Anybody happy?

Probably the only thing tonight with which everyone is happy is that the evening is over.

General Assembly went for a wild ride this evening, covering immigration, marriage and civil unions, and wrapping up with some unfinished business from earlier in the day. Things got heated and confusing. Minority reports and substitute motions were considered. Even Gradye Parsons didn't always seem perfectly sure what was happening. A commissioner friend reported that his neighbors were saying "Get me out of here." The evening was getting late, and the heat was definitely on.

Maybe it was to try and make everyone happy. Maybe it was an effort to "save the church" and keep everyone from running away screaming. Maybe it was the quickest way out of a difficult evening. But for whatever reason or combination of them, commissioners late this evening voted to send both the majority AND the minority reports on "Marriage and Civil Unions" to all the Presbyteries and Sessions for their consideration.

You know, maybe it was a reflection of the deep divide felt by the committee itself. The committee which has been at work over the last 2 years preparing this report was divided and reached no conclusions, covered no new ground. They turned to the General Assembly to decide, and when it came down to it, the Assembly found themselves in the same place.

Some are not happy because they feel the commissioners went too far. Others are not happy because they believe the commissioners caved in to pressure. As I said, the unifying event this evening may just have been that the evening finally came to a close.

The news is out there. Fox came to cover the proceedings in the hall this evening. Less than an hour after the closing prayer, headlines were already on the BBC website.

Please know that not all the news we've seen so far is accurate. It's hard enough for seasoned Presbyterians to understand what has taken place, much less someone who may not have a church background at all. I've seen some headlines which are way off base from what really happened. So - please read your news with a discerning eye, ask your pastor or the Presbytery office or me if you don't understand what happened, or check the denominational website at www.pcusa.org. I hope you will not just take the first news story you see at face value.

Well, I'm not even a commissioner and I'm tired. And, I leave for home late Thursday morning. So this will likely be the last installment of my blog. There are still a couple of days to go - the business sessions don't wind up until about noon on Saturday, but by then I will be on my way to Alamogordo. So, stay tuned - if you haven't been already, you can watch live feed of the assembly by going to www.pcusa.org/ga219. You can also follow the current business items in writing by going to www.pc-biz.org; click on "SessionSync," and then click on "General Assembly" when it comes up.

Even while ending this day on a tired and confused note, the whole Assembly has not been this way. It is still a rewarding and invigorating experience. I hope it will be so for our commissioners in the end. Be sure to thank them when they get home and ask them about their experiences. They will have a lot of important things to share with you.

Blessings to you, my friends, and thanks for reading along this week. I'll probably have some further reflections of my own with a little time. See you around the Presbytery!

"Perfection?"

Okay....

The perfection process goes on. I am shaking my head about my friend from Arkansas wanting to delete the word "Christian" in the report, every time it's used in conjunction with "marriage." It only failed by 90%. The mind reels...

The question came back before the body, once the minority was perfected to the commissioners' satisfaction. And the beat went on....

The minority report was defeated, 358-311. They went immediately to a vote on the main report.

Advisory delegates were split; missionaries and ecumenicals were strongly against; youth and theologicals were in favor strongly. The main report passed by about a 2/3 margin, and the report will be received as amended by the Assembly.

Marriage and Civil Unions

Here are highlights from the minority report which is currently being considered on the floor of GA.

1. The Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union and Christian Marriage recommends that the 219th General Assembly (2010):

a. commend the committee’s report to sessions and presbyteries, and urge them to engage in study of the issues presented in the report; and

b. commend to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) the covenant “Those Whom God Has Joined Together, Let No One Separate” (see at V.C. below) as a guide by which we broken and hurting people, seeking to be faithful, might come together to discuss issues about which we disagree.

2. The Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union and Christian Marriage recommends that the 219th General Assembly (2010):

a. affirm the church’s call to extend Christ’s compassion to all; and

b. encourage presbyteries and sessions to be diligent in their exercise of care in all the transitions of life, confessing our common brokenness and our unique individual expressions of that brokenness (W-6.3009, W-6.3010).

3. The Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union and Christian Marriage recommends that the 219th General Assembly (2010):

a. encourage all presbyteries and sessions to provide resources consonant with the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) regarding use of church facilities administered by said governing bodies for marriages and blessing ceremonies; and

b. encourage all presbyteries to provide resources consonant with the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) regarding clergy participation in marriages and/or same-sex union ceremonies. Such resources should include guidance on fulfilling the requirements for solemnizing of marriages within the civil jurisdiction or jurisdictions within which the presbytery is located.

4. The Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union and Christian Marriage recommends that the 219th General Assembly (2010) direct the General Assembly Mission Council, through its Office of Theology Worship and Education, and the Office of the General Assembly’s Department of Constitutional Services, to provide updated guidelines and resources addressing the difference between a ceremony of Christian marriage and a same-sex union ceremony.

5. The Special Committee to Study Issues of Civil Union and Christian Marriage recommends that the 219th General Assembly (2010):

a. encourage all sessions to engage in study of issues of biblical interpretation using the General Assembly papers, “Presbyterian Understanding and Use of Holy Scripture” and “Biblical Authority and Interpretation”;

b. direct the General Assembly Mission Council, through its Office of Theology Worship and Education, to develop and distribute a study guide for use with the General Assembly papers, “Presbyterian Understanding and Use of Holy Scripture” and “Biblical Authority and Interpretation” that will help sessions engage in issues of civil unions and Christian marriage in light of the principles contained within those papers; and

c. commend to sessions the use of additional resources related to biblical interpretation, specifically the video segment Biblical Authority and Interpretation, with its accompanying study guide, that was developed by the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Pros and cons on this will be debated. The committee chair is presenting the majority report. Shortly the process will be as earlier today: the minority report will be perfected, and then the body will vote on whether the minority report should become the main, and then the "winning" report will be voted up or down.

