My last day at the 215th General Assembly

I'm home! General Assembly still has another day, but I wanted to be with Sunrise Church for worship on Sunday morning, so I came home early. Today was an important day.

Will we ordain gays and lesbians? I mentioned earlier that the newly elected Moderator of our General Assembly was in favor of the ordination of gays and lesbians, but had taken the stand that "this is not the year" for changing the church rules which require candidates for ordination to be "faithful in the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chaste in singleness."

One committee felt otherwise and brought to the floor of Friday's General Assembly a recommendation that that section be removed from the Book of Order.

This is a very painful issue for our church and it divides us more than any other single issue. However, the debate on the matter seemed very civil and respectful. Several of the commissioners who rose to speak mentioned the comments of Moderator Susan R. Andrews, that now is not the time to again put the issue to a vote of the presbyteries.

The General Assembly decided to agree with Moderator Andrews by a vote to 431 to 92. One person abstained from voting.

That means the church will continue to prohibit the ordination of gays and lesbians to the office of deacon, elder or minister.

If the committee's recommendation passed, it still would have to go to all of our presbyteries for a vote. Changes of the Book of Order must pass the General Assembly and then during the next few months be affirmed by a necessary majority of presbyteries. We've already been through similar situations twice in the past 6 years, and both times the presbyteries refused to pass the change in the Book of Order.

This will not be the end of the debate, however. The issue was referred to a group that was formed two years ago at the 213th General Assembly - the Task Force for the Peace, Purity and Unity of the Church. Part of the charge given to that Task Force when it was formed was to study the causes of division and unrest in our church, and to recommend ways to further the peace, purity and unity of the church. (By the way, that phrase, "to further the peace, purity and unity of the church" comes from the ordination vows of deacons, elders and pastors). The task force will report back to the General Assembly in 2006.

Calling special meetings of General Assembly will get harder! In another action that might be of interest to Sunrise members, the General Assembly took action to make it more difficult to have a special called meeting of the General Assembly. This almost happened this year when one of the commissioners gathered enough signatures to call a special meeting to deal with sessions that are in defiance of the rules of the church as expressed in the Book of Order by ordaining gays and lesbians. When the signatures were being confirmed and verified, enough elders and ministers changed their minds for a called meeting, so it never occurred. A called meeting would have been extremely expensive for the church, and many of the Sunrise members expressed concern, then relief when the effort failed to have the special meeting.

It the necessary majority of presbyteries concur during the next year, the new rules will increase the number of signatures on a petition to call a special General Assembly meeting.

So that's it! I'm home! While I will miss Saturday's meeting, I think the most important work has been done.

This was a very good General Assembly. Our church remains divided on some issues, but we continue to struggle together to find God's will for our church. Almost everyone I talked with throughout the week expressed positive feelings about the Assembly.

Don't forget, as I mentioned in a previous email, on Sunday we will be using two of the chalices made for use in the General Assembly's opening worship service. The sermon is from Acts, chapter 2, and is titled, "Maynard's Motorcycle." If you're wondering what in the world motorcycles have to do with the second chapter of Acts -- you'll just have to come to Sunrise and find out!

Thursday at General Assembly

I was sitting in my back row seat this morning and I could see Angus Walton from my congregation in Miami, Florida, rise from his third row seat to speak on an issue that was being debated.

Speaking at General Assembly is not a simple matter.

In our church's committees, we usually just speak up. At Session meetings, elders raise their hand and wait for me to recognize them. At Presbytery it gets a little more formal as we stand in line to speak.

It gets very formal at General Assembly -- after all, with over 500 voting commissioners, there must be much more formality and adherence to Robert's Rule of Parliamentary Order. Without this formality, there would be chaos.

First, a committee moderator rises to address the Assembly and presents the committee's report. Standing at the very front near the moderator, the Assembly can easily see the committee moderator on one of two huge screens. It's like watching the big screen at the ball park.

The committee moderator puts most of the recommendations into a single "consensus motion." Only items that people want to discuss is removed from the single consensus motion. Once the Assembly knows what the consensus motion is, there is a vote and in one quick moment as many as a dozen motions are passed. Without the consensus motion, General Assembly would take two or three weeks!

