Impressions of the 227th General Assembly
From our presbytery delegation in Milwaukee

 We asked members of the Presbytery of the Miami Valley delegation attending the 227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) held earlier this summer in Milwaukee, WI, to share their impressions of GA 227.

Ruling Elder Alice McCollum
Commissioner
Trinity Presbyterian Church, Dayton

“Persevering Toward Wholeness”

While I am a fourth generations Presbyterian, attending the 227th General Assembly was a first. I arrived with no predetermined agenda and no preconceived ideas.  It was my belief that the Holy Spirit would guide me.  Believe me when I say, I really needed that guidance! For the most part, the commissioners were on one accord. To arrive at consensus on committee recommendations, it was truly amazing to watch parliamentary procedure in action. The major focus of the ecumenical worship services was to bring healing and wholeness to the attendees as there is still hurt and a lack of trust in leadership due to the dismantling of the PC(USA) mission outreach as we had known it. The GA was well organized, educational, enlightening, and exhausting. I will submit a full report for the September 2026 Presbytery meeting. I thank the Presbytery for allowing me to serve.

The Rev. Cynthia Holder Rich
Commissioner
Corinth Presbyterian Church, Dayton

I was grateful to serve as the Teaching Elder Commissioner for PMV at GA 227. I learned a lot, met great people, and took part in important conversations about the past, present, and future of our church. At a time of great change, it was energizing to see so many people from all over the church take the business of the denomination seriously.

We who served will report at presbytery in September. One question I’m reflecting upon in response to our experiences at GA is the church moving through change with fewer dollars to fund ministry. In efforts to faithfully navigate these changes, denominational staff and elected leadership made decisions over the past few years that centralized power and granted authority to a far smaller group of people than in the past. In just one example, there is one person in executive leadership of the church rather than two, and one unified agency leading the church rather than the two that existed before. The Assembly raised many questions about accountability, clarity, and process, and pushed back on decisions made, changing some paths forward for the denomination’s mission and ministry plans and organization.

Jorge Herrera
Young Adult Advisory Delegate
College Hill Community Church PC(USA), Dayton

Realistically, when I first arrived, I had no clue what would happen. Before I arrived in Wisconsin, there were meetings that explained what would happen there. Unfortunately, because I had work, I barely got to attend them. Despite that, when I arrived, I met a group of random YAADs, and they immediately invited me to hang out with them for the day. As time passed, I hung out with them more and more, and we pretty much settled on sticking together for the whole trip. On the days when Plenary had begun, I was a bit nervous since I felt like I didn’t really belong. I did not have the same experience as the people around me. That faded away once I got to sit with my presbytery, since they explained what we would be voting on and helped me fully grasp what was going on. What really stood out to me was how many people were against the church using AI. It always seemed like a niche topic, and I felt like it was never ever thought about. That moment showed me how many people had the same opinion as me. Overall, the experience was truly one of a kind. From feeling shy at the beginning to being able to express what I thought to others, I truly cannot wait for the next General Assembly!