Category Archives: General Assembly

The 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) — GA Summary Sheet

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Every year I create for my own congregation a one page summary of the actions of the just completed General Assembly.  I try to write it for a more general audience and I keep it to one page.  (But the ordination standards section is a bit challenging this year so you may have to explain it to others.) I have linked to it below.  If you find it useful you are welcome to distribute it to those who might be interested.

http://www.gajunkie.com/218GAa.pdf

Correction:  I was in error about the fact that the vote on same-sex marriage was close.  Thanks to Presbylaw for catching my mistake.  A slightly modified version of the sheet has been posted.

The 218th General Assembly of the PC(USA) — Live Blogging Wednesday Afternoon

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Greetings — I will be live blogging most plenary sessions of the PC(USA)
General Assembly.  I apologize to those with e-mail feeds or a feed
reader since you will probably only get the first section of the post
since I’ll be adding updates throughout the session.  Also, if you are
reading this on a browser live you will also need to refresh the screen
since I don’t have push technology on my blog.  It’s tough being Web
1.99999 in a Web 2.0 world.  Thanks for your patience.

This is not the only source on the web for this event.
The PC(USA) official webcast can be found at http://www.pcusa.org/ga218/schedule/streaming-schedule.htm
There is also a live blogging site at http://www.scribblelive.com/Event/PCUSA_General_Assembly_218

[My commentary will be in brackets]

Wednesday Afternoon, June 25, 2008
The 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
2:20 
— The commissioner chairs are filling up.  People are filing in.  The observer section is about one-quarter full.

2:31 — Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow gavels the Assembly to order.  We are opened in prayer by a TSAD
2:35 — Greetings from the Ecumenical representative from the AME Zion church
2:37 — Bills and Overtures Committee.  Bring the minutes from Saturday and Sunday for approval.  Approved
Docket for the rest of the plenary
2:38 — Approval of the Rev. Byron Wade as Vice-moderator of the 218th.  Confirmed and he is being installed at this time.

2:49 — Finished the installation with the singing of the Doxology.  And Bruce admits that he can not sing.

2:50 — GAC Nominating committee reports two GA Commissioners have been nominated for the positions with the GAC.  Four more are needed and the deadline for nominations have been extended

2:52 — The Stated Clerk is giving info on speaking to orient the commissioners, or remind them what they heard last Saturday afternoon.  It has been a long week.
Now talking about making motions and using the motions form.  And the help available from stated clerks around the hall.  The information about dissents and protests if being covered.  Now the info on “moving the previous question.”  Finally, the process for “substitute motions.”  [This will get a lot of people confused the first few times it happens.]
The next topic is consent items and review of the voting systems.

And the GA is not paperless:  Paper copies of committee reports will be distributed.  This is a back up since PC-biz has been rough the last few days.

3:04 — Another orientation to PC-biz, this time including the green check marks following committee and Assembly action.  But still problems with SessionSync.  [I can see the slowness from the load]

3:08 — Presentation on the centennial of Presbyterian Camps and Conference Centers.

3:18 — The regular presentation of the financial implications to the per capita and mission budgets of commissioner actions.  Nothing has been approved yet so just reporting background.
My mistake.  They are reporting the proposed but not yet approved based on completed committee reports

3:27
Report of Committee 15:  Pensions, Foundation, and Publishing Corporation
There is no consent agenda on PC-biz
Report from the Board of Pensions about the CREDO program.  Eight day conference of renewal and reflection on their ministry.
Item 15-01 – No discussion, passed on voice vote.
Item 15-02 as amended – Relief of conscience plan annually.  No discussion, passed on voice vote
Item 15-03 – No discussion, passed on voice vote
Item 15-04 – No discussion, passed on voice vote
Item 15-05 with comment – No discussion, passed on voice vote
[The item is to confirm Robert Leech as president of the Foundation.  The comment commends Mr. Leech for his work.  The GAC may have a different view based on the GAC disagreement.]
Item 15-06 – No discussion, passed on voice vote
Back to 15-05 – Mr. Leech given three minutes to address assembly.  Announced the winners of the Youth Video Challenge.
Item 15-07 – To confirm Mr. Mark Lewis as the President of the Publishing Corporation.  No Discussion, passed on voice vote.  Mr. Lewis given three minutes to address assembly.

This concludes the report of Committee 15

Bruce: “See, this is easy”

3:42
Report of Committee 15: Church Growth and Christian Education
Consent agenda moved and passed

Item 12-01 – Strategy for Church Growth for African-American Congregations
Three minute presentation
Move to an advisory vote to exercise their arms.  Now raised hands for commissioners.  Passes overwhelmingly.

3:50
Item 12-02 – Grow God’s Church Deep and Wide
Three minute presentation by Tom Taylor, Deputy GAC Executive
Not just growing the numbers, but growing the individual members spiritually. Not one-size-fits-all but a call to action.  Plugs presbygrow.net.  [They are the ones with the Follow Mii t-shirts]  Move to video — looks like video was made interviewing people here about what particular churches are doing
Motion on the floor.  We have our first question from the floor!  Speaker in favor of the motion.
Passed on voice vote

4:03
Item 12-03, 05 – PILP approved in consent agenda

Item 12-04 – Jay Hudson confirmed as the President of PILP
Mr. Hudson addresses the Assembly

Item 12-06 – Advisory vote passes, commissioner vote passes both on voice

Item 12-07 – Children’s day, the Committee Recommends Disapproval
Committee recommendation (that is the item is disapproved) on voice vote but there was significant no votes.

