You Were at Snowbird, Why???
I spent last week at the Snowbird Mountain Resort, high above the smog-smudged plain of Salt Lake City. I was there for a string of back-to-back meetings, wearing a grab-bag of hats - middle governing body leader for the Polity Conference, Presbyterian News Service (PNS) reporter both for Polity and for the Middle Governing Body/General Assembly Council meeting, observer-blogger for the presbytery and my own soul’s sake. The backstory of this series of meetings is that the denomination booked Snowbird for a series of conferences a while back, which attracted a less than expected enrollment.  They had a contract to work off. Conference services at resorts like this are dirt-cheap (relatively) during the off-seasons, so there we were.

The back to back meeting module was being tried to see if it’s better to leave home for longer, but have fewer travel days than shorter meetings. Here are my reflections, posted in no particular order, as they say in Dancing With the Stars.

Leavin’ On A Jet Plane
When we were moving to western Pennsylvania, eighteen years ago, the old Pittsburgh airport was just in the process of being dumped for a newer model, which was supposed to become a shopping and dining hub for the region. Plus people flying in and out. 9/11 changed all that (the only 9/11 that counts. That’s my Mom’s birthday, and she always points out she had it first.) Security clamped down on airport revenue, and the long, slow painful descent of airlines into bankruptcy followed. They’ve done a good job keeping the store spaces filled at PIT, but, underneath, it sags.

Another casualty was the robust thriving of small regional airports. Whenever possible, I fly out of Dubois, DUJ, which is so small the airport code never shows up at the self check-in kiosk. First the commuter airline concourse at PIT closed, then our regional carrier abruptly closed up shop one day. This was just about the day after they finished a multi-million dollar upgrade to DUJ, which was suddenly only a stopping place for private charters heading out to Montana to shoot things, and the home of a restaurant renowned for wings. The kind you eat, not the kind you fly.

About a month ago, after a long drought of no choice but to make the three hour drive to PIT, rather than the 23 minute hopper, Continental rode in on a white horse, umm plane, and saved the regional service. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it now connects through Cleveland, which, compared to the palatial halls of PIT, is a stripmall. But PIT has taken enough hits in cirect flights that getting to Salt Lake City, SLC, from PIT involved, in one scenario, stops in Cincinnati, Charlotte, and O’Hare before finally making it to Utah three days later (or so.) DUJ hopped to Cleveland, then a nonstop connection to SLC, and the price was exactly the same. With free parking.

So off to DUJ we went, to try out the new service, and to let go of the way it used to be. Much was exactly the same. We hung around waiting at the check-in counter, because the check-in agent also processes the luggage in the back, and also is the one who hefts it into the cargo bay. (That gal, her name is Linda, she knows from biceps.) The pilots - I would swear, the same ones as with US Air - don’t look old enough to possess driver licenses, and close the little folding door going to the cockpit so they can eat their McMuffins and drink their Mountain Dews without us middle-aged motherly types looking like we’d like to lecture on nutrition. I’m pretty sure it was the same US Air hopper, with Continental’s logo painted over.

There were only three of us on the flight. Besides the Kiski contingent, there was a plucky woman with a bold baseball cap where her hair used to be. She was on her way to the Cleveland clinic. Just to stand next to her was to feel the pulse of a life journey filled with both devastation and amazing courage. It was clear that she was taking a great deal in stride - she was traveling by herself, and moved in equal combinations of pain and dignity.

But - have I mentioned that DUJ is tiny? Security is a shoestring operation (they tell you that you have to check in fifteen minutes before the scheduled flight or you might not be able to go) with a couple of chairs on the other side of the scanner. No stores. So, she was another casualty of terrorists. They took her water bottle away from her. Her eyes suddenly filled with tears. “I don’t know if I can fly without my water,” she said. The room was sagging with pain. The pilot looked like he wanted to hand her his McDrink. Those of us dedicated to problem-solving dispensed information on how to get a prescription to take water on a plane. For the next time. There was no solution for this time. She made it through the flight, and was still plucky when we decanted at Cleveland, but it was one of those times when you want to kick something to resolve stupidity.

