GA Reflections from Wayne Yost
Saturday Day One, May 24: Opening Reflections
After having arrived in Denver mid-afternoon Friday,
checking into the hotel, and scurrying off to a meeting of the
Churchwide Personnel Services Advisory Task Group, it was time to get
outside a bit. Sixteenth Street, in the heart of downtown Denver is a
pedestrian mall running for several blocks north and south. The only
conveyance allowed are the shuttle busses which run up and down the
mall. Any and all can ride the shuttles at no charge. I think the price
is paid by somebody else. Homeless folks and socialites all are welcome
on the shuttles as they make they stops every block along the way. I
think that would preach. Isn’t it the same way with the Communion Table?
All are welcome at the Table. Youth, elderly, liberal, conservative,
gay, straight, rich, poor, black, white, brown are all welcome at the
Table. The price has been paid by somebody else. (There, a mini-sermon).
The Assembly began this afternoon with the usual routine of the Stated
Clerk trying to help the Commissioners figure out their electronic voting
pads; of clarifying the rules and procedures for going to the microphones,
and the handling of Assembly business. A new twist, this year, is that
when Commissioners want to speak before the Assembly they go to a
microphone and digitally sign in. The Moderator and Clerk can then see the
name of the Commissioner, if the Commissioner is male or female, elder or
minister, or YAD. (The YADs are limited to using two mikes and cannot
flood all of them as sometimes has been the case in the past.) I’m just
waiting for a Commissioner to object to this "identification process"
being used by the Moderator to avoid recognizing a person.
Once all this was done, having seen and heard it for several years it
gets pretty dry for me, the Moderator, Stated Clerk and Executive Director
of the General Assembly Council gave their verbal reports. The Moderator
spoke lovingly and enthusiastically about his year as Moderator. He
avoided any and all reference to the turmoil of the attempted call of the
Assembly back into meeting or of the fact that he has now been sued for
slander by and individual who has decided to drag the denomination through
a series of church and civil lawsuits.
The Stated Clerk reminded the Assembly that we are now 20 years since
the reunion of the "Southern and Northern" portions of the Presbyterian
Church. He recalled the Assembly to the vision of mission and high hopes
which filled the denomination at the time of Reunion. The Clerk announced
that this year we shrunk in membership by about 41,000 people, a total of
20% shrinkage since Reunion. The greatest number of the losses are those
who have just slipped away and later been removed from the rolls by
Sessions.
The Executive Director of the GAC sounded like a revival preacher
calling the Assembly to love for Jesus Christ and for one another. John
outlined what he sees as the four major challenges/opportunities which we
must address.
- Church growth as a measurement of our passion for the Gospel
- Pastoral leadership through new models such as the Commissioned Lay
Pastor program
- Linking justice and evangelism in this country and across the globe
- Spiritual formation at the congregational level with worship, prayer
and the study of Scripture
The Committee on Local Arrangements, those folks from the hosting
presbytery(ies) who work with the Assembly staff to make all the local
arrangements for the Assembly, gave the most lively report. It began in
the usual droll manner with people standing at a microphone thanking
everybody. As they were doing so an "old timer" with his mule (person in a
a mule costume) came strolling through the Commissioner seating. The
mule’s name was identified as "jackass overture." With humor and song the
"old timer" imparted a lot of information, like being this high up
(especially for lowlanders), you have to drink a lot of water and the
altitude increases the affects of "adults beverages."
The Assembly broke for dinner, with no group meal for the
Commissioners. This meant they were turned lose to find their own. Well,
it was Saturday evening. The restaurants and establishments along 16th
Street were already packed with "locals." I think everybody found a
trough.
The Assembly reconvened in the evening for the nomination and election
of a Moderator. Three very different people were "standing for election."
(You don’t run for the position, but it sure looks and feels like a
political campaign.) Harold Kurtz, a retired missionary who looked like he
was a time traveler from the 1950s. James Reese, an African American
minister serving as Interim Executive of New York City Presbytery. Susan
Andrews, a pastor in National Capital Presbytery. There were the usual
nominating speeches, introductory speeches by the people "standing for
election," and the question and answer period. Kurtz sounded strident in
his answers. Reese was too naive in his answers. Andrews was clearest in
her answers. Although she did have one slip of the tongue, or mind, when
answering a question about the divisions in the church. She said that
she’d "helped organize dialogues between conservatives and Christians."
This brought a round of laughter from the commissioners. Poor Susan had no
idea what she’d said. Susan is known as a leader of what some would call
the more liberal side of the denomination. On the second ballot Susan
Andrews was elected Moderator of the 215th General Assembly.
I do have to say that I think we should have a change in the Book of
Order or the Rules of the Assembly to limit how far West the Assembly
meets. This business of my body thinking it is 12:30 in the morning when
the Assembly adjourns, but the clock saying it is only 10:30 PM, and then
the morning clock saying it is 5:00 AM but my body saying it is 7:00 AM,
is for the birds. There once was a time when I thought I could make the
time zone shifts more easily.
One of the things I’m watching, during the plenaries of the Assembly,
is the rear projected images which are used for a backdrop. It is very
interesting to watch the different images. As the Assembly began the
projected image was that of a wonderful stained glass representation of
the denomination emblem, the one on the front of the current planning
calendar. Later as the theme of the Assembly, "A House of Prayer for All
People" was central the images changed to various shadowed hands lifted in
prayer. Last night, during the election of the Moderator, the projected
image was that of the "official denominational emblem." It re-enforces
much of what we hear in the latest developmental opportunities in the
presbytery about the effect use of digital images to enhance worship, to
convey the theme, to help set the mood or focus of worship or a meeting.
Sunday will bring a full range of activities for me and Erin. The
opening worship is in the morning. Then we go to the Presbyterian Media
Mission luncheon. (PMM is one of our presbytery partners in mission.) The
in the afternoon is briefing for Presbytery staff on various Committee on
Ministry matters. In the early evening is the annual Association of
Executive Presbyters dinner. Later in the evening is a briefing for
Presbytery staff from the Task Group dealing with issues surrounding the
theological diversity in our denomination. While we are involved in those
activities our Commissioner (Gary and Roy) and our YAD (Tim) will be
enjoying some other activities and then moving into closed meetings of
their committees for group building and a review of the business before
them.
Yours in service to Christ and the Church,
Wayne A. Yost, executive presbyter
wayost@kiskipby.org
