After Some Rest and Prayer

I have had 3-4 days now to rest and sort through the materials from the General Assembly meeting and do some praying. After all that, I have a feeling of hope for the Presbyterian Church and also of some sadness. Let me explain.
As a voting commissioner on the Polity Committee I had the chance to first read and study, and then listen to a great number of people who spoke on a great number of issues and overtures. I posted some of the subjects in this blog early on after our committee work was done. I was impressed with the faith and passion people brought to the table. I was also impressed with the compassion with which they were received. As we went through the main plenary meetings starting Monday morning, several times going late into the night (past 12:30 AM on Wednesday) I again listened to people speak, as they understood God was leading them to speak. There were many highlights: $150 Million has been pledged to the church for renewal work in the Presbyteries. Life was affirmed by 3 votes in support of innocent unborn children. Mission speakers and workers were all over the place, talking about how much the work of God around the globe is going on because of the support of our Presbyterian Church. Many overtures were offered and voted on that strongly supported our work and witness to the world. All this gave me a deep feeling of hope for our churches locally and on the national/international level.
The sadness comes from the determination of a few to continue to loudly advocate for that, which does nothing but divide. One of the main feelings behind this GA, came out as an effort to bring us back to the real work of the church. Spreading the good news of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God the Father, who we come to know through the power and work of the Holy Spirit. But in the clamor of “do this, do that, do it my way, no, do it my way” sometimes this main purpose of our existence is lost and that saddens me.
I turn back to Jesus and his words from Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.”
I know God is pointing me, and I hope our Church, to the weightier matters of the law. When we get these things right, then we can fight it out about the rest of the law. But what do we tend to do? We fight it out about the rest of the law and offer to the world a picture of a boxing match instead of a picture of people of God who love one another, seek justice, offer mercy, and are faithful to God. If Jesus was talking to us like he talked to the Pharisees, would we listen as well as the Pharisees?
Then again I find hope in the fact we are a church reformed and always reforming and I would hate to be a part of a church that thought it had everything right, now and forever. I draw an illustration for this hope from John Calvin who, after years of trying to make Geneva into the perfect model of Christian living, admitted it would never happen: “Nothing that comes from the human mind, or made by the human hand will ever be perfect, including the church.”(or words to that effect) Maybe this is why we are so sure we need to be a church reformed and ALWAYS reforming. The truth is, we will always be a church reforming untill Jesus returns and reforms it for us Himself.
We will go at it again at another GA meeting in 2 years, my hope is that in those 2 years we find reasons to celebrate the work of God, rather than argue even more about the less weighty matters of the law ad nauseam. I hope and pray as people look at the PC (USA) they would see a church doing the work of Christ instead of wondering what all the arguing is about. I challenge all of you to consider what people see in you!
I would be happy to answer questions about my GA experience from members of the Presbytery. I can be contacted at pastor@nhpcusa.org.

Trusting In Our Lord
Rev. Rob MellgardPastor, New Hope Presbyterian Church Knoxville.

Last Day

The 217th General Assembly adjourned yesterday. I meant to post my thoughts about it yesterday evening, as I have with each previous day, but due to circumstances I will get into later, did not.

The day started with worship in the plenary hall at 8:30. It was, in my opinion, one of the best worship services we have had so far. The sermon, given by a seminary student whose name escapes me, was incredible. After the worship service, a motion was given that the sermon be posted online. This motion was greeted with enormous applause.

After the worship service, we got down to business. We had finished most of the heavier business the night before (or earlier that morning, depending on how you look at it). The first order of business was to review the budget implications of everything we passed. We viewed the per capita budget, both over all and broken down by increase per person, as well as the mission budget. For greater stewardship of both finances and resources, we passed a motion to consider sending items to churches electronically, as opposed to through the U.S. mail. Other than that, the budgets passed only a few questions and little opposition.

Next we heard from the Committee on Local Arrangements, or Cola. These are the people who arranged everything around Birmingham. We recognized them for the outstanding work that the did during the assembly, as well as the period building up to it. They really did an incredible job. They were always around to give directions, greet us, tell us which buses to get onto, or direct us to a good restaurant. They went out of there way to accommodate hundreds of people. They did more than accommodate us, but they made us feel welcome. The experience would not have been what it was without them. It was great to recognize COLA, because they were often behind the scenes or unnoticed.

