Presbyterian Church USA to Vote on African American Ecclesiastical Repair at June Assembly

The Presbyterian Church USA will consider several racial justice overtures at its 227th General Assembly, scheduled for late June 2026. Among the proposals is a call to establish a Special Committee on African American Ecclesiastical Repair, which would address historical and ongoing harms experienced by Black members within the denomination.

The overtures were developed by the denomination's Racial Equity Advocacy Committee and reflect years of advocacy by Black Presbyterian leaders who say the church has not fully reckoned with its history of racial exclusion and discrimination.

One proposal calls on church entities to report on the implementation of a 2022 task force report on disparities experienced by Black women and girls within the denomination. Another overture proposes a partnership with the Liberia Council of Churches to address the historical legacy of Presbyterian involvement in the American Colonization Society, which promoted the emigration of free Black Americans to Africa in the 19th century.

"These are not abstract historical questions," said one Black Presbyterian leader involved in drafting the overtures. "They have real consequences for how Black members experience the church today."

The General Assembly, which is the denomination's highest governing body, meets every two years. Overtures passed at the assembly become official policy for the denomination's approximately 1.1 million members and 8,700 congregations.

The PCUSA has been grappling with racial justice issues for several years, including debates over reparations, the removal of monuments to slaveholders from church properties, and the recruitment and retention of Black clergy.

Black membership in the PCUSA has declined over the past several decades, a trend that some leaders attribute in part to the denomination's slow response to racial justice concerns. The June assembly will be watched closely by Black Presbyterian communities as a test of whether the denomination is willing to take concrete steps toward repair.