We’re happy to welcome Gregg Brekke to our news coverage team for this year’s 225th General Assembly. Brekke, who is dually ordained in the PC(USA) and the United Church of Christ, is the former editor of Presbyterian News Service and currently works as a contract communicator with faith-based publishers, denominational agencies and internationally with several relief and development organizations.
Brekke brings his experience from nearly a decade of covering PC(USA) General Assemblies along with lessons learned in a similar role as news director at the United Church of Christ to the Outlook team as we coordinate coverage of this year’s unique General Assembly format and extended timeline.
He will co-manage the planning of daily GA225 coverage and news workflow with the Outlook’s editor Teri McDowell Ott and provide backup for our talented staff of writers, editors and social media experts.
Although the hybrid nature of the assembly doesn’t allow for the types of access and open plenary hearings that we were accustomed to in pre-pandemic gatherings, we hope to use imagery, video and audio interviews in addition to gavel-to-gavel news coverage to bring you as close as possible to the event as it unfolds. To that end, Brekke, staff reporter Leslie Scanlon, and a small rotating group of Outlook reporters will be on-site for the entirety of GA225 with unrestricted access to assembly coordinating spaces, committee meetings, breakout gatherings and plenary sessions.
“I’m excited to be part of the Outlook’s General Assembly coverage this year,” said Brekke. “In my previous roles reporting alongside the Presbyterian Outlook and its staff, it was always a pleasure to see the care they took in presenting news and information from the denomination, and the analysis afforded to them by their independent nature. While GA225 is going to held in an unconventional manner, we’ll hope to provide the same level of excellence as in past, in-person, assemblies.”
Outlook staff reporter Leslie Scanlon will be joined by Greg Allen-Pickett, Eric Lederman, Steve Salyards, Jerry Van Marter and Beth Waltermath in covering news from the assembly’s committees and plenaries. Other staff and volunteers will provide social media and visual perspectives of the event. And still another group of guest bloggers will look at the implications of General Assembly actions on the life of the church, especially for Presbyterians who worship, volunteer and give to the mission of the church.
We appreciate your support as we look to present information from this new assembly format with a fresh perspective and understanding of the complexities the hybrid assembly will present. We’ll continue our tradition of excellence while approaching the challenges the church will address in the days and years to come.