We then heard from the COLA for the 218th General Assembly. The next General Assembly is going to be held in San Jose. They showed us videos presenting the city and the surrounding area. It looks like a very exciting place to host General Assembly.

We then joined together in singing a verse of Holy, Holy, Holy and adjourned with prayer. It was around 11:30 when the assembly ended.

My flight didn't leave until 3:00, so several of the TSADs that had later flights got together and went to lunch together. There was a lot of laughing and fellowship, but it was bitter sweet. It was hard to believe that a little over a week ago we had been strangers. We had bonded so much through seeing each other every day, all day, that it was hard to believe that tomorrow we would not see each other. There were many promises made to stay in touch, some that would be kept, and some, I'm sure, that would unintentionally not be kept. We then parted ways and headed to the airport to catch a 3:00 flight. Even with losing an hour due to time zone changes, we would be landing by 6:00 and home by 7:00.

While waiting, it started to become obvious that the flight was probably 75% Presbyterian. The plane was running a little late and we ended up boarding at 3:30. We started to taxi onto the runway. We stopped and everybody figured we were just waiting in line for our time to take off. Then the pilot came on the loudspeaker and announced there was a small electronic problem. It was most likely a circuit breaker that needed to be flipped, so we pulled back into the gate. After quite some time waiting, the let us know that a hydraulic something-or-other needed to be replaced. We were ushered off the plane and back into the gate, unsure of when or how we would be getting home. Even after eight long days, for the most part, everybody's spirits remained high. They finally got us another flight that would take off at 6:45. I got home around 10:00, had dinner with my wife, played with my puppy and went to bed. I figured posting this could wait until today.

Being a Theological Student Advisory Delegate was an amazing experience for me. I need to spend some time over the next few days thinking, reflecting, and praying over it. Then I will post my final thoughts. In the meantime, if you have any questions about General Assembly, either what happened or what was passed, feel free to contact me at cdeacon@lpts.edu or contact one of your other delegates or commissioners. I urge you not to take information only from news stories. Please contact one of us, or look into it for yourself. All the information is available through LES and the PCUSA website, www.pcusa.org

Faithfully,

Chris Deacon
Graystone Presbyterian Church
TSAD, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Late night - Early morning Epiphanies

Thursday, June 21, 12:19AM, Central Time. It's late, and we're voting on some very complicated issues. Keeping up with the flood of subjects amidst the deluge of Parliamentary maneuvers is next to impossible. Some of us are getting slap-happy, some are getting grumpy, and some are simply exhausted. Yet, the speakers keep speaking, the Moderator keeps moderating, and the Stated Clerk keeps helping us remember all that we're talking about. In short, the Assembly is faithfully attempting to conquer the impossible, trying to put our work before our personal concerns. At this time of night, all of us would rather be just about anywhere else. But here we are – moving, seconding, debating and deciding.

Before attending this week of General Assembly, I might have cynically and simply concluded that we're here so late at night because Presbyterians just enjoy meetings. OK, we do enjoy meetings. But that's not why we're here. After a week of prayerful, impassioned discussions, I can gladly testify that the greater truth behind our late-night meeting is that this is a gathering of prayerful, impassioned people. We're committed to a church whose polity commands us to make decisions for ourselves. The even greater truth is that our church believes God works through our meetings and discussions just as much as God works through our physical acts of mission. God is at work at a General Assembly just as much as God is at work on a mission trip. Yes, we are a church who believes actions count. But we are a church who believes words count, too. We are a church who believes our words and our actions influence each other, and as a force are inseparable tools of service to Jesus Christ. So, after my week of experience with the GA, I would say to my prior self and to anyone who might criticize our General Assembly for all its talk: you're only looking at half the story.

The whole story involves both fiery debate and silent prayer. The whole story involves both the hands of African mission workers and the minds of Louisville staff. The whole story involves seeing that Presbyterians (USA) are a wide collection of individuals, churches, advocacy groups, thinkers, talkers and doers. The whole story is that the PC(USA) is not solely unified around itself, but around the words and mission of Jesus Christ. Not one of the Commissioners, YADs, TSADs, and Advisory Delegates present at the 217th General Assembly spoke of anything less than upholding the highest standard, that of faith in Jesus Christ. While the expressions of our faith may vary, the center holds. The unity in Christ of this General Assembly was, in my experience, undeniable and inspiring.