4:12
Item 12-08 – Adolescence human development resources, with comment about setting aside differences
Speaker against.  I think he was on the committee.
YAD and minister from the originating presbytery speak in favor.
Bruce is still getting his sea legs on the debate system
Question about financial implications – Editor talks about costs and need to sell the curriculum for $60+
Motion to amend: Produce with 2011 budget year funds.
4:23 Amendment fails on voice vote
YAD speaks against and asks for someone who can to make an amendment that requires balanced views.  Reads text of his committee amendment that was misplaced in committee.
Amendment maker is not ready and Bruce moves on.
There are a lot of YADs speaking in this debate.
The commissioner is ready with his amendment.
4:34 It has now been posted Bruce: “it is my understanding that it is appropriate.  Welcome to General Assembly.”
One speaker against, no one lined up to speak in favor, Bruce moves to an electronic vote.  TSADs and YADs split, YADS no.  Commissioners vote no.
Back to the main motion.
Question about one of the original Assembly Committee on Women’s Concerns comments on the overture.  Committee representative answers question and then goes too far in advocacy and Bruce rules her out of order.
Commissioner moves YAD’s proposed amendment.
One against, someone tries to make an unrelated amendment so sits down, The YAD that originally mentioned it is now speaking for it.
Motion to close debate on this and all previous questions.  Passes on near unanimous hand vote.
Advisory delegates opposed on hand vote.  Commissioners opposed on hand vote.
(Commissioners are running to their seats for the final vote)
Final vote electronically carries in both advisory and commissioners by a wide margin.
This concludes the committee report

4:54
Bills and Overtures moves to continue on to Committee 7 since the Assembly is ahead of docket. (Moved up from after dinner) [This could be arrested for dinner since there are a couple of controversial issues.]
Approved

Committee 7 – Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
Greetings from the National Council of Churches
Presbyterian heritage stretches from “Calvin to Kirkpatrick”

Consent Agenda approved

5:04
Item 07-05: Ecumenical Policy Statement
Presentation about development of statement.  Statement will guide PC(USA) for the next decade
Passed on voice vote

Interfaith relationships
Item 07-07:  No discussion, passed on voice vote
Item 07-01: Tolerance and and Peaceful Relations between the Christian and Muslim Communities
The item was amended by the committee to eliminate “worship the same God.”
Blue paddles for amendments
5:09
First speaker proposes amendment.  Changes
from worship the same God to share commandments.  Muslim leaders don’t necessarily think we worship the same God.
(People lined up at most microphones)
Debate continues and requests for interpretation from Office of Theology
No one to speak to Theology
Going to adjourn for dinner

Gradye gives announcments
Ecumenical delegate gives closing prayer
5:32 Adjourn
See you after dinner

The 218th General Assembly of the PC(USA) — Committee Institutional Recommendations

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In addition to those major polity recommendations several committees will be bringing reports with major changes to the PC(USA) structure.  Probably chief among these is Committee 8 – Mission Coordination and Budget, where practically their whole agenda dealt with these types of issues.

The really big issue was the disagreement, to put it politely, between the General Assembly Council and one of their divisions, the Presbyterian Foundation.  I have already commented on the pro-active campaign that the Foundation has waged to fend off their supervisor the Council, and there are comments by Council Member Michael Kruse as well.  And I heard one story from a speaker at the open hearing who was chased down by a Foundation executive concerning their comments.

Maybe the best account of this is the one by Michael since he was there and had a horse in the race.  I just had a YAD at the table but I’ve not had a chance to debrief him on this one but in the midst of it at a break he was pumping me for a quick refresher on some of what I know.

Anyway, the committee basically told the GAC and Foundation to work it out before the committee finished work or they would come up with a solution which might not be favorable to either of them.  Everyone finally worked out a dispute resolution system and this will be in place, pending GA approval, for two years while a formal review of all of GAC’s functions is undertaken.

Committee 8 also will be recommending A Season of Mission Interpretation and a Mission Season Offering.  They also recommended reinstating the Office of Environmental Justice and authorized direct appeals for mission funding.  In addition a host of documents related to GAC, including a name change to the General Assembly Mission Council, were approved by the committee.

Over at Committee 3 – General Assembly Procedures, they are recommending disapproval of flexible presbytery membership, but recommending in favor of flexibility in non-geographic presbyteries membership so churches in another synod could join across synod boundaries.  They disapproved all the requests to change the per-capita system.  They approved a commissioner resolution to provide funds to the presbyteries to cover legal expenses related to fighting the departure of churches, specifically to the EPC and New Wineskins Transitional Presbytery.

In a related item, Committee 7 – Ecumenical Relations, refereed the request to investigate the actions of the EPC in recruiting churches to the GA Committee on Ecumenical Relations.

Well, that is some of the stuff.  I would also note that Committee 3 will be bringing a recommendation to change the standing rules so that it takes a 2/3 vote of the standing rules to suspend or change the rules.  While I understand the intent, that undoes a protection of the minority that is inherent in Roberts Rules of Order and I am not in favor of that one.

Anyway, off to the meeting and the live blog.  We’ll try to get everything there.

The 218th General Assembly of the PC(USA) — Committee Polity Recommendations

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There is a lot that came out of committees yesterday and I will try to highlight a few items today before the full Assembly begins meeting this afternoon.

For organizational purposes I will break these into a couple of different posts.  Let me begin with Polity.

Ordination Standards
Committee 5 – Church Orders and Ministry had to deal with the ordination standards.  One item is the Authoritative Interpretation from the 217th General Assembly.  This has become a ping-pong game between the General Assembly and the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission.  Since neither inherently over rules the other, the most recent to speak has the upper hand.  The 217th General Assembly passed the Authoritative Interpretation proposed by the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity about declaring exceptions to non-essentials.  Last February the GAPCJ in the Bush decision said that candidates could declare exceptions, but that Presbyteries could not waive rules.