Immigration and Civil Unions Report

Thursday evening and all is probably not well....

I have run into lots of opinions on all sides this evening on the Church Orders report. I know for a fact that I will have people unhappy on all sides of the recent Immigration report decision. And now we are on to Marriage and Civil Unions, where they are already proposing a minority report. Stay tuned.... it's going to be a long evening.

Amendment B Minority Report

The Minority report on Item 06-09, which is about amending G-6.0106B, is basically this: to not change the current wording of the Book of Order, and also sending out a pastoral letter to the Church to share what this Assembly experienced and asking for further dialogue and support among the "LGBT" (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) community. The usual action occurred of amending the minority report by a word or two before voting on it, or in one case a paragraph or two. After MUCH discussion and a prayer, the Assembly voted down the minority report; debate continued on the majority report.

A motion to call the question fell short of the 2/3 majority required, and so the debate went on at length. Tens of people were standing at the microphones. After a certain amount of time, it became clear that most of the speakers were hauling out all the same old arguments that have been well, well rehearsed for a long time; we've all heard them, and after a few days at GA we can even begin to predict speakers on all sides of the question.

We started this about 3:00pm, and about 4:45 the motion to call the question FINALLY passed. There were still people standing at the mikes.

The advisory delegates voted predictably --- most of the advisory delegates strongly in favor, and the ecumenicals 100% against.

The commissioners voted 373-323 in favor, 53% to 46%, to change the language of G-6.0106b. Wow. The floor moved into a time of silent prayer afterwards; thankfully, there was no applause or booing.

Church Orders and Ministry -- "Amendment B"

Here we go --

Currently before us is this item:

Shall G-6.0106b be amended by striking the current text and inserting new text in its place: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]

“b. Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament. Standards for ordained service reflect the church’s desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life (G-1.0000). The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation (G.14.0240; G-14.0450) shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate’s ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003). Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.”

A minority report is being offered. The process is that the minority report will be presented, and then the question becomes whether the minority report should become the main motion.

Tuning in to the debate - more to follow.

Eugene Peterson and Ecumenical Relations

My lunchtime treat today was to attend the luncheon of the Presbyterian Writers Guild; if you couldn't tell by my blogging, I am wondering about whether I can do something with my writing one of these days.

The honoree of the lunch was the Rev. Eugene Peterson, who many of us know best as author of the scripture paraphrase "The Message." He received the David Steele Distinguished Writer Award. His remarks, which I suspect came from his forthcoming personal memoir, reflected on what it means to be a writer.

At first he compared a nascent idea to being pregnant - because you don't know it for awhile! Then he went on to say that early in ministry, he began to see John of Patmos - author of the book of Revelation - as "the patron saint of pastors." He compared the chaotic daily life that John witnessed in Rome to the daily life that any pastor witnesses in his or her parish - and pastors, you know that's true!! Then he went on to remind us that the Spirit said to John of Patmos, "Write what you see in a book," not what you think or know. He then described what he calls "heueristic" writing as being writing which has a conversation with scripture, not trying to explain or direct. Peterson said that once he understood that style of writing, he began writing what he didn't know - "edging into the mystery." I think this is what I will aspire to in writing...

Had an interesting item this afternoon - overwhelmingly, almost unanimously, the Assembly just passed an item from the Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee to enter into conversation with the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, where so many of our members have gone due to their displeasure with the PCUSA - so that we can explore the "complex relationship" between our two denominations. I think this is refreshing and a very good move on the part of our church. This one I will watch with interest.

Then we moved on to the question of whether to approve the study paper "Christians and Jews - The People of God Together." This is not the paper which caused so much discussion with our friend Sam Sokolove and the Jewish Federation of New Mexico, but is indeed one of the three pieces of the puzzle before us which deals with our relationship with those of the Jewish faith.
The committee moved to refer the paper back for more work and further study.

Cynthia Campbell, President of McCormick Seminary, was the first to speak and spoke against referral and instead to approve the paper. She said it is an important and it is time for the church to receive and study it. Several speakers rose to speak for and against the report. Ultimately, the commissioners voted 529-135 in favor of referring the report back.

Next the committee moved to approve as amended the report "Toward an Understanding of Christian-Muslim Relations." It was no surprise that some amendments were offered. The assembly approved the report 548-129, a vote of about 80% in favor.

I'm glad to report that Frank Yates, pastor of St. Andrews in Albuquerque, is working on arranging an October event that will engage Presbyterians with local members of the Jewish and Muslim communities in dialogue. Watch for more details to come!

Middle Governing Bodies -- here we go!

Voting machines are fixed - we press on.

The recommendation currently on the floor comes from the Committee on Middle Governing Body Issues, and is calling for a COMMISSION, not a committee, to move forward on considering our structure in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Some of you may not be aware of the distinction between a committee and a commission. A committee would pretty much function as you expect -- to study, to report, to do its work, and then to report back to the General Assembly for its feedback.

