Commentary: How Many Presbyterians Does It Take?

LOUISVILLE—We may not know how many Presbyterians it takes to change a light bulb, although it is rumored to be six: one to change the bulb and five to complain about how much better the old bulb seemed. But apparently we do know how many Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly Council officials it takes to hold a biennial meeting of the General Assembly: 344.

That’s no joke. Exactly 344 elected members of entities, paid staff, guests, and others have been authorized to attend General Assembly this June in San Jose. Figure practically one General Assembly Council (GAC) staff member or appointed official for every day of the year, one for every degree on a compass. There will be approximately one GAC worker for every three commissioners and advisory delegates. Gideon conquered 135,000 Midianites with only 300 troops (Judges 7 and 8), which was 13 percent fewer than it takes for the GAC to stage and staff a General Assembly.

The numbers were approved April 24, the final day of the three-day General Assembly Council meeting in Louisville. No one batted an eye at this large, expensive contingent. In fact, when the numbers were first floated at the GAC Executive Committee meeting, the GAC leaders were told this figure is actually down a little from previous years.

344 Expenses
It costs big money to get 344 workers and guests to General Assembly, house them, and feed them.

Get your pencils out, and let’s run some rough estimates. San Jose is two flights and three time zones away from Louisville, from which many will fly, although others will converge on California from all around the country. With some good fare shopping, maybe the 344 tickets and ground transportation can average $350 per person. That’s about $120,000.

Everyone will need a bed. Let’s say people share rooms at about $50 per person per night. Figure eight nights, so add another $138,000 or so.

All 344 will need to eat. Per diem for a Presbyterian committee meeting in Minneapolis recently was $64, and the Office of General Assembly has been warning that expenses in San Jose are on the high side, compared to other recent General Assembly venues. Since some will return some of their excess, let’s figure $60 per day for 9 days. That tacks on another $186,000.

All these expenses total to $444,000 for the 344-person head count. That’s nearly $1,300 for every one of those 344 craniums. Or another way of looking at it is that every presbytery is covering the cost of roughly two of these people, to the tune of nearly $2,600 per presbytery.

344 People Doing What?
So how does GAC keep 344 people busy for nine days or so? The rationale given for each person’s attendance is divided into five categories:

• Award/Event: These people are invited to give or receive an award or are needed at some particular event. There are 68 people in this category.
• GA Support:These folks make General Assembly work, often from behind the scenes: 47 people.
• Exhibit:There is an exhibition hall, and people are needed to staff booths and operate the hall: 48 people.
• Corresponding Members:Some dignitaries such as recent General Assembly moderators, seminary presidents, and ecumenical representatives are brought in at GAC expense: 21 people.
• Committee Work: This is an important group to keep in mind. The workers who fall under “committee work” are often the ones designated as “resource persons.” They are supposed to be experts who supply, upon committee request, background information to help the commissioners better understand the matters before them. They are not supposed to be advocates for or against particular overtures or resolutions. But, in practice, many of these “resource persons” do function as advocates for the interests and ideologies of their own agencies. They make presentations that amount to a sales job in favor of the measures that their agencies favor. And when faced with resolutions or amendments that their agencies oppose, they tend to offer derogatory information that undercuts those proposals.

  Of course, there will be other advocates in the General Assembly committees. Various affinity groups will have teams on hand in San Jose to offer information and arguments for or against particular items of business. Frequently (but, thankfully, not always) the renewal advocates and the GAC “resource people” will be rivals on opposite sides of an issue.
  
  The problem is that the GAC advocates enjoy special privileges that the renewal advocates lack. The GAC advocates operate deep within the official functioning of the committees; the renewal advocates are labeled as “outside special interests” that the commissioners are advised to avoid. The GAC advocates have the privilege of the floor throughout committee deliberations; the renewal advocates are given only two or three minutes to speak during open hearings early in the process. The GAC advocates attend General Assembly at the expense of all Presbyterians; renewal advocates must pay their own way and yet enjoy none of the official entrée and privileged status of the GAC folks.

  Thus, those who oppose abortion, for instance, must help share the costs for a horde of GAC-sanctioned advocates promoting abortion, and then the pro-life folks turn around and foot their own costs for counter-advocacy. Renewalists get to pay for themselves and help pay for seemingly ubiquitous counterparts, which hardly seems fair.

  How many people fall into this GAC committee-work category? 160 people.

Representing Whom?
So, then, who are the big senders of workers into the ideological fray in General Assembly committees? Which entities have a big stake in the issues and get to do their promotion from the inside on our communal dime? The GAC chart indicates the top senders, and it takes no time to figure out the issues that will be pushed by the large contingents of workers. The top-five sending groups are fielding teams of 16 to 41 members to engage in committee work.

• Racial Ethnic and Women’s Ministries: 51 total; 41 to committees. This is a horde! Anyone wanting to advocate for pro-life issues or in opposition to radical feminism or other related issues will run into a stacked deck, with an abundance of well-placed activists lined up in opposition. In some years past, some participants from such groups have even disrupted plenary sessions with demonstrations.
• Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy: 24 total; 22 to committees.The paid ACSWP staff numbers three, and the committee adds only 12 more, so perhaps half of the people in this head count must be imported friends and consultants. With eight reports dispensing liberal advice on topics from alleged global warming to waging pacifism in Iraq to housing most anybody stateside at government expense, this committee will have a lot of places to deploy its many bodies.
•  Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns: 18 total; 17 to committees.All issues regarding people of color will be covered by this large contingent, including the issues of voting rights and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
• World Mission: 50 total; 16 to committees.A large number—32—of the total will be at General Assembly to give or receive recognition for mission service. The 16 assigned to committees will likely deal with such topics as mission funding and international issues, including Israel-Palestine tensions.
• Compassion, Peace, and Justice: 35 total; 16 to committees. This further large group of activists will likely be found intertwined with the 22 from ACSWP as members advocate for social-activism causes such as peacemaking, hunger, and other self-proclaimed “prophetic” causes. Benign-sounding ministries such as peacemaking have often been claimed by rather radical ideology.

Hold On to Your Hat—There’s More!
For those who think sending 344 GAC bodies to San Jose—with their attendant costs and advocacy activities—seems a touch excessive, the following news will not be welcome. The 344 number is for only the General Assembly Council side of the Presbyterian staff structure. From the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) will come yet more General Assembly staff workers.

How many more from OGA? Would you believe 49 more heads and beds? At an estimated cost of $1,300 per person, that adds an additional $64,000 in expenses to operate General Assembly. Many of the OGA persons will be serving in support roles, such as sound and computers, rather than in issues advocacy. But no doubt some rulings and opinions will be proffered by those in charge, some of which will likely be unpalatable to evangelical tastes.

Adding GAC and OGA team members, Presbyterian officialdom will have 393 representatives in San Jose, costing an estimated $508,000.

Lest we forget, the GAC and OGA are not the only General Assembly entities. Such other entities as The Presbyterian Foundation, Board of Pensions , and the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation will also be fielding denominationally supported teams of staff and other representatives in San Jose. Surely they add several score more heads—and perhaps another $100,000 or more—to our count.

If evangelical and renewal volunteers feel a little overwhelmed at times by the the size, funding, and inside placement of contrary ideology, perhaps this accounting gives some factual basis for an impression of massed resistance.

General Assembly is not a level playing field. It is structured with an immense built-in advantage for the plans and ideology of the present administration. In spite of that, however, the Lord has frequently and abundantly blessed the faithful work of the outnumbered and underfunded renewal groups. No, it is not a level playing field at General Assembly. Our Sovereign God always retains the upper hand.