There were proposals before the committee to rescind the 217th AI, and proposals for a new AI as the return volley in the polity ping-pong match.  The committee, by a vote of 43 to 15, chose to answer all the items in this category with item 05-12 where the committee crafted a new AI:

The 218th General Assembly (2008) affirms the authoritative interpretation of G-6.0108 approved by the 217th General Assembly (2006). Further, the 218th General Assembly (2008), pursuant to G-13.0112,
interprets the requirements of G-6.0108 to apply equally to all
ordination standards of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Section
G-6.0108 requires examining bodies to give prayerful and careful
consideration, on an individual, case-by-case basis, to any departure
from an ordination standard in matters of belief or practice that a
candidate may declare during examination. However, the examining body
is not required to accept a departure from standards, and cannot excuse
a candidate’s inability to perform the constitutional functions unique
to his or her office (such as administration of the sacraments).

Note the wording to answer the GAPJC decision:  The reference “apply equally to all ordination standards” since the GAPJC cited that G-6.0106b was lifted up as a particular standard, and the reference to “departure…in matters of belief and practice” since the GAPJC said belief could be scrupled but practice could not be waived.

If this is adopted we will see what the return volley looks like.

The other item is the removal/modification of G-6.0106b.  The committee by a 41/11/0 vote chose a “middle road” here and has answered all those overtures with item 05-09.  This item would rewrite that paragraph.

Current G-6.0106b Proposed G-6.0106b
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.		 b. Those
who are called to ordained service in the church, by their assent to
the constitutional questions for ordination and installation
(W-4.4003), pledge themselves to live lives obedient to Jesus Christ
the Head of the Church, striving to follow where he leads through the
witness of the Scriptures, and to understand the Scriptures through the
instruction of the Confessions. In so doing, they declare their
fidelity to the standards of the Church. Each governing body charged
with examination for ordination and/or installation (G-14.0240 and
G-14.0450) establishes the candidate’s sincere efforts to adhere to
these standards.

Many of the headlines circulating around are declaring the removal of G-6.0106b but this is only partially correct.  They are correct that 1) if adopted by the GA, and 2) if adopted by the presbyteries, the current language would be gone.  But in a strict sense it is being replaced by more flexible wording.  This will be a long and drawn out issue, both on the floor, and there is a minority report, and again in the presbyteries.  I should note however that the committee added a comment to say “Presbyteries are strongly encouraged to consider this overture using a process of listening and discernment.”

I should also note that this item would also add to chapter 14 of the Book of Order language that those being ordained must declare their readiness to assert to the constitutional questions.

Ordination Vows
The Committee on Church Polity, in item 04-02, crafted new language that requires new members of the church do answer the same questions as confirmands in front of the congregation.  This language includes the questions by reference where the original overture listed out the questions.

Definition of Marriage
The Committee on Church Polity, in their longest and most heated issue, also debated changing the Book of Order language to make marriage between two people, not just between a man and a woman (item 04-08).  By a vote of 38/20/2 they voted to deny the request with comment that includes the wording “while
trusting that the Church (PCUSA) will continue to seek ways and means
to seek God’s blessing for alternative forms of covenant between two
people.”  At the present time I see no minority report posted for this one.

Form of Government Revision
From pretty close to the beginning it was becoming probable that the nFOG would be recommended out to the Presbyteries for study, reflection, and comment.  The committee than decided, by a 45/20/1 vote that the comments would then go back to an “enhanced” FOG Task Force.  This would be composed of a core of the original task force supplemented by others from around the church, including representatives from this committee.  The report also contains an “unedited” list of comments on the nFOG.

Those are the major items.  There are a bunch of other recommended changes to the Book of Order but these are the high-profile issues.

The 218th General Assembly of the PC(USA) — Reflections on the Moderator Election

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The election of the Moderator of the General Assembly is the highest in “high-drama” that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has.  The room was comfortably full.  A row of seats near me held the past Moderators in attendance. And the webcast was followed by people around the country, in spite of the time differences.

First, my sincere thanks to all four candidates for standing for Moderator.  This is an awkward position in our polity: campaigning for an office when the office is supposed to seek the candidate.  But all did it well, respectfully, and decently and in order.  There is an important value in having choices because in the discussion, debate, and thought about the selection we not only chose who will lead us, we air the topics that are on our hearts and help focus our thinking about these issues.  In this respect alone these four men have done a profound service to the denomination.

Second, my highest respect for Elder Roger Shoemaker and his stand for Moderator.  As the only elder in the group, including the Vice-moderator candidates, he made an important statement by being willing to take the time and commit himself to being willing to be elected to the office.  As I now see our biennial GA’s play out I am becoming more concerned that with a two year term of office we are pricing elders out of the market.  The first question that was asked last night was very profound.  The question, as reframed, was about how each candidate would balance the role of Moderator with their other professional and family responsibilities.  Bill and Bruce pretty much said that their churches have the depth that they could take time away from them for the term.  Carl had an interesting twist that in his specialized ministry his role as Moderator could actually enhance that ministry to allow him to work on it at a higher level.  Roger flatly replied “I don’t have a church.”  This reveals two things: the bias of our thoughts about Moderators being ministers, and the near necessity of elders needing to be retired to take on the position.  (Note: I am not saying that there was this bias in the question since the question was actually asked of Bruce and is very legitimate considering his church and family circumstances.  However, the question needed to be reframed because all candidate get to answer each question.)