A commission, on the other hand, acts on behalf of the General Assembly, as though it was the Assembly itself. If the General Assembly approves this action, it will be giving the commission the power to act on its behalf to take action and make changes without having to wait for the next meeting of the Assembly. The Moderator of the Committee just said that we are living in times which require "nimbleness," that is, not having to wait 2 years to take any action.

An amendment was offered which asked that actions of the Commission be approved by a majority of the governing bodies which would be affected. The amendment passed strongly, by something like a 5-1 margin, possibly because a couple of members of the committee spoke in favor of it. So the discussion returned to the main motion as amended.

Lots of commissioners asked lots of questions. A second amendment to remove the word "or" failed. Advisory delegates all voted strongly in favor. The commissioners voted in favor of the commission, by (at least to me) an astounding 5-1 margin. Amazing. I had every thought that the vote would have been much closer than this.

Life is about to get a lot more interesting for the governing bodies of our denomination!

Thursday morning is slow so far....

It's Thursday morning, and the Assembly has been a bit stalled by technical difficulties. They have gotten through the majority of the report from the General Assembly Nominating Committee, but the voting mechanism has gotten messed up somehow.

While they were waiting to fix it, they took a brief stretch break, sang a hymn that no one knew, and then were led in a TERRIFIC energizer by the Young Adult Advisory Delegates -- if you know Energizers, it was "Istanbul, Constantinople!" It was WAY hilarious to see all the commissioners walking like Egyptians.

At this moment, we still wait. Tom Hay has just explained that we are waiting because the next vote, which is on the Middle Governing Body report, is expected to be close (no kidding!). They would REALLY prefer not to have to do a paper ballot on that report, but they are prepared to do so if necessary. So the side conversations continue and the wait goes on.

Personally, I vote for more energizers!!

NFOG - Committee 7

Wednesday night dinner is now behind us, which means it's time for FOG.

The New Form of Government report is up before us, and already people are lining up at the microphones to speak.

The committee worked on the document, and brought it to the floor to recommend it with a 37-5 vote. Several amendments were made, and it looks like we're getting started on even more.

The first amendment was pretty soundly defeated. Then a substitute motion was introduced to dismiss the committee with thanks - and the polity maneuvers begin! Probably 30 minutes later, the substitute failed by about a 2-1 margin, so then it went back to the main motion.

Unfortunately, the Vice-Moderator chose to allow further debate. After a substitute motion is offered, and the substitute and main motions have both been perfected, there should not be any further debate. The motion has been perfected, and it would be more appropriate for it to go straight to a vote from that point. Alas... the debate continues!

Another 20 minutes or so, and finally a commissioner calls the question. Strong support from all advisory delegates. Finally, the motion to send NFOG to the presbyteries for approval passed, 468-204-6, slightly better than a 2-1 margin. Watch for this to come to a presbytery near you.

Baptism, the Lord's Supper, and our Confessions

The commissioners this afternoon approved without any comment or question a study paper called "Baptism Requirement for Participation in the Lord's Supper." This question was posed a number of years ago - must one be baptized in order to come to the table, or can anyone take part in the one sacrament without having experienced the other - the one which we have traditionally considered the one-time initiation into our faith?

A prior Assembly decided that, before dealing with that question, there should be a period of study of the sacrament of Baptism itself. It was thought that many of us had not taken seriously the admonition to "remember our baptism and be thankful." Out of that Assembly grew a study paper - the name of which escapes me at this very moment, for which I apologize - written by a group chaired by the Rev. Marney Wasserman (wife of Dave Wasserman, Interim EP of Grand Canyon Presbytery).

The paper considered by this year's Assembly is the response to that question posed by that earlier Assembly, after the time of study - and it was approved unanimously today.

But then the committee brought a recommendation to the floor to disapprove the following item from Missouri Union Presbytery:

Shall W-2.3008b be amended as follows: [Text to be added is shown as italic.]

“The Baptism of children witnesses to the truth that God’s love claims people before they are able to respond in faith and God pronounces that he adopts our infants as his children, before they are born.¹

“1. (John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, IV:15:20)”

The floor had quite a bit of debate on this item; it seemed that many saw it as more a referendum on the question of abortion than a helpful addition to our understanding of baptism. All advisory delegates except ecumenicals voted overwhelmingly to disapprove as well. The commissioners voted 417-221 to disapprove as well.

Next came a motion to approve authorizing a new translation of the Heidelberg Catechism and add to it appropriate scriptural references. One of the members of my personal communion of saints, Jack Stotts, was quoted in this discussion as saying that an open tradition is not just based on one confession only, but instead is "a wide river with many currents."

I am personally excited about this development. When I was a minister member of Utah Presbytery, I was a commissioner to the 1998 General Assembly in Charlotte. At that meeting I was also an overture advocate from that Presbytery, for an overture seeking a new translation of this catechism. I am glad that the church has finally caught up with Utah Presbytery, 12 years later!

Fortuitously, as this new translation was being considered by a work group over the past two years, they learned that a similar group from the Christian Reformed Church was working on a new translation as well. Because of the timing, our denominations will be able to work hand in glove on a new translation. The commissioners voted to move ahead unanimously!!

Another motion came forward to add the Belhar Confession to the Book of Confessions. Belhar comes out of South Africa and was written during the era of Apartheid. It would be the first addition to our book which comes forward from south of the Equator.

