Category Archives: General Assembly

General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church Of Ireland — Youth and Children: A Tale Of The Tweets

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I have been having fun the last couple of days following the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. There is no live streaming so the vast majority of what I can find out in real time is through Twitter.

A few transcripts and audio selections have found their way onto the internet. The church has posted the text of the addresses by the outgoing Moderator and the incoming Moderator. To hear parts of the Assembly you can check out a number of audio clips that Alan in Belfast has posted on his blog as part of his coverage of the Assembly meeting.  In addition, he has posted the report of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland Youth and Children Council (PCIYAC) from earlier today. (part 1, part 2)

And getting down to the subject of the Board of Youth and Children’s Ministries, they were fairly vocal in the debate yesterday concerning the proposal by the Structures Committee to reorganize and consolidate Boards. In particular, they were concerned about their loss of Board status as they would be included with the Council For Congregational Life and Witness. In the end the Structures proposal was not adopted this year by the vote of 190 to 119 so they continue as they are for another year.

This afternoon was the report of the Board of Youth and Children’s Ministries itself. The report went well, as you can hear for yourself on the audio clips above, lasting just over 40 minutes. One of the highlights was a video promoting Messy Church. Another was the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the Boys Brigade program and the impact that it has had, including a couple of testimonials from the floor. As for the seven resolutions in the report, nothing controversial that raised any real objections.

What did catch a number of people’s attention was the turnout of Assembly members for the report, at least at the beginning.

When the report began it was preceded by a prayer that included these lines transcribed from the audio clip:

“We thank you for those who serve within this Board, for the work of this past year. And now as they report help them to communicate to us what’s on their hearts and what’s of importance to them and to us.”

Thanks to Twitter we have some comments and pictures of the meeting space at about the time the prayer was being said. Among those tweets are these two:

 
James Currie @JCBelfast

Hall unfortunately nearly empty for the Youth and Children’s Board Report #pciga13 pic.twitter.com/pBrBMJTtD3
 

James McCormick @jamesmcc77

Not much interest in Youth & Children from PCI members. Poor show folks. #pciga13 pic.twitter.com/yUdxIRPj9o
 



As the prayer said “…what’s of importance to them and to us.” Not many of the “us.”

Now to be fair, these pictures were taken at the beginning of the report right after a short 15 minute break and the lines for coffee this week are reported to be very long. And the hall did fill up a bit more after this. Furthermore, this was not the only report with very low attendance at the beginning. But the reports on Twitter still seem to indicate that it never did fill up the way it had for some of the more high-profile reports. And comparisons continued later in the day.

So I am sitting here wondering do I really need to spell this out? Do I really need to point out that when we talk about the younger generation and their importance to the church and then we don’t show up for the report about their ministries it sends a pretty mixed message? Do I need to rant on about the theme of the Assembly being about transformation and then the report about working with the generation we are trying to transform the church for has so few people listening to it?

No I don’t think I need to do any of that. But what struck me about the events of today is that when there is so much concern and discussion about whether the church has a future I must admit that I was very surprised at the apparent lack of attention that was paid to an important Board that has responsibility for the youngest members of the Body of Christ, the ones that have the most riding on the future.

OK, rant over. Commentary mode off.

We now return to our regularly scheduled stream of tweets.

80th General Assembly Of The Orthodox Presbyterian Church

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Tomorrow evening in Moraga, California, the 80th General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church will convene.

On the one hand, this is always a very easy General Assembly to follow since a great running daily narrative is traditionally posted by the church.

On the other hand, if you are trying to follow along “live” this is usually not a meeting that provides a lot to follow. There is no live streaming, I have not detected any Twitter chatter (please let me know if I am missing it and I will update) and the reports and business the Assembly will be considering is not posted to the web, at least not that I have found. UPDATE: From the comments the hashtag should be #opcga.

This is a rare occasion with the OPC Assembly on the west coast, in this case at St. Mary’s College of California across the hills from Berkeley in the Bay Area. It was tempting for me to take some time to go observe but this is not the year for me to be doing that.