Then the Assembly takes the items that were not in the consensus motion. Taking each motion one at a time, the floor is open for discussion. Those wishing to speak get up from their chairs and tables and stand in line behind microphones, which is what Angus did this morning. Each speaker takes a sign and holds it. Speakers who plan to speak against a motion will hold a red sign. Those speaking in favor will hold a green sign. A yellow sign means the speaker seeks information and has a question to ask.

Angus, like many others, waited patiently in line while the moderator carefully called on one speaker at a time, making sure to alternate between the pros and cons. This went on for about 15 or 20 minutes when the moderator recognized one speaker who said, "Madame moderator, I call for the previous question" -- which is just a formal way of saying, "Let's stop chatting and get down to voting."

Of course, Presbyterians have to vote on everything, so we had to vote on whether or not to end debate. That motion passed, so we voted on the main motion without further debate.

Poor Angus!

Oh well, perhaps he'll be able to speak on something tomorrow.

Lots of motions and recommendations were approved today, but here is a summary of some that I think Sunrise members and friends might find interesting.

A special offering for missions is probably on the way. Two overtures from two different presbyteries asked for similar special offerings to support world missions and missionaries. Throughout the review in this year's General Assembly everyone felt positive about it. This has been referred for further study to work out the details, and it is expected that we will probably pass such an offering at next year's General Assembly. If this happens, the local session still needs to approve the offering.

Abortion. We had a couple of items concerning abortion. Our denomination takes a specific stand about abortion, but some church leaders have felt it contradicts what is provided for in our church's medical insurance program. At present, the Board of Pensions will pay for all claims related to abortions. An overture seeking to resolve this conflict by ceasing this Board of Pensions coverage failed.

In another matter related to abortion, the General Assembly considered removing "in cases of rape or incest" from situations in which the church feels abortion is appropriate. This also failed.

For those who are interested, this clause comes from a statement approved by the General Assembly in 2002, which says, ". . . The ending of a pregnancy after the point of fetal viability is a matter of grave moral concern to us all, and may be undertaken only in the rarest of circumstances and after prayer and/or pastoral care and when necessary to save the life of the woman, to preserve the woman's health in circumstances of a serious risk to the woman's health, to avoid fetal suffering as a result of untreatable life-threatening medical anomalies, or in cases of incest or rape."

Homosexuality Issues. The General Assembly approved a motion to encourage presbyteries to equip pastors and sessions for ministry with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered members and their families, and asked the Congregational Ministries Division to collect and distribute resources to assist with these ministries. Speakers in favor of this motion made statements that this would not be an advocacy group aimed at addressing the question of ordaining gays and lesbians (a question that comes up tomorrow). What is at issue here is pastoral care. While this is related to the more controversial issues of ordination that will surely be hotly debated, everyone seemed to agree that this was a separate issue. There was very little discussion and the motion passed by a substantial majority.

Our General Assembly is no longer going to meet every year. We made this decision last year, but upon reflection there was concern about whether or not this would be wise. This year's General Assembly affirmed the biennial meetings. We also accepted invitations from cities for the 2008 and 2010 meetings. Next year we will meet in Richmond, Virginia, and then we move to the new schedule, skipping 2005 and meeting in Sacramento, California, in 2006. Anyone can attend these meetings as I have done this year, as an observer. If you want to be a voting commissioner, let your Presbytery's Nominating Committee know about your interest.

Tomorrow is my last day at General Assembly. I will be flying back so I can be with Sunrise Church for worship on Sunday morning. I'll miss Saturday, but most of the more interesting business looks like it on the agenda for Friday.

Wednesday at General Assembly

To be honest, as far as I'm concerned the most exciting thing that happened at General Assembly on Wednesday was when several of us from Tropical Florida Presbytery went to supper together and ordered Buffalo Steak.

