Thursday, July 8, 2010

Report of Committee 7

The second major issue that the 219th GA faced was the report of Committee 7, the Form of Government Revision, which came to the floor after supper on Wednesday. As many of you know, I've been part of the Form of Government Task Force, formed in 2006 and renewed in 2008, that has drafted the proposal to the 2010 Assembly. That task force has created two new documents, the Foundations of Presbyterian Polity and a new, shorter Form of Government. Since I was instrumental in the process of writing both, I can't claim a disinterested perspective on this.

I thought the debate was lively, although not as lively as things are likely to become on other issues. The main discussion came when a motion to receive the report of the Task Force was offered as a substitute motion to the committee's recommendation to adopt and send it to the presbyteries. Motions to receive a document or report are assembly-speak for "kill this before it multiplies," so I did not regard this substitute as a helpful action.

In dealing with substitute motions, a deliberative body essentially lays them alongside each other, asks for amendments to "perfect" the original (or "main") motion and the substitute, and then votes whether the substitute will become the main motion. Committee 7 had already amended the document in more than 30 places (most of them very wise and helpful), but there were several more (in my opinion, less helpful) amendments proposed as part of the "perfecting" process. None of these latter proposals were adopted, so that, in the end, the Assembly had a choice to adopt the proposed Form (the main motion) or dispense with it (the substitute). The vote was was quite clearly in favor of the main motion.

As a final step, then, the Assembly had to vote to adopt the proposed Foundations and Form and send them to the presbyteries for affirmative or negative vote. There was additional pro and con debate on the motion, but in the end the Assembly voted 464 in favor of adopting and sending the proposal, 204 against, and with 5 abstentions. From my perspective, the vote represents a clear affirmation of our work and a call for chage in the style of our polity.

Our presbytery will discuss this proposal at our winter stated meeting in February, 2011. We will also try to have some informational gatherings about it and other items arising from the Assembly during the fall, so watch for the announcements More later.

1 comment:

  1. I guess congratulations are in order to you and your colleagues on the committee. Thanks for the posts Paul.
    Parrish

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