The one item on the docket that has been discussed is the development of a psalter-hymnal. This is a project that will take almost a decade and at this point the choice of the contents has been made. The news article says that the list will be presented to the Assembly but not for final approval.

If you want the background info you can find their Confessional Standards, Book of Church Order, General Assembly Papers (white papers on various topics) and the Standing Rules on the General Assembly page. There is also a guidelines and policy piece referred to as the Instruments of the General Assembly.

I look forward to following along on the Daily Updates and we extend our prayers for the meeting and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in your deliberations and discernment.

2013 General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church In Ireland

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Beginning in a few hours we turn our attention to the western side of the North Channel for the penultimate General Assembly in the British Isles. At 7:00 PM this evening, Monday 3 May, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland will convene. This year will be a bit different as the Assembly takes one of their very occasional trips away from the Assembly Hall in Belfast (the last time was 22 years ago), this year to meet at the Millennium Forum in Londonderry.

If you are interested, here is some helpful information:

  • The Church has produced an excellent outline of their meeting on the Assembly page. There is also a news item with a narrative of the meeting and highlights for each day
  • The reports that were published in advance are available on the Reports Page
  • There are usually news reports from The Press Office. There is the news page or I will update if a separate page is used.
  • If you need a polity refresher you should check out their unified document, The Code as well as their Guide to Assembly Procedure
  • In the past the PCI has done a wonderful and prolific job of tweeting the Assembly at @pciassembly. For the meeting the hashtag is #pciga13
  • Other Twitter accounts related to the church that could be interesting are @PCIYAC from the Youth and Children department and @pciSPUD from the Youth Assembly
  • The best observer of the GA to keep an eye on is Alan in Belfast on both Twitter @AlanInBelfast,  and his blog Alan in Belfast
  • The local news site Slugger O’Toole with their Twitter @sluggerotoole is also a good source that might have some coverage
  • Finally, there will probably be PCI commissioners tweeting. Let me start with the moderator of a past General Assembly @staffordcarson. (And on a side note, Dr. Carson is up for approval by the Assembly to a new position. UPDATE: He was approved as the new Principal of Union College. ) Update: I would add to the list James Currie (@jcbelfast) who is active with PCIYAC and pciSPUD.

Regarding live streaming we have this unfortunate statement from the Arrangements Committee (pg. 7):

Web Streaming and ‘Twitter’
9. The Arrangements Committee regrets that due to technical restrictions, the General Assembly will not be streamed this year.  However, proceedings may be followed on ‘Twitter’

The raises a couple of questions in my mind, one being the quotes around Twitter. (Are those scare quotes?)
But further, in an advanced facility such as the Millennium Forum why are there technical issues with streaming? It seems the key word is… restrictions. It leads me to conclude that the requirements of the venue are that they handle the streaming at a cost which is prohibitive to the church. Another thing I see is that portions will be broadcast by the BBC so there may be restrictions to competition there. It may be something else but those are my guesses at the moment. For those of us who enjoy the stream and are interested in the business and decisions reached we still have Twitter but the lack of streaming is a disappointment when it seems easy enough to do.

There are two evening events of some interest. The first is a series of seminars on Tuesday evening at Magee College. It was founded by Presbyterians but is now a branch of the University of Ulster. The series of presentations will reflect on Presbyterian history and tradition. The second is “Christ Transforming Culture” on Wednesday night in the meeting space. As the description says of the event “Through drama and music the Moderator and others will lead an
exploration of how the Assembly theme, ‘A Place of Transformation’
impacts on the Church and individual Christians and on the culture of
where they work and witness.”

A number of interesting items of business on the docket. There is a report on Baptism from the Doctrine Committee (pg. 13 of the report) The report concludes that baptism by immersion is not necessary and is not the most appropriate method but does not recommend forbidding it.

