Welcome to Presbyblog
Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks for coming by.
- Current: This will contain the most recent reflections on a variety of topics. The most prevalent over the next few months will be issues related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and the 218th General Assembly (2008) in San Jose, California. I was elected as a minister commissioner from San Diego Presbytery and will be blogging about my preparation, experience, and perception of the issues.
June 29, 2008: Home Safe
One of the things I have encouraged commissioners in the past -- and therefore am going to try to do myself -- is to take a few days of quiet reflection and prayer before making a final assessment on what the GA experience means. It's one thing to do it in the heat of the moment; but I have discovered that time helps us sort things out and see God's hand in a different way than what we thought was happening at the time. The initial reaction, of course, is that I was disappointed in how we handled ordination standards. I don't expect that to change. However, just how bad or just what it does mean in the bigger picture will take some time to develop.
June 27, 2008: The Levees Have Broken
This morning I was watching the news. It is somewhat disconcerting to see real life in the midst of the bubble of a General Assembly. Even so, there was a spiritual resonance with the levees breaking.
June 26, 2008: Thursday in San Jose
Yesterday was like the start of the Indianapolis 500. The cars do a parade lap, then off they go to a flying start. Now, today, we're in the middle of the race where everyone around the country takes a commercial break to get something from the kitchen. We're still going 220 mph while you are checking the refrigerator.
June 25, 2008: Evening, Wednesday
Plenary began this afternoon. And it moved fast.
First impressions:
June 25, 2008: Plenary begins
Not that things have been going slowly, but now business begins to move very fast. It is like a lazy river flowing along narrows dramatically -- rapids. All of the business that was distributed among the 17 committees comes back to be handled by everyone.
June 24, 2008: End of Committees
We had a great committee. We saw God move in our midst. I served on Committee 8, Mission Coordination and Budgets. One of the big issues of this Assembly was the item we handled to day, which involved a major disagreement between two agencies of the General Assembly. The dispute was an eight month old stalemate between the General Assembly Council and the Presbyterian Foundation.
June 24, 2008: The Day of Despair
Tuesday of Assembly week is often the day of despair. "How can people who love Jesus vote that way?!" I am not trying to minimize the spiritual impact of seeing a deeply held conviction voted down by people in the church; rather, I am pointing out what happens every Assembly when we start making decisions.
June 23, 2008: Monday comes to a conclusion
We have gone through most of our business today. I ducked out today for awhile to speak to the nFoG committee. In one of those moments you never really expect to happen, the guy who spoke immediately before me used almost the exact illustration I was going to use. Ah, well. Time to adapt. (What's worse, I think he said it better than I would have....)
Not much else to report out of committees today. The spirit in here is pretty high, but the energy low. We spent a while this afternoon messing around with the language of an amendment and it drained everyone a little bit.
Tomorrow is the big issue: the GAC and Foundation.
That's it for tonight.
June 23, 2008: Committee Work Begins
This morning, we began the real work of the committees. Next to the Moderator's election, this is the time when the energy is the highest: the game has begun. All of the language of togetherness and loving one another gets put to the test beginning this morning.
Here's what my committee looks like (now that we convened):
Committee tables (my black coffee cup)
June 23, 2008: Defending the Moderator
Regarding the headline of Jack Adam's piece in the Layman, "Is risk-taker moderator a risk for denomination?"
One of my favorite movie moments is in Apollo 13. Ground Control in Houston is preparing for re-entry, and a public relations person is trying to get an answer to tell the President about the chances. They review the problems and the things that have been improvised to get the astronauts home. One of the executives says in a hushed voice, "This could be the biggest disaster in NASA history." Overhearing, the Flight Director interrupts and says, "Sir, with all due respect, I believe this is going to be our finest hour."
There are two ways of looking at risk. One is to avoid it at all costs. That keeps us in the status quo, which will keep us headed in the same direction. The other is to understand the risk and embrace the opportunity.
June 22, 2008: PC-Biz
Stated Clerk nomination speeches were made tonight. I've spent enough time complaining about the process.
The speeches are being ignored as commissioners and advisory delegates continue to struggle with PC-Biz. In short, the volume is killing the server. You can hear the same question being asked over and over, "You on?" "Yes...wait, no. I was a minute ago..." Whole sections of the plenary floor suddenly read:
The Moderator Election
The Moderator's Election is one of the highlights of any assembly. It is a unifying event for the Assembly -- it is the first thing of substance that commissioners will do together. This person becomes the face of the Assembly, he (all candidates are male) will be the personality of the Assembly, and will have a significant impact on the direction of the denomination. Joan Gray, Moderator of the 217th General Assembly (2006) has been a tremendous ambassador.
June 21, 2008: Convening
"Would the Assembly come to order?" With that Moderator Joan Gray convened the 218th General Assembly (2008). This morning is a lot of orientation and basic reports. The big item for today is the election of the Moderator tonight.
June 20, 2008: Impressions, initial sights and insights
The first thing that has to be said is San Jose is tremendous. It was easy to get here. It was easy to find the hotel, easy to get registered, easy to get settled in. That has not always been the case.
The convention center area is the best of the ten I have seen -- Albuquerque, Syracuse, Charlotte, Ft. Worth, Long Beach, Louisville, Columbus, Denver, and Richmond. Everything is very close, it is well organized, and things have been very smooth.
There is the growing hum and buzz of excitement that precedes an Assembly. Nervous energy abounds. It also is a lot of fun spotting friends that I have not seen in quite a long time. Anyway, at the risk of boring you with the GA equivalent of family vacation slides, here are some pictures. I thought these might be helpful to get some idea of what it all looks like:
- Sermons: The texts of sermons delivered as far back as I began scripting them. Originally, I preached from a short outline or sketch notes; I changed when a number of people asked for copies so that they could send the sermon to friends or refer back to it themselves.
- Articles: These are pieces written for publications as varied as church newsletters to national magazines.
- Archives: Over the years I have amassed volumes of material that need to be stored somewhere -- this seemed as good a place as any.
- Biography: Provides a brief background and -- if the mood strikes -- a few pictures.
I hope you find this material helpful and edifying. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me at: presbybob@cox.net