{"id":809,"date":"2008-05-21T22:10:00","date_gmt":"2008-05-22T05:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.gajunkie.com\/?p=809"},"modified":"2008-05-21T22:10:00","modified_gmt":"2008-05-22T05:10:00","slug":"general-assembly-of-the-church-of-scotland-wrap-up-1-general-thoughts-and-the-british-pm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.gajunkie.com\/?p=809","title":{"rendered":"General Assembly of the Church of Scotland — Wrap-up 1: General Thoughts and The British PM"},"content":{"rendered":"

The General Assembly<\/a> of the Church of Scotland<\/a> concluded their meeting today and while I had hoped to do some live-blogging during the sessions, life and work (pun intended<\/a>) 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

One of the headline items of the General Assembly was an invited speech<\/a> on Saturday by British Prime Minister the Right Honorable Gordon Brown MP.<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

And all that I was taught then remains with me to this day. Like so
\nmany here today, my father lived on a ministerial stipend. But he also
\nbrought us up to study the great texts, to believe that the size of
\nyour wealth mattered less than the strength of your character; that a
\nlife of joy and fulfillment could be lived in the service of others; and
\nthat to be tested by adversity is not a fate to be feared but a
\nchallenge to be overcome.<\/div>\n

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<\/a> 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<\/a> describes the Moderator’s reply in presenting her with reports on housing and poverty “which was interpreted by the press as a polite rebuke.”<\/p>\n

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:<\/p>\n

So just as twenty years ago this weekend the then Prime Minister was
\npresented with the Church and Nation Committees’ deliberations and
\nkindly invited to study a report entitled ‘Just Sharing’, I expect
\nnothing less than for you to ask me and the Scottish Parliament to
\nstudy in detail – and reflect upon – today’s report of the Church and
\nSociety Council —- to reflect upon your demands, your priorities,
\nyour call for action on homelessness, on child poverty, on the
\nshortfalls in the care of older people. And I agree also with what you
\nsay about the misery caused by gambling and drug addiction, and the
\nscourge of alcohol abuse.<\/div>\n

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:<\/p>\n

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

A global
\nsociety where people anywhere and everywhere can discover their shared
\nvalues, communicate with each other and do not need to meet or live
\nnext door to each other to join together with people in other countries
\nin a single moral universe to bring about change. <\/div>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> on the speech and a critical commentary in the Scotsman<\/a>.  On the blogs there is plenty of commentary as well, but I would single out the comments by Alan in Belfast<\/a> and Puffbox<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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