I confess to you, my friends, that I am a self-affirming Confession Nerd. I LOVE the Book of Confessions. I describe them as "period pieces" - bits of theology which shed light on our deepest beliefs. I believe the best confessions come out of times of theological or societal upheaval - the times when the Church is most likely to make statements which grow from its deepest beliefs. Consider the Declaration of Barmen, which was written in dialogue with the Nazi regime in the early 1930's. Or the Confession of 1967, written in our own country during a time of national upheaval, which addressed the problems of race relations and war with the theme of "reconciliation." Belhar, with its strong stand against apartheid, falls right in the same tradition with those powerful confessions.

A motion came forward to refer the Belhar back for further study, and MUCH discussion ensued. Fortunately, in my opinion, the motion to refer was defeated. I say that because the motion, if it passes, will come as an amendment to the Book of Confessions which means that it will have to be voted up or down by a simple majority of our 173 presbyteries. I trust the wisdom of our presbyteries to decide wisely.

So the discussion continued! Motion PASSED 525-150.

The business begins

Greetings from Hall B of the Minneapolis Convention Center! (thanks to Erin Dunigan for this great photo of the inside of the Hall)

We are off and running. In just an hour or so here, we first off elected and installed the new Vice-Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rev. Landon Whitsitt from Heartland Presbytery in Missouri. He is very active in the Presbymergent movement (which, if you are not familiar with that term or that group, you must Google right now to find out more).

We heard from Jay Hudson with an update on PILP (Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program, with whom many of our churches have loans or investments); heard from Eric Hoey with a "minute for mission" about "Growing the Church Deep and Wide;" adopted a new mission statement to direct our denomination's involvement with youth; and reaffirmed our commitment to children as well.

Write this down: we are even ahead of schedule (at this point!)

Seminaries are front and center on our agenda today. All 10 of our theological institutions, as well as as a few with significant Presbyterian populations, sponsored lunches today. Here is a picture of Ted Wardlaw, President of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, who many of you had the privilege of hearing preach recently at my installation. (Yes, there are other seminaries, but Austin is mine -- and so you get a picture of Ted!)

The Assembly also had the honor of electing not one but THREE new Presidents for three of our ten seminaries today: Steven Hayner as President of Columbia Seminary, Paul Roberts as the new President of Johnson C. Smith Seminary, and Michael Jinkins (most recently of Austin Seminary) as the new President of Louisville Seminary.

More coming on Theological Issues....

Party time!

Well, the "fun" is over now, and it's time to get back to work. All of the committees, to the best of my knowledge, finished their work last evening. We are hearing the stories come trickling in of all the committees and their deliberations. The reporting begins in earnest this afternoon.

But before we begin, I want to share with you photographic evidence that your commissioners are hard at work! Actually, these are pictures of them resting from their labors last evening (Tuesday) at The Local, an Irish pub a few blocks from the convention center. It was so much fun for me to get to know our commissioners and friends better - and to see folks from Santa Fe, Sierra Blanca, and Arizona breaking bread together and enjoying the good company.

No other big news, YET... they took the evening off, so I will let you have the blog off as well and enjoy the photos. Having a great time - wish you were here!

Getting Down to Work

Well, after a day off to celebrate our country's independence with good food, great fireworks and wonderful colleagues and friends, the Assembly got down to work in earnest yesterday.

As I mentioned earlier, more committees have been added this year in order to both make the committee sizes smaller and to reduce their workload, giving them more time to honestly deliberate serious issues. Is there ever enough time? No way. But it does make deeper deliberation more possible.

Yesterday I was able to make it to a couple of committee meetings, inbetween everything else. I attended the Mission Committee, where Assembly business item 09-02 (formerly Overture 34 from Sierra Blanca Presbytery) was being considered. I saw commissioner Gary Dill there, who served as the Overture Advocate from Sierra Blanca, as well as Conrad Rocha from Santa Fe Presbytery, who was there representing the General Assembly Mission Council.

Gary did a great job. There were comments from Conrad as well as from the Presbyterian Foundation discussing the ramifications of the overture. (For those who have not heard the discussion, the overture asked that money currently being sent from the Presbyterian Foundation to the General Assembly Mission Council be instead sent directly to the presbyteries for their own use in mission.) The Foundation rep explained that those funds were generated from bequests left in their trust, designated for specific purposes: missionaries, education, etc. While the presbyteries would have more money to fund mission and education in their own ways, passing the overture would have impacted the funding of chaplains, Young Adult Volunteers, mission personnel, foreign language curriculum, and more.

Commissioner Carolyn Poteet spoke and eloquently expressed the thoughts of the committee: "I understand the spirit of this overture. The local church wants to be the local church. Resources are tight for all of us, and there's this big undesignated pile of money! I would like some of that too for my church. But that money is being used in an incredible way. It's not 'free money' - it is being used well and thoughtfully." Shortly after that the vote was called, and the overture was defeated.

In the afternoon I went over to observe the Polity Committee and saw Guillermo Yela at work. They were discussing several items, and Guillermo was right there in the discussion. (Unfortunately I was there for the discussion about what to call various age groups for the purposes of representation - and I learned that I am only two years away from my denomination considering me to be a "senior adult!" But I will get over it... )

Afterwards I sat in a packed room with folks from middle governing bodies across the country to hear historian Phyllis Tickle - but she was so good (and so verbose) I will devote an entire post just to her remarks.

It seems painstaking, it is tiring - but anyone observing the committee work here at General Assembly gets to see the Holy Spirit at work. God does indeed speak to us to and through each other. I am so grateful for our folks who are giving of their time to be part of the process!