The whole story is that while this Assembly may have not always conquered the impossible, we did face it. We did far more than just have meetings and hear ourselves talk. We worked to hear and to do the will of Jesus Christ at impossible hours and with improbable people. I want to thank the Presbytery of East Tennessee for this opportunity to serve through voice and vote. By calling me to serve this Assembly, you have given me the blessing of a wider perspective on the Presbyterian Church (USA). I leave this Assembly a fuller Christian, and a deeper and more appreciative Presbyterian (USA). My thanks to you all.

In Christ, James McTyre

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Thursday, June 22, 2006

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters In Christ,

 

May the grace of our Lord be with each of you. Your commissioners, advisory delegates and alternate commissioners to the 217^th General Assembly send greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. All of us wish to thank you for the opportunity to serve our Presbytery and the Presbyterian Church (USA) at this year’s General Assembly meeting.

 

In the course of our deliberations, the General Assembly passed several items that are sure to produce both joy and concern. We have some suggestions we hope will calm the waters so God’s voice can be heard above the noise of the many interpretations of what we accomplished.

 

~ The din of the mass media sometimes passes on as much misunderstanding as it does understanding. One commissioner said, “I read the paper this morning about what we did yesterday and wondered if the reporters were at the same meeting I was.” Reportage does not always reflect an accurate accounting of facts. 

 

~ The best source of information can be found by going to the Presbyterian Church’s web site http://www.pcusa.org/ and clicking on the General Assembly icon at the bottom right of the home page. There you can read the official reports. Look also to the blog (web site) http://www.petgareports.blogspot.com/ that offer our Presbytery’s observers, delegates and commissioners thoughts. You can link to the blog from the Presbytery web site http://www.presbyteryeasttn.org/ .

 

~ Among the many things we considered, we ask you to particularly re-read the Report of the Task Force on Peace Unity and Purity. Every church received a printed copy of this in the mail with a DVD of the report with resources used by the committee. Also look at what is called the “The Trinity:  God’s Overflowing Love.” All these are also found on the PC (USA) web site and can be printed directly.  This report, and others, can also be ordered in print form from the GA.

        http://www.pcusa.org/ga217/newsandphotos/ga06097.htm for information on “PUP”

        http://www.pcusa.org/ga217/newsandphotos/ga06086.htm for information on “Trinity”

 

~ Having prepared with study, meditation, prayer, and discussion please make your plans to attend the Presbytery meeting, August 22, Rivermont Presbyterian Church, Chattanooga. We will begin the first of several seminars that include Q&A with your Commissioners so you will again be able to listen and speak so all may hear and we hope understand the voice of God as it speaks to us and to our work as brothers and sisters in Christ.   Please plan to join us at this most important meeting of our Presbytery.

        These actions reflect the earnest call of the Rev. Joan Gray, Moderator of the GA elected in Birmingham, for an intentional time of retreat for reflection, discussion and prayer with all members of all our churches across the denomination during the next two years. We strongly support this call.

 

We will be back to families and to our work by Friday morning, tired by our 8-day experience but also refreshed by the truth that God really has and will work in wonderful and mysterious ways through the great cloud of faithful witnesses we have met with in Birmingham.

 

 

 

 

 

Claire Harris                                                    Chris Deacon

Youth Advisory Delegate                                 Theological Student Advisory Delegate

 

 

Mayme Kay Banasiak                                     Liz Preston

Elder Commissioner                                       Elder Commissioner

 

 

James McTyre                                                            Rob Mellgard

Minister Commissioner                                   Minister Commissioner

 

 

Gary Aven                                                       Michael Gant

Alternate Minister Commissioner                   Alternate Elder Commissioner

 

 

 

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

It is 1:15 and I am just getting back to my room. It has been an extremely long day. The last full day of plenary has traditionally been a long day, however, so it was not unexpected. Exhaustion is starting to kick in, though. I was supposed to go to a small church breakfast this morning. When the alarm went off at 6:00, I just could not will myself out of bed. By skipping that and the morning worship, I was able to sleep in until 8:30. That was a real luxury.

