Day Two begins

Didn't get to write last night after Day One because the Internet here has been bogged down. Not even my non-hotel Verizon connection would work. Guess that tells you the kind of electronic traffic that has been coming from Minneapolis. I hear that we even "trended" on Twitter yesterday - and if you want to follow all the tweets, you can do a search on #mn2011 and read all the color commentary you like.

Yesterday was a VERY long day. There may be some who are energized by what they are hearing; by mid-afternoon I needed to nap. Staying connected, honestly, is hard work.

There is plenty of snarkiness to go around, on all sides. I will spare you that. I heard a SURPRISING amount of goodwill toward the leadership at General Assembly and all the effort they are making to be present and to stay connected. I hear that there has been general confusion around the tables, some of which may solidify today. In general, if everyone here can agree on anything, there has been agreement on the fact that the PCUSA needs to be more missional in its work. I'm proud to say that Santa Fe Presbytery, thanks to the good leadership of Moderator Rob Woodruff, has been ahead of the curve on that one.

Unfortunately, because the EP-types have been cordoned off in a room separate from other attendees, it has been hard to hear much of anything outside circles of people like me - and that's not why I came to this meeting. That has been a disappointment. The level of distrust surrounding presbytery leaders here astounds me.

For the Santa Fe watchers among us, I had a Harry Chronis sighting yesterday! He looks great and seems very happy in his new call. I also had a terrific breakfast with Glenn Perica from Farmington this morning. Glenn is a prince. I have yet to see anyone from Sierra Blanca here.

Those In Charge, who are calling themselves "The Seven Dwarfs," have presented four "tiers" of options for those wishing to consider something different. They range from Tier 1, which is basically Missional Church in my estimation, to Tier 4, which is the New Reformed Body (NRB) already well underway. Tiers 2 and 3 are two different levels of "presbytery within a presbytery; I really have only heard enthusiasm about that from Mission Presbytery folks at this point.

It seems to me that this meeting has been far less about dialogue and input than it has been about making an announcement, frankly. And that has been confirmed to me by some. This Fellowship of Presbyterians is more of an association; there is a New Reformed Body - read denomination - in the making. And at times I feel that we are here to receive the sales pitch for that. There is a meeting to be held in Orlando next January which will likely debut that yet-to-be-named body.

My friend Mike Cole, EP for New Covenant Presbytery in the Houston area, was involved in helping prepare a survey for pre-gathering use. He was telling some of us last night that that the general answer to the question "What would you like a new denomination to look like?" was, frankly, "Like the PCUSA." And that's exactly where I am.

Belonging to an association is fine. Many congregations already do that, as with the Presbyterian Coalition or the Covenant Network. But adding on another layer of "presbytery within a presbytery" in my opinion will do nothing to further the mission of local congregations. And to form a new denomination which will do pretty much what the PCUSA is already doing? Why?

Friends, the slogan of the Reformed body of churches to which we adhere is "Reformed and always being reformed" - " by the Word of God." (many folks leave off that last part, which is actually the punchline) We are nothing if not Reformed. There's not a thing we need to do that we can't do already within the confines of the PCUSA. Any of us. Our denomination has a lot of growing and changing to do, and with God's help we can make that happen.

There was some talk yesterday about "The PCUSA has made the tent so big that there is no longer a pole in the center to hold it up." Silly me - I thought the center of the church was Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever. What kind of tent pole were they conceiving?

Okay, I'm off now for Day Two. Please keep us in your prayers, that we may all continue to use energy, intelligence, imagination and love. This day is going to take every drop of it.