There is an interesting report from an Advisory Committee to the General Board that includes a section (beginning on page 32) about helping resolve conflict in congregations. The many recommendations include better training of Elders and this:

(iii) The Church should seriously consider the Church of Scotland and PC USA [sic] model of having an interim Minister for up to a year, where there has been a long ministry of say 15 years or more. This would allow a Congregation to adjust, grieve if necessary, think of themselves without the previous Minister, deal with any outstanding issues and prepare themselves for a call.

In my experience, both are good moves and I might suggest shortening that 15 years down a bit to ten or even seven.

There is also some tension related to the trajectory the Church of Scotland is following on same-sex partnerships and the ministry. There are a few points that this may present itself during the Assembly including the Church and Society report as well as Ecumenical Relations. In particular, the Moderator’s Advisory Committee of the General Board is looking to open conversations about human sexuality within the church.

Finally, the Priorities Committee of the General Board (report beginning on page 39) is conducting a Structures Review that is looking at the form and function of the church. Among the issues it sees that resonate with the findings of a similar panel I have been on is about communication between bodies within the church with the report saying ” The current engagement that takes place between Presbyteries and Boards is at times very sparse.” Like that understated wording.

Almost all of there are General Board committees and will be part of the General Board report on Tuesday.

So there is lots going on this week and we look to the social media outlets for updates. Our prayers are with the Assembly and the incoming Moderator, the Rev Rob Craig. May the Holy Spirit indeed be moving among you in your discussions and discernment.

139th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada

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  We can now turn our attention to the first of the North American meetings for this year.

Beginning tomorrow, Friday 31 May, the 139th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Canada will convene at the Newnham Campus of Seneca College in Toronto. The meeting will conclude on Monday 3 June. It has the theme “That all may be one” and is being jointly hosted by the Eastern Han-Ca and Oak Ridge Presbyteries. The former is a Korean language presbytery.

If you are interested in following along with this meeting here is information you might find useful. (And be aware that most of the official links are programmed to automatically download to your computer.)

  • First, if you want all the official info I mention below together, along with a whole lot more, there are the consolidated Reports (331 pages in length) and General Information documents (92 pages in length)
  • There is both an agenda for the meeting and a daily schedule available
  • The reports can be accessed from the reports section of the Assembly web page. There is also a nice 16 page document, the 2013 Report Summaries
  • UPDATE: YES! There is live streaming.  At one time the Assembly meeting was live streamed but that did not happen last year and not yet finding mention of it I fear it will not be streamed this year. I will update here if I find out otherwise.
  • News about the Assembly will probably appear one the News and Events page
  • For the polity documents go to the Acts and Proceedings archive and the Book of Forms. There are some addition Resources available from the GAO web page. There is also the Practice and Procedure document for the General Assembly meeting.
  • If you are interested in the Assembly’s carbon footprint there is a special report on that
  • The PCC traditionally a great job of tweeting the Assembly at @PCConnect. For the meeting the hashtag is #ga139
  • I am not sure which of the Canadian Presbyterians I follow on Twitter will be at GA so I will update here when I find attendees that are helpful to follow.
  • Finally, the PCC also runs a Flickr photostream during GA

Looking at the business I found an overture (No. 1) that any polity wonk would love. There is a request to change the terminology “minister and session” to “minister and ruling elders on the session.” I don’t have to tell you that this is a great suggestion that fixes a two-fold problem: 1) the minister is a person and the session is a governing body (or whatever terminology you prefer for your courts of the church). 2) The minister is a member of the session with the ruling elders. Good catch.

For those who follow the form and function of the governing bodies, there is also an overture (No. 3) that asks that a special task force be established to restructure the duties of a synod so that those who chose to may go out of business.

And so, our best wishes and prayers to the whole Presbyterian Church in Canada and prayers for your 139th General Assembly this week.

2013 General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church Of South Australia

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Coming up on Monday 27 May 2013 the Presbyterian Church of South Australia will convene their Assembly. More on that in a minute, but first a few notes on the history and polity of that church.