We opened plenary at 10:30 this morning. Today we covered seven committees. That is more than we covered the previous two days, so we covered a lot of ground. Due to the late hour and the fact that I have to be packed, checked out, and back at the convention hall early tomorrow, I am going to hit a few highlights. As always, feel free to check out the details of all motions addressed, as well as the actual vote count on LES, at http://72.54.6.218/Business/Business.aspx you can also feel free to contact me at Cdeacon@lpts.edu if you have any questions.

One very emotional overture we addressed today was the pending closure of the Historical Foundation at Montreat. Do not get confused, Montreat is not being closed, only the Historical Foundation. It is costing the PCUSA one million dollars every other year to keep it open, and unfortunately, the funds are just not there. Everything stored there is going to be kept either at Columbia seminary or at a Pittsburgh Historical Foundation. Although only approximately 15 people visited there last year, it was still a difficult and emotional decision for a lot of people.

We also looked at divestment today. This is the issue caused so much controversy at the 2004 General Assembly. It actually did not cause a lot of debate. We moved to apologize for any pain that was caused and vowed to invest in only peaceful pursuits. This takes away the language that spotlighted Israel, while still showing solidarity with our Christian brothers and sisters in Palestine.

We also crafted a motion that spoke to late-term abortion. As most of you probably know, any time you discuss any type of abortion, there is sure to be a lot of debate on both sides of the issue. Today was no different. The overture that was approved affirmed the lives of viable unborn babies and urged to always try to keep the baby alive if the pregnancy must be terminated.

There were several other issues discussed, such as the possibility of forming a non-geographic synod consisting of Korean Presbyterian churches, if suicide bombing is an act against humanity, and urging both the United States as well as foreign countries not to use torture. We were in Plenary from 10:30 in the morning until almost 1:00 in the morning. That is 14 1/2 hours for those keeping score. We did have two meal breaks that were each an hour and a half long.

For lunch, all the seminaries held their luncheons today. It was a great chance to catch up with some of my school mates, faculty, and staff as well as meet some alumnus. At dinner, several of your commissioners for East Tennessee got together to talk about the business that has taken place so far. We then ate lunch from a Hot Dog cart in the hotel connected to the convention center and shared fellowship with each other before going back to Plenary for the evening session.

It's almost over. I have had a wonderful time. It has been trying and tiring, but I have enjoyed it all the same. I have made some wonderful, hopefully lifelong friends throughout the church from people I served on committee with to fellow TSADS to people from our Presbytery I have never met before. I have met people from all over the world, who share one common trait, a love for our church. It has been great seeing our church at work. While part of me does not want it to end, another part is thrilled that the next time I post in this blog, I will do it in my own apartment, at my own desk, before sleeping in my own bed.

Faithfully,

Chris Deacon
Graystone Presbyterian Church
TSAD, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Tuesday, 6-20-06

What a day! I started this morning by going to a rural ministry "coffee hour". This is was a meeting for rural ministers to meet, trade ideas, and network. It was pretty interesting. I ended up having breakfast with Dr. Rev. Safwat N. El - Baiady, who is the President of the Protestant Churches in Egypt. All protestant churches are linked together under a common government in Egypt due by Law.

Then we met in Plenary. The morning session was fairly routine. We had some elections to the General Assembly Council, but nothing too outrageous.

During lunch, I went with some TSADS from Pittsburgh Seminary and McCormick Seminary to a little pizzeria. It was a small hike from the Convention Center, but it was nice to get away for an hour. On the way back we stopped by a drug store where I bought some candy for the delegates from our presbytery. I figured we could use some sugar to get us through the long session that we knew was ahead. We also had time to appreciate some of the architecture and even walk through the park. The park is beautiful. They have several fountains that are just beautiful. Their use of water really added to the park. It was very refreshing.

The afternoon plenary session was exhausting. We heard first from the Ecclisiology committee. Their main objective was dealing with the Peace, Unity, and Purity report. Items one-four of the PUP report were approved with no problem. Item five, however, generated a lot of controversy. There are nine microphones in plenary and each microphone had ten to twenty people lined up to speak either for or against the report. First there was a substitute motion that item five be disapproved. The motion failed. There were some very moving testimonies on both sides of the report. Then there was a motion to refer item five back to each individual presbytery for consideration. That motion also failed. Finally, the entire PUP report was passed, by a vote of 298 to 221.