What concerns me is that while this is a major commitment for any servant of the church to take on, as Bill and Bruce demonstrate, it is easier for a minister to go to their session and figure out a way to make it happen.  If I were to go to my employer and try to work something out it would have to involve a big chunk of vacation time.  I’m pushing the boundaries enough right now as Vice-moderator of a synod.  For most elders, serving as Moderator of the General Assembly is something that can only be reasonably considered in retirement, especially with a two year term.

And during the Q&A each candidate showed their style.  Bill was the master at answering questions and addressing it back to the person asking the question.  Carl was ever ready with one of his profound and moving experiences.  Roger was true to his straightforward and “down home” approach.  And Bruce was lively and humerous when appropriate and serious and profound when he needed to be.

The other thing that struck me last night was that Carl’s late wife Marsha was mentioned only once, briefly in his nominating speech.  I do owe everyone an apology because in retrospect I should have mentioned her passing last month in this blog but I never got to it.  While I was not expecting any significant mention to be made, none the less I was both impressed and intreagued that so little was said.  I will leave it at that, but belated condolances to you Carl, you have been in my prayers.

When last we met…
I signed off last night just after the election results were announced and Bruce declared the new Moderator.  Following that Bruce and all the members of his family were escorted on stage for the installation service.  One of the moving parts of the service was the prayer of installation that was lead by Bruce’s mother and his oldest daughter.  The cross and stole were passed and Bruce began following the script. (Yes folks, for all these formal occasions, and in fact any thing that can be scripted, there is a script.)  Then the outgoing Moderator and Vice-moderator were thanked and all the former Moderators in attendance came on stage to be recognized.

The one additional comment that I would make is that when Bruce came back into the room and at one other point the stage crew turned on all these wild disco or light show lights.  While the event should be celebrated, Bruce was installed in a worship service, I guess I feel the light show trivializes it, or at least makes it more like the person is seeking the office.  That’s my $0.02.

And in closing on this topic, Bruce has cited me as “painfully fair.”  Don’t expect that to change brother.



Now, on to some analysis.
In a previous post when I referred to Bruce as a “YAD magnet” I was half joking.  I did not realize how prophetic that was.  On the first vote Bruce got 61% of the YAD vote (107 out of 163 votes) with the remainder somewhat evenly spread across the other three candidates.  I did not get the exact numbers from the second ballot, but they were pretty much the same.  Yes, once again the YAD’s called it on the first ballot.

Talking with my son this was no surprise to him.  He said that the buzz among the YAD’s had been so much about Bruce that this outcome with them was totally expected.  Get ready for Moderator 2.0.

But the commissioners are what really count.  On the first ballot it was Mazza 102, Reyes-Chow 341, Shoemaker 14, and Teng 250.

One the second ballot it was Mazza 52, Reyes-Chow 390, Shoemaker 7, and Teng 255.

While I usually think that these things are complex, in this case I am fairly comfortable figuring the very similar numbers do reflect the actual shifts:  Mazza lost 50, Reyes-Chow gained 49; Shoemaker lost 7, Teng gained 5.  In the Q&A, particularly the questions on inclusivity, we saw that Mazza and Reyes-Chow favor ordination and Teng and Shoemaker do not.  Shifts between these candidates in these positions would be logical.

But does this mean we have 262 conservatives and 442 liberals with us this week?  No, there are so many factors in play here that I don’t think we can make that call.  I know that among the YADs there were multiple evangelicals who were comfortable enough with Bruce to vote for him.  I would expect the same among the commissioners.  Bruce brought a freshness, vitality, and humor to the Q&A, as well as an honestness, that I think there were many “slightly right” commissioners who were led to him.  And please don’t read this as a purely political statement.  I do believe that the Holy Spirit was working in the Assembly last night and Bruce is the man for this time.

Having just denied purely political thinking I will take the risk and look ahead to the Stated Clerk election.  From what I saw last night I’m thinking Gradye Parsons will be the sucessful candidate.  While I do know Gradye the best of the four, he does strike me as the one with the most freshness and vitality like Bruce showed.  If the same dynamic plays out that would favor Gradye on top of his experience in the system.  But I’ve been wrong before.  Stay tuned.

The PC(USA) General Assembly — Live Blogging Moderator Election

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Greetings — I will be live blogging most sessions of the PC(USA)
General Assembly.  I apologize to those with e-mail feeds or a feed
reader since you will probably only get the first section of the post
since I’ll be pushing updates throughout the session.  Also, if you are
reading this on a browser live you will also need to refresh the screen
since I don’t have push technology on my blog.  It’s tough being Web
1.99999 in a Web 2.0 world.  Thanks for your patience.

Saturday Evening, June 21, 2008
The 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
7:00 
— The commissioner chairs are filling up.  People are filing in.  The observer section is about half full.

The session begins with greetings from the Reformed churches in Europe given by the representative of the Swiss Reformed church.

There were some problems this afternoon with PC-biz so one or two items from the Committee on Bill and Overtures were postponed until this evening so that all the commissioners could have the items in from of them.  Talking to my son it looked to him like server overload.  The refresh button would work for a while and then the system got slower and slower until he got an “unavailable” message.  Then the cycle would start all over again.  We will see what it does this evening but bringing new servers on-line is not something they will be able to do over dinner.  We will see.

They just announced that network changes have been made so only the commissioners and delegates have PC-biz access.  But when asked it the commissioners could get it the answer is a resounding “no.”  It looks like few of the commissioners can see it.  The item is abandoned for today.

