Reports from the 217th
General Assembly
From Peter Nord, Executive Presbyter, Presbytery of
Baltimore
June 18, 2006
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The Lord be with you!
Sunday has been somewhat more a
Sabbath day than the past few days. Most
of us put on our Sunday best and went off to church in the morning. I headed off to South Highland Presbyterian
Church – the site of four general assemblies in the PCUS as well as the home of
three moderators and the place where Cliff Kirkpatrick was baptized. I found myself sitting next to the General
Secretary for the World Alliance of Reformed Churches who is a member of the
Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Ghana and now living and working in
Sunday afternoon found Ecclesiology
and Peacemaking Committees back in session and hard at work – hoping to
complete their business before the 6 PM joint worship service with the two
Cumberland Churches at the Birmingham Arena.
While I was unable to attend either of these committees, Bill Galvin
reported that the Peacemaking Committee had concluded its work and the Committee’s
response to all the Divestment Overtures remained intact.
It was another matter over in
Ecclesiology. The substitute motion was
adopted, although it may not be materially different than the original work of
the PUP Task Force. An effort to have
recommendation five sent to the Presbyteries for action was rebuffed. Another approach was to keep the Assembly
from even acting on this recommendation – that too lost. According to the Presbyterian News Service,
the end result is the recommendation of the full PUP report with virtually no
change. There were more than 40 of 63 votes that supported this recommendation.
In talking with some who witnesses
Sunday’s meeting, it was also reported that the deliberations had become rather
contentious – in stark contrast to the experience of the PUP Task Force. Perhaps this was due to the reality that
their work would actually be the work voted upon by the Assembly. But I suspect that it was due to other
reasons. It was clear that there was a
great deal of “coaching” going on at every break. An amazing array of parliamentary
machinations was utilized. And, at least
for the couple of hours I did sit in on the committee, it was mostly men doing
the talking. All of this maneuvering
leaves little time for real discernment, connection with the Holy Spirit – or
genuine dialogue. We have discovered in
our Presbytery that when we do enter into real dialogue and put aside the
political maneuvering that the Spirit draws us together. This is something that the PUP Task also
experienced. Unfortunately, it may be
that this committee has not been so blessed.
When I headed off to bed, it was unclear if this committee had even
completed its business, and so further actions might well occur.
The Sunday worship service at GA has traditionally been one of those
truly uplifting moments in one’s spiritual life. This year we were blessed to have an amazing
choir from the
Tomorrow – Monday – the Assembly reconvenes and
begins to act on the recommendations from its committees. I ask that you continue to hold the
commissioners in your prayers. On Monday
the Assembly will work on reports from the following committees: Theological
Issues and Institutions, Church Growth and Christian Education, Ecumenical and
Interfaith Relations, and Review of GA Permanent Committees. In the evening there will be a celebration of
the ordination of women, peacemaking, and a report on Katrina recovery. Ecclesiology – with its recommendations on
PUP – is currently scheduled for Tuesday morning, Church Orders is up Tuesday
afternoon and Peacemaking is on for Wednesday afternoon. But if the experience of the Ecclesiology
Committee is any indicator of what will happen at the Assembly, we should
expect this schedule to be pushed back.
On another mundane level – yesterday’s letter did
not get to everyone because I was having problems with “the server.” So, we will try to correct this on
Monday. You will find links to these
letters posted on the Presbytery’s home page – by 11 AM each day this week. In addition, the plenary meetings of the
Assembly are broadcast on streaming video on the web – through www.pcusa.org.
That site also gives you the ability to create an account and log into
Les and track the work of the Assembly and its committees.
Blessings,
Peter
Fax: 410.433.2066 | office@baltimorepresbytery.org
Letters will be sent daily during the Assembly