I have not covered the Assemblies in Australia before, especially the state Assemblies. But after some gentle prodding I have added them to my list. Part of it was my own lack of knowledge of the structure of the church there and not realizing the significance of the state meetings. Yes, there is a national Presbyterian Church of Australia which has General Assemblies every three years, the next one coming up this September. But one of the things that allows the Assembly to meet that infrequently is the high degree of autonomy accorded to the six state churches. Each state church is separately incorporated in its state and many have long histories there. The state churches came first and federated nationally in 1901. In 1977 two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia congregations joined in the formation of the Uniting Church and the congregations that remained formed the foundation for the current continuing church. (This was one of the 70:30 partition examples I talked about in another post a while back.)

So on the national level decisions are made about doctrine, practice regarding worship, minister transfers from other denominations, world missions and some unified ministries. The state Assemblies handle the local specifics, create and manage presbyteries and ministerial preparation and calls.

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Tasmania met last week and I have not yet seen any reports or highlights from that meeting.

This meeting is a different matter…

It gives me great pleasure to congratulate The Rev. Gary Ware on his selection as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of South Australia for the upcoming year. Rev. Ware is the pastor at Mount Gambier Presbyterian Church and one of the more prominent, prolific and entertaining Presbyterian bloggers in Australia. For reflections on the Assembly keep an eye on his blog – mgpcpastor’s blog – as well as his Twitter handle @gjware. (With the caveat that as Moderator your time for other things during the meeting is limited.)

The Assembly convenes on Monday 27 May 2013 and will adjourn when they have concluded the business. This was a much more common practice in the Presbyterian world but with the modern need for reservations and taking time off from work most assemblies now have tighter dockets and planed adjournment dates and times. This Assembly will probably adjourn the next day if I understand correctly.

After the Assembly check the PCSA News for a report on the Assembly.

For the Presby Geeks and Polity Wonks you can check the PCSA Rules and Regulations as well as the Presbyterian Church of Australia Code Book.

I will update if further sources of information appear.

So our best wishes and prayers to Gary and the whole Presbyterian Church of South Australia for their Assembly this week.

UPDATE: It finished up earlier today, Tuesday, as anticipated. During the meeting Gary posted both a lunch shot as well as word the meeting had concluded.

UPDATE 2 (30-May): Gary posted his review and reflection on the Assembly.

Presbyterian News Headlines For The Week Ending May 18, 2013

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No, I did not get this out on Monday. Between two GA’s live streaming and a nice session with some folks from Los Ranchos Presbytery yesterday I have been a bit preoccupied. But now with a lull in the action let me get caught up on what happened a week ago.

News leading up to the Church of Scotland General Assembly:

Next Church of Scotland moderator mistaken for thief – from The Scotsman (the Moderator’s ring was in a stolen suitcase a little earlier this spring and when the Rev. Lorna Hood walked into a jewelers to get the backup ring resized the local police were called)

Church of Scotland revises controversial Israel report – from the BBC (the revised report was released ahead of the GA)

In Ghana news of child abuse allegations against a pastor in the Presbyterian Church

Gay scandal rocks Presby Church; Pastor to be investigated – from Vibe Ghana

Gay case has marred our reputation – Presby Church – from GhanaWeb

And in other news…

French Reformed and Lutheran Christians unite in one church – from Ecumenical News

Church Of Scotland 2013 General Assembly — “Affirm the Church’s historic and current doctrine and practice… nonetheless permit…”

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“Affirm the Church’s historic and current doctrine and practice in
relation to human sexuality nonetheless permit those Kirk sessions who
wish to depart from that doctrine and practice to do so.”

Yesterday was a long day for the commissioners of General Assembly 2013 of the Church of Scotland as they heard and debated the report of the Theological Commission on Same-sex Relationships and the Ministry. I had to chuckle as the Moderator made a comment about keeping remarks brief or they would be there until midnight as it brought back memories of late nights at PC(USA) GA’s.

The final outcome of the debate was an action that tried to find a middle way. It was reportedly worked out over lunch in the middle of the debate and moved by the immediate past Moderator the Very Reverend Albert Bogle.