Election of the Moderator
The Moderator election will get underway shortly.  The Moderator candidates each had four minutes to speak at the Outlook Dinner.  Bruce Reyes-Chow went first and told a funny story on himself as part of his presentation.  Entertaining and on target about the need to understand each other.  Roger Shoemaker went second and told a funny joke but not a personal relevance.  His speech, while interesting and heartfelt was probably the weakest of the four.  Carl Mazza followed him and was right on message as seen in his answers in the information booklet.  He began with, and interwove, a personal experience from his homeless ministry into his remarks.  If he keeps this pattern tonight he will touch a lot of commissioners.  Bill Teng finished the remarks and began with a hat tip to the Outlook and then well delivered remarks about the focus of the church.

The nominations begin:
(Note, I will be covering both the nominating speech and the candidate speech in the same section although all four nominating speeches are given before the candidates speech.


The nominating speech is emphasizing his connection to youth and the younger face of the church.  But they also talk about his service to the denomination, but with few specifics.  He respects the Reformed tradition but encourages dialog between diverse people.

In Bruce’s comments he begins with his Presbyterian roots and how previous generations, and Abraham, did not know the future but stepped out into it.  Is there anything too hard and too wondrous for God?  He concentrates his whole speech on the “new realities” and the future of the church.  Strong, well delivered, and tightly focused speech.  Shows a lot of passion for this.  (Wild applause from his fan base in the observer section.  He is local after all.)


The nominating speech is talking about Carl’s heart and “mission in action.”  His hands-on experience and his presence with the people.  “Leadership that lives and breaths the Gospel.”

Carl begins with two principles:  Commitment to Jesus Christ and to the mission in the world.  He was the result of mission, a Presbyterian church led him to Jesus Christ.  Tries to return the gift of honest conversation and relationship.  Then he gets into a mission story, the same one about a 14 year old girl that prayed at one of the shelters.  That leads into his big finish about being loved by God.  (His speech was a bit shaky in the middle, but once he launched into the story he spoke boldly, clearly, and passionately.)


The speech is being given by Tamara Letts, Bill’s Vice-moderator candidate.  She emphasizes his commitment to the denomination, service to the church, and love of church and commitment to its unity.  Also, his Presbyterian heritage and his multicultural background.

Bill opened with his theme of “In gratitude and hope.”  It is gratitude for what God has done that sends us out to share the love and hope of Jesus.  He repeats his theme that, if elected, he will spend the two years traveling about telling the stories of what Presbyterians have done in the past.  He too shares stories, these about the people touched by missionaries to China, including his own grandfather.  His big finish is the closing lines from the Brief Confession of Faith.


Begins with the parable of the fig tree and the tree as a symbol of Roger’s candidacy.  The church’s roots need to be nurtured and sometimes need to be thinned out.  The church needs to be cultivated and pruned, and he rattles off what Roger has done for the church.  (Hate to say it but this speech did not connect with me.  Too much time on trees in Nebraska and not enough on Roger himself.)  But the big finish was a nice connection to the healing trees in Revelation.

Roger begins with a declaration that he will be guided by the Book of Order and Book of Confessions.  He then talks about how we must live as the body of Christ to exhibit Christ to those who enter our midst.  Our witness is both financial and our presence with people.  Wants to be in conversation to find ways to grow our church.  Do we work together to save the tree or stand by and watch the tree slowly die. (Trims speech because of time but still ran way over.  Should have left it at the “work together to save the tree.”)

Questions and Answers (one hour)
1)  The question is addressed at Bruce but is reworded to be generic:  If elected Moderator how will your current ministry be covered.
Bruce:  Talks about his church, but does not answer question about ministry too directly.  The church is excited and the church style allows his absence
Carl:  Meeting Ground might enjoy some relief from him after 26 years.   But the ministry is about bringing churches together so it does not take away from his ministry but actually enhances it.
Bill:  His session has agreed to having him away 2 Sundays a month and Associates and Pulpit Supply are available.
Roger:  “I don’t have a church”  He as at a place where he can do this.

2)  How would you describe a “missional orientation?”
Carl:  The members of the church are interested in doing mission.  We need to find new ways of doing mission.
Bill: God is the God of the mission.  We do not originate but are sent in partnership with Jesus.
Roger:  The church has become a group that is willing to take a risk and love the unlovable.  Need to find ways to do it.
Bruce:  This means an institutional shift.  One thing to say, another to do.  The revised FOG moves us from prohibiting to empowering because the presbytery and people know the context.

3)  Question from a YAD about inclusivity and especially ordination.
Bill:  We as a church need to be inclusive.  Ordination involves a call to be affirmed by a wider group so it is not “inclusivity” but “fitness to serve.”
Roger:  Tough question made tougher by the narrow focus on the GLBT community.  Need to work with Book of Order and Confessions.  To make progress we first need to take down other walls.
Bruce:
  “No elephants in the room.”  Personally believes it should be extended to all people, but accepts that is now where the church is.
Carl:  Difficult and hurtful issue.  To move forward with this there must be unity.  His mission gives him a “broad understanding of humanity.”  Unflinchingly in favor of full inclusion because he has seen the hurt that denial of ordination has caused.  If mission is the goal we can get past this and with a fuller understanding of who God is we will agree on inclusion.

4) What is the Gospel
Roger:  The good news of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  (That was all he said)
Bruce:  The good news of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus
Carl:  Similar to Bruce but adds that we become a new creation.
Bill:  Includes much of the above, but adds transformation because of the sacrifice of Jesus.

