The Assembly Council decided next year’s General Assembly should begin on a Friday and end on a Monday, making the annual meeting of the church’s highest court more accessible to full-time working elders.
Currently assemblies begin on a Sunday evening and end on a Thursday, meaning commissioners who work on weekdays must take off at least four days to attend.
The recommendation comes as part of a larger report to this year’s assembly. The Days and Design committee plans to present some additional ideas for consideration in the wider church, including changing the ratio of commissioners presbyteries send to assemblies. If eventually approved, the change could reduce the number of commissioners by about 21 per cent (from about 264 commissioners to about 208.)
In its report to the Council, the committee noted that “the cost per commissioner is increasing at the same time the numbers within the national church are decreasing” and “a smaller group might be more easily engaged in the process of discernment and decision making.”