The full actions of the Assembly on this report are now available from the Kirk web site but the closely watched portion now says:

3. (i). Affirm the Church’s historic and current doctrine and practice in relation to human sexuality nonetheless permit those Kirk sessions who wish to depart from that doctrine and practice to do so.

(ii) Instruct the Legal Questions Committee to bring an Overture to the General Assembly of 2014 which the following principles of 3. (i) above:

Principles of the Overture:

  1. Would not require the Church to abandon its traditional position.
  2. But would allow individual congregations – by decisions of their Kirk Sessions – to depart from the Church’s traditional position.
  3. Would allow ministers and deacons (current and prospective) who are in civil partnerships to be selected for training and to be trained. Would also allow them to be ordained/inducted into a charge the Kirk Session of which had decided to depart from the Church’s traditional position.
  4. Would cover inducted ministers and ministers and deacons working in other roles in congregations.
  5. Would not enable one congregation to depart from traditional position where others in a linking do not wish to do so.
  6. Would enable a Kirk Session to change its mind. But a minister or deacon who had been appointed to a congregation whose Kirk Session had decided to depart from the traditional position would not be prejudiced by a change of mind by the Kirk Session.
  7. Would preserve liberty of opinion and responsible expression. Would not permit harassing or bullying.
  8. Preserves right of members of presbyteries – whatever views – to engage or not in ordinations/inductions.

(iii) Instruct the Theological Forum to explore the relevant ecclesiological issues informing the principles of the “mixed economy” as set out in the Report of the Theological Commission and report to the General Assembly of 2014.

(iv) Instruct all Courts, Councils and Committees of the Church not to make decisions in accordance with section 3.(i) above until the position in relation to the proposed Overture has been finally determined by a future General Assembly.

What this means is that the Church of Scotland has effectively adopted the local option in determining suitability for ordination and service in a particular church and for recognizing and blessing same-sex civil partnerships. [Note: I use the term “local option” throughout this post but that is not an official term being used elsewhere in this discussion. It is a convenient term for me as this discussion and action parallels similar situations where the term is used.]

As I mentioned above, this particular motion — which was amended on the floor — was developed during the day of debate. As such one of its deficiencies is that it could not contain any changes to Kirk policies that are sweeping enough to have to be sent down to the presbyteries under the Barrier Act. Hence, the Overture based on the principles listed in the motion must be brought to next year’s Assembly and would not go into effect until 2015 if the presbyteries concur. This also leaves the action of this Assembly vulnerable to modification by next year’s Assembly when it will have to give approval to that Overture.

This motion was promoted as the middle ground to try to keep the Kirk together, a compromise where each side had to give a little in order to get something. And it had well-known members of the Kirk from across the theological spectrum speaking for it.

During the debate it was clear that this motion was a work in progress and that was bothersome to a number of the commissioners who spoke. There were points that the Principal Clerk had to try to interpret what the implications of the language would be. And it is clear going forward that the legal minds on the Legal Questions Committee will have a lot to do with what is ultimately brought back to the Assembly next year.

The debate was reasoned and well conducted with just a few points of frustration and raised voices. As with any debate of this complexity, with the multiple options and amendments flying, there were several points where commissioners were confused about what was happening. But overall the Moderator, The Right Rev Lorna Hood, did a very good job of keeping order and the process moving.

At the end of the day the commissioners had three options before them — this one and the two from the Theological Commission report I discussed in the preview. The other possible option, what was referred to as 2C, of which notice was given, was withdrawn on the floor. What was ultimately the prevailing motion was introduced as 2D.

After the arguments in favor of each of the three options a vote was taken on all three with 2A – the original revisionist option – receiving 270 votes, 2B – the original traditionalist option – receiving 163 votes and 2D getting 191 votes. With 2B voted off the island eliminated the final vote was 282 for 2A and 340 for 2D. (My thoughts on the voting shifts may come at another time.)