5) With our ordination standards a particular person feels like “Jesus is being taken away from me.”  Given that, how do we grow the church
Bruce:  “Does anyone else want to go first?”   Can we really agree to disagree on this issue?  We can make Jesus real when we deal with issues like this with transparency.  People outside of the church can tell when we are not being real.  In being real we can grow the church.
Carl:  In doing mission together we are transformed.  The church must be a place of safety to come together and risk.
Bill:  The Gospel is for all people and is transformational.  God has a whole-person claim on all of us.  In this case, need to work with the person about what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ.
Roger:  Jesus calls us all and no person or body can take Him away.  But we need to work together to find answers.

Editorial notes:
The observer section is now full.
There are definite trends in answers: Bill giving a diplomatic opening to his answers, Bruce using humor to break the tension, Carl going back to his mission experience and its role in transformation, and Roger having a brief and sometimes weak or indirect answers.

6)  What do we say to members in small declining churches, particularly in small communities.
Carl:  Small churches are important.  Need talented and visionary leaders to work with them.
Bill:  Viability is not an issue of size but about the impact the church has in the community.
Roger:  Any of you also every preach to a congregation of 5?  Need to work at partnering small churches in small communities.  (Having just commented about weak answers he came up with an interesting one.)
Bruce:  Need to ask tough questions and be honest.  Is a church living in the past?  Need to ask hard questions about if a church is doing the mission of God in their context.

7)  What does the global church have to teach us?
Bill:  Has experience overseas and in developing countries the church today, like the early church, is counter-cultural.  We should not be too comfortable where we are.  Need to get out and share our faith.
Roger:  We need to meet the basic needs of our international friends and understand how they see us.  Maybe we can learn something from them.
Bruce:  We need to hear the world view of others, different ways of being.  Helps us understand the “fullness of life.”
Carl:  The strength of faith and simplicity of worship in undeveloped countries has a lot to teach us.  They also have a lot to teach us about peacemaking from their experience as the victims and marginalized.

8)  The church seems to be moving from personal righteousness to social and global issues.  What is the balance and what are the implications.
Roger:  Personal relationship comes in building blocks that are also tied to what we do in the world.
Bruce:  The two issues are not mutually exclusive.  Personal connection to God can be manifest in many ways including social causes and discipleship.  We can push each other in these different areas.
Carl:  Through many different experiences has grown in his spirituality.  By relating to a hurting brother we enhance both of our personal relationships with God.
Bill:  I am a hypocrit if I can’t love my neighbor but work for peace globally.

Time up, we move to the vote:

First ballot:
Advisory:  YADS: Bruce Reyes-Chow by a wide margin, 107 votes with 23 for Carl, 10 for Roger, and 23 for Bill.

Commissioners:  No majority.  Bruce 341, Bill 250, Carl 102, Roger 14.  Bruce got 48% and Bill got 35%.

The system is being reset for the second ballot.  Prediction:  Carl’s votes go to Bruce, Roger’s votes go to Bill.  Bruce wins in the next ballot or two.

Second ballot:
Advisory:  About the same.  I did not write fast enough.
Commissioners:  Bruce Reyes-Chow is the Moderator of the 218th General Assembly
Bruce 390, Bill 255, Carl 52, Roger 7

We now proceed to the installation.
I’ll finish the live blogging here and post pictures and a reading of the tea leaves in the next 12 hours.

The 218th General Assembly of the PC(USA) — The Journey Begins

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The marathon begins!

As I chatted with commissioners at the end of the day today they talked about how tiring a day it was.  And this was the preparatory day.  Things actually get underway tomorrow.  Today was about orientation and training.  Just wait until 1 AM on Friday night, that would actually be Saturday morning, as you still have one committee report to finish before you can go to bed.  Well, we will get there in a week.

But Today… Sed Hodie

Actually yesterday, YAD Philip, my son, made it to San Jose without any problem, got checked in, and began “YADding.”  I’ll talk more about the YAD program another time, but they keep them too busy for them to really get into trouble even though we had to sign a waiver that we understood there would be no “adult” supervision.  One of the highlights for him was riding on the shuttle bus from the airport next to Mr. Robert Wilson, Vice-moderator of the 217th GA and talking to him.  My Son The YAD seems to be doing fine when I chatted with him briefly today.  One thing he did note during the antiracism training for commissioners and delegates was that over lunch before the training the YAD’s were talking about how in their generation/culture it is not racism as it has been in the past as much as drawing lines of who is in and who is out on other criteria:  where you live, what you do, etc.

As for me, I grabbed a flight on Southwest up here and made it early afternoon.  The flight was on a new airplane, was on-time, had that little bit of Southwest’s stand-up comedy from the flight attendants (including a couple of bits I had not heard before), cost me nothing extra to check a bag, and cost less than filling up my truck twice.  But I was not the only Presbyterian on the flight.  One good friend, a few faces I recognized, and a few that were new faces to me but the “frozen chosen” stood out in the crowd.  And folks, we may like the back pews in church, but we’ll take the front seats on a plane.
Had a nice clear day for flying and it is well known among the geologists that the flight path from LA to the Bay Area follows the San Andreas fault, visible as the linear valley running from lower left to upper right in the picture.

From the airport we had a nice ride on the shuttle bus to the convention hotels and it was an honor to help a former Moderator of the GA with their luggage.

The convention center area is convenient.  There is a light rail system to help get around but most things are walking distance including San Jose State University.  I will note that I think the drivers are even crazier here than in LA LA land.  Be especially careful of cars looking like they are about to pull a right-on-red.  Then again, it is Friday evening and we Angeleno’s are at our driving “best” then as well.  After all, “L.A. is a great big freeway.”  And I do regularly confess that when I am driving is when I am probably my least Christ-like.

