Thursday, More Than Hump Day

A grueling day today at the General Assembly. I had a breakfast this morning at 7:00 a.m., but I could not get myself out of bed for it. But some good news before the rest of my midnight reflections.

First, the COLA (Committee on Local Arrangements) has collected socks and underwear for homeless folks in the area. It will be distributed through churches and homeless shelters. A bunch has been collected, and it has been a great "Hands on Mission".

In news closer to home, Dakota Santana-Grace, son of our Executive presbyter, opened the afternoon session with prayer. Quite an honor for the young man. He is an impressive kid. He just had his abstract published in the national journal of paleontology for a discovery he made on a dinosaur dig in Wyoming this year. He was on Committee Six, which dealt with the ordination standards. He was pulled both ways by the biblical witness, the theology and history, but also the personal testimonies. He has a good heart and a really fine mind. It has been fun to talk with him and sit with him in the main assembly sessions.

Among the actions yesterday and today:

1. The Belhar Confession was approved to be sent to the presbyteries for adoption into our Book of Confessions. This confession is brief, and came out of apartheid South Africa, and speaks to the unity of the church. On the surface, it is fine. At worst, many fear this will be used to further erode the ordination standards.
2. The nFOG was passed, to be sent to the presbyteries for acceptance or rejection. 
3. Today, in a very close and painful vote, the ordination standards have been changed, pending the approval of the presbyteries. You will read more about this, I am sure. 

Final Text:

Shall G-6.0106b be amended by striking the current text and inserting new text in its place: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]

“b. Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture 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. Standards for ordained service reflect the church’s desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life (G-1.0000). The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation (G.14.0240; G-14.0450) shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate’s ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003). Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.”

 My comments, there is much to like about the new phrasing, and in a perfect world, this would be the way I think the Reformers would want this. However, we live in a broken and sexually confused world. We live in a world where sexual sin is promoted as healthy, even holy. And so, in 1997, the church spoke to that with the adoption of G6.0106b. This is now deleted, and replaced by this other language, pending the adoption of the presbyteries. If the new language is defeated, I believe that the language reverts back to the original.

To be fair, the old language did seem aimed primarily at the folks who call themselves GLBTQ. It has been used primarily to keep them out of ordained positions. It has not been used, as far as I know, to not allow a sexually active single man or woman to become a pastor. So on the issue of fairness, there is a point to be made here. However, the explicit standard, I think, needs to be upheld.

Tonight had the makings of a huge problem for many of us who are more conservative. However, the Assembly adopted BOTH the Majority and Minority reports on Christian Marriage and Civil Unions. There was a late amendment to change all the references of "man and woman" in the marriage sections to "two people." In a surprising move, the YAAD's (Young Adult Advisory Delegates) seemed to vote for the more traditional view of marriage. So these reports are being sent to the presbyteries for study, dialogue, reflection. But you can be sure that this issue will come up again.

And it needs to. In some states, same sex couples can marry. What is the church's guidance for pastors in this case? Should they do the ceremony? Should they not? Should a church allow a same-sex "wedding" to take place in the sanctuary? It may be easy for you to answer this, but this is a live debate among pastors who want to hold biblical morality, and yet also provide pastoral care for those who come to them. Whatever might have happened with these proposals was covered by a blanket motion tonight, no doubt due to people being frazzled. So this issue will come back again.

Your San Gabriel representatives are doing very well. Heather Williams has been a trooper, as has her husband, Tudor, offering kind and affirming words to others. Tuey Lee (ALhambra True Light) and Jerry Porter (Covina First) have struggled with being elder commissioners. It has been hard to follow some of the parliamentary processes. But I love their spirit, of hanging in there, asking questions, trying to make sense of scripture and the leading of the Spirit.

There's no business like show business, and there are no politics like church politics. I remind you, we do not have a pope/dictator that tells us what to believe and do. Nor is it every man for himself in the congregational model. We have a reformed/presbyterian form of government, and we study and debate and do it with as much grace and dignity we can muster. And after six days together, nerves are getting a little frayed.

Much to my surprise and delight, the new moderator, Cindy Bolbach, and the assistant moderator, Matt Whitsitt, are doing very well keeping things moving. While I may not be in their corner on some issues, I really like how they have handled themselves in these very contentious debates. Grace under pressure, I liike what I see so far. May that same grit and determination serve them well in their two-year terms.

Lastly, ate at Hell's Kitchen tonight, but still no Dairy Queen.

Lastly plus one, after a long day tomorrow, when all is said and done, my committee will be back at work on, what else, the budget. Help me, Jesus! I appreciate your prayers, keep them up, please.

Signing off from the Minnie Apple. [SDG-JS]