How does it work?

First, reports and recommendations come from the various arms of the General Assembly Council and the Office of the General Assembly.

The Office of the General Assembly, headed by the Stated Clerk, is the ecclesiastical arm of the church. The Stated Clerk and his staff work to ensure that the Presbyterian Church maintains itself as a church. The Office of the General Assembly carries out all constitutional, and most ecumenical functions at the General Assembly.

Mission programs are carried out by the General Assembly Council which supervises the work directed to be done by the General Assembly, and can make certain decisions on behalf of the Assembly. The General Assembly Council is organized into three mission areas; Congregational Ministries, National Ministries, and Worldwide Ministries.

Overtures from synods and presbyteries are the second source of General Assembly business. These governing bodies use Overtures to bring recommendations and matters of concern before the whole church.

Commissioners Resolutions are a third source of General Assembly business. As a commissioner one is entitled to sign two resolutions which will come before the whole assembly.

The meeting begins with an orientation on Saturday afternoon and that evening the plenary, or whole General Assembly, meets together to elect a Moderator from among the commissioners assembled.

The Moderator presides over the plenary meetings for the rest of the week.

Once a Moderator is elected, the assembly breaks up into assembly committees to consider particular kinds of business. Each committee is responsible for considering a number of items, and reporting back to the General Assembly on completed actions or their recommendations.

The combined insights of all those on assembly committees become the recommendations to the whole assembly. If they are approved, they guide the church in the years to come.