Presbyterians are nuts

We finished plenary tonight at about 12:20 (meaning after midnight) - it was a long day and I'm exhausted. If you have questions on specific items of business adressed today ask me, I'm not going to do an overview.

Last night the Presbytery (Dave Johnson, Ed Kang, Russ, Peter, and I had dinner at a barbeque place. It was very good and I had a good time. I'm assuming the others had a good time too :p

Today I had two very different experiences around the same matter, and I would like to share.

This morning during an open forum between the PCUSA, Cumberland Pres. Church, and Cumberland Pres. Church in America, we listened to speakers from each church and then discussed in small groups. In my small group was another YAD. She was a very nice girl, and during one of the discussions we started talking specifically about the future of the Church. Obviously the PUP Report came up and she was of completely different opinion than I. She was in opposition to the PUP report while I was in favor. After the discussion was over, we walked out of the concert hall together and I said to her, "Olivia, talk to me. I want to hear your views." The ensuing dialogue was very friendly and enlightening and I feel we both left the conversation with more insight, yet we were still friendly. It was a very pleasant experience.

Later today, I picked up some lunch with a group of YADs. We sat down together to eat and just started talking happily. Then, one of the girls brought up her concern about the PUP report (I don't remember her name, and even if I did I would not mention it here in such a negative light). She started talking and I tried to engage in a dialogue with her like the one I had had earlier in the day. However, she would not allow me to ask questions of her or speak my opinions, and was offended when I tried to say anything. She sort of went into a diatribe to be frank. The conversation ended with her in a huff thinking very badly of me and not even wanting to look at me.

I'm not sure what to say about that actually. I'll just let you take from it what you will. The first gave me a lot of hope for the church, and the second made me afraid that there are many people who are unwilling even to engage in discussion. This is what the PUP Report asks of us, to engage in discrenment and discussion. And here are two very different stories. I can only hope there are more Olivia's out there in the PCUSA than those like the second girl. I hope and pray the church can engage in open, honest, and respectful discussion.

I had one more experience today I would like to share with you. Since the Church Orders committee had such good community, I almost always say hello and sometimes give hugs to other members of the committee when I see them in passing. Our Vice Moderator, Mr. Julian Walthal, chose to sit at my round table when we had discussion time amongst ourselves, so he got to know my table well, and we got to know him well. He is a very nice man. Today I said "hello" to him as usual as I saw him while walking out of plenary at one point. He stopped me this time, though, and took my hand and asked if I had considered seminary, that I was a wonderful speaker and had good insight and comments. I was very moved by this. Every time I go to an event like GA or Triennium I start wondering if I should choose a path in ministry of some sort. So this was a very meaningful moment. I guess we'll see what the future holds.

Oh, and Mom, you'll be amused to know that Dave Johnson said I sound like you when I speak in front of people. Not sure if that's a good or a bad sign :p

Oh! I have one more story from today! Last one, I promise. I went to dinner with a nother group of YADs. We walked to a small hotel restaurant a few blocks away. We felt a bit awkward when we walked in because at the tables were mostly elderly people who gave us looks that seemed to say "oh no, these riff raff are going to disturb my peace." Then After we ordered one man cam over to us and started talking to us about GA, where we all were from, where he was from, and such. Then he started talking about how much he appreciates the YADs and such (actualy a pretty common sentiment among the commissioners). Then he said he wanted to pay for all of our dinners. There were about nine of us. We all insisted he didn't have to, etc. But he insisted that he show his appreciation of our presence by treating us to dinner. That was a very gracious gesture and it really drove home that the commissioners really do enjoy our presence, and aren't just saying they do.

Tomorrow is the last short day of this 217th General Assembly. It will be a bittersweet ending. I'll be glad to be able to go home and get some good rest.

Peace of Christ,
Susan

A few of the commissioners behind us started
blowing bubbles when we were finally
done with bussiness tonight.

The PUP report

The PUP report passed intact yesterday. There were challenges of course to recommendation 5, but it survived. It was a pretty stressful day with so much debate, emotion, and tension. I actually spoke about the report in front of the Assembly!

I also want to let you all know that, though I am by no means an expert on the PUP report, if you want any insight on the report, please talk to me. I am very willing to talk to you and your churches on the matter.

It's the start of a very full day of business. We're a little behind, so we'll see how late we'll run tonight....


Peace of Christ,
Susan

A Quick and Dirty summary of the PUP report...

To help y'all out, I'm just going to go through it quickly for you.

