LETTERS FROM
Reports from the 217th
General Assembly
From Peter Nord, Executive Presbyter, Presbytery of
Baltimore
June 20, 2006 – Special Edition
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
The Lord be with you!
Today folks came to the hall a
whole lot earlier and once the morning session started the coffee lines grew short
and the hall was full. One could sense
that we had come to one of those moments when something important was about to
happen. But first, we were asked to
handle a number of less difficult issues. It was also announced this week that former
Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase would leave Borderlinks to become the Director of
the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship.
The first item of business was the report of the Mission
Coordination Committee. Its most
important piece of business was presenting Linda Valentine as the next executive director of
the General Assembly Council. Linda,
who will direct the mission and program of the denomination, comes as an elder from
Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. She
has served in various capacities including Senior Vice President for Motorola,
Inc. and most recently as the fund manager and general counsel for a Christian
non-profit organization, Opportunity International. Linda spoke of her special commitment to the
role of elder in the church. She was
elected with about 90% of the commissioners supporting her. The only question asked was would she be able
to represent and work for all elements of the denomination. The committee assured the Assembly that she
would do so.
While the election of Moderator was rather flat,
it has been a pleasure to watch as Joan Gray has taken over her duties as
Moderator. So far she has served both as
a clear and effective moderator and has added real spiritual presence in her
words and actions as she leads this denomination of ours.
The Mission Coordination Committee also brought
forward changes to the structure of our denomination’s mission program. The National Ministries Division will now be
divided into four areas: 1) Evangelism and Witness; 2) Justice and Compassion;
3) Leadership and Vocation; and 4) Spirituality and Discipleship.
Nominations
The Nominating Committee came expecting two or
three challenges and ended up with at least eleven positions being contested. For the most part, the committee’s
recommendations were upheld. Many of
these challenges were to the committees on Social Witness Policy and the
Advocacy Committee for Women’s Concerns.
However, all of these challenges put the docket behind schedule.
All this business took far longer than expected,
which led to our adjourning for lunch with the word that we needed to return by
1:30, when the doors would be locked and the Assembly would place itself in the
hands of God.
Following lunch we arrived to
a packed hall and the doors were closed at 1:30. Moderator Joan Gray called us to prayer – to
a time of holy silence – and proclaimed that God is with us. She then invited us to journey on a guided
meditation: to return to our church, to open the doors, to move to the
Communion Table, to place our hands on it, to feel the letters carved in the
front, and then to recall those times when we stood around the table as an elder
or minister. We were invited then to
reach deep into our hearts and to bring forth what we most wanted to come forth
from this meeting and to place it on the table – to offer it to God. And then in a quiet and quivering voice the
Moderator began to sing . . . . Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me . .
. . Yes, the Spirit of the living God
flowed through the room, through our hearts and in moist eyes and heartfelt
expectation and hope.
The Moderator then called upon the Ecclesiology
Committee to present its report. The
Committee recommended to the Assembly that it support the first four
recommendations. There was no debate and
it passed 469 – 54.
We then moved to
recommendations 5-7 which were moved as a group (see the PC(USA) quick reference
guide on the PUP report). The
Committee had voted out this recommendation on a vote of 41-22. A Minority Report was then introduced which
would delete recommendation 5 and accept recommendations 6 and 7 as proposed.
The person presenting the Committee’s
recommendation started by stating that it contained nothing new and represented
the traditions of the Church which have kept us together throughout our
history. The maker of the minority
report encouraged us to “fear not” and to refrain from making a top-down
decision. A motion was made to strike
the word “authoritative” from recommendation #5. This was lost with more than 400 voting
against it. Another amendment was passed
to say that the ordination and installation decisions must also comply with the
constitution. With both motions
perfected we proceeded to debate whether or not to make the minority report the
main motion.
As part of the debate, former Moderator Marg
Carpenter pushed her walker to the microphone and pleaded with the Assembly to
try something new and to support the majority report. Lines grew long at all eight microphones as
people talked about whether or not this is a local option, what various
passages of the Bible say about these recommendations, whether or not the
authoritative decision is or is not new in our life together, and how it will
impact the future of the church both within this country and around the
world. After more than an hour of debate
the question was called and the motion to stop debate passed easily. We then moved on whether or not to make the
minority report the main motion. The
Youth and Theological Seminary Advisory Delegates voted ‘no’ while the
ecumenical and mission advisory delegates voted essentially evenly. The Commissioners then voted 234 to 287,
choosing not to do so.
With that we went on to debate on the main
motion. The next speaker moved to refer recommendations
5 and 6 to the presbyteries so that the presbyteries might comment on these
recommendations and send them to the 2008 GA, which would then act on these
recommendations. After another 45
minutes of debate, the question was called.
The Advisory delegates voted not to refer and the commissioners agreed
with them 281 and 241. It seemed to many
of us around the hall that the time had come to take this vote, to make this
decision, and place it before the altar.
The Advisory Delegates voted substantially in favor and the commissioners’
vote was 57% in favor – approximately 264 to 221.
With the vote registered, we stood, joined hands,
and gathered in small and large circles and prayed – for minutes. In a part of the hall one could hear the
words sung – Come by here my Lord, Come by here. Finally, subdued by the importance of what
had occurred, a commissioner asked how to register his dissent from the action,
and the committee returned to the rest of its recommendations – although there
was no heart for discussion or votes.
The PUP Task Force was then invited to come forward and they were
applauded for their dedication to the task they were presented. And with that the Assembly rose and sang a
hymn of praise to the God of our Creation.
After a short break, a commissioner rose and asked
several questions: “Do we truly know what we have done? Does the GA office plan to work with
presbyteries and churches that have difficulty with these decisions without a
heavy hand? Is there a Task Force that
is in place that will look at the serious financial implications?” The Moderator indicated that those who are in
leadership will do the best they can in responding to these concerns. At a
press conference following the vote, the Stated Clerk, Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick,
foresaw questions about a plan to help commissioners clarify the Assembly
proceedings for their churches and presbyteries, "I wouldn't say we have a full-scale,
developed plan. I know there are huge expectations and huge anxiety. We
encourage every commissioner to share this with their congregations, and to
replicate what has been the experience of the task force."
Church
Orders
The Committee on Church Orders reported on its
actions - mostly regarding G-6.0106b.
The Committee voted to recommend disapproval of all overtures that
called for its removal from the Book of
Order. The Committee moved to
disapprove these overtures. A motion was
made to refer these Overtures to the 2008 General Assembly. This motion to refer was defeated by a two to
one margin. The Assembly then went on to
vote on the removal of G-6.0106b. By an
overwhelming majority, the Assembly voted to support the committee’s
recommendation and not to remove this section of the Book of Order. As said by Tim
Halverson, one of the candidates for Moderator, to do otherwise would be to
break faith with the vote on the PUP Report.
No doubt there are some who will be disappointed
by this vote and decision, others who will be entering into another period of
discernment about how God calls them to faithfulness, and still others who will
feel that their time in the wilderness has come to an end. I pray for our Church – I invite you to join
in these prayers – and I pray for each of you in the coming days. And I invite us to continue to hold fast to
this sovereign God who loves us so deeply and whose Spirit surrounds and
upholds us. As one commissioner quoted –
if this is of God, it shall abide.
As evening approaches, we who are here will be
praying for you and seeking restorative rest for the night. I solicit your prayers for us.
Blessings,
Peter
Fax: 410.433.2066 | office@baltimorepresbytery.org
Letters will be sent daily during the Assembly