General Assembly Relationships Committee will consider a slew of recommendations from the Unification Commission

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Nine items of business and a slate of reports await discernment by the General Assembly Relationships Committee during the 227^th General Assembly.

Online committee work is scheduled for June 22-24.

Leadership for the General Assembly Relationships Committee includes the Rev. Ruth Faith Santana-Grace of Philadelphia Presbytery as the moderator and the Rev. Brent Sheffer O’Neill of New Castle Presbytery as the vice-moderator.

Among the committee’s items of business:

• GAR-02, “On Reinstating the Immigration Attorney Position,” from the Synod of the Northeast, which would direct Presbyterian Life & Witness to reinstate the position of staff attorney for immigration, filled by a licensed immigration attorney. It directs PL&W to provide “additional programmatic funds necessary to carry out this ministry on behalf of the whole denomination” and ensure the continuity of this position “regardless of future reorganization.”
• Reports by the General Assembly Agency Review Committee on the Board of Pensions (GAR-03) and the Presbyterian Foundation and Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program (GAR-04).
• GAR-05, the recommendation for the new Organization for Mission from the Unification Commission. The OFM “provides for the governance of PL&W as well as charting the course for work between assemblies,” the report states. 
• GAR-06, the UC’s recommendation for a new introduction to the Manual of the General Assembly. The manual includes the Organization for Mission, Standing Rules and Appendices. “Taken together,” the item states, “these sections provide a practical expression to the theological commitments we share.” The Advocacy Committee on LGBTQIA+ Equity proposes an amendment adding in part, “We believe that the Holy Spirit speaks when every voice is heard, ensuring that everyone has a voice, and that those traditionally silenced by power structures are essential to the discernment and function of the entire body of Christ.”
• Sponsored by the Unification Commission, GAR-07 is the recommendation for the institutional relationship between Presbyterian Women and the PC(USA).
• GAR-08 is the recommendation for the revised PILP deliverance.
• GAR-09 is the referral of the report on ECU-05 from the 226^th General Assembly (2024), the Episcopal Presbyterian Dialogue. The General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations recommends appointments to represent the PC(USA) in the fourth round of dialogue with the Episcopal Church, set for 2026-2032. 
• The authorization of a bilateral dialogue between the PC(USA) and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is the subject of GAR-10. The initial round of dialogue will explore establishing a full communion relationship, including collaborating at local, regional and national levels in mission and ministry and intentionally inviting mutual participation in governance and other activities of the churches.

Among the committee’s items of information is the report of Churches Uniting in Christ, the Christian Churches Together report, the summary agency report of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation, and minutes of the General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations from 2024 and 2025 and minutes of the PPC for 2024-25.

By Mike Ferguson, Presbyterian News Service