The TSA people, before the painful absurdity of the water bottle floored us all, were cheery. They were definitely the same guys as before. I was hauling two laptops, since the one with all my programs and “stuff” was behaving like the hard drive might spin its last spin any second. And I was hauling the external hard drive, since my backup had inexplicably failed that morning before leaving, and still needed done, as we say around here. TSA Guy cheerfully swiped all my paraphernalia to ascertain they have pics of my kids but no explosives, and positively chattered. “We’re so glad to see all our old customers back,” he enthused. Really, he’s too nice to be a TSA guy. “We were afraid people wouldn’t come back, and we’ve only got a couple of months to get the customer base back.” I assured him I’d tell everyone that DUJ was back in the business of flying as well as 38 flavors of wings, and that I wouldn’t mention the Cleveland part until they’d already booked.

As I got on the plane, I was thinking that DUJ is the model of why small churches can be such an oasis of help and hope. At this airport, the service is efficient, personalized, and they remember your face. When one has to go through security, tiny is good. I need to think some more about why DUJ works as a model of small, and many of our churches don’t. It has something to do with being a place you’d want to go, with a function you need, and being welcome when you get there.

In the meantime, everyone in the room made a unanimous decision that someone needs to put a water bottle machine on the other side of security. I bet the TSA guy gets it done, too.

As we circled over Lake Erie, getting ready to make our descent, it occurred to me that I am going to need to learn the airport code for Cleveland. But not just yet.

Erin C-H

Back from Snowbird, Utah, where there was a swirl of back to back meetings. I picked up the Presbyterian News Service Baton and covered the Polity Conference (the first meeting) and the first part of the General Assembly Council/Middle Governing Body Meeting. Lots of thoughts and feelings swirling around, but still too tired to grab on to them.

In the meantime, here are the links to “my” news stories, listed in date order.

Polity Conference Opens With Worship: Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons Preaches on ‘Running on Empty’

Middle Governing Body Leaders Find Hope in Anxious Times: “Be Calm and Courageous No Matter What,” Steinke Tells Group

Middle Governing Body Leaders Ponder Plethora of Polity Issues

‘Learning to Lead Together on the High Seas: Third Annual middle governing body/GAC Gathering Convenes at Snowbird’

Three Mountains in a Week

Today, as I stood atop Hidden Peak near Salt Lake City, Utah, my mind began to reflect upon the three very different mountain ranges I had seen in the last week.  Altitudes were as varied as the topography of the mountain ranges.  Near our Mt. Zion congregation the altitude is about 1,800 feet.  In Gitaram, Rwanda we were at about 5,100 feet and in traveling to the Kabadaha congregation we topped out at about 7,200 feet.  Today, I stood at about 11,000 feet.

I was struck by the differences in altitude, in vegetation, means of travel, the uses to which the mountains are put, and how the mountains look.  Our mountains, at home, are gently rounded and heavily wooded.  The mountains of Rwanda, while reaching higher than the ones at home, tend to be gently rounded and generally characterized with terraced farming, even on the steepest slopes.  The mountains of Utah certainly are vastly different from the ones at home.  These mountains are far more steeply sloped, aspens rather than maples and oaks are common trees, sharp and jagged rocks jut upward rather than being gently rounded.

 One other item impresses me.  That is the fact that in just one week I could see and stand on all three types of mountains.  While we have not yet developed the Star Trek teleportation, it is amazing that in one week I could essentially jump from our mountains at home to the mountains in Rwanda, back to the ones at home and them to the peaks in Utah.  All three mountain ranges have their own grandeur.  All three ranges remind us of the significant influence our environment has upon us.

At home, most of our homes are built in the relatively narrow valleys between mountains.  In Rwanda, many of the homes are built on the slopes of the mountains.  In Utah most homes are built in the very wide valleys.  The heavy snows (40 or so feet each year) make travel hazardous, if not impossible, during half of the year.

Whether at home, or in Rwanda, or in Utah, the mountains display the glory of God.  That glory is displayed in varying ways.  I wish for more folks at home the opportunity to stand on three different mountains in a short time.  I have not fully digested the meaning of the three mountains, nor the ability to stand upon them in such a short time.  I am sure, as I continue to reflect upon this, I am different than I was before leaving the wonderful mountains of Kiskiminetas Presbytery.  I cannot identify all the differences, especially now.  I do know I am aware of the different perspectives available from atop of each of the mountains.  The mountains upon which we stand, or which surround us, influence our perspective on life, on relationships, and on God.

