The 2023 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland took place in Assembly Buildings, Belfast from Wednesday evening, 21 June and close on Saturday afternoon, 24 June.
Approximately 1,000 ministers and elders from PCI’s 500-plus congregations the length and breadth of Ireland, corresponding members and delegates from home and overseas were entitled to meet in General Assembly to worship, pray, celebrate and debate. As the denomination’s governing and decision-making body and the highest court of the Church, decisions taken during the week can set the direction for the life and ministry of PCI over the coming year and beyond.
The opening night saw the formal nomination, election and installation of the new Moderator for 2023/2024, Rev Dr Sam Mawhinney of Adelaide Road Presbyterian Church in Dublin, the first Moderator to come from a congregation in the Republic of Ireland in nearly a quarter of a century.
The vast majority of the sessions were open to the public and were streamed live. Throughout the General Assembly there was a live Twitter feed @pciassembly. You can review proceedings and comments by using the hashtag #PCIGA23.
Overview of the 2023 General Assembly
In this section you will find general information, news releases, statements, and a timetable of General Assembly business.
Guide to Revised Assembly Procedure
You can find a revised guide to Assembly procedure here.
Assembly Business
Details of each day’s business before the General Assembly can be found here.
The Blue Book and Annual Reports
The reports and corresponding resolutions that to be discussed and debated during the course of the General Assembly can be found here. Historically they are known as the 'Blue Book' and this year included digital and e-reader versions.
Supplementary Reports
Any licensed supplementary business can be found in the Supplementary Reports. It can be downloaded by clicking here.
Media Relations
General Assembly Previews
You can find a summary of each day’s business here:
For the official record of the decisions that are taken, Draft Daily Minutes will be published in due course.
General news stories concerning the 2023 General Assembly
You can read general news stories that relate to the 2023 General Assembly here:
Podcast
Hosted by Mark Smith, PCI's Press Officer, he is joined by four guests - outgoing Moderator, Dr John Kirkpatrick, the Clerk of the General Assembly, Rev Trevor Gribben, the Deputy Clerk, Rev Dr David Allen and PCI's Public Affairs Officer, Karen Jardine - who look ahead to this year's General Assembly. You can listen to the podcast here.
Blogs
You can read the blogs that relate to the General Assembly here:
2023 General Assembly video
To get a flavour of this year's General Assembly you can watch this short video that captures some of what took place.