Six years ago the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity (PUP) of the Church was formed of twenty people from across the spectrum of backgrounds and beleifs. The open ended question was basically "Is there something here in the church worth trying to keep together and how do we do it?" The task force met and did not at first debate or talk about differing beleifs. The group first built a strong community of respect as brothers and sisters of Christ, and much of the report revolves around this central idea of the task force.

There are seven recommendations of the task force. Recs. 1-4 go together and recs. 5-7 go together. I won't give you the full wording, but I will give a summary of each.

Rec. 1 -
- Encourages all to focus on the church's "visible onenes" and promotes harmony.
-that we may "with one voice together glorify God in Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit"
-that all sessions, congregations presbyteries, and synods strengthen their relationships with one another and with the General Assembly

Rec. 2-
-urges govoerning bodies to follow the example of the task force and other groups "that, in the face of difficult issues, have engaged in processes of intensive discernment through worship, community building, study, and collaborative work."

Rec. 3-
-that the 217th GA recommend for Study the Theological Reflection that heads the task force report.

Rec. 4-
-urges the OGA and other governing bodies and meeting moderators to explore alternative forms of discernment and decision-making as a complement to parliamentary procedure (especially with devisive issues)

Recs. 5-7 is where some people both on the "far left" and "far right" are unhappy...

Rec. 5-
-is an authoritative interpetation
-The Book of Confessions and Book of Order set the standards for ordination
-These standards are determined by the whole church, after scriptural study, by the process of approval by the GA w/ approval from the presbyteries - these may be interpreted by GA and Permanent Judicial Commission
-Ordaining and installing bodies have the responsibility to determine membership by applying the following standards:
1. Whether a candidate has departed from scriptural and constitutional standards for fitness of office
2. Whether any departure constitutes a failure to adhere to the essentials of Reformed faith and polity
-whether an ordaining/installing body has conducted its examination reasonably, responsibly, prayerfully, and deliberately is subject to review by higher governing bodies
-All parties should endeavor to outdo one another in honoring one another's decisions
Summary: This puts some power back in the hands of the presbyteries and local bodies and is nothing new this is the way the church was run before "b" and the standing authoritative interpretation (which this would replace). In other words, churches know their members and who is best fit to serve the church, so they should be able to decide. Example: If a man shaving his face is deemed sin by the GA, yet the church finds a shaven man called and well fit to serve, the church (presbytery, etc.) may decide to ordain/install him regardless. It goes to say a church may also refuse his call if they are unable to accept his shaven face.

Rec. 6-
-If GA accepts Rec. 5:
-that the GA 217 approve no additional authoritative interpretations (AIs), remove no existing AIs, and send no proposed constitutional ammendments to the presbyteries that would effect denominational policy or any major issues in the task force's report (inc. Christology, biblical interpretation, essential tenets, and sexuality and ordination)
-encrouages all church members to acknowledge their traditional biblical obligation (see Matthew 18:15-17 and Matthew 5:23-25) and in the Rules of Discipliane and Book of Order
-institute judicial of admiistrative hearings only when other efforts fail to preserve the purposes of peace, unity, and purity

Rec. 7-
-that this report answers certain overtures

Basically, and frankly, the conservatives don't like 5 and the liberals don't appreciate 6, but you can't have one without the other.
In my opinion this is a strong and positive step forward. It is a very good report, I even enjoyed reading it! (but maybe I'm just crazy) I think it finds a very strong middle ground and is very respectful and positive. It came as unanimous from the task force, which is a very strong thing because the task force included the extremes. The write up assures that all kept their convictions and yet gained respect and of course all support the report.


Ok...so that wasn't really quick, but it was dirty. Hope it still helped, sorry for the length, it's hard to summarize, but it's really not as complicated as some people are trying to say it is.

Peace of Christ and Prayers for the church,
Susan

Also: there is a group shot of all the YADS here

"Only Presbyterians would form a committee to review committees and report their review to a larger committee"

Today was the first day of real plenary sessions. It didn't go as well as I remember plenary sessions flowing in Richmond. It might have had something to do with the Vice Moderator who ran things for a while. He didn't have much idea of what was going on, and there were ammendments and motions and such flying everywhere. It was a little chaotic and a lot of people got confused. I managed to stay on top of things somehow. Maybe I'm just a master parliamentarian :p We did somehow manage to get all of our scheduled businnes done, though!

I can't say I'm so hopeful for tomorrow. Tomorrow, the Ecclesiology Committee reports tomorrow morning. That means.....the PUP Report... And some very ambitious person scheduled the Church Orders Committee in the afternoon. Yeah...that won't happen. Who knows how long the PUP stuff will take. It will definitely be long, draining, and emotional no matter what happens.