I give thanks for our mutual service to Christ Jesus

This is the letter which was received today from the Moderator, Stated Clerk and Executive Director of the General Assembly Council for immediate distribution to our congregations.  Here in Kiskiminetas Presbytery, we will do everything in our power to ensure that all are both heard and have the opportunity to listen to our sisters and brothers in Christ. Grace and Peace, Wayne and Erin

June 28, 2008 

To Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregations 

Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

The 218th General Assembly adjourned just a few short hours ago. Even now, 973 commissioners and advisory delegates are making their way back home from San Jose, CA, where they worshiped daily, discussed and debated overtures, and celebrated the countless ways Presbyterians are engaged in ministry near and very far away-all with a focus on discerning the mind of Christ for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and seeking ways to live out this assembly’s theme: “Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8). 

Beginning today and continuing over the next two years, elected commissioners will be about the task of interpreting the actions they took at this assembly. Already, their decisions have been broadcast across the church and, in this Internet world-with information received in real time, live blogs, and more-many people have already weighed in on the assembly’s actions, sharing their thoughts and feelings about the implications of those  decisions on our life together in the PC(USA). 

The assembly dealt with well over 400 business items. Some items had undivided agreement, including a covenant to join together to carry out mission together and a churchwide commitment to “Grow God’s Church Deep and Wide.” There was an action to continue to study a revised Form of Government, and one committee devoted its time entirely to youth issues. In addition, we continued our longstanding work toward peace in the Middle East. More information on these and other actions will be coming soon. 

A few of the many assembly actions will make, or already have made, headlines across the country. Most likely, you will read about the actions from a number of sources over the next many days and weeks, but we want you to hear about this important gathering directly from the General Assembly. That is why we are writing this letter to you. 

Perhaps the subject that will make the most headlines has to do with the ordination standards of our church. It is a subject with which Presbyterians are familiar and one that tends to evoke great debates and deep emotions. With that in mind, we want you to know what the assembly did-in the actual wording-in regard to ordination standards, and what will happen next. 

• By a 54% to 46% margin, the assembly voted to propose an amendment to our Book of Order to change one of our current ordination standards. The change is to replace the current language that says officers of the church must live by “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness” (G-6.0106b) to this new language: Those who are called to ordained service in the church, by their assent to the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003), pledge themselves to live lives obedient to Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, striving to follow where he leads through the witness of the Scriptures, and to understand the Scriptures through the instruction of the Confessions. In so doing, they declare their fidelity to the standards of the Church. Each governing body charged with examination for ordination and/or installation (G-14.0240 and G-14.0450) establishes the candidate’s sincere efforts to adhere to these standards.
• By a 53% to 47% vote, the assembly adopted a new Authoritative Interpretation (AI) on G-6.0106b: Interpretive statements concerning ordained service of homosexual church members by the 190th General Assembly (1978) of the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, and the 119th General Assembly (1979) of the Presbyterian Church in the United States and all subsequent affirmations thereof, have no further force or effect.
• By a 54% to 46% vote, the assembly adopted a new AI on G-6.0108 which restores the intent of the Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity, and Purity of the Church report (2006) to allow someone who is being considered for ordination or installation as a deacon, elder, or minister to register a conscientious objection to the standards or beliefs of the church and ask the ordaining body to enter into a conversation with them to determine the seriousness of the departure.
• The assembly left unchanged the definition of marriage found in the Directory for Worship (W-4.9000)-”a civil contract between a woman and a man.” 

By its actions, the assembly has initiated a new opportunity to focus ordination on primary allegiance and obedience to Jesus Christ, as well as to Scripture and the church’s confessions. The assembly places the responsibility onto sessions and presbyteries for discerning a candidate’s fitness for ordination. 

In all of this, it is important to note that the assembly has not removed the church’s standard of “fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness.” For the proposed change-making obedience to Christ the ordination standard-to become part of the Book of Order, a majority of presbyteries will need to ratify it over the next year. 

