Welcome!

Welcome to the fifth biennial installment of the Insider's Guide to the General Assembly. The purpose of this blog is not just to report what the Assembly does in Portland, but to reflect on how it happened and what it means for the church.  If you want to get a sense of how this works, I invite you to take a look at my previous Insider's Guides: ga218insider.blogspot.com, ga219insider.blogspot.com, ga220insider.blogspot.com, and ga221insider.blogspot.com. (You might notice I shortened the URL address for this edition.)

Let me introduce myself. In October 2015, I began serving as the Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of Lake Huron in Michigan. Previously, I served for almost 13 years in both synod and presbytery leadership and over 20 years in parish ministry.

I am also what people call a "polity wonk."  I am one of a select group to have served on both the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (1997-2003) and the Advisory Committee on the Constitution (2006-2012).  For my last two years on the ACC I was constitutional adviser to the Mid Councils Commission (MCC1). You can find a more complete curriculum vitae at my personal website, dansaperstein.blogspot.com. 

This will be my fifteenth General Assembly dating back to 1983 -- not as many as some but more than most. I have attended as a job-seeker, local arrangements host, Assembly assistant, observer, overture advocate, mid-council executive, ACC member, and corresponding member.

Look for pre-assembly blog posts in the coming days and weeks about how to sort out the players at the Assembly, getting the most out of your Assembly visit, and my regular preview of the top issues coming to the Assembly. Then, during the Assembly, I will post daily updates of Assembly highlights, lowlights, and sidelights.

Every Assembly is unique, and brings unique surprises.This one will undoubtedly shape the future of the PC(USA) for years to come. I look forward to sharing it with you.