The passing of the entire PUP report caused a fair amount of controversy. News vans were immediately parked outside. People were claiming that it would tear the church apart. Conservatives were saying that it would make ordination standards (including homosexuality) optional by individual presbyteries. Liberals were claiming that it really does not do anything new, it just confirms our reformed tradition. The truth is, we are not sure what the ramifications of the report will actually be. Please, do not believe what you see in the news or read in the news paper. Read the report for yourself. You can find it at http://www.pcusa.org/peaceunitypurity/finalreport.htm Click on final report and you can read it or print it right from your computer.

After the PUP report passed, we took a moment to all hold hands together and pray. Some prayed in silence, others out loud. Towards the end, somebody started singing Kum Ba Yah and it slowly started spreading through the floor of the plenary. In a moment when the church was so divided by varying opinions, it was extremely powerful to be united in prayer.

The next issue at hand was a motion to delete 6.0106B from the Book of Order. For those of you who do not have the Book of Order memorized, this is the statement the says that practicing homosexuals cannot be ordained. This motion was defeated in committee, but plenary could have overturned it. They chose not to, voting to leave that section in the Book of Order. We then broke for dinner.

After dinner, we had a worship service led by the PCUSA, that focused on us all being essential parts of the Body of Christ. This was a very important message to hear at this time. We then had our evening business meeting, which was informational only. We heard from several mission people, as well as the Presbyterian leaders from Columbia and Cuba, as well as the Protestant leader from Egypt. A different delegate opens and closes each session with Prayer. I was chose to close the final session.

Tonight, the TSADs all got together and we wrote a joint statement that says that even though we all come from different theological backgrounds, we are all committed to promoting unity and healing throughout our congregation. Every day, there is a period known as "Speak Out" where any delegate can have a minute on the microphone to talk about anything but the day's business. We have had anything for requests for coffee to celebrating the anniversary of West Virginia becoming a state by singing a round of "Take Me Home, Country Roads." Tomorrow, all the TSADS are going to take this opportunity to present this statement. We are all going to stand together to let the assembly know that the next generation of ministers are committed to maintaining peace, healing, and unity throughout our denomination. Hopefully, it will serve as an example for the entire church.

It was a very eventful day. Please pray for all the commissioners and delegates here. There were some very hurtful things said yesterday and there is a need for healing on all parts. Also, the is uncertainty and fear felt by many people as we wait to see if and how the PUP report will affect our denomination. Tomorrow promises to be another long and hard day. If we are to maintain or unity, we must seek to heal each other and to remember that we are Christ's body and we are doing God's will. In closing, I would like to share the prayer that I used to close tonight's session.

Gracious and Loving God,
We ask that you continue to be our teacher,
And to guide us into truth,
All of God’s truth.

God of Perseverance,
Lead us as we journey through the decisions ahead of us,
Open our spiritual eyes so that we may see your will.

God of Wisdom,
Be with this Assembly, be with every delegate and commissioner, and with every word that is said here and those who listen so that we may discern your truth.

God of Compassion,
Make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love.
Where there is discord, let us sow union.
Where there is darkness, let us sow light.
Help us not only to be consoled, but to console.
Help us not only to be understood, but to understand.
Help us not only to be loved, but to love.
For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned, and it is through death that we receive eternal life.
Amen.

Faithfully,

Chris Deacon
Graystone Presbyterian Church
TSAD, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Monday, 6-19-06

First, I want to comment on last night's worship service. It was truly an amazing worship experience. It was held in an ecumenical service held in cooperation with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of America, and the PCUSA. There were so many people that it had to be held at the arena. All three churched contributed choirs and sang an anthem as well as a choir from the Congo. The theme was based on Hebrews 12:1-2, So Great a Cloud of Witnessed. There sermon was given by the General Secretary of the World Assembly of Reformed Churches, Dr. Setri Nyomi. The six communion tables were organized in a cross and we all took communion together. It was very powerful and affirming to be taking communion in an act of solidarity that crosses denomination lines with our brothers and sisters in Christ. A collection was taken up and $25,111.54 was raised.