The committee work is over, and all of the commissioners have gathered as a one body to hear all these committees give their reports. From my point of view, the most interesting committee reports will come later. For example, in spite of the suggestion of the new Moderator that we not deal with the ordination of gays and lesbians this year, the Committee on Church Orders and Ministry will be recommending deleting from the Book of Order the requirement that ordained officers practice celibacy in singleness and fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman. It will not be until Friday that the General Assembly will deal with this issue. If approved, then all of the Presbyteries must vote on the issue during the coming year. Ask any two people how this General Assembly will vote, and one will say it will pass and the other will say it won't pass. So we'll see on Friday.

Today the Assembly worked on issues dealing with improving and continuing ecumenical relationships, the work of higher education, institutions, and peacemaking.

There is still a very good spirit among the people here at the General Assembly, but as we talk about some of the issues yet to come, it is still very obvious that we remain a very divided church. We seem equally divided between liberal and conservative, but there remains the hope that we can continue to be one church, working together for the Kingdom of Christ.

The commissioners from Tropical Florida Presbytery -- including Angus Walton, have a seat on the third row in a large room that accommodates over 2,000. I, on the other hand, as an observer get to sit on that most sacred and coveted place in a Presbyterian gathering -- the back row. I'll let you know what I see from that back row Thursday and Friday as the General Assembly struggles with the issues before it.

Tuesday at General Assembly

"Did you bring me anything?"

That was always my question when I was a child and my Dad would go on a business trip.

It just so happens I'm bringing Sunrise Presbyterian Church something home from Denver. When Anette and I lead worship this Sunday at Sunrise Presbyterian Church we will celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper using two chalices that were used last Sunday in the General Assembly's opening worship service. It has become a tradition to have a local artist make special Communion Chalices for use in the Opening Worship Service. This year there were 350 chalices designed and made by Sandy Pond, who used Colorado clay to construct the cups. They are all very similar, but each one is slightly different in size, shape and coloring, representing the variety of people who make up the Presbyterian Church. Each cup, however, bears the distinctive Presbyterian cross or seal. After the worship service, they were made available to people as a fund-raiser to help with General Assembly costs.

Today was the second of two committee days at the General Assembly. All of the work the commissioners are doing so far can only be called a "work in progress." You may read an article in the Tuesday or Wednesday morning newspapers about something we Presbyterians have decided to do. We haven't made final decisions on anything yet - but tomorrow that will change.

Since we haven't decided anything yet, let me tell you about some of the things I've enjoyed about the General Assembly.

The first is the exhibit hall. There are hundreds of booths where representatives of various groups in our church offer information and conversation (along with free pens, buttons, mints and all the other things exhibitors universally offer at conventions or gatherings). Some of these groups advocate a specific position or policy -- and for each one of these you can be sure there is another group advocating just the opposite point of view. For example -- there is a group that is pro-life and a group that is pro-choice. More interesting than these advocacy groups (at least to me) are groups actively engaged in a specific ministry. The Presbyterian Council for Military Chaplains, the National Association of Presbyterian Scouters (as in Boy Scouts), Presbyterian Association of Musicians, Association of Presbyterian Christian Educators - well, there are more organizations than you can imagine!

One of the booths I visited was the Presbyterian Cuba Connection, designed to provide support for the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba. That church was organized by our denomination in 1890. During the 1960s it was granted autonomy. There are over 5,000 members of this Presbyterian denomination in Cuba, with 38 congregations, 30 preaching stations, and 15 active pastors.

What else is there to do besides go to the committee meetings and the exhibit hall?

There are lots of wonderful speakers. I've heard former Senator Paul Simon give a wonderful message challenging the church to do more for their communities, especially the poor.

Many of the church's leaders and great preachers are here. There are worship services daily, and I cannot begin to describe the excellent quality of music.

There are also tours to visit some of the local sights and to visit some of the community ministries. I haven't been to any of these, but I was happy to find out that Coors Field is within walking distance from where the General Assembly meets. Yesterday I saw a couple of former Florida Marlins players lead the Rockies to a victory over the Giants. Well, you know how I enjoy a baseball game.