If the traffic on Twitter and the mainstream headlines are an indication this is being seen as a win for the revisionist side. (And I should add that several speakers expressed their disapproval of the revisionist/traditionalist labels the report used.) Many tweets repeat the BBC headline “Church of Scotland General Assembly votes to allow gay ministers.” Traditionalist are saying things like “How can you vote to affirm standards while allowing exceptions to them” as well as indications of individuals seriously considering leaving the church. And there are responses from members of the Free Church of Scotland as well. It is however interesting that the other issue in the report, that of same-sex civil unions, has seemed to get no play in the press or social media.

A few of the blog responses that appeared shortly after the decision include one by Chris Hoskins on his blog Endure Fort who reflects on his trying to figure out what he thinks of the compromise. More decided is John McLuckie in his blog JustLuckie who critiques how Scripture was used in the traditionalist argument. And an Anglican priest who followed the debate discussed first the debate and then a second post on Where Does the Church of Scotland Stand? UPDATE: I would add to the responses a long and thoughtful Open Letter to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 2013 from Louis Kinsey.

In addition there are official reports from the Kirk and it’s official publication Life and Work.

But what is the bottom line here? Yes, the General Assembly has adopted an action that provides a path for ordination and blessing of civil unions for those in same-sex partnerships. It has also adopted an action that affirms traditional doctrine. But it appears to me that while a compromise agreement has been achieved that may avoid a major departure right away, the real result is that any actual polity change has been pushed out another year to 2015. And despite what the media is focusing on this is regarding both ordinations/training and civil unions. As point 3(iv) indicates, the moratorium is still in place. Under this action the traditional doctrine has been affirmed so in the discussion in the civil arena about same-sex marriage in Scotland the Kirk remains opposed to the proposed action of the Scottish Parliament.

This has also opened up a discussion on what allowing individual sessions to set their own standards means. Has the Church of Scotland taken a step towards congregationalism or, as one quote said, a “federation of congregations”?

The questions about this action are numerous: Will the 2014 General Assembly somehow undo this? Will this compromise hold the Kirk together, at least for the moment?  Is this system even workable if it is implemented? Would the proposed resolution be agreed to by the presbyteries under the Barrier Act? Could the local option be extended to other issues of human sexuality or even other issues in general?

What we see in this whole debate and action are two important Presbyterian values embedded in this debate and compromise. The first is the importance of process and doing things decently and in order. While this is a frustration to many who would like to see quicker change, we gather as community to discern together where God is leading. The second is the tension in which we hold doctrine and individual conscience. We are constantly seeking the line where individual views can be held but in the context of the community must be subjugated to the discernment of the community of which we are a part.

We will see how this action affects the future of the Kirk. Stay tuned…

2013 General Assembly Of The Free Church Of Scotland

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As of this evening in Edinburgh we have two General Assemblies meeting as the 2013 General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland convened in St. Columba’s Free Church. They have held their opening worship service, with the retiring Moderator, The Rev. Dr. Iain D. Campbell preaching. They have installed their new Moderator, The Rev Angus Howat. Some preliminary business, such as greeting corresponding delegates and approval of committees. And they have recessed for the evening to convene again at 10 AM tomorrow morning.

Here is what will help you follow along for the next four days:

One of the business items that caught my attention were the budget issues discussed in the Board of Trustees report. They note a shortfall of £300,000 for 2012 but also show that the churches are being more faithful in supporting the church as actual remittances are now much closer to the remittance target. They want to rename two of the funds, the Central Projects Levy will be renamed the Mission Levy and the Additional Contributions shall become the Mission Support Fund. There is also a need to bring expenditures into line and several recommendations are made about spending priorities.

Another interesting development is in the College Board report. To expand the enrollment at the Free Church College the Assembly is being asked to approve moving forward with the planning of actions to facilitate this expansion as well as changing the name of the institution to Edinburgh Theological Seminary.

Finally, the Board of Ministry report contains this item in the proposed deliverance. I will let it speak for itself:

9. The General Assembly, in view of the ongoing uncertainty of the church scene in Scotland at present, waive the requirement of Act XXXV, 2005, that authority to grant admission to ministers of other denominations lies solely with the General Assembly and empowers the Commission of Assembly at its meetings before the General Assembly of 2014, to receive and dispose of any such applications seeking admission to the Free Church ministry duly submitted through Presbyteries and the Board of Ministry.