This morning Plenary started at 9:00. Each commissioner and delegate from East Tennessee had a wonderful gift bag that had items such as a bottle of water, goldfish (the crackers, not actual gold fish...That would have been disconcerting), crayons, and a stress ball. They were left for us by Steve Benz and Bethany Benz and were very appreciated.

Plenary started today. The General Assembly body is made up of approximately 500-53o commissioners, 150 Youth Advisory Delegates, 25 Theological Student Advisory Delegates, 8 Mission Advisory Delegates, and 8 Ecumenical Advisory Delegates. On all issues requiring a vote, the Advisory Delegates first vote. Then that vote is displayed for the commissioners to take into consideration, if they choose. The commissioners then vote and the decision is based on their vote.

Today we heard from several committees. Most items went through with little discussion or debate. However, other items caused quite a bit of debate among the delegates. One issue was a paper that has become known as the "Trinity Paper". The Trinity Paper basically supports using alternative images of the Trinity, such as Mother, Beloved Son, and Life Giving Womb or the imagery of water in the Source, the Wellspring, and the Living Water. The paper maintains that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost would remain the anchor of our tradition with other images or metaphors used to help further our understanding of God. The paper was amended to say that we should continue to use the traditional formula during the sacrament of baptism. Even though this paper is only a study and designed to open up new dialogue on our understanding of God, it still inspired a lot of debate. I would advise you to read the paper for yourself. You can find it at http://www.pcusa.org/theologyandworship/issues/trinityfinal.pdf The paper was received by the Assembly by a vote of 282 to 212.

Another issue that caused a fair amount of debate was the minority report that I mentioned in my previous blog about affirming the common Abrahamic heritage the Jews, Christians, and Muslims share and using that as a starting point to build interfaith relationships. Again a lot of debate and discussion ensued. The minority report was eventually defeated 160 to 340.

We were in plenary from 9:00 to 5:30 with an hour and a half break for lunch. During lunch, I went to a luncheon held by the Order of Pastors. They are a group that forms a type of support group for pastors, based on further theological study and daily prayer. They have an offshoot group that is known as the Order of New Pastors, which also provides support for first time pastors. We heard from the president of Columbia Theological Seminary who spoke about some ways she had combined scripture and daily prayer to enhance her spiritual life and some ways she had implemented it into her congregation.

For dinner, I met with the President of Louisville Seminary, his wife, and several staff and faculty members for dinner. We were basically catching up with what each of us has been doing during General Assembly and what is ahead.

At 7:00 we had worship. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church presided over this worship service, as the three Presbyterians denominations have been rotating. The sermon was about the season of God and how people are looking for God in new ways. This was followed by more PCUSA business, which included a wonderful celebration of the anniversary of the ordination of women. It has been 100 years since the PCUSA started ordaining women as deacons, 76 years for elders, and 50 years since we have started ordaining women as ministers of the Word and Sacrament. We also had a presentation on Presbyterian relief efforts for Katrina, and a presentation about the 25th anniversary of the Presbyterian Peacemakers. We wrapped up about 10:15 at which point I headed back to the hotel. I am about to head to bed because tomorrow promises to be another long day. I have a "coffee hour" to learn about pastoring to rural churches at 7:45 tomorrow morning.

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to post them or email me at cdeacon@lpts.edu


Faithfully,

Chris Deacon
Graystone Presbyterian Church
TSAD, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Sunday, 6-18-06

This is my first GA and it has been so much more than I anticipated. It has been overwhelming, humbling, affirming, and exhausting. Today is the first day we have had much of a break. While I anticipated we would be very busy, I did not anticipate 16-18 hour days. I will try to post daily after this, but I cannot make any promises as this is the first chance I have had to really sit down and type anything out.

I arrived on Wednesday. I got to the hotel at 4:30, got checked in and ran to a four hour TSAD orientation at 5:00. The orientation basically told us what to expect procedurally at GA. We had dinner during that meeting and it went until 9:00. I went back to the room, ironed my shirt, called home and was in bed by 10:00.