One of the most exciting parts of the General Assembly are the number of young people here. There are 163 official Youth Advisory Delegates, or YADs as they are called. These are young people sent by their presbyteries. Unlike a simple observer like me, they get to participate in the debates. They get to vote before the commissioners. Their votes don't count in the outcome, but they are tallied so that their desires are made known to the commissioners before their binding vote is taken. The commissioners listen with great interest to the YADs, as they represent future leaders of our church. The YADs bring excitement, enthusiasm, and a lot of insights into the discussions. The nature of the meeting changes completely on Wednesday. The committee work is over, and rather than continue to meet in smaller groups in different rooms, on Wednesday morning everyone gathers in a large room that will accommodate over 2,000 people. Of these, only 548 are voting commissioners. About 1,000 of these folks are observers like me. Others are reporters, church employees, seminary students, or ecumenical representatives from other denominations. This will be when the whole of the General Assembly will begin hearing all of the reports from different committees that have been meeting, and will vote on those reports and recommendations.

Monday at General Assembly

Greetings from the 215th General Assembly!

Monday was a day for committee work.

Tuesday is also going to be a day for committees.

The whole Assembly doesn't gather to vote on issues until Wednesday.

If you read anything in the secular newspapers about the Presbyterian Church taking a stand on a particular issue, you need to know it isn't the whole church that is speaking - it is just a committee putting together a report that will be adopted or rejected later in the week.

There are several committees. Each voting delegate is assigned a committee. One of the commissioners from our Presbytery of Tropical Florida is our congregation's own Angus Walton. He is on the Committee for Global Concerns. While he has to spend all of his time with one committee, I am only a non-voting observer and I had the chance to visit almost every committee. I dropped by that committee this evening and saw Angus. He says he feels the General Assembly is going very well. There were a number of issues in his committee, but one of interest to our members is an overture asking that the Assembly speak out against the embargoes against Cuba. The committee made changes in this recommendation and dropped the issue of the embargo, but will recommend a way of dealing with the pensions of our pastors in Cuba - which we have not been able to pay for 40 years! Like all of the committee reports, the General Assembly will give final approval later this week.

One committee considered the question of how often the General Assembly should meet. We've always meet annually, but last year the General Assembly voted to meet every other year. The new schedule doesn't go into effect until after next year's General Assembly, but already people are calling for a return to the annual schedule. What I gathered from the discussion I heard is that no one is sure what's best. It might save money, but it might not. It might help the church avoid the constant divisive debates on the same issues year after year, or it might let these issues fester into greater conflicts. In the end, that committee voted to recommend to the General Assembly sticking with last year's decision to go to biennial meetings. It still has to go to the floor of the whole General Assembly later this week, and I suspect it will be hotly debated.

I also sat in on part of the meeting of the Committee on Church Orders and Ministry because I knew they would be discussing what to recommend to the General Assembly about an overture from Des Moines Presbytery (called Overture 03-7). It calls on the removal from the church's Book of Order a section called G-6.0106b, which requires of all ordained officers and ministers fidelity in heterosexual marriage or chastity in singleness. You may remember my last email mentioned how our new Moderator, Susan Andrews, supports the ordination of gays into ministry, but has said "this is not the year to re-address the issue." Apparently some believe this is the year to continue discussion. I did not hear all of the speakers (I'm told there were 25), but what impressed me most were the comments of a seminarian who pointed out that he was born in 1975, the year our church began debating this issue. His comments demonstrate how long our church (and other denominations) have been struggling with this. We will see how this issue develops, but it is my feeling that there will be no changes at this year's General Assembly. Many people seem to want to avoid yet another vote on this issue, but hope that it will be referred to the Task Force on the Peace, Purity and Unity of the Church. As one Presbytery Executive from California said, "we won't make any progress one way or the other as long as presbyteries vote on this divisive issue year after year." That committee will continue to discuss the issue on Tuesday.

Missionary support is also being discussed in committees. Last year we eliminated 34 missionary jobs. One committee is proposing to re-establish a special offering to fund missionaries. One of the commissioners has written a special resolution, called a "Commissioner's Resolution," proposing that a significant percentage of unrestricted funds in the denomination's budget go toward missions. This commissioner's idea is that we start in 2005 with 7 %, then increase it to 10% and finally 20%. Much of the business of the General Assembly comes from recommendations from Presbyteries (called 'overtures'), but the rules of the Assembly permit commissioners to submit their own recommendations. I think the one that will spark the most discussion will be the one on mission funding, but there are 29 other such resolutions and I had the chance to read through them this evening.