And so our best wishes to the General Assembly and its members and our prayers for your discernment and guidance of the Holy Spirit in your deliberations.

Church Of Scotland 2013 General Assembly — Special Commission On Same Sex Relationships

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General Assembly 2013 of the Church of Scotland convened yesterday and on the first day we got a bit of animated discussion about keeping the pension plan solvent and providing retired church workers an amount that is reasonable for a retirement income. I have heard that somewhere before but I have a bit more research to do if I am going to write on that.

The topic for the moment is the discussion that will begin in just a few hours. Monday at the Assembly is set aside for the consideration of the work of the Theological Commission on Same-sex Relationships and the Ministry. This group was created two years ago when that Assembly chose to move towards allowing those in same-sex relationships to become ministers in the church and to permit those in the church to preform same-sex marriages. One of the interesting, and in my opinion reasonable and good, moves that the Kirk has made is to consider all the issues related to same-sex relationships together and in a theological context.

To follow along with this debate you need to be aware of not just the Commission’s 94 page report, but the Supplement with the Legal Appendix Consequent Upon the Report of the Theological Commission on Same-Sex Relationships and the Ministry that begins on page 52. In addition, the Daily Papers covering tomorrow have notice of three motions (begins on page 28).

As I indicated above, the primary Report is an extensive document at 94 pages long. The Deliverance is sort-of straight forward with #1 to receive the report and #3 to dismiss the commission. In between the commission does not make a recommendation but offers a choice between two options – and I will return to that in a minute.

The report itself is structured around what it means to be “One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church” and develops that theme for the Church of Scotland in general. It then provides extensive discussions of what the report calls the revisionist and the traditionalist case for “Addressing issues of human sexuality.” I have not read through these sections in detail yet but from what I have read both provide very good development and background to each position.

The report is supposed to be neutral and so provides both of these discussions. In addition, even though a trajectory was chosen two years ago the Deliverance provides this Assembly an opportunity to revisit that decision and chose between two sets of recommendations based on approving the revisionist or traditionalist case.

If the revisionist option is approved an overture would be sent down to the presbyteries under the Barrier Act to approve the necessary changes to implement the new rules. In addition, liturgies would be approved for same-sex ceremonies. The ordination process for new ministers and deacons would remain on hold for another year to allow time for presbytery approval. Those ministers in same-sex relationships who are already in place would continue. And the block on discussing this outside of official business – i.e. talking to the media – would remain in place as well.

If the traditionalist option prevails in the Assembly it would reaffirm the present stance of the Kirk including the statements about homophobia being a sin, remind the members of the church of the particular burden of “homosexual Christians striving to maintain celibacy,” and “recognize that homosexual orientation in itself is not a barrier to leadership.” It would also have the Ministries Council and the Legal Questions Committee examine the implications of the decision.

As I mentioned above there are three motions of which notice has been given. The first asks that the Legal Appendix be revised to include the implications of approval and disapproval of the changes and that paper ballots be used by presbyteries in voting on the change. The third would provide another option that has stronger and simplified language of the revisionist option.

[UPDATE: My attention has been drawn to a correction to the article I discuss below. I have decided to let this stand but please see below this for the correction.]

There has been considerable concern that adoption of the revisionist option could precipitate a major departure of congregations from the Church of Scotland. The second motion from The Rev Prof David A S Fergusson is hoping to find a “third way.” Here are some excerpts from a Scotsman article that tries to explain what he hopes to accomplish:

Prof David Fergusson, principal of Edinburgh University’s divinity
school, New College, said that unless the Kirk’s General Assembly agreed
on a compromise it could take the Church a “generation to resolve”
differences between traditionalist and revisionist sides of the debate.

Insisting
that it was important that neither side should “enforce a victory” over
the other, the academic has tabled an amendment for the debate that
attempts to navigate a middle way between the two options put forward in
a Kirk committee report.