We know the assembly actions may do little to ease the anxiety that seems to permeate our life together as a denomination. The debate isn’t new and the future holds difficult challenges. As the Rev. Dan Holloway, moderator of the committee that took up the items on ordination standards, said, “As we move forward, it is essential that we have conversations that are gracious and loving and welcoming, since we are not all of one mind.” Our hope is that none of us will act or react immediately to the decisions, choosing instead to pray and talk with one another about these issues. 

During the question-and-answer time for the Stated Clerk election on Friday morning, now Stated Clerk-elect Gradye Parsons spoke of the story of Jesus being in the boat with his disciples in the middle of the lake when a storm arose (Luke 8). If fear could have capsized their boat, the disciples would have found themselves working hard to tread water in the midst of the wind and waves. Yet, Jesus calmed the storm and proceeded to question them about their faith. 

Like the disciples, we, the PC(USA), are in the boat together, sometimes not altogether sure where we are headed. We see the storm approaching and our fears rise with the waves. Yet, as he was with the disciples, so, too, is Christ in our midst-calming the wind, settling the waves-being present and guiding us as we proceed ahead. 

Gradye offered the following mantra as a summary of the Luke story: “Get into the boat. Go across the lake. There will be a storm. You will not die.” 

As we move forward from this assembly, we know that storms may come, but we put our confidence and trust in the one who both calms the storms and leads us into God’s future with hope. 

The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow                                       Elder Linda Bryant Valentine
Moderator of the 218th General Assembly                 Executive Director, General Assembly Council          

The Rev. Gradye Parsons�
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly

As the day has moved along the Assembly seems to have moved with a snail’s pace.  As I write it is 9:00 PM California time (midnight in Kiski).  The Assembly was asked to reconsider the action of the afternoon relative to G-6.0106b. The Assembly, getting tired and aware there is much yet to be done, voted not to reconsider. 

At this point in every Assembly information overload, fatigue, and a desire to move forward begins to be shown in greater confusion, surliness, less than clear thinking.  One does wonder if the will of God can truly be discerned given the exhaustion of the Commissioners.  The other night, when taking a break on the balcony of the Convention Center and watching passenger planes in their landing pattern directly over the city, I was struck with the fact that we, as the PCUSA, are such a small part of humanity and of the Church.  Yet, we take ourselves so very seriously in our motions, substitute motions and amendments.  We consume massive person hours trying to make sure every word and comma is perfectly placed.  Are we arrogant in thinking the rest of the Church and the world are waiting for our pronouncements on every topics which might have been in the news since the previous General Assembly meeting?  Does God get tired of our words?

The Health Issues Committee, which was to report last night, is now the last committee to report tonight.  The first issue from this Committee dealt with the rewrite of abortion materials so they might more accurately reflect the balance of theological positions and options.  The rewrite is projected to cost $106,000.

27 June    Part 1

This morning the Assembly proceeded to the election of a new Stated Clerk.  Four gentlemen stood for election.  I personally know and could support two of the candidates (Gradye Parsons and Ed Koster) upon their election.  After each having given a 5 minute statement on their view of the office, the floor was open for one hour of questions and responses from the four to each question.  Ed and Gradye did admirably.  Gradye was elected on the first ballot with 57% (405) of the commissioners’ votes.

Action on issuing Authoritative Interpretation (an interpretation of the Constitution by the highest  court of the denomination) relative to G-6.0108  (53% yes  to 46% no)  applies equally to ALL ordination standards, rather than exempting any.

The action of the Assembly on the Overture seeking the deletion of G-6.0106b  was to send to the presbyteries for vote and to eliminate all Authoritative Interpretations and Definitive Guidances relative to the 1978 Report on Human Sexuality.   A substitute motion to remove the section dealing with eliminating the AIs and DGs failed.  There was a lot of parliamentary confusion among the commissioners.   The Clerk skillfully guide the Commissioners to a point of being clear when it came time to vote. The vote of the commissioners on this matter was   54% Yes    46% No.

Much of the afternoon was given to the report of the Committee on Peacemaking and International Issues.  The most confusing and contentious part was dealing with issues relative to the Mid-East and Iraq.

