointment Dr. Hamilton will address the Assembly and set out his plans for the year ahead.

Assembly Celebration - Wednesday, 9th June 7.45pm

The health of our souls matters, and yet it is not something we talk about very much. At a time when there is diminishing trust and confidence in many things, even among Christians, is at a low point this event is designed to help give some direction to building up the spiritual health of both congregations and individuals and to show that our faith gives us the strength to face the future and make a difference for good.

Norman Hamilton has planned this event as "the equivalent of an MOT for our souls". What is going on in our lives that is good, well maintained and up to standard, and what is going on that might bring failure, spiritual breakdown or danger are the questions to be asked and answered through an honest assessment of both the encouragements and discouragements facing us today.

Providing some answers will be a panel including the Bishop of Down and Dromore, Rev. Harold Miller; former Baptist Pastor David McMillan; the director of Scripture Union in Northern Ireland, Helen Warnock and Roz Stirling, the Presbyterian Church's Director of Youth and Children's Ministry. Praise will be led by the Ballysillan Praise Group.

Presbyterians Talk: Policing and Justice - Tuesday, 8th June 7.45pm

Norman Hamilton will host this event, chaired by Jim Fitzpatrick which will allow members of the audience to put their point of view on policing and justice to a panel including PSNI Deputy Chief Constable Judith Gillespie, the acting chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, Brian Rea, the Director of Probation Brian McCaughey and newly appointed Minister of Justice, David Ford.

Topics expected to be discussed include:

dealing with anti social behaviour
resourcing the policing service
possible improvements to the criminal justice system
the priority of policing in relation to other important services like health, education etc.

"While Policing and Justice is very important some may ask why should a Church General Assembly devote so much time to it," suggests Norman Hamilton. "I would argue that these are issues that affect every parish and person within our Church. Also as part of our Christian responsibility we undertake to uphold the authorities in prayer and in order to do that we must understand the issues and dilemas involved and face up to the realities involved."

Lunchtime worship - Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

If your evenings are not free but you would like the opportunity to join in worship with fellow Presbyterians during lunchtime then you are welcome in the Assembly Hall for the Communion Service on Tuesday (12 noon) or the devotions on Wednesday and Thursday (12.15pm).

The outgoing Moderator Dr. Stafford Carson will preach at the Communion Service while the worship on Wednesday and Thursday will be lead by the Moderator's Chaplains, Niall Lockhart and Mark Shaw.

Business

The business sessions during the day on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are when members debate reports from the various working Boards of the Assembly and take decisions on the future direction of their work and the policy of the Presbyterian Church.

The reports are contained in the Annual Reports or "blue book" running to over 300 pages with 17 main reports and approx 130 resolutions to be agreed.

If you want to know what your Church has done, is planning to do or thinks about a particular issue then the relevant debate is the opportunity to find that out.

Tuesday

Tuesday morning is taken up with welcoming delegates from other churches around the world, the most notable being the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, Rt. Rev. John Christie.

In the afternoon Christian Training will report on 52 students currently in training for the Presbyterian ministry and seek Assembly acceptance for a further 19, numbers that are described as "encouraging" while recognising the essential nature of a steady supply of ministers to fulfil forthcoming vacancies. The Board will also present reports on the effective development of leadership within congregations and how pastoral care within congregations could be further developed.

Mission planning has been the focus of congregations and presbyteries for the last two years and the Board of Mission in Ireland will report progress on this and also present a draft strategy for consideration by the whole Church over the next year on future mission development. "Mission development needs to be seen as a dynamic ongoing process to which we are always bending our minds rather than an exercise in mission planning to which we routinely return every five years.

Union Commission concludes Tuesday's business reporting the conclusions of its "Ministry, Finance and Mission" initiative which is attempting to find ways of using the Church's finite resources of people, buildings and finance to best effect. By resolution it will seek approval to continue to address this issue "recognising that for historical reasons there are more church buildings, congregations and charges than are required in the present circumstances and that the worship and mission of the Church are hindered by this".

Wednesday

The horizons of the Assembly are extended on Wednesday morning when Mission Overseas reports on its involvement with partner churches in 25 countries and the detailed work of nearly 50 overseas personnel. The Church will also be thanked for its enormous generosity to relief and development programmes with members having donated £823,000 to the Moderator's Appeal for Haiti following the earthquake and the £613,000 given to the annual World Development Appeal.