Some of the resolutions address international issues. There is a call for solidarity with the people of the churches of Pakistan, a call for the Assembly to speak out about the peace process in Guatemala, and to address the problem of displaced persons in Colombia. Another resolution would require the members of the denomination's national staff to 3 to 12 months every 4 years "working in the trenches" of the smaller churches, so as to give our leaders a better feel for the grassroots of our church.

There is even a resolution that would limit the filing of Commissioner's Resolutions. Tuesday continues to be a day for committee work.

On Wednesday all of the commissioners meet together to hear and vote on committee reports and recommendations.

I'll keep you posted!

215th General Assembly begins meeting in Denver today

Greetings from Denver!

After leading worship services at Sunrise Presbyterian Church in Miami, Florida, on Sunday morning, May 25th, I traveled to Denver, Colorado, where the 215th General Assembly is gathering to conduct the work and ministry of the Presbyterian Church, USA. There are 548 voting commissioners from across the nation.

I am here as an observer, and while I cannot vote I plan to take in as much of the General Assembly as possible. The General Assembly convened on Saturday, so when I arrived, my question to everyone I saw was, "What did I miss?"

Everyone I talked to mentioned two things - the Sunday worship and the election of a moderator.

The Sunday Worship at General Assembly is always very impressive. Thousands of people attended. The music was led by a choir of 530 adults, 90 youths and 40 children. There were ten brass players, five percussionists, six bagpipers, two Scottish drummers, an organist, players of wind instruments and steel pans, and Native American flutist Calvin Standing Bear, an Oglala/Sicangu Lakota Sioux from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. The serving of the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was a highlight mentioned by several of those who attended.

The second highlight is that a new moderator was elected on Saturday. Technically, all the moderator must do is preside over the 9 day General Assembly, but traditionally moderators are very busy during their one-year term. They become the spiritual leader and pastor of our church. They are very often the visible spokesperson for our denomination. As is tradition, the commissioners have been reading about the nominees for several weeks. On Saturday morning they had the opportunity to meet them personally and to listen to speeches and to their responses to questions. After the supper break on Saturday evening, the commissioners voted for a new moderator. The Rev. Susan R. Andrews was elected on the second ballot with the votes of 269 of the 548 commissioners. Andrews, a member of National Capital Presbytery, is the first woman pastor ever elected to serve as moderator. While she led the voting on the first ballot, the church rules require that she receive a majority of those present and voting. Andrews, who was elected on the 28th anniversary of her marriage to the Rev. Simmons Gardner, has served since 1989 as pastor and head of staff of Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church, of Bethesda, MD. Gardner is a chaplain at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda. In his nominating speech for Andrews, the Rev. C. Eric Mount, a minister commissioner from Transylvania Presbytery, described her as "tough-minded, with tears in her eyes and hugs in her arms." In regard to one of the most controversial issues facing the Presbyterian Church in many recent General Assemblies, Andrews stands in favor of the ordination of gays as deacons, elders and Ministers of the Word and Sacrament. However, she also stated, that this is not the year to seek such a change. She believes the provision in the church's Book of Order requiring ordained officers to practice chastity in singleness or fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman to be unjust. However, she says it is more important for the church to remain together. "This is not the year to make overtures to the General Assembly addressing this issue," Andrews said.

Finally, let me share one other thing that I have heard. During the opening speeches, one of the speakers was John Detterick. John is one of the leading staff people in our denomination and serves in a national level ministry. He shared the vision he has for the church, citing four challenges he hopes the church will undertake as it tries to answer the question, "Where is God leading us?" They are: church growth, pastoral leadership, spiritual formation, and evangelism within a framework of pursuit of justice. Indeed, these are four great challenges for our denomination and for all of our congregations. Detterick says his hope is that he hopes this year's Assembly won't "spend all its energy and abundant resources on issues that divide us." I hope he's right, and I hope our church follows the four areas of challenge he listed!

I'll keep you posted.