Thursday morning, I got up at 6:00 and caught the shuttle to the convention center to register at 7:00. The rest of the morning was sent exploring the convention center, going to sessions showing us how to use LES, the computer program that GA is using, and getting to know the four candidates for moderator. Then we had a break for lunch. After lunch, we officially convened to open the General Assembly. There we some small setbacks with LES, as there would continue to be over the next few days as they continued to work the bugs out. I say this with optimism that it is working now. We then split into three groups to rotate through three different orientation presentations. We then broke for dinner. I had dinner with several TSADs from various schools, and that was interesting to talk to people about their various seminary experiences and see how the schools are different. After dinner, we reconvened and started on the business of electing a moderator. We had four nominees. After almost an hour of speeches, they took questions for an hour. It was then time to vote. First the Advisory Delegates (Youth Advisory Delegates or YADS, Theological Student Advisory Delegates, or TSAD, Ecumenical advisory Delegates, and Mission Advisory Delegates) vote. Our vote does not count, but serves to advise the commissioners. The commissioners then vote. Since there were four nominees, this process was to be repeated until one nominee has a majority vote. I knew we were in trouble when the first vote was split almost perfectly among all four nominees. However, it only took two more votes before Joan Gray was elected. We then installed her as moderator, bestowed gifts upon the outgoing moderator, and had announcements. It was almost 11:30 before we stopped for the night.

Friday morning we started at 7:00 with the delegates breakfast and morning prayer. We then started our committee meetings at 9:00. I am serving on Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations. We started with some activities designed to help us get to know each other and build camaraderie among the committee because we would be working so closely for the next few days. This actually led to one of the most affirming moments of the Assembly for me personally. As somebody working towards parish ministry, I have always held in tension the elevated views I have of pastors and the idea that one day I would be a pastor. I have always felt that pastors were better than me (and most of them probably are). However, I found myself in a small group of 8, six pastors, an elder, and myself. For some reason they all turned to me for leadership. I felt like an equal with them and for the first time, I felt that I can actually be a pastor. Throughout the day we affirmed several overtures address issues such as who to invite as EADs to the next General Assembly, reaffirming the relationship between the PCUSA and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, and defining the difference between a union church and a federated church. I went to a luncheon hosted by the Covenant Network and dinner with several people from our Presbytery during the meal breaks. We finally ended the day's business at 10:30. I then caught a shuttle back to the hotel and went right to bed.

Saturday started off a little less hectic. I didn't have to be anywhere until committee meetings started at 9:00. I got to sleep in until 7:30. Our committee passed resolutions designed on helping to build relationships with the Presbyterian Churches of Ghana, Columbia, and Cuba. We also heard from leaders from the World Council of Churches, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of America, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and the National Council of Churches. It was very interesting and really gave a sense of the Church worldwide as the Body of Christ. After lunch we returned for our hot button resolution, 07-01. This issue sought to affirm that a) Jews, Christians, and Muslims come from a common Abrahamic and should use this to build interfaith relations, b) Jews, Christians, and Muslims worship the same God, and c) the General Assembly should promote the common efforts of Christians, Muslims, and Jews to work together for peace, justice, and righteousness. Sections a and b were quickly struck from the resolution. As we debated some of the verbiage in section c, the YADs on our committee proposed a way to word it that highlights the common Abrahamic background of the three faiths and suggests that as a basis of building relationships between the faiths. Although, it was disapproved, the motion really sought to capture the intention of the original overture. I, with some other commissioners who supported it, helped them to file a minority report on it. This ended our committee business. Several committee went until midnight and some are meeting again today. To see any of the resolutions and what the committee recommended on them, you can see them on LES at http://72.54.6.218/ it is on the internet and open to anybody. You can see the overtures that all committees looked at, as well as their recommendations. After my committee adjourned, all the people from East Tennessee went to dinner. It was great to get together, touch base, and see what was going on in the various areas of the Assembly in which everybody is involved. Then I went home for a quick nap before heading to the Witherspoon Ball, a social function that is held at every GA.

Today has been a bit of a Sabbath. I went to lunch with several TSADS, called home, caught up on some correspondence, and wrote this book that you are currently reading. I am about to go to the Moderator's Reception before going to a joint worship and communion service held with both the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church of America. After that will be dinner, and open house held by the Covenant Network, and then bed. Tomorrow will be a long day with Plenary starting again.

