This article appears on Presbyterian Outlook with the permission of the Presbyterian News Service. The Outlook has a paywall to help fund our independent journalism. If our paywall prevents you from reading the full story, you can read freely at pcusa.org/news.
Six items of business and one report await members of the Ecumenical and Interfaith Partnerships Committee meeting online June 25-27 during the 226th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
ECU-01 reflects the nominations by the General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations (GACEIR) for approval by the 226th GA to receive invitations to the 227th GA in 2026. Ten overseas churches and five churches from within the United States are recommended. The Advocacy Committee for Women and Gender Justice and the LGBTQIA+ Equity Advocacy Committee recommend removing the U.S. Conference of Bishops from the list of organizations invited to the 227th GA.
ECU-03 is a recommendation by GACEIR to receive and review the report on Churches Uniting in Christ, continue PC(USA) participation in Churches Uniting in Christ in the U.S.A., and encourage a greater awareness of and participation with CUIC within the PC(USA).
ECU-04 is a review of the Christian Churches Together report for 2024; a recommendation for continued participation in Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A.; a recommendation to encourage CCT to continue supporting greater African American communion involvement; a recommendation that the PC(USA) be directed to walk with the CCT, learning from and contributing to CCT’s mission statement: “Christian Churches Together brings together the diversity of churches and organizations in the U.S. to foster loving relationships, cultivate theological learning, and discern, through consensus, how we bear witness to the reconciling power of Jesus”; and a request to the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA) to communicate these recommendations and report to CCT and its member organizations.
ECU-05 includes a recommendation for commissioners to approve the final report of the third round of the Episcopal Presbyterian dialogue. It also seeks a fourth round of the bilateral dialogue from 2024-2030 to, among other things, “explore what is needed to lead to full reconciliation of ordered ministries, including the implications to our global ecumenical relationships.”
ECU-06 concerns the Global Covenant Agreement Response. Among other things, GACEIR wants the Office of Ecumenical & Interreligious Relations to work with the team of intercultural associates in Racial Equity & Women’s Intercultural Ministries “on education for presbyteries on ecumenical hospitality” to encourage and support shared ministry.
ECU-07 is a response to a recommendation directing GACEIR to distribute the “Statement Denouncing Antisemitism and Islamophobia” document. GACEIR requests a new study document that “is written by a committee that centers, and not just includes, Arab and Middle Eastern Christian voices” and “uses more precision in language” including the terms “anti-Jewish” and “anti-Muslim” “when that is the intended term. Using ‘Semite’ or ‘anti-Semitic’ without including all groups that fall under this category erases Arab Christians from the narrative.” The request calls for approving a multi-year study “that incorporates the lived experience of multiple parties from the region” and widening the group of people contributing to the work, “that we might avoid ignoring or erasing anyone’s lived experience and identity.”
In addition, the committee will discuss the report of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, which is item ECU-INFO-01.
Committees of the 226th General Assembly meet online June 25-27. In-person plenaries are set for the Salt Palace Convention Center June 30 through July 4. More information is here.