Background History:
The current requirement for attendance at the General Assembly is at least once every three years. At GA 2014, there was extensive discussion about setting a minimum attendance requirement, as some Companions attended infrequently or not at all. The Servant Leader at the time, Mark Newman, viewed GA as part of the Companions’ vacation and believed it was unreasonable to expect them to spend it at GA every year, or even every two. At one point, he abruptly ended the discussion and instructed the secretary to record the requirement as at least once every three years, which became the official standard in the Founding Document. At the time, most Companions felt the requirement should be more frequent.
The current text of Precepts XIII, Regarding General Assembly, p. 27, reads as follows:
Annual attendance at General Assembly is strongly encouraged. However, attendance at General Assembly at least every three years is mandatory for Companions, unless expressly excused by the Servant Leader.
Questions:
Do we want to reconsider the minimum requirement to attend General Assembly at least every three years? If so, what frequency would you suggest?
Please provide a rationale for your opinion.
In view of what we just discussed about participation in local chapters, this seems out of step with the community’s desired expectation. Perhaps, it would be wise to remove the numeric expectation but leave specific permission from the Servant Guardian in any case of absence and in respectful advance time.