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