It’s Friday night. The GA plenary is going as Friday nights always go.

To explain that, let me backtrack. On Wednesday afternoon, when the commissioners regather in plenary for the first time since they broke into committees, they discuss and debate every single item. At length. In my opinion, this was set up by how the committee structure functioned this year. Due to General Assembly moving to a biannual model, the number of commissioners was increased.

But the business to come before the GA stays pretty much at the same level. Even with the creation of two “Generative Thinking Committees,” the division of business meant that some committees really had only a couple of action items. But they had time to fill. So, for instance, in the Health Issues committee where I lurked as the assigned reporter, the committee spent hours debating such things as whether to use language such as “Urge presbyteries to require Clinical Pastoral Education” or “Urge presbyteries to require Clinical Pastoral Education when it would not be a financial hardship for commissioned lay pastor candidates.”

The fact that the question was actually moot, since the sentence begins with “urge” rather than “mandate” did not keep the committee from spending about an hour on that one sentence.

Comments from other reporters indicated “their” committees were also cherrypicking linguistic minutiae.

So into the plenary hall pour all the commissioners on Wednesday afternoon. They’ve spent 2 days jot and tittling, and they proceed to busily do the same all through Wednesday in plenary. They continue to finetune, with amendments to amendments to substitute motions through much of Thursday, while they get further and further behind docket. This happens every year. It’s part of the pattern.

But then, on Friday, the last day, panic sets in. Debate gets limited to one minute. People are exhausted. They spend five minutes debating whether to remove a two minute video from the docket. It all falls apart when the Peacemaking and the Social Justice committees get their time on the floor. They inevitably bring huge lists of utterly complex legislation, the language for which could be tweaked for years.  Exhausted people groan with every amendment.

People begin to yearn for it to end. They start giving the moderator advice on how to run the meeting. Testiness and humility and grace and flashes of humor all swirl. Somehow, in this blend, we believe the Holy Spirit broods over the commissioners, and that both the drill-down wordsmithing, and the exhausted doing the best that can be done within time constraints - that God is at work in it all, flowing through the fissions. Cherishing these cracked pots.

I’m trying to keep my grip on my own humor as I still wait, as I have all day long, for “my” committee to reach the floor already. And I’m not having to attend to, and vote upon, every single item. When you see a commissioner, who sat through it all and endured to the end, tell them “thank you” and give them a hug.

25 & 26 June

                This morning was an open time for the Commissioners to rest from their committee meetings and to begin reading committee reports.  It was good to be able to sit outside for a bit enjoying the air, though tainted with the faint smell of smoke and ash from the California fires.

                The Assembly plenary began in earnest this afternoon.  One of the first items of business was centered on whether the denomination should publish a new sexuality curriculum.   The 217^th GA had directed that the curriculum which had been available be withdrawn.  Since then there has been no sexuality curriculum available through the PCUSA.  After a long and passionate debate the action of the Assembly was to direct that a new sexuality resource be developed.

                I continue to find it very frustrating that both the hardwire network for commissioners and the WiFi network, for the rest of us, continues to be problematic.   The software which was developed for use to read, track and reference materials and actions before the Assembly seems to be working well.  The technical services of the network are seriously lacking.  Being in the “Capital of Silicon Valley” makes this very, very frustrating.   I find this to be proof of something Ken Callahan has said.  To paraphrase, “All the human relationship pieces can be in place, but it is the nitty-gritty stuff of the infrastructure which will cause the most unhappiness.”  For those who are used to having functional intra and internet networks and expecting excellence for the meetings of the GA, this non-working network is hampering our full attention of the work of the Assembly.

                The Committee on Theological Issues and Institutions brought forward a recommendation to amend the wording of the Heidelberg Catechism.  The issues is whether the current translation of the Catechism from the German in 1961 is accurate, particularly regarding the wording of a listing of sins and on the substitution of the word covenant for the German word for “testament.”  There were three other suggested changes in translation.  A substitute motion was defeated.  The rest of the debate centered on the motion from the Committee.  The Commissioners voted to send to the Presbyteries for vote to correct the translation of the Heidelberg Cathechism.  The Commissioners voted to move forward with a period of study of the Belhar Confession for possible inclusion in the Book of Confessions.

