GA One Week Latter

I spent the day today celebrating Independence Day with family. It was a wonderful day that started off slowly and gently. It was a nice way to get back into the swing of things as everything begins again on Sunday when I am 'officially' done with my vacation. I'm glad I took a week of vacation and negotiated that my congregation 'give' a week of my time to the larger church so I could attend GA as a Commissioner. I needed a week down after getting back to unwind and to transition back to thinking about things on a congregational level rather than on a macro or institutional level.

I know the two are related or connected but often times the linkages between the macro and the micro levels just don't work as well as they could. My biggest challenge for the upcoming week will be the evening event I do for my congregation in interpreting the General Assembly to them. I am excited about the Belhar Confession, and the new Social Creed, but don't think my congregation will be as enthused as I am. Their concerns are more mundane than social pronouncements or even the definition of marriage. My folks are concerned with how keep their building maintained and doors open in the face of limited financial resources and personal energy resources of people who are able to do the work.

I might be personally jazzed about the Emergent church movement and its opportunities and potential but communicating this to my congregation will involve translation of terms and language that I don't think exists. It's more than a generation gap, its more than a cultural gap, its more than a difference in values or perspectives, it a difference in how to approach the world and I'm not sure if I even have my head wrapped around this enough to talk intelligently on this topic.

And of course there is the big elephant in the room that I'm going to have to talk about and that is the change in the AI regarding ordination standards. I have been following this debate in the church since I was in seminary, which is now beginning to be a while back (my age is catching up to me or am I catching up to my age....question to ponder in the future). I know that the Definitive Guidance said and did. I know what the 1996 addition of G 6.0106b to the BOO did and that each time any change in the BOO regarding the removal or revision of this has been sent to Presbyteries it has failed. I wonder if this attempt to remove what is commonly known as the 'fidelity and chastity" amendment will fail again or will this revision pass. At this time, the General Assembly changed the AI but nothing has changed because of G 6.0106b still stands, except that the new AI will allow a person to name a scruple to G 6.0106b, which they could not do previously or so the GAPJC said in the Bush decision they could not, the new AI would allow scrupling of behavior or action....but G 6.0106b still stands...unless a majority of the Presbyteries vote for then new wording. Over the next two years we as Presbyterians in this internal family discussion are going to have deal with the elephant in the room.

May we as a family of faith do so with love, and kindness, and respect, and humility. I'm still not sure where I am personally on the this and I'm not sure how I will answer a question that asks about my personal opinion on the matter. I've approached this primarily from a polity perspective and have continually asked myself in my approach is the good polity? I know that if I'm wrestling with this others are too. I can explain the polity...it's the other explanations where the struggle lies as if say one thing, I'm labeled one way or being in a particular camp, if I say something else, the same thing happens just that its on the other side. It's not a fight. I think there is a way through this, I hope we can find it.

Wresting is good, fighting is not. Jacob wrestled with God and became Israel. Jonah wrestled with God and ended up in Nineveh and in spite of his reluctance to deal with THOSE people (Jonah had a deep seeded dislike for the people of Nineveh). In spite of Jonah's own feelings and his half baked attempt to carry out God's prophetic word to the people of Nineveh, Johna was effective in bringing change on those he believed to be un-redeemable (the people of Nineveh).

For those outside the Presbyterian Church (USA), this family discussion or family fight is bringing attention to us as it always had. May we lead in how we struggle with this issue. It's a tough issue. I have friends who hold a very strict understanding of ordination standards (and some of those I think still struggle with the ordination of women and divorced people) and I have other friends who are gifted but excluded from ordained office because they happen to gay or lesbian. At different times in my life I have held both positions and some in between, now I struggle to find a way to talk intelligently about this issue in a way that is respectful to the rainbow of perspectives on the issue that reflects the justice, compassion, and humility of Christ. May God go with us...

Then....there is the argument that none of this really matters because it's taking away time and energy and attention from 'real' ministry...feeding the hungry, healing the sick, embracing the downtrodden, making disciples.

Maybe if we looked at the questions through the question of what does it mean to follow Jesus? Or following up on the GA theme of Do Justice, Love Kindness and Walk Humbly with God...will that be an adequate lens to give us a new perspective?