After checking in I got registered and started looking for friends old and new, including a number of the virtual kind.  I’ll have a few more days to do business but I did take care of some of that today.  But the surprise of the exhibit hall is that the Office of Evangelism and Church Growth and presbygrow.net has put the Easter card from Mission Bay Presbyterian Church on a t-shirt.  Had to have one.  All it took was agreeing to be on the e-mail list.  (I would also note that as I called up the web site to link it I see that the Office of Evangelism and Church Growth has changed their subdirectory from “/churchgrowth/” to “/goodnews/”  Sending a message with that one!)

I got a little time to talk to Moderator/Vice-moderator candidates but I’ll do more of that Saturday morning.  I also ran into a bunch of people I know mostly from the Web 2.0 world.  It was great to put names and faces together in the “face-to-face” world.  It got me thinking about what the wider electronic community of the Church Virtual misses when it does not gather in person.  Sunday worship will be an interesting experiment in technology as we gather in two large “arena” worship spaces but with a television feed between to share parts of the service.

I finished the evening at the Church Basement Roadshow at First Presbyterian Church of San Jose, just a few blocks from the convention center area.  A little on the Roadshow in a moment, but I was also struck by the church.  It is very “utilitarian” architecture with a sanctuary (worship space?) with theater seating for a bit over 100 that with some minor modifications could be just another lecture hall.  But it is a historic church and this is the third building they have had in their history.  One of their members spent a great deal of time telling me the history of the church.  The first building was destroyed in the Great 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, a reminder that San Francisco, while large and having the great fire, was not the only city devastated by that earthquake.  The second building became “unsafe” and the current space was built in 1972.  There are stained-glass windows from the previous building hanging over the current windows.  While preserving the past this looks like an example, at least in its architecture, of a church that moved on to modern or post-modern thinking early on.  And what’s this about a church basement, this is California and most residences, churches, and small commercial spaces don’t have basements.

As for the Roadshow, I found it entertaining and moving.  I need to say that it is part entertainment.  It is also part promotional with the corporate sponsors and each of the principals having books on the market.  And the bucket was passed with a suggested donation of $10. (Although it seemed around me that less than half put anything in.) But it also included three significant “testimonies,” even if tied to the books.  After reflecting on this I have decided not to thoroughly review or deconstruct the evening in case others will be seeing the roadshow later on.  Getting back to the “face-to-face” thing, you should hear the testimonies in their original voice first.  But I will comment that one speaker shared a story similar to Augustine’s with “our hearts are restless until they find their rest in YOU.”  It was also a critique that as God is working in our hearts, salvation is not a “one-size-fits-all” “four spiritual laws” path to salvation, but when God calls, the call may come differently for everyone.  It is where your heart is broken and there is a place for emotions in your spiritual life.  Another testimony picked up on where your heart is broken and the call to covenant community.  The theme of love was present throughout the evening, but not in the general sense that “God is Love,” but in a very real and tangible sense of love for others in the covenant community, really caring about your brothers and sisters in Christ.  And also, like the remaining testimony talked about, loving like Jesus loved for the outcast and marginal.  The show is not for everyone.  But if you want some entertainment with some hard-hitting stories consider it.  I thought it was an evening well spent and an interesting voice about the body of Christ in the future.

As for tomorrow, this little piece of the body of Christ, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) convenes it’s General Assembly in the morning.  Back then.

The 28th General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church

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We are now in the midst of the 28th General Assembly of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, being held in Bethesda, Maryland.  By most Presbyterian standards four days is relatively short for a GA.

Since I am currently focusing on another General Assembly that starts tomorrow, and still have two blog entries each to finish from the Church of Scotland, PCA, and my GA 101 series, I’ll have to play catch-up later on the EPC meeting.  However, I don’t feel too bad doing that since the Rev. David Fischler from The Reformed Pastor is attending and blogging.  I would also note, and David confirms, that the Rev. Bill Crawford from Bayou Christian is there as well and I would expect his comments at some point in the future.  The event is properly covered.

But some think that the real EPC fireworks will be over at the PC(USA) where an overture makes accusations of “sheep stealing” (the polite term the overture uses is “persuade” but other stronger terms are being used in private conversation) and some in the PC(USA) want an investigation and cutting formal ties with the EPC.

Blessings on the EPC meeting and I’ll try to cross-correlate later.

What’s Shaking in San Jose?

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First, this is what you get when you have a GA Junkie that has just turned in his course grades and now has a bit more time on his hands…

Second, if you are coming to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly in San Jose from some place else in the country where you don’t worry about earthquakes and the thought of earthquakes may be worrying you, you may not want to continue reading.  On the other hand, “knowledge is power” and having this info may help calm nerves.  (And you can think of that “may” in our polity sense.)

In case you haven’t caught it from one of my previous posts, my day job includes earthquake geology.  And you might have noticed in the GA Program that on Monday afternoon there is “Mission Tour 4: Hike through earthquake country” that includes a visit to the San Andreas fault.  (And no, I’m not planning on going since I’m there for the GA business.)

On the plus side, I would encourage you to be aware of earthquakes and be prepared for them.  The mantra here is “Duck, cover and hold,” although I joke with my class that “Don’t Panic” works too.  That is duck under something solid, cover yourself with that solid object, and hold on to it so it does not shake away from you.  Standing in door frames is not the current preferred safe zone since we finally figured out that most door frames also have a door attached to them and sometimes that door wants to use the frame with you so people were getting hit by the door.  If you want more info, the standard reference around these parts is “Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country,” and check out the San Francisco edition.

If you want more info:  There is the real time earthquake map of the San Francisco area and a slightly different map with more around San Jose.  There is also a page on Bay Area Earthquake Probabilities from the USGS.

