The Covenant Network of Presbyterians will be in St. Louis, June 15-23, and we hope you will be too! We have lots of opportunities for volunteers … from helping us keep an eye on committees to sharing information in our exhibit hall booth. We’d love to have you as a guest at our events (see below). And of course, we can also use your support to help pay for all that, including meals with commissioners and advisory delegates, meeting space and hotel rooms, and our communications efforts to spread the word about our stands for inclusion and justice. If you can be there and would like to volunteer, let us know. To make a contribution, click here (and if you’re able to give $100 or more, a generous donor will match your gift dollar-for-dollar throughout the month of June!).

Commissioner & Delegate Convocation

Join us Friday, June 15, at 8 p.m. at the Marriott Grand’s Crystal Ballroom. For the first time, we’re holding this event jointly with the More Light Presbyterians, inviting all commissioners and advisory delegates to a time of sharing in fellowship, meeting the candidates for Moderator, and hearing about our priorities and hopes for the Assembly. Come one, come all!

Covenant Network Luncheon

Then, come to our annual lunch on Monday, June 18, at 12 noon in the Landmark Ballroom at the Marriott Grand. We’ll celebrate 20 years of faithful witness and share our hopes for continued progress in the church! Purchase a ticket at GA Registration or contact our office.

General Assembly Business

Since its founding, the Covenant Network has worked to advance an agenda that celebrates and affirms LGBTQ people and works for transformation in church and society. To that end, we’ve identified several priorities for this General Assembly, listed below with their item numbers (as found on pc-biz.org).

We will vigorously seek affirmation and justice for LGBTQ people in church and society. We are supporting overtures celebrating the gifts of LGBTQ+ people (Item 11-13) and affirming the dignity and humanity of people of all gender identities (11-12). We will also support efforts to reclaim the church’s historic understanding of religious liberty (11-04 and 11-15). We will also discourage any authoritative interpretation that might suggest marriages for same-sex couples are somehow less worthy of celebration in the church (06-23). Read more here and here.

We will maintain our long support for the use and understanding of the Confession of Belhar. We will advocate for the development of a “U.S. accompanying letter” to the Confession (14-01).

We will support efforts to promote racial equity and inclusion in the PCUSA. These include creating an office of translation and interpretation (04-02), requiring race audits of GA agencies (04-07), declaring a “decade of intercultural transformation” and making various efforts to combat racism (11-11).

We will work for procedure and polity that promotes access, fairness and unity. We will oppose proposed standing rule amendments that would reduce the ability of overture advocates to speak (03-19). We oppose constitutional changes making it more difficult to amend the Book of Order (06-06) or undermining the protection of congregational property held in trust for the whole denomination (06-01).

We hope to see you at General Assembly! If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to be in touch.