Climate change, gender identity, Gaza — Presbyterians tackle hot-button issues in SLC gathering

For more than a week, the Salt Palace Convention Center hummed with hymns, prayers and lively debate as Presbyterian leaders gathered to vote on a plethora of policies and stances on issues ranging from racism to climate change.

The event, held June 25 to July 4 and known as the General Assembly, marked the first time in more than 30 years that Salt Lake City played host to the biennial gathering of the country’s largest, liberal-leaning Presbyterian denomination.

Highlights included the decision — followed by its dramatic and controversial reversal — to fully divest the denomination, known as Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), fully from fossil fuels. In the end, the organization decided to kick the can down the road to the 2026 General Assembly and to use the next two years to amass a more targeted list of companies that fail to meet a set criteria.

More successful were the efforts to divest from Israel bonds in light of the country’s ongoing attack on Gaza and to withhold ordination from anyone who is unwilling to allow the “full participation” of people based on their gender or sexual orientation.

“It may be uncomfortable,” a news release quoted South Carolina Pastor Jenny McDevitt as saying while speaking in favor of the LGBTQ proposal. “Faith is annoying that way.”

Committee work as a form of worship

Presbyterianism is defined by its belief in the “priesthood of all believers.” The Rev. Bronwen Boswell, outgoing head of the General Assembly, put it this way: “We believe that the Holy Spirit works in and through every one of us.”

Committee work, seen within this context, is sacred — a form of worship all its own as all those present are given room to share what is in their heart and mind. That includes non-Presbyterians (often advocates and experts with an interest in an issue under debate), who are invited to participate in the assembly process through open hearings.

Any congregant can submit an action or policy change, known as an “overture,” to be passed up the chain for consideration by the appropriate committee. After a robust discussion — “Some might call it argument at times,” Boswell said, “but we like to call it debate” — its members vote. Any proposals to secure a majority then move, like a bill winding its way through Congress, to the larger body for a second and final vote.

Once the assembly has approved an item, it returns to individual congregations and their leaders, who are given wide latitude, decide how they will implement them locally.

About the Presbyterian Church in Utah

More than 2.5 million Americans claimed the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) denomination in 2000. Today, the number stands at roughly half that.

Amid this hemorrhaging, Utah has emerged as a beacon of resilience, not only maintaining but even growing its ranks in recent years to around 2,100 statewide.

Among the new faces that Mirjam Haas-Melchior, executive presbyter for the Presbytery of Utah, sees in her travels to the denomination’s flocks scattered across the state are former members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Presbytery of Utah, the Rev. Haas-Melchior said, is committed to creating “safe places for religiously and spiritually hurt people,” especially LGBTQ individuals.

Indeed, among the General Assembly’s speakers was Owen Gibbs, a transgender teenager and member of the First Presbyterian Church in Salt Lake City. Gibbs said that when, at 12, he came out as trans, “our church didn’t miss a beat” in affirming him and his new name and pronouns.

“The same kids I had been friends with in Sunday school are still my friends now,” he said, according to a news release about the event. “The same old ladies who would ask me questions about school and give me candy and cake at church parties still do that.

He added: “Every queer person deserves the kind of love and support that I’ve received — especially in Utah, where being queer can be so, so difficult.”

The Presbyterian Church in Utah also has “a lot of women in leadership,” Haas-Melchior added, something “that may be a healing experience for some former members of the LDS Church.”

Finally, she described the denomination’s members — both in Utah and beyond — as outward facing, believing their faith compels them to be directly engaged in the issues that impact the communities where they live.

In Utah, that means pushing back against technology billionaire Ryan Smith’s proposed Salt Lake City sports and entertainment district, which some fear threatens a neighborhood known as Japantown.

Local Presbyterians, she said, have been trying to raise awareness regarding the issue and to advocate against the plan as part of the community’s commitment to “lift up” God’s children and “better our surroundings.”