"All Creatures of our God and King"

If nothing else happens for the rest of the week, I can go home happy after this morning's Worship Service. I know it's next to impossible to try and communicate the depth of a service if you were not present - worship impacts a particular people who are gathered in a particular time and space. But I still have to try and tell you about it.

They were predicting 8000 people there today; I couldn't tell whether we hit that number, but there were definitely several thousand people present. A mass choir of probably 200 were in leadership, along with several worship leaders, three languages, four winds, and even a first for GA: a baptism!

The theme of GA this year is from John 7:38 - "Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water." The banners you see in this picture represent that water. If you look carefully in front of the banner carriers, you'll see a big eagle with one wing raised. Four aisles were set up in the hall, enabling participants and creatures and water to come from the four corners of the earth. Banners representing the flames of Pentecost and the floating of butterflies also made their way down the center. Liturgical dancers led the way. And, a first for me, there was a liturgical artist who was working during the entire service on a portrayal of "living water." Every so often the camera would cut over to show the progress of her work.

I only thought I had lived -- that was until today, when several thousand voices joined to sing hymns like "All Creatures of our God and King," "Every Time I Feel the Spirit," and "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling." There was a terrific African-American gospel group who led us in a sung response between the confession and the affirmation. There were also some really great praise musicians who used all kinds of instruments during the service.

Bruce Reyes-Chow preached a barn-burner about what we still have to do as a church. But the highlight for me, I think, was the baptism. We were all invited to remember and be thankful for our own baptisms, so I was joined by the communion of saints involved in my baptism for this particular occasion. The baptizee was a little toddler girl who was taking it all in wearing a beautiful baptismal gown. A large family surrounded her, and a large CHURCH family from her home congregation gathered on the floor just below where she was to be baptized. The pastor was moved to tears as she baptized her, and by the time we sang "I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry," there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Rivers of living water, indeed.

We also celebrated the Lord's Supper, seated but passing tray and chalice down each row offering each other "the bread of heaven." It was definitely a foretaste of the heavenly banquet. By the time of the benediction, when we passed the peace and several of us stuck around to hear the Widor "Tocatta," I was totally transported.

Friends, there is NOT just one way to do worship. Diverse elements can indeed be woven together without being a mishmash to create an exquisite service that honors God and restores the worshiper. And it doesn't take thousands of worshipers to pull it off. All it takes is the presence of that zany Spirit, good planning, and openness to taking part and to being taken places we had not imagined.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a new Moderator...

As predicted, it was a long night last night -- but indeed we DO have a new Moderator: Elder Cynthia Bolbach from National Capital Presbytery.

It is so interesting how the Holy Spirit works in the moderatorial process. Not all of the candidates followed the "balancing" principle I described yesterday; in fact, one candidate chose a Vice-Moderator from his own Presbytery. It also seemed to me that Twin Cities and Philadelphia presbyteries were over-represented, but no one asked for my opinion....

Each candidate also gets to choose someone to formally nominate them, even though they have already been nominated by their home presbyteries. So we got to hear six five-minute nomination speeches, then six five-minute speeches from the candidates themselves before the floor was opened for general questions.

The nominating speeches had their own variety. A couple of candidates were placed in nomination by their Vice-Moderator candidate; others drew on someone from another presbytery or someone who knew them well. Their styles were also very different; each was passionate about his or her candidate, but some used more decibels than others!!

The "buzz" around the hall had been that there really wasn't a clear leader among the group. The candidates had all spoken at the Presbyterian Outlook luncheon earlier in the day, and I had the impression that no one was especially stellar. The only thing that stood out to me in the formal speeches was which speakers had natural talent for public speaking. One nominator talked more about herself than the candidate! Others were good about making a point and hammering it home more than once in the speech: "a positive change for a positive church."

It really wasn't until the informal questions from the floor, in my opinion, that cream began to rise and others began to falter. One candidate was serious to a fault; one candidate was somewhat patronizing; one candidate was simplistic. I think the tide began to turn when one YAAD (Young Adult Advisory Delegate) stood up and asked the candidates what would happen if they were NOT elected, what was at stake. A couple of candidates answered something predictable like "The Kingdom does not rise and fall on me." Then Cindy Bolbach got up and said, without any introduction, "Utter chaos!" She provided the first belly laugh of the evening for the crowd, and I think they began to listen to her more closely at that point.

There were other questions like "Do you support youth ministry?" (Who would say no to that?) And then the final question asked the candidates their stance on the definition of marriage. In my memory, Cindy Bolbach and the woman who eventually came in a distant second offered the most candid answers. The runner-up answered that she supported the church's current position, but that she would try and listen to everyone around the table; Cindy responded that she did not agree with the church's current position, but would honor and uphold it as Moderator. What struck me about both of their answers, even though they came from different positions, was their humility and their willingness to be led by the Holy Spirit in their response.

Then the fun began. The standing rules of the Assembly state that the voting will continue until a simple majority of registered commissioners have voted for one candidate. So several ballots are often required. Also, no names are removed from the ballot; the voting just continues until a winner becomes clear.

