Louisville, Kentucky — The Bills and Overtures Committee of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly 225 met Sunday evening to review eight commissioner resolutions received by the deadline and to approve two other items of committee business. The committee’s time together began with a closed session lasting 30 minutes for community building among the members of the committee.
The business portion began with committee moderator Cristi Scott Ligon (TEC, Middle Tennessee) recognizing J. Herbert Nelson, the stated clerk of the General Assembly. After bringing greetings he turned it over to Kerry Rice, deputy stated clerk, to discuss the requirements and restrictions on commissioner resolutions. Rice brought the advice, after reviewing the resolutions and consulting with others in the stated clerk’s office and the staff of various committees, that all the commissioner resolutions were appropriate. He further recommended appropriate committees to which the resolutions could be referred.
As most of the commissioner resolutions had not yet been translated, members of the committee took turns reading the resolutions so those on the committee that required translation could hear the resolutions through simultaneous translation.
There was no further discussion after the resolutions had been read and the Bills and Overtures committee unanimously recommended the commissioner resolutions be referred to the following committees:
- Race and Gender Justice Committee – On Violence and Hate Against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
- Ecumenical Relations Committee – On Solidarity with Palestinian Christians
- International Engagement Committee – On the Russian Military Invasion of Ukraine
- Health, Safety and Benefits Committee – On Addressing Mental Health Challenges at Every Level of the Church and On Reproductive Justice
- General Assembly Policies and Procedures Committee – Updating the Memorandum of Agreement between the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the Board of Pensions
- Addressing Violence in the USA Committee – Divesting from Gun Manufacturers
- Mid Councils Committee – Honoring Non-Ordained Presbyterians at General Assembly
The Bills and Overtures Committee then approved enabling motions to allow some of the work to be done by subcommittees. This included a subcommittee to review the assembly minutes, another to review dissents and protests, and authorizing the committee moderator and vice-moderator to make the recommendations to the assembly during plenary sessions to adjust the docket and limit debates. There was also an enabling motion allowing the moderator and vice-moderator to make consultations required by the standing rules when a committee was recommending the creation of a special committee or commission.
It is also the responsibility of Bills and Overtures to approve any outside material to be distributed to the commissioners and advisory delegates and the committee approved the distribution of prayer cards prepared by the committee handling worship during the assembly.
The commissioner resolutions have now been added to the PC-Biz agenda items of the respective committees and they will be considered as the committees meet over the next two weeks.
