Committee meetings got underway considering the many items before them. I did get to the Committee I was to speak to. They had all the opening hearings on all the issues before them in the morning. Then they began to work through the issues. I wondered if anything any of us said would be remembered or considered as our particular concern was before them, or was it an exercise in futility?

I spent a little time in the Committee which was dealing with the issue of Christology, the persona and work of Jesus. They were so bogged down in trying to figure their way through process it seemed that little would come from the Committee. They are commending the piece produced by the Office of Worship and Theology to the Assembly for dissemination to the congregations. It is a pretty orthodox piece. I think most people will appreciate it. After a while, we decided that Jesus wasn’t there and headed out to other places.

For lunch we went to the Covenant Network luncheon. Eighteen former Moderators of the General Assembly are on the governing board of the Covenant Network. Jon Walton, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in New York City (20 blocks from Ground Zero) was the speaker. He was most inspiring. His command of the English language and Scripture was most impressive. He called for grace filled reaching out to those with whom we most disagree. He spoke against the season of litigation, which seems to be upon us in the church, and called for us to work for unity and reconciliation. He said, "the issues of sexual orientation and ordination will not go away, because God has given us the task of working through these issues. God has given us each other as the means by which these issues will be resolved. God has given us those on both sides of the issues to achieve the resolution God would have us reach." He stated, "We are called to the discernment which requires dialogue NOT monologue. Discernment of God’s will and the unity of the church is THE issue."

After lunch I took some down time knowing the days ahead will be full.

This evening I went back to the Committee to which I spoke this morning as they were considering the question of whether the presbyteries were to pay the full per capita to Synod and General Assembly whether the sessions sent in their assessment or not. The Committee, to my surprise did remember some of what was said this morning. In fact, a couple of the Commissioners on the Committee were actually quoting a couple of things I said. Surprise, surprise, as Gomer Pyle used to say. However, the person serving as moderator of the Committee was less than up to the task. The Committee got stuck in parliamentary complexities. After about ninety minutes of wandering aimlessly, I decided enough was enough and came back to my room.

Tomorrow is supposed to be another day of Committee meetings. Some Committees seem to have concluded their work already. Others, with a few exceptions, will conclude their work sometime tomorrow afternoon. That will give the Commissioners a respite before the Assembly reconvenes to consider the reports of the Committees Wednesday afternoon.

My sense is things are pretty flat this year. Oh, a few of the Committees have had standing room only observers. Some of the debates have, at times, been heated. Political strategies are being hammered out in late night sessions. On the whole, things seem extremely tame. There are very few protestors outside the Convention Center. One lone soul stood his post at the bottom of the escalator holding a sign which asked which is more important: war, hunger, and poverty or sexual orientation? A couple security guards thought he ought to be removed, but they were quickly dissuaded when they found out that according to the rules of the General Assembly he had every right to be there. There are no clamoring crowds, no heated arguments in the hallways. It almost feels like we have run out of gas. Of course this all could change when the debates on the floor of the Assembly get underway.

In the morning I am going to the Presbyterian Coalition breakfast. I’ll hear the other side of the story from today’s luncheon. It will be very interesting to see how the tone of that gathering compares to the tone of the gathering today, which I felt was very conciliatory.

Continue to pray for the Assembly.