On each ballot, Cindy Bolbach was in first place but without a sufficient margin to win. After about the 3rd or 4th ballot, someone made a motion to suspend the standing rules and drop off the last-place candidate in subsequent ballots. In the course of taking this procedural vote, they discovered that not everyone's electronic ballot was being registered! So while they proceeded to correct the problem, commissioners were asked to test-vote "yes" or "no" on whether they had eaten dinner that night. The problems continued for at least 20 minutes, during which time the number of people voting "no" to dinner grew! It was after 10pm at this point; perhaps the question should have been, "Are you feeling testy by this point?"

Several clever commissioners rose to offer helpful solutions to the dilemma. But finally, everyone was satisfied that a very high percentage of those present were having their votes registered. Then after one last tabulation, former Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow made the announcement, and the house rose to its feet. Cindy was accompanied to the stage by her colleagues from National Capital, and welcomed by all the former Moderators who were present. There was a service of installation for her - a closing prayer - and then it was well past most of our bedtimes.

Cindy has served on the Form of Government Task Force; it will be interesting to see whether her election bodes well for the adoption of the New Form of Government. Stay tuned!

Today's the day!

To the rest of the world, today might be July 4th Eve. In Minneapolis, today is the first official day of business for the 219th General Assembly, and the day to elect a new Moderator.

I think of the Moderator of GA more as the Mayor of our church. He or she is the person who makes the ceremonial appearances on behalf of the PCUSA, and serves as a goodwill ambassador. The Moderator can affect policy in their selections of people to serve on special committees, but even then they follow guidelines for inclusion and representation. The day-to-day business of the PCUSA is carried out by the Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk, and by the Executive Director of the General Assembly Mission Council, Linda Valentine (an elder from Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago).

Even so, the Moderator often reflects the personality of the particular GA which elected them. The first moderator of the newly-formed PCUSA in 1983, Randy Taylor, was seen as very much a peacemaker and someone who could work with all tender sides of a new denomination. He was also a Southerner, which was thought to set at ease the minds of those in the former "Southern" church (PCUS) who were wary of reunion. The Rev. Benjamin Weir was elected moderator in 1986, shortly after he was released after being held hostage in Beirut; he brought a very particular voice to peacemaking issues in the Middle East that year. The Rev. Joan Gray, who preceded our current moderator, was an intentional interim pastor who literally "wrote the book" on polity for officer training. That year it was good to have a steady hand at the wheel who understood both transition AND the Book of Order.

Today is the last day of Bruce Reyes-Chow's moderatorial year. He is by far the youngest person to have held the office; he is definitely the most technology-savvy moderator; and he has leaned heavily on his Vice-Moderator, The Rev. Byron Wade, to help out with those visits and ceremonial duties. Both of them have Facebooked, Blogged and Twittered their way into our hearts, and I would say the church has never felt more in touch with what their leaders are doing.

The church reunited in 1983, but there were no vice-moderators until 1995 when Marj Carpenter was Moderator. She named her pastor as the Vice-Moderator, the Rev. Bill Henning from (at the time) Big Spring, Texas. Since that time, the selection of a Vice-Moderator has usually evolved into someone who can balance the gifts of the Moderator in some way: perhaps someone of the opposite sex, more conservative or liberal, from a different region of the country, or perhaps in Bruce's case, someone almost as gregarious as he who can help him be in two places at once.

This year there are SIX candidates for Moderator, which is quite unusual. Each has already selected his or her running mate. Last night they were doing "meet and greet" activities at the Convention Center. Today they will each speak at the luncheon hosted by the Presbyterian Outlook. And then tonight is the election. They will each be allotted a limited time to speak on the floor, and then there will be time for further questions. Gradye Parsons says that there will be a recommendation to suspend the Standing Rules to allow for 90 minutes of questions instead of 60, since there are so many candidates. But we will see what is the will of the body!

Tonight's business session begins at 7pm Central Daylight Time. You can watch streaming video of the Assembly by tuning in to www.pc-biz.org. Hope to see you there!

Gradye's Preview

Before getting into all the good stuff about change, Gradye Parsons gave us his overview of what's coming up in the week ahead.

The Book of Order calls for a larger number of commissioners when the Assembly is held biennially; at the last Assembly that meant the average committee had 70-80 members! This year they have split up some of the Assembly business into several committees. All of the "social issues," for example, will be split over 3 committees to allow both more participation from commissioners and a more thorough look at the business before them. Even so, committees are still looking at having about 60 members on average.

There are about 120 overtures before the Assembly this year, which is in the range of normal. However, there are SIX candidates for Moderator, which is well above average! Be prepared to stay up late on Saturday night.

He also reports that there is a new design for the platform this year, which some have already compared to "American Idol!" The space has been opened up to communicate more of a connection between those on the platform and those on the floor. (Think about the change in the "Tonight" show between Johnny Carson sitting behind his desk and when Jay Leno began to move about and shake hands as he entered.)

New statistics have been released this week from GA about the size of our denomination as a whole. I haven't seen them yet, but they will probably be publicized during the Assembly. Gradye says that while we still lost about 60,000 members in the previous year, it is the smallest loss we have experienced in 10 years. He also noted Deborah Bruce's new study of the trends, which indicates that about 70% of Presbyterians are optimistic about the future of the church, and about the same number are open to making changes for the church's health. There is also a high appreciation for some of the things which are strengths for Presbyterians, like involvement in the local community.

Here are some particular items for us to watch together:

The Israel/Palestine Report - I've heard him say this before, and he continues to say that this will be the top story out of this year's GA. There are actually 3 pieces of business in this arena, spread out over 2 different committees: the report itself, another report about relationships between Christians, Jews and Muslims; and the recommendations coming from MRTI (Mission Responsibility Through Investment).

