The 226th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is underway! Committee meetings were held June 25-27 via Zoom, and commissioners, advisory delegates, and other participants are gathering to work in plenary session in Salt Lake City from June 29-July 4.

On Sunday, June 30, the Assembly elected the Revs. CeCe Armstrong and Tony Larson, two pastors from South Carolina, as its Co-Moderators. They will preside over the meetings of the Assembly and be ambassadors in the broader church and world over the next two years.

The Assembly has also elected the Rev. Jihyun Oh, a minister member of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta, as the next Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). She will officially begin her four-year term on August 1.

As the Assembly continues, you can follow the proceedings of the General Assembly by visiting the GA website at www.ga-pcusa.org. There you will find livestreams of all General Assembly meetings, the schedule and docket for those meetings, reports on Assembly actions, links to Assembly business, and more. A full summary of actions of the Assembly to share with your congregation will also be available there in mid-July.

Please be in particular prayer for the Presbytery’s commissioners and advisory delegates to the General Assembly:

• Ruling Elder John Fountain (Conyers)
• Ruling Elder Brenda Gales (Church of the Resurrection)
• Ruling Elder Allie Hay (Covington First)
• Ruling Elder BJ Steele (Norcross)
• Teaching Elder Jasmine Evans (North Avenue)
• Teaching Elder Tully Fletcher (Decatur)
• Teaching Elder David Lewicki (North Decatur)
• Teaching Elder Alex Rodgers (Timberridge)
• Young Adult Advisory Delegate Isabelle Adams (UKirk Atlanta)
• Theological Student Advisory Delegate Ximena Leroux (Columbia Theological Seminary)

A number of other persons from the Presbytery are participating in the work of the Assembly as elected members of General Assembly-level committees, resource persons, and volunteers. If you have questions or need additional information about the General Assembly, please contact Stated Clerk Andy James at cajames@atlpcusa.org.

Summer Stated Meeting of the Presbytery

by C. Anderson James, Stated Clerk

The Summer Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta will be held on Tuesday, August 6, beginning at 9:00am. Presbyters may participate in the meeting either in-person at Radcliffe Presbyterian Church or via Zoom. This message contains many important details about the meeting—please read it carefully. Whether you plan to participate in-person or on Zoom, registration for the meeting is required by the deadline of noon on Monday, August 5. Pastors, please share it with your clerk of session and elected ruling elder commissioners.

Our theme for 2024 is Finding Meaning, Inside and Out. At this meeting, we will be exploring the virtues of love and courage that mark thriving congregations. Our preacher for the day will be the Rev. Jihyun Oh, the new Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and a member of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta.

In our business at this meeting, we will hear reports from our commissioners to the 226th General Assembly this summer, examine persons for service in the church, receive an update on the work of the Presbytery’s Council and other entities toward a sustainable budget, and learn about a proposed update to the Presbytery’s Manual of Operations.

The commissioner handbook with the full business for the meeting will be available on the Presbytery website by Tuesday, July 23.

Registration is required by noon on Monday, August 5, so that our in-person hosts at Radcliffe can be ready to welcome us and our staff and volunteers can prepare the Zoom meeting for all who will be attending. You will receive a confirmation email once your registration has been reviewed and approved. All registered participants will receive a Zoom link in case there is a need to move to participate via Zoom.

Pastors and clerks of session, please share this information with your ruling elder commissioners now so that they can register by the August 5 deadline.

If you have any questions about the meeting, contact Stated Clerk Andy James at cajames@atlpcusa.org. We look forward to seeing you on August 6!

Presbytery Night at Atlanta United

by C. Anderson James, Stated Clerk

Attention Clerks of Session: Additional Opportunity for Session Records Review

News from the Nominating Committee

by Debra Durden, co-chair, Nominating Committee

The Presbytery Nominating Committee invites all who may be interested in serving on a committee or commission of the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta to complete and submit a Volunteer Interest Form (VIF). Please review the full descriptions of committees and commissions found at www.atlpcusa.org/committees and complete and submit the electronic VIF, also found on the website. This will allow the Presbytery Nominating Committee to know of your interests, talents, and skills.

Terms of service on committees and commissions of the presbytery are ordinarily three years, with the upcoming class beginning January 2025 and ending December 2027. Committees and commissions work on a wide range of issues pertaining to the mission of the church and the operations of the presbytery. Some committees/commissions require members to be ordained elders while others do not. All committees offer training, so don’t worry if you have never served at the presbytery level before!

The Nominating Committee will work in August and September to nominate persons for the Class of 2027 and to fill any vacancies that have occurred in the past six months. As it selects nominees, the Nominating Committee seeks to represent the demographic makeup of the presbytery in all committees and commissions, as well as to provide the skills needed by the various committees/commissions to do their work effectively. Please prayerfully consider lending your skills and talents to the work of the presbytery. Complete the VIF today!

Ordination of Morgan Burge

Sunday, July 28, 4:00pm

Roswell Presbyterian Church

755 Mimosa Blvd, Roswell, GA



Join us as we celebrate the Ordination of Morgan Burge as Associate Pastor for Member Engagement and Digital Ministries at Roswell Presbyterian Church. The ordination service will take place at Roswell Presbyterian Church on Sunday, July 28, at 4 PM (ET).

An offering will be received to benefit the Inquirer/Candidate Scholarship Fund of the presbytery.

Columbia Theological Seminary Professor Dr. Mark Douglas has been named the new J. Erskine Love Chair of Christian Ethics by the seminary’s Board of Trustees.

“The appointment of Dr. Mark Douglas as the J. Erskine Love Professor of Christian Ethics is a recognition and celebration of his distinguished service to Columbia, the academy, the Church, and wider publics during his twenty-five years as a member of Columbia’s faculty,” said Dr. Christine Roy Yoder, senior vice president and dean of faculty at Columbia. “The appointment is also an exciting next step in Columbia’s longstanding commitment to excellence in forming Christian leaders who are skilled ethicists. We honor Dr. Douglas and look forward with gratitude and anticipation to his leadership in this new role.” Click here to read the full article.

2024 Churchwide Gathering of Presbyterian Women

August 8-11, 2024

St. Louis, Missouri

Presbyterian Women’s 2024 Churchwide Gathering will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, August 8–11, 2024. Save these dates, share these dates and plan to join Presbyterian Women from around the country on these dates!

The 2024 PW Gathering will be an exciting, faith-filled time to renew our connections within and across PW groups from across the country. Join us to be invigorated, equipped for your PW life, welcomed into community by hundreds of other PWs, and empowered to “Do everything in love.” Click here for information and registration.

Click here to read Peace and Global Witness partnership's latest newsletter.

For an archive of New Church Development Commission newsletters and/or to sign up for upcoming NCDC communications, click here.

Prayer Box

Each month we are taking the time to pray for our churches and new worshiping communities throughout the year. Please take a moment each week to lift up the following communities in prayer:

7/7 - Jonesboro, Kairos, *On The Way Church

7/14 - Kelley, Korean Central, *Ormewood

7/21 - Korean Community, LaGrange, *Jesus Harvest Ministries

7/28 - Lawrenceville, Loyd, *Rize Community Church

*Denotes New Worshiping Communities

Communications, such as this one, are supported by your giving to the presbytery. Thank you for your support.