If you have any questions, feel free to post them or email me at cdeacon@lpts.edu and I will do my best to respond.

Faithfully,

Chris Deacon
Graystone Presbyterian Church
TSAD, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Commisioner Reporting from GA

Report from Birmingham
General Assembly 2006

Its Sunday afternoon and we finally have some extra time. The commissioners are each assigned to a subcommittee responsible for looking at a particular area of our work as a denomination. I was assigned to the Polity Committee and we finished our work late last night. Tonight we will worship with two branches of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church all in a large indoor arena. That should be an exciting worship service indeed.

In our polity committee we considered several major pieces of business that came to us as overtures seeking to change the Book of Order somehow. I will hit several high points to help you understand:
We considered an overture from the Presbytery of Stockton CA asking us to change the Book of Order to permit all churches to own their property outright. This would have changed all church property from being held in trust for all Presbyterians to a congregational model of everyone owning their own property. The overture was defeated soundly. As Presbyterians since the mid 1700’s we have joined the church knowing any church property we join with or build will belong to the whole church, not us. As an individual church we can’t get mad at something in the denomination and leave with our church property. This is a good thing grounded in our collective vision of being one church belonging to God and to all God’s children past, present and future.
There were several overtures seeking to speed up the process of searching for a pastor, or permit an associate or interim pastor to be elected pastor. One overture asked for a change to the Book of Order to permit beginning the search for a pastor as soon as a departure date is announced. These announcements come 2-6 weeks before a pastor’s last day. If Nominating Committees and search processes were started when the pastor is trying to leave it opens a can of worms at the very time when people should be saying good-by and honoring a pastor for his/her work. This overture was defeated. Other overtures seeking to permit associate or interim pastors to replace the pastor were also defeated.
We approved a rewrite of Chapter 14 of the Book of Order to help streamline the ordination process. That chapter has become more of a bureaucratic burden than a helpful process. The new chapter will need to be approved at the full meeting of the GA next week and then passed along to the Presbyteries for their OK. So we will all see this again before the change is actually made.
There is also a move afoot to look at the entire Book of Order section G – that’s the governing rules part. We recommended a 4-year process of study, consultation, research, and communication be undertaken before a rewrite of the whole G section can be approved. It will all come back to the 2010 GA meeting.
An overture came to us from 2 Presbyteries asking us to add lines to the Book of Order affirming our need to care for God’s creation as faithful Christians. We voted both down with a comment affirming it is important to care for creation, but there are already strong admonitions to care for creation made by the GA in the past, areas of the Book of Order and in our Creeds all pointing us in this direction. There was not a pressing need to say it all over again.
Several overtures really got into a problem that seems to be on the rise in our church. It’s the problem of members and officers of the PC (USA) filing what can be called “frivolous” complaints and disciplinary actions against other members or officers. These kinds of things can ruin someone’s day and if serious enough they can and do ruin careers. In our struggle to find a solution we came to the decision to point out that people who maliciously use our church juridical process by filing frivolous actions can be charged with several things themselves. We also recommended the Office, of the GA study this matter and bring findings of both information and some possible further remedies to the next GA meeting 2008.
The longest discussion we had was started by an overture asking for a study of the ramifications of creating a non-geographical synod for the Korean American members of the PC (USA). There are already 4 Korean Presbyteries. The Korean community within the church is a vital and growing part of our family tree, but its not the only part of the family tree composed of people from minority immigrant, ethnic, national and racial backgrounds. So we added to the recommendation for study provisions that bring all these groups under the study, that call for an organized way to support and minister to these groups, and look to the consequences of non-geographical presbyteries and synods in the long run. I must give credit here to a theological student from Princeton who was instrumental in all this. She tenaciously held her very reasonable ground and brought all of us to a better end than we had at first conceived.

That is a good summery. In between all this we dealt with several other issues that I may get to later. I will check this blog for questions you may have so go for it – I’m not just a commissioner to GA, I’m your commissioner to GA.

With Trust In Our Lord
Rev. Rob Mellgard
Pastor, New Hope Presbyterian Church, Knoxville TN.