Tonight there was a service celebrating Women's ordination. It was a nice service. There were dancers, and a continously changing painting which I couldn't figure out how it worked. There was also a poem by/read by Ann Weems. And a nice little dramatic reading about women and ordination.

OH! I spoke during plenary today!!! That was very exciting! I was the first to speak during the Speak Out (general announcement-type time) after lunch break. I made an announcement letting people know about/reminding them to use the recycle bins! And people clapped!! Yay! I had a lot of people thank me for it :) :) :)

Tomorrow is a very big day and I am getting up very early so I'm going to get some rest. I'll try to report back as soon as I can on how things are going. We'll need all the prayers we can get tomorrow!! Please, pray for all of us. The PUP Report carries a lot of emotion for many people. Thanks in advance.

Peace of Christ,
Susan



(Peter and Russel are "working hard" ^_^)

The end of committee meetings

I realized today that some of you may not know exactly what G 6.0106b says. So here you go :

"Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scriptures and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament."
The YADS of the Church Orders committee with our moderator, Karen, and vice moderator, Jullian.

That is how it reads as it currently stands. Depending on how the next few days go, that may change, it may not.

The big issues coming before the assembly in the next few days are the PUP report and the divestment issue. The Ecclesiology Committee (the committee handling the PUP report) is still not finished with its business. That's pretty intense. I'm not sure when the recommendations from the Church Orders committee will come before plenary. I'll be sure to let you know when they do though. The next few days promise to be an intense emotional journey.

Tonight we had a worship/communion service. It was in joint with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in America and the Cumberland Presbyterian Church.The music was fabulous! It is so amazing to worship in such a large group. I think the most amazing part of it is hearing how powerful a large group of people speaking in unison and singing together is. The service was in a large basketball arena type place, just to give you an idea. I've realized this week that possibly my favorite part of worship services is the passing of the peace. It is so amazing how connected you can feel with someone by simply giving a firm handshake, a friendly smile, and the words "the Peace of Christ be with you." I'm really able to see an effect in the people I shake hands with. Maybe some of it has to do with being a youth....

Tonight was the YAD party. It was in a renovated warehouse. There was a live band, it was actually a good band :p It was a lot of fun! There was a chocolate fountain and strawberries! :)

It was a good day....and now, to rest before plenary tomorrow.

God Bless,
Susan

I have Pictures!!

See! Presbyterians can party, too!! This is a picture from the Witherspoon dance which was last night. It was a good party!

Yesterday (Saturday) was mostly chock full of committee meetings. As you know my committe is dealing mostly with G 6.0106b. There was an overture to delete "b" (as it is called). It was defeated (meaning "b" would stay. It was an incredibly close vote: 30 to 28. There was another overture to delete the offensive words in the Definitive Guidance. I was actually part of writing a substitute motion for that. The substitute failed but was agreed upon as a comment. However the motion itself failed (closely again). So now I am part of a Minority Report! I also spoke several times in committee. It is very exciting to be so active!!

Our committee had to meet again shortly today, and we just finished. It was actually very emotional to leave comittee. Our leadershi team had done an amazing job of building a friendly atmosphere in comittee. We had team building excercises, heart-to-heart talks, frequent prayers and praise songs, and we sat in round tables rather than rows. It was a very close atmosphere. It actually seemed to harken to the suggestions of the Peace Unity Purity Task Force.

I didn't go to a local worship service this morning because I was so exhausted and figured the sleep would be more refreshing. I did start off with a little devotional excersice :p. Tonight we have a large worship service in conjunction with the Cumberland churches. It should be fun!

Now it is time to go have some lunch with new friends and take another walk around the exhibit hall. Hope all is well back in Central New York!

Peace of Christ,

Susan

Zap them with Love

I can hardly muster up the concentration to write much tonight. I’ve been up since 5:40 this morning. The commissioner breakfast was this morning and the woman who founded the Civil Rights Institute spoke (she was good)

The rest of the day was mostly committee meetings. As I’m in Church Orders, we had four hours of open hearings today. That’s where anyone (observers, commissioners, whatever) can come and speak to the overtures under consideration.

There was an assembly worship service tonight. Rick did the sermon. It was a fantastic sermon (as can be expected of Rick). And we sang and praised God and it was a wonderful time.

And after being refreshed by worship was more draining committee time! So now, in case you can’t tell by my writing style and my scattered thoughts, I am too exhausted to think.

Oh! Good news! The camera cable is on its way and should be here tomorrow, so y’all can look forward to pictures in the future! (It’s hard not to start saying y’all at Presbyterian conferences :p )

May the Peace of Christ be with you,
Susan

First day of business!