"Authoritative Interpretation" - "AIs," as they are otherwise known, are not binding in the same way as the Book of Order, but similar to a legal opinion they provided advice in applying the Book of Order in particular cases. You may remember that at the last GA, several "authoritative interpretations" regarding what the Book of Order has to say about ordination standards were stricken from use. This year there are a number of overtures which seek either to bring back the AIs which were removed, or to create a new one.

Peacemaking - while issues of peacemaking are perennially before the Assembly, they are taking on a new significance this year with the war in Afghanistan and ongoing issues with Iraq and Iran.

The General Assembly itself - several overtures are coming which would affect how General Assembly conducts its business. One is suggesting that GA meet only every six years! One is asking to remove the Assembly's ability to rule on issues of conflict in lower governing bodies. Some, Gradye says, are "an attempt to keep GA from doing embarrassing things." In two words: good luck! Stay tuned...

Reports of special committees - the committee which dealt with the question of Civil Unions will be making its report, which basically says that they were not able to come to any consensus.

Our Confessions - for those of you who, like me, love our Book of Confessions, this will be an interesting area to watch. The Assembly will consider whether to include the Apartheid-era Belhar Confession from South Africa in our Book. It is my belief that the strongest confessions are written in response to a time of turmoil in church or society, so this one would qualify. It would also, interestingly, be the first Confession in our Book written below the Equator. And since Christianity is experiencing explosive growth in the southern hemisphere, we would do well to be more in touch with what our "southern" brothers and sisters in Christ have to teach us.

A new translation of the Heidelberg Catechism, already part of our Book of Confessions, is also on the table. Work began on this two years ago, and was motivated by those who found questionable the use of the word "homosexuality" in the text (questionable because that was not a word used in 16th-century German parlance). As it turns out, the Christian Reformed Church was already ahead of us and working on a new translation from the German because of many spots where the current translation has missed the mark. Gradye reports that the CRC has agreed to slow down their work a bit so that we may work cooperatively with them in producing a new translation together.

Postscript
Personally, back to the Middle East issues, I have been a little taken aback with the level of passion around the study paper. In the time that I have been in New Mexico, I have already met three times with Sam Sokolove, the Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of New Mexico. He and other colleagues have done a wonderful job educating me on the issues, and Sam and I have already prepared a joint statement which we plan to share with the media immediately after I return from Minneapolis.

One evening I was talking with my husband Paul and I quipped, halfway sarcastically, "Honey! Someone still thinks that Presbyterians matter!" I found it refreshing that there are those like Sam who still put stock in what we have to say. It seems to me that as our numbers have shrunken nationally, as the church has begun to lose its once-quite-prominent place in society, as our nation has become more cynical overall, that people are not exactly hanging on every pronouncement that the PC(USA) has to make.

Gradye addressed that concern. He said that what we say as a denomination might not change the world, on this issue or any other, but that we are indeed (and still) considered to be a bellwether on social issues: as in, if the Presbyterians are willing to say this, maybe America is shifting. For example with the Middle East Study Committee, Presbyterians have deep and long-term ties to that region; our willingness to produce a study paper which comes down in a very different place is causing a stir.

My takeaway lesson from this: what we have to say does indeed matter, especially when we say it coming from an atmosphere of prayer and study. People are listening. It is not helpful if we have nothing to say. And so, with humility and a willingness to learn that we might be wrong, we need to share what we know about God and where we believe God is leading us.

"Change is in the air... breathe deeply!"

The Association of Stated Clerks spent their morning with The Rev. Gradye Parsons, Stated Clerk for the General Assembly. He gave us a broad overview of some of the hot topics coming up this week, which could be summarized by the comment of one person in attendance:

Change is in the air - breathe deeply.

Gradye's comments were somewhat influenced, I think, by the fact that he has just returned from a 10-day meeting with the former World Alliance of Reformed Churches and another such body (sorry, I don't know their correct name) which have now merged to become the World Council of Reformed Churches. There were 226 denominations in attendance from 80 countries - which, Gradye says, means that "there were 226 ways to do things."

We feel the changes deeply among us right now, if for no other reason than we are together living into "shared leadership" and shared ministry between Sierra Blanca and Santa Fe presbyteries. But Gradye said that it's not just our two presbyteries, or even our denomination. He mentioned that the mainline Lutherans (ELCA) among others are having conversations like ours, as well as some other mainline denominations. It's even global - the Church of Scotland is trying to figure out restructuring as well. It seems that structurally, everything right now in the Church is up for grabs.

One of the driving forces behind all this change, he believes, has been the influence of technology. He pointed out that many of our relationships are now more based on technological connections than by who may be down the road from us. He told the story of watching TV one day with his wife Kathy, a 4th-grade teacher. A commercial came on for some kind of electronic Legos. He asked her why kids just couldn't play with plain old Legos - why did they have to be electronic to sell? Her response: "With this generation, if it's not virtual, it's not real." As he pointed out that for some people virtual relationships are as or more "real" than people they see every day, I reflected on some of the closest friendships I enjoy right now - with EPs in Nebraska, Indiana, New Jersey and Texas.

I can't help but wonder what bearing this will have on us as we move forward in our new endeavor in New Mexico. Our Joint Council meeting brought about some very fruitful discussions, and the Implementation Team has had some conversations about the use of technology in our future together. I think we will need to "boot up" those conversations even more in the days to come.

