Having attended General Assemblies of the PCUSA since I was 10 years old, they have become family affairs for me and my family. I often see them as a family reunion, celebrating the connectionalism that we hold so highly in our words and deeds as a church.
Now that I am a father and on this day in which we celebrate fathers I have been frustrated with the lack of support and care for families and especially children for those attending the General Assembly. Two years ago, as the church gathered in Pittsburgh and my wife and I began to plan our trip to observe and celebrate our family, church and biological. We were met with hurdle after hurdle and flat out disdain for the desire to share the expereince of General Assembly with our two small children. I am a lucky one. My mother and father, love General Assembly and love their grandkids, so we had support. We didn’t think we were the only pastors or observers that would be interested in attending our church’s most important meeting but were prohibited only be the lack of options for our children to participate in so they can come to know and love the wider church in the same way they are loved and known by their local church.
To that end, as a commissioner from Homestead Presbytery, I have entered a simple Commissioner Resolution to the 221 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) directed the Office of the General Assembly to provide child friendly and child care options during our biennial meetings. Below is the text of that resolution.
Recommend that the 221st General Assembly (2014)
1. Direct the Office of the General Assembly to ensure that childcare and child-friendly spaces are provided at all General Assembly meetings, following models used for other Presbyterian meetings, such as Presbyterian Women’s Gatherings and Big Tent.Rationale:
The PCUSA continues to emphasize the importance of the involvement of young adult members. In order to support the participation of many of these Presbyterians, childcare must be provided.Big Tent http://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/big-tent/children-and-youth-programs/
Young Clergy Women’s Project http://youngclergywomen.org/conference/childcare/
Conference Childcare http://conferencechildcare.com/
Rev. Greg Bolt TEC Homestead Presbytery
Joseph Morrow REC Chicago Presbytery
I continually look to the words of my beloved wife and fellow pastor…
I continue to believe that we can do better.
May it be so.
Rev. Greg Bolt (TEC Homestead Presbytery)
PS If you want to know a little more about the history of this conversation you can catch up here.
UPDATE: Below is a copy of the text I read to the General Assembly Procedures Committee (#3) regarding our childcare resolution.
My wife and I are both pastors, we have two small children, we are active in the life of the wider church. We love coming to GA. When we began to prepare to come to the 220th GA we were shocked to find that there were no options for childcare or even child friendly options for our children. After repeated contact and problem solving with members of the OGA we were rebuffed and told that the barriers were too great to provide a welcoming space for families and those with children.
The intent of this resolution is to provide a strong message of support for our members with children and for whom the lack of childcare and child friendly activities provide a barrier to come to know and love this church that has nurtured both my wife and I.
We are proposing three things:
1. Available onsite childcare from 7:00 AM-5:00 PM in Two blocks of time during the business days of General Assembly. 7 AM-12 Noon and 1 PM-5 PM for parents and guardians to sign up and drop off their children allowing them to participate in the life of the larger church. This service would be a pay service $40/day is a conference norm. This would allow for families like mine to have a commissioner do their work, a pastor connect with the larger church, and a parent to do their job.
2. A space during worship specifically for children, there are many creative people in our churches that can make this a life giving and worshipful place allowing our youngest members to participate in the joy of GA worship.
3. At the very least provide a room with comfortable chairs, low light, changing tables, and possibly sleeping mats for nursing mothers and for caregivers to find a place for their child to rest and relax.
I will be here if you have any questions.
Thank you for your time.
Thank you for this! I’m on the Detroit COLA, and I pushed (hard) for childcare for two full years…with absolutely no response. I hope a resolution might get us somewhere for Portland!
LikeLike
Are you wanting childcare for commissioners? Or for observers and staff?
Personally, I am so busy at GA that I would never see my children if I did bring them. I would not feel comfortable putting my kids in childcare from 9 in the morning until 9 at night, which is an optimistic schedule. (We went until 1:30 or later one night last GA).
How is it feasible to really think about being a commissioner with a child to care for?
Maybe you want childcare for observers, which is a completely different thing. And I love that idea.
But I do not think it is good for kids to be in child care from morning until late at night with a GA kind of schedule.
LikeLike
Marci, thanks for your comment. I agree that childcare for all the hours a commissioner is busy would be difficult. COGA in the past has used this as a reason for offering no child care.
But there are lots of people at GA in addition to commissioners who could use childcare or kid friendly places. And my hope would be that if there was good childcare, it might help even commissioners find childcare solutions (e.g.. Grandma might be willing to dinner and bed routines but not all hours for a whole week.) Basically, I just hope we can start somewhere by offering something and work up from there over the years.
LikeLike
Marci,
Great question.
If they were to adopt my dream, it would include two blocks of time from 7:00 AM-6:00 PM (7-12, 1-6) for available childcare. At a cost of course around $40/day is a norm. This would allow the Grandma solution, Heidi referenced, or for us, as a clergy couple as one of us might be a commissioner and the other one might be able to be an advocate or in the expo center or at face 2 face. Really just allow us both to participate and in the larger church.
I would also like a children’s space during worship and at the very least have a room for nursing mother’s and/or sleepy babies.
LikeLike
I agree, plus this Supports the “young families” we do have in the church
LikeLike
Reblogged this on katyandtheword and commented:
My thoughts…..if you want more families to be present I highly recommend BABYSITTING and FAMILY FRIENDLY accommodations as a start, it isn’t an amendment that will bring families flocking in, but it is a way to serve those who are already present–this should not be an uphill battle folks, it should be a given
LikeLike
As a local person, watching the Assembly in Detroit come together, it strikes me that this would be great for volunteers, too.
LikeLike
[…] This evening I spoke to the plenary of the General Assembly about the need for childcare at our meetings. If you want to know more about how we get here you can find out more here, here, here, and here. […]
LikeLike