The report of the General Board will be heard either side of lunch. It will include a submission from the Doctrine Committee on how the Church should interpret the Westminster Confession statement that it is the "duty of Christians to marry only in the Lord". This has been requested in order to resolve confusion arising from a variety of interpretations and which has caused pastoral difficulties. The 12 page report agrees that while "the ideal is that Christians should marry Christians, life is not always so straightforward," and concludes that "a variety of interpretations can be held with integrity within PCI concerning what is meant by 'to marry in the Lord'".

Immediately following lunch the General Board's Panel on the Financial Crisis will report any further developments concerning the Presbyterian Mutual Society since the Special Assembly in April and seek Assembly agreement of its proposals for raising the £1m contribution to the Northern Ireland Executive's proposed "hardship" fund.

The vexed question of the retirement of elders will also be discussed under General Board business when a proposal will be made to change the code of the Church to include that "a ruling elder who has reached the age of 65, or in special circumstances, may retire from their duties in a congregation... ".

The rest of Wednesday afternoon is devoted to matters financial. The United Appeal Board which is responsible for managing the spending of the mission boards and raising the necessary money will report that the amount required for 2011 will be slightly reduced from 2010. Usually United Appeal increased annually by the cost of living but, "The Board, being painfully aware of the financial burdens faced by our denomination, carefully examined the budgets presented by the various receiving Boards. The result, after many hours of careful and prayerful deliberation agreed the 2011 Appeal at £3,190,000 a decrease of 3.62%".

In the last debate of the day the Board of Finance and Personnel will bring proposals for a more equitable salary scheme for ministers which would place more emphasis on years of service rather than size of congregation.

Thursday

Social Witness will be the main debate on Thursday morning. Much of this ministry is funded by the public sector and in the light of cutbacks the Assembly will be asked to call on central Government, the Health Trusts, the Probation Board and the Justice sector for continued adequate funding for this work which is provided by the Church in areas where statutory bodies provide little or no service.

As well as providing adequate funding the General Assembly will also be asked to continue its campaigning and lobbying of Government departments to ensure that vital and necessary health and welfare services are not simply cut to unacceptable and ineffective levels.

Lobbying of Government continues in one of the final debates of the Assembly on Education. Along with its fellow transferor churches, the Methodists and Church of Ireland, the Presbyterian Church has spent much time in discussion with the Minister of Education, the Department and political parties to ensure continued involvement in the governance of schools. All three Churches believe proposals made under the review of Public Administration break faith with their existing rights and disregard each denomination's longstanding commitment and contribution to educational eneterprise. A resolution already agreed by the Church of Ireland Synod and to be presented to the Methodist Church Conference will also be presented to the Assembly for agreement in support of the legal rights of the transferor churches to "appoint governors to those transferred schools and their successors and the right to membership of the regional ownership and decision making bodies for those schools and their successors."

Assembly Programme

The Assembly meets in Church House, Fisherwick Place, Belfast. All sessions are open to the public except the private session on Thursday afternoon. Business begins at 9.30am and continues until approx 5.30pm. Times shown below in brackets are approximate.

Monday 7 June: 7.00pm -- Opening Service of Worship and election of Moderator; The Assembly will be addressed by outgoing Moderator Dr. Stafford Carson and incoming Moderator Dr. Norman Hamilton

Tuesday 8 June: 10.00am -- Business Board; Reports of Presbyteries; (10.30) -- Reception of Corresponding Members and Delegates; Board of Communications; 12 noon -- Sacrament of the Lord's Supper; 2.00pm -- Presbyterian Women; (2.30) -- Board of Christian Training; 2010 Assembly Committee; (4.00) -- Board of Mission in Ireland; (5.00) -- Union Commission; 7.45pm -- Presbyterians Talk: Policing and Justice

Wednesday 9 June: 9.30am -- Board of Mission Overseas; (11.00) -- General Board
Priorities; Moderator's Advisory; Doctrine; Global Concerns; Church Relations; Recognised Ministries; Church and Society; 12.15pm -- Worship; 2.00pm -- General Board
Financial Crisis; Church Courts; Judicial Appeals; Pensions and Assements; Pastoral Care; Ministries; (4.00) -- United Appeal Board; (4.30) -- Board of Finance and Personnel; 7.45pm -- Evening Celebration

Thursday 10 June: In Private; 9.30am -- Judicial Commission; In Public; Commission on Trusts; Trustees; (11.00) -- Board of Social Witness; 12.15pm -- Worship; 2.00pm -- Board of Education; (5.00) -- Recognised Ministries; (3.00) -- Board of Youth and Children's Ministry; (4.00) -- Late and Lapsed Business; Worship and Close of Assembly

Please note that the times given above are approximate.