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