Around here we usually calculate probabilities on a 30 year time period, as in there is a 99.7% chance that California will have a magnitude 6.7 or larger earthquake in the next 30 years.  And around here that is not called a forecast, that is a reminder.

What about for next week?  Well the good news is that there has not been a large one in the area for a while so there are no really active aftershock sequences to provide any shaking.  As for regional quakes, based on regional probabilities there is about a 10% chance that the San Francisco Bay area will have a magnitude 4 or larger earthquake in any given week. (If you want the gory details, the G-R magnitude relationship, based on the last 20 years of seismicity, is log N = 6.04 – 1.33 M.  N is the number of earthquakes in a year larger than magnitude M.)

But “California does have its faults” and San Jose is sandwiched between the big ones in the Bay Area: the San Andreas about 15km to the west and the Hayward and Calaveras faults about 10km east.  Running some rough numbers based on the State of California fault information for the area the San Andreas fault to the north and to the south, if treated as separate earthquake sources, could each produce something a bit over a magnitude 7.  No surprise here since the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake was a 6.9 on that southern segment.  The Calaveras and Hayward faults are about the same.  But the closest fault to the west is the much less active Monte Vista thrust fault about half way to the San Andreas.  Add up all their probabilities and you get about a 0.03% chance of having a large earthquake on one of these faults in the next week.

So there you are — Welcome to California.  And I’ll see you there.

Then
a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the
rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind
there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. – I Kings 19:11b, 12 NIV

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland — Wrap-up 1: General Thoughts and The British PM

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The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland concluded their meeting today and while I had hoped to do some live-blogging during the sessions, life and work (pun intended) kept me busy with other things.  I will do a couple of wrap-up posts over the next few days since I will have the extended Memorial/Decoration Day holiday weekend to do some blogging.

My first reaction is that it was great to be watching a General Assembly, any GA, again.  While some terminology and issues may be unique to the Church of Scotland (CofS), there is much in their deliberations that overlaps with other branches.  In particular, the CofS is looking at a reorganization of their most basic constitutional document that has echoes of the PC(USA) Revised Form of Government debate (in structure and approach but not as much content).  There were also debates that involved interim ministry, pastoral searches, theological education, and the church in the 21st century.  I’ll talk about those debates in later posts, but the feel of the proceedings was very familiar to us GA Junkies.

One of the headline items of the General Assembly was an invited speech on Saturday by British Prime Minister the Right Honorable Gordon Brown MP.

Two items of background are helpful to know to appreciate the context of this speech.  The first is that Gordon Brown is a “son of the manse,” his father having been a Church of Scotland minister.  In his speech he looks back and comments on growing up and what he learned from his father including:

And all that I was taught then remains with me to this day. Like so
many here today, my father lived on a ministerial stipend. But he also
brought us up to study the great texts, to believe that the size of
your wealth mattered less than the strength of your character; that a
life of joy and fulfillment could be lived in the service of others; and
that to be tested by adversity is not a fate to be feared but a
challenge to be overcome.

The second piece of background is that this is the 20th anniversary of a speech given by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to the General Assembly.  That speech is available from the web site of the Margaret Thatcher Foundation and is considered a key exposition of her moral and religious world view.  The Thatcher speech is known in Scotland as the “Sermon on the Mound,” a play on both the scriptural discourse of Jesus and the artificial hill where the Assembly Hall is located.  This is a name that the Thatcher Foundation frowns upon saying in the editorial comments with the speech text “Tastelessly, opponents nicknamed the speech ‘the Sermon on the Mound.'”  The speech caused an uproar for its proof-texting scripture, worship, and theology to justify her political theories.  The Wikipedia page on the speech describes the Moderator’s reply in presenting her with reports on housing and poverty “which was interpreted by the press as a polite rebuke.”

Mr. Brown’s speech politely walked a fine line between Church and State while never really doing much with either.  He does deal with the moral responsibility each person has for making the world a better place, the role that the church has for holding up issues and speaking truth to power, and he acknowledge the reports handed to the PM 20 years ago saying:

So just as twenty years ago this weekend the then Prime Minister was
presented with the Church and Nation Committees’ deliberations and
kindly invited to study a report entitled ‘Just Sharing’, I expect
nothing less than for you to ask me and the Scottish Parliament to
study in detail – and reflect upon – today’s report of the Church and
Society Council —- to reflect upon your demands, your priorities,
your call for action on homelessness, on child poverty, on the
shortfalls in the care of older people. And I agree also with what you
say about the misery caused by gambling and drug addiction, and the
scourge of alcohol abuse.

After talking about the human urge to work for justice he then spoke of the potential of cyberspace and its ability to bring together like-minded people even if they are on the opposite sides of the world.  His logical conclusion is:

And what I want to argue is that the joining of these two forces –
the information revolution and the human urge to co-operate for justice
– makes possible for the first time in history something we have only
dreamt about: the creation of a truly global society.

A global
society where people anywhere and everywhere can discover their shared
values, communicate with each other and do not need to meet or live
next door to each other to join together with people in other countries
in a single moral universe to bring about change.

As a true politician he did not embrace any distinctive theological issues but spoke of “universal truths” using Christian terms and references and talked of global issues in general terms.

Needless to say, a speech by an important politician received significant coverage in the media and the blogs.  There is coverage on the BBC Web Site with an article on the speech and a critical commentary in the Scotsman.  On the blogs there is plenty of commentary as well, but I would single out the comments by Alan in Belfast and Puffbox that highlight Brown’s comments about the value of the internet.  There is plenty more of both regular media and blogs if you do a web search on these.

OK, enough of the kids that have left home coming back to say “hi.”  Next, on to the meatier subjects of reorganization and the Articles Declaratory.