[…]

Fergusson said that this “mixed economy” approach would give
the Kirk space in which to discuss the issue further without causing a
major divide: “What I think we’re lacking so far is further reflection
on the nature of the Church as a community in which we can manage
disagreement while maintaining unity with one another, and I’d like to
see further work carried out, which would be crucial to consideration of
these matters.”

UPDATE: The Rev Prof Fergusson has issued a correction to the Scotsman article. He first wanted to make it clear that the “mixed economy” is not his idea but is in the Theological Commission’s report. His amendment simply asks to build on that approach and continue working on the nature of the church. He also points out that his motion does nothing to change the wording in the report that would allow churches but not presbyteries to opt out.

That appears to be the lay of the land. Let us see how the Assembly discerns the way forward in the midst of it. Prayers for the Assembly as the commissioners approach this task very shortly.

2013 General Assembly Of The Church Of Scotland

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  Coming up this Saturday the first large General Assembly of the 2013 season begins as the 2013 General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is convened in the Assembly Hall in Edinburgh.

The Assembly will begin at 10 AM local time on Saturday 18 May and adjourn a bit after 3 PM on Friday 24 May. The afternoon of Pentecost Sunday, 19 May, the Kirk will once again have their large public Heart and Soul festival in Prince Street Gardens (Event Guide). This year it is titled A Celebration of Celtic Christianity.

To follow along with the GA here is what you need to know

  • The Starting Point for almost everything is the General Assembly 2013 page
  • The Order of Proceedings is available as a PDF and the Daily Papers are starting to be posted. You can also find minutes and the text of speeches on that page.
  • Reports are available individually on the General Assembly 2013 page or all together in the Blue Book and Supplement
  • The Assembly will be webcast, as usual, linked to the media page
  • In addition, the media page will have the Daily Updates podcast and Assembly News Items
  • There is an official Facebook page for the Church of Scotland
  • On Twitter the official feed is @churchscotland and the Assembly hashtag is #ga2013 although I am also seeing some use of #ga13
  • Keep an eye on two other Church of Scotland Twitter accounts – the official magazine Life and Work (@cofslifeandwork), the Church of Scotland Youth (@cosy_nya) and maybe CofS World Mission (@cosworldmission)
  • A couple of other folks that I follow who will be there include Peter Nimmo (@peternimmo1) of Old High St. Stephens Inverness and Neal Pressa (@nealpresa) the Moderator of the 220th General Assembly of the PC(USA) who will be that church’s official representative to the Assembly.
  • I will add additional tweeps when the Assembly gets under way

If you want to have the polity documents at the ready you start at the Church Law web page and from there can get the Acts, Regulations, Standing Orders. Unfortunately, their publication An introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland is being revised so no version is available at this time.

This is already a high-profile year for the Assembly and it has not even convened yet. Two years in the making, the report of the Theological Commission on same-sex relationships and the Ministry has been widely anticipated and is docketed as the only business for Monday after the opening worship with communion.
While the Assembly in 2011 chose the trajectory towards, as this year’s report is calling it, the revisionist option, the Commission’s deliverance does include the opportunity for the Assembly to once again chose to reaffirm their earlier vote or consider taking the traditionalist option. For the polity wonks, or those interested in what process is next, the Supplementary Reports contains a section on how the selected trajectory would be implemented. There are three notices of intent to move amendments to the deliverance published in the first set of Daily Papers.

The second item of business which has gotten intense coverage in some quarters is the Church and Society Council’s special report The Inheritance of Abraham? A report on the ‘promised land.’ I wrote about this yesterday — how the first report had stirred up a bit of controversy in Jewish media and the report was pulled for revision after a meeting between representatives of both sides. This morning the revised version has been posted. The Council is docketed to report on Thursday, part way through the day.

On Tuesday, 21 May, there will be a special commemoration of David Livingstone for this the bicentennial year of his birth. Some of his great-grandchildren will be special guests of the Assembly that day.

I will update this info as necessary and comment in other posts as the week progresses. Prayers for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as the General Assembly meets.