THIRTY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY

June 10, 2003

31-1  Assembly Called to Order and Opening Worship

            The Thirty-First General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America gathered for the opening worship service at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, June 10, 2003 in Ballrooms A-D of the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

[Here will be inserted the printed order of worship]

            Following worship, the Assembly recessed for 5 minutes at 9:20 PM.

31-2 Declaration of Quorum and Enrollment

Moderator TE Ryan reconvened the Assembly for business at 9:25 PM with prayer by TE David Sinclair.

The Moderator declared a quorum present with 948TEs and 435 REs.

            [Here will be inserted the complete roll]

31-3    Adoption of the Docket

The second draft of the docket was presented, with the addition of the word “Magazine,” before “Corporate Structure” on Thursday at 10:30 AM.  The following motion was offered:

WHEREAS, the PCA is faced with one of the most serious decisions in its history, and

WHEREAS, we need to seek the Lord’s face in order to know His will in this matter;

I MOVE that the Assembly set as the first order of its business the Wednesday morning session as a time of prayer and fasting by all members of the Assembly.  This season of prayer is to conclude with the worship service scheduled at 11:15 AM.  Prayers may be offered in the privacy of the member’s rooms, or in small groups in the various rooms assigned to Assembly Committees, or in the Assembly hall.  No other business is to be conducted by the Assembly or its committees and the display area shall be closed.  The scheduled business of the Assembly shall begin at 1:30 PM and continue with the necessary adjustments to the docket.

A substitute for the motion was offered “to allow for a period of prayer for the overture dealing with subscription from 8:00 AM-10:00 AM on Wednesday morning”.  The substitute was adopted, then adopted as the main motion.

A motion was made to allow for a partial report of Committee on Review of Presbytery Records to deal with the response from South Florida Presbytery at 10 AM on Wednesday June 11.  An amendment was adopted “to place this matter immediately following the action taken on Good Faith subscription on Wednesday”, and the amended motion was adopted.

An amendment was adopted “to allow five minutes for a partial report of the Nominating Committee following the report of the CoC on InterChurch Relations that is scheduled for 9:45 AM tomorrow.”

The docket was adopted as amended.

31-4  Election of Moderator

            The Moderator opened the floor for nominations for Moderator of the 31th General Assembly.  TE Rob Rayburn placed in nomination RE Joel Belz.  On motion, RE Belz was elected Moderator by acclamation.

            The Chairman of the Administrative Committee, RE Ed Hackenberg, presented to the retiring Moderator a plaque in token of the Assembly’s appreciation for his year of service as Moderator.  Moderator Belz thanked the Assembly for his election and addressed the Assembly.

31-5  Election of Recording and Assistant Clerks

            On nomination by the Stated Clerk, TEs David Dively, J. Robert Fiol, and Steven Meyerhoff were elected recording clerks; RE William Stanway was appointed timekeeper; Frank M. Barker III and Jesse Reagan were appointed Sound Engineers; Dale Carroll was appointed A-V Engineer; TE James A. Smith was appointed Chairman of the floor clerks and RE Ric Springer Vice Chairman; Steve Lawton was appointed Photographer; Jeff Bone was appointed Webstreaming Engineer; Bryan Davis was appointed Webmaster; Dr. Larry Roff was appointed Assembly Organist; Mr. Bill Lloyd was appointed Network Manager; and RE Dr. Cub Culbertson was appointed On-Site Physician.

The Moderator appointed RE Howard Donahoe and RE Sam Duncan as assistant parliamentarians.

31-6    Constitutional Inquiry #1 from TE Randy Wilding

TE Randy Wilding proposed the following Constitutional Inquiry, which was received and referred to the Constitutional Business Committee to report back to the Thirty-First Assembly:

1.      May another presbytery remove the censure of suspension from the sacraments with regard to a deposed TE without permission of the presbytery that imposed the original censure?

2.      May another presbytery remove the censure of deposition from the office of TE of a deposed TE without the permission of the presbytery that imposed the original censure?

3.      If another presbytery removes the censure of suspension from the sacraments with regard to a deposed TE without the permission of the presbytery that imposed the original censure, what recourse does the presbytery of original jurisdiction have in this case?

4.      If another presbytery removes the censure of deposition from the office of TE of a deposed TE without the permission of the presbytery that imposed the original censure, what recourse does the presbytery of original jurisdiction have in this case?

31-7    Announcements

The Stated Clerk made several announcements, among which included announcements that every person on the premises is asked to wear a printed nametag at all times and that voting cards will not be reissued.  Also, the Stated Clerk’s office and the Exhibits will be closed during Worship Services.

TE John Robertson, PCA Business Administrator, announced that the Exhibit Hall would be closed during the season of prayer tomorrow morning.  He also made an announcement concerning the new PCA magazine, “ PCA byFaith”.

31-8    Recess

The Assembly recessed in prayer at 10:23 PM with prayer by TE Larry Hoop to reconvene at 10:00 AM Wednesday morning.