Photo by Jonathan Cosens Photography on Unsplash
Greetings,
The Presbyterian Church (USA) held its biennial national meeting, the 2022 225th General Assembly (GA). Pre-COVID the GA of course, met in-person. This year was the first ever hybrid meeting. There were 17 committees assembled for the GA from around the country that met from June 18-July 9, 2022. The committees all met in Louisville, KY at the PCUSA National Office over a three-week period and accomplished their deliberations on the items of business assigned to each committee. The plenary sessions, where the entire national church representation voted on the recommendations from all 17 assembled committees, were all held by Zoom.
I was elected as a commissioner to the GA from the Presbytery of Lake Michigan, which constitutes 61 churches, and it was my great privilege to serve as the moderator of the Race and Gender Justice Committee (RGJ).
One of the most moving and important items of business was RGJ-08 The Apology to African Americans for the Sin of Slavery and Its Legacy. This item was approved by the assembly on Wednesday, July 6, 2022, with 373 yes votes and 19 no votes. After the Apology passed, the 225th GA co-moderators invited white Christians wherever they were to read the litany of repentance spelled out in RGJ-08, and for African Americans, other people of color and individuals from Native communities to receive the words.
I will be traveling to Spring Lake, Michigan to again receive the reading of the Apology, The Litany of Repentance, at the quarterly Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of Lake Michigan. The meeting will be held Saturday, September 17, 2022, at 9:30 AM ET, at the Spring Lake Presbyterian Church.
If you would be interested in hearing a long overdue apology for slavery from an established body, I invite you to accompany me to this meeting to receive the reading of the apology from the PCUSA. Call or email me if you think you would be interested!
My best regards,
Willye Bryan
entpeople@yahoo.com
Recent Comments