Today started with some more YAD orientation. This was followed by a little business and some more orientation. I think I’m well oriented now….

I got to go through the exhibit hall today!! Definitely a very fun part of GA. Lots of free stuff, stuff to read and buy, and so many cool people to talk to!

The Moderator election was tonight. It was a long, but intense and interesting process involving Q and A and voting and waiting and re-voting until we had our moderator. Joan Gray was elected after three votes (if I remember correctly).

To partially answer Jill Fandrich’s question, Joan was not the candidate who impressed me most, but I’m sure she will do well in leading the Church in the next two years.

It was very moving and sad for me to see Rick Ufford-Chase be recognized and end his time is moderator. He was an absolutely fantastic moderator and having helped vote him in I felt especially attached to his presence. At least it won’t be the last we’ll see of Rick!

During business tonight, a very pleasant surprise was announced! Stan Anderson, from Denver made it known to all that he is starting the Loaves and Fishes program with an amazing $150 million dollars! The money will go in grants to Presbyteries dedicated to congregational transformation, racial-ethnic congregations, and new church development. This is a fantastic gift and an awesome opportunity for our Presbyteries!

To answer Reverend Joe, I think everyone at the assembly is excited, and many are nervous about the important matters at hand. But at the moment, it is a positive and exciting atmosphere. We’ll see how long that keeps up with how exhausting GA business can be!

A couple notes on Les in case any of you are following along:

There are two new tabs on Les. First is the “Tracker” tab. Under the Tracker tab you can browse by committee and see exactly what that committee is doing on its business. The second is the “Auto-Les” tab. Turning on Auto-Les means that the business currently being considered by the assembly will automatically appear for you. A handy little tab :)

There were some pretty major server problems with Les today, but they should (hopefully be fixing them soon.

Last, I apologize if this doesn’t make sense – I’m not going to read over it at the moment because I am EXHAUSTED. It’s been another looong day. And I am going to go to sleep now because tomorrow is another very early morning, and committees start tomorrow.

Peace be with you,

Susan

One last thing - we don't have wireless internet in the conference center, just the intranet to connect to Les. So I am unable to check your comments often during the day. I will try to stop at the email station at least once during the day in the future to check and answer questions before they're irrelevant to the business. That's all!

The end of a looong first day

YAD orientation went well this afternoon. We did some ice breakers and got to know some people. Then we went over some business. After that was dinner – pizza. Then we had some more business. Followed by a short and fun worship service.

The candidates for moderator all came and introduced themselves to us. The assembly votes for moderator tomorrow evening. In case you don’t know: in voting procedure, the YADs and Theological Seminary Advisory Delegates (TSADs) have a preliminary advisory vote. This vote shows on the screen for all the delegates to see what the youth think. It’s amazing to see how much the YAD vote has a real powerful influence on the vote for moderator, so tomorrow night should be exciting. That vote is probably where the YAD influence shows up most.

If you would like to follow the moderator vote there will be streaming video of the assembly. You can get there from the GA 217 home page.

Earl Arnold asked me a good question (thanks Earl!). He asked what committee I will be serving on. I will be on the Church Orders committee. Church Orders this year will be dealing solely with overtures regarding G-6 (ordination issues regarding homosexuality).

Speaking of which, you should all go take a look at the Peace Unity and Purity Task Force’s website http://pcusa.org/peaceunitypurity/ . The PUP report is the biggest issue GA faces this year. So go take a look, before it gets too intense!

A note on Les:

Les is the system being used this year for delegates to view assembly business. It is a paper-free system (yay!) and is easy for those in charge to update, so provided the intranet system works as planned and all delegates are able to use it comfortably it should be a very good system for us. Anyone can us Les! That’s another plus. You can find Les at http://72.54.6.218/Home.aspx . You do not need to log in to view the business and overtures. Clicking on the “Business” tab will bring up a list of committees under which you’ll find overtures. The plus side to creating an account is that you can make and save notes on overtures. You don’t have to be a delegate to make an account, just go to the upper right hand corner and click on “Create Account.”

As a final note (I promise this is the end!) I was planning on taking pictures and possibly video to post for you all, but I forgot the USB cord to connect my camera to my computer. If I can get my parents to ship the cord down, I promise I’ll post some pictures!

God bless,

Susan

Alabama is ......hot

Well, after an early morning and a rocky start (losing my luggage) everything is all set. I have my luggage and hotel room. And free wireless!

And now it is definitely time for a little nap before YAD orientation this afternoon :) I've already met a bunch of cool people:)

-susan