Gradye went on to reflect on this time in which you and I are living, which some label as the early stages of a new Reformation. He cited a recent Pew Research study which learned that - read this twice - only 37% of those surveyed attend one church exclusively. Only 37%, a little more than 1/3. That means that 63% of those surveyed are attending activities at two or more churches - worship here, Bible study there, youth group yet elsewhere. What does that mean, he wondered aloud, for our expectations of members who will be "exclusive in their attentions to us and their gifts to us?"

We began to talk more about the notion of being in the middle of a new Reformation, and one person asked whether it was wise for us to undertake something like the New Form of Government or restructuring our middle governing body structure if we didn't know where we were or where we were going. In respose, Gradye cited a book called The Reformation: A History by Diarmaid MacCulloch. MacCulloch puts forward the idea that it took more than just Martin Luther and John Calvin to pull off what we now call the Reformation. According to Gradye, he writes that "every village had their own Calvin or Luther, or it wouldn't have happened." Every village had to have somebody who spoke up and said they wanted things to be different where they were.

You all were front and center in my thoughts as he said, "It's easier to get the Spirit moving if you're already in motion." Whether or not initiatives like the Form of Government succeed at this GA, they are "making cracks to allow the Spirit to seep in." In a period of change, Gradye said, it's better to do something than nothing.

As I've said before, your recognition of the need for change was one of the things which most attracted me to serve alongside you. Since I've been here, I've met a number of people for whom Gradye's statements were news; as usual, the saints of Santa Fe and Sierra Blanca are ahead of the curve. We are continuing to move ahead in our life together. Whether it looks this way in three years or not, we are indeed making cracks to allow the Spirit to seep in.

I've gone on longer than I planned, but this was good and important stuff. In a separate note I'll share with you a summary of some of the issues to look for this coming week.

A FOG-gy start in Minneapolis

Good evening, friends -

Here is a view taken from my room on the 21st floor of the downtown Hilton. The church you see towards the front is Westminster Presbyterian Church, where Tom Hart's brother-in-law Tim Hart-Anderson is the pastor. (Tom is pastor of Shepherd of the Valley in Albuquerque) They are hosting the Association of Stated Clerks meeting that David Preininger and I are attending before the start of GA.

The ASC meeting began with two things that Presbyterians do very well: worship, and eat! After dinner we gathered to hear a presentation by Steve Smith, recently retired Stated Clerk for the Presbytery of the Pacific, talk about the New Form of Government which will be voted on by the assembly this week.

Well, the weather outside is sunny and cool, but things in the meeting began to heat up in short order. The first thing you need to realize about this crowd is that Steve was talking to the folks who are most passionate about our current Book of Order, people who are wired to enjoy details and make wise rulings. The second thing to remember is that not one person in the room has a vote! So while no one could do anything to effect the outcome of the vote, there was no shortage of opinions about the topic at hand.

I'm coming to see that there is good news and bad news about the proposed new Form of Government which, if passed at General Assembly and then by a simple majority of presbyteries across the country, would replace our current Book of Order. The good news is that it would be more of a bare-bones, permission-giving document than we currently use. The bad news is that it would be more of a bare-bones, permission-giving document than we currently use. Its purpose is to allow presbyteries to focus on that which makes us truly Presbyterian, while allowing themselves and their churches to write their own Manuals of Operation and decide things like "how much notice must we give for a congregational meeting" and "can we call our interim pastor" for themselves.

Steve Smith, who serves on the New Form of Government Task Force, said this evening that we as Presbyterians have "put more into 'decently and in order' than we have 'energy, intelligence, imagination and love.'" While that did not do much to endear him to the roomful of stated clerks, he was trying to say that the new Form of Government will free us up from "throwing the book" at each other and enable more mission to take place. It would also let each presbytery make decisions that would be custom-made for their particular needs. He pointed out that we are not going to be required to change a lot of things - we may choose to do so, but the main changes would be in nomenclature: "ministers of word and sacrament" will once again be called "teaching elders," "governing bodies" would be called "councils," and so on.

Based on the reception given by the clerks tonight, however, I am thinking that the "New FOG" will not pass on the floor of the assembly. There was NO enthusiasm in the group for yet another opportunity to rewrite Manuals of Operation. There was no agreement that stated clerks will use MORE energy, intelligence, imagination and love with a new constitution than they are currently using. There was a fairly strong sense that their concerns had not been seriously considered by the task force. And there was, I believe, fear of what many perceived would be chaos in our presbyteries.

My concern was a little different. One clerk quoted a part of the report as saying that our life together as Presbyterians was based on "fellowship," which I understood to mean our ability to work together in an atmosphere of trust. I am all for trust; but I thought that our life together as Presbyterians was based in the God we know through Jesus Christ, whom we experience in the form of Holy Spirit. I can't help but believe that if we acknowledged that as our true basis of life together, not just "whether we can all get along," the trust and fellowship would fall into place.

You may think that this is just all constitutional nonsense and doesn't have a lot to do with our everyday life in the local church. While you may not get nearly as excited about this topic as me, I maintain that how we understand ourselves to be held together in Christ is indeed one of the distinct marks that make and keep us Presbyterian. Whether it's measurable or not, I believe you'll see a difference in your local church, and in our two presbyteries, if this comes to pass. I am just not sure what that difference will be.

Stay tuned!