                During the report of the General Assembly Nominating Committee, the Rev.  William E. King (yes, Mary’s husband) was nominated for a full term on the GANC.  From the floor the Rev. Cathy Purvis was nominated to replace Bill.  By a very narrow vote Cathy won the election.  Bill served well during his partial term.  Thanks, Bill.

                The meeting went until about 11:00 PM (California time which is 2:00 AM Kiski time).

                It seems the commissioners are intent to work and rework the efforts and recommendations of the various committees.  On the one hand, that is very good.  They are not rubber stamping without careful consideration.  On the other hand, that is why they are significantly behind.  The hour got too late for two committees to report.  Now those two reports will have to be crammed into the schedule for Friday.

It’s Thursday night. 11 pm. The General Assembly is hours behind docket .  The newsroom is full - every desk littered with paper, cables, dead coffee, the detritus of snickers wrappers, and, in each chair, one body which manages to track the streaming video on the screens, and simultaneously stare into the screen of the computer. Mine is next to the guy scratching his head.

Welcome to the Communications Center.

It used to be known as the the newsroom, and those of us who serve as reporters still call it that in undertones. Our lair is the one column in the room. But in the other two columns, the reason for the repurposing of the name: the dedicated gurus who take the stories and turn them into print, email, web documents. They edit photos. They write captions. They manage webflow.

No one in this room is getting enough sleep. The reporters chase from committee to event. Record it all. Then return to the private exhilarating pain of wordsmithery to craft it into a small jewel of linguistic perfection. To make it fit into the overall meganarrative. To remember that for every woman of faith, and ecumenical partner in mission whose story we are charged to tell, there are thirty other simultaneous narratives  needing to share the same print and webspace.

“We’re so glad you’re here,” they told me at the APCE l(Association of Presbyterian Church Educators) lunch today. “We’re get so buried here at GA. We need the press coverage.” They gave me lunch. For free. In return, I tried to render as compelling as possible Laura Mendenhall’s (president of Columbia Seminary and educator par excellence) address on “The Top Ten Reasons Why We Continue to Do Christian Education.” Without the breath and the body, not to mention the drumrolls on the table, it doesn’t translate well into print. I gave it my best shot. It isn’t enough.

That story is done, as are a host of others I now have trouble recalling. They all run together. “My” assigned committee, Health Issues, is the last one on the docket for tonight. Did I mention the plenary is behind??? By hours. Whatever time they come up - and it’s now after 10 p.m. with the committee currently on the floor supposed to be done before dinner, and four committees still to go tonight - I’ll be in my seat. Like every other reporter and communication caster in the room, I’ll do my best to capture the facts and nuances. To find the story to tell. To try to pain in words for those not here.  And to do it mindful of all the other stories which need to be told this day.

How long will I be in this seat tonight? Nobody in this room cares. Each of us do our job, and we stay until it’s done. Period.  On Tuesday, the day all the committees had to finish their work, and then all the stories had to be written, Bill Lancaster, the guy who does the copy edit on our stories was here, so I was told, till 4 am. Barry Creech, the guy who makes sure it gets into print and web, he was here till 6 am. They’re here right now. Whenever I finish my story, which will be the last in the pipeline, their work begins when I finish.

Here’s the thing: Every single reporter in the room is here as a volunteer. GA pays for our rooms and board. But all those who come in to write do it for love. No salaries are paid.

Why do we do this GA boot camp? “I know there’s been some time in my life when I was more stressed and tired,” said Emily Enders Odom. “But I can’t remember when it was.”

For the same reason every other person in this building is still in their seats tonight. This quirky, frustrating, inefficient, wonderful process known as the General Assembly is in our blood. “This is my 37^th GA,” said Jerry Van Marter, director of the PCUSA news service. “I never get tired of them.”

So, tonight, I’m tired. The running to be simultaneously in building blocks apart. The head-banging against a wall of words.  I’m tired. But not tired of it. I’m in my seat. It’s what we do.

Update: The Assembly suspended business before “my” committee reported. It is now rescheduled as the last item of business tonight.