General Assembly Proposed Amendments to the Book of Order
Following every General Assembly, there are proposed amendments to the Book of Order which require the approval by a majority of presbyteries. Because the pandemic limited the business of the 2020 General Assembly, there are many more proposed amendments than usual. The Presbytery has voted on some of the amendments at the November and January meetings.
Highlands Presbytery will be continuing to vote on these in March, and May, to meet the July 2023 deadline by which presbyteries have to report.
Below are the proposed Amendments for the March Presbytery meeting:
Proposed Amendments to the Book of Order 2023
Proposed Amendments before the May Presbytery Meeting
Frequently Asked Questions About Voting on General Assembly Amendments
Because of the Pandemic it has been many years since any presbytery has had to vote on Amendments to the Book of Order. Here are some questions you might ask as we prepare for voting.
How Do I Ask Questions or Request Permission to Speak or for Debate?
If you are an elected commissioner to this meeting, please use the “Raise Hand” function on Zoom
Depending on your device, look for
1. The “Reactions” button or “More” with three dots,
2. and then select “Raise Hand.”
How Do I share my comments or join in the debate about the amendment?
If you are an elected commissioner to this meeting, your opportunity to debate will be limited to two minutes per person, alternating between those for the amendment and those against. This may require some technological jockeying, so please be patient. No one may speak twice until everyone who wishes to speak has been able to do so once.
How Do I Vote?
If you are an elected commissioner to this meeting, you will be able to vote through the Poll function on Zoom. At the appropriate time, a poll will appear on your screen, even if you are not eligible to vote. We operate on a Honor Code: please do not vote unless you are a Minister member or a Ruling Elder elected by your session for the presbytery meeting. Quickly respond to the poll. There will be poll for each of the amendments.
When your are reviewing the amendments you see that there are places where advisory bodies (like the Advisory Committee on the Constitution) within the PC(USA) will recommend disapproval of the proposed amendment. If that advisory opinion goes on to say that the General Assembly voted to amend the proposal to meet the concerns, the advisory opinion is no longer opposed to the action.
There are times, however, when the advisory opinion is to disapprove the proposal, and no changes were made to address that concern. In such cases, it will be noted that an advisory opinion recommends disapproval.
