General Assembly 226 is now in the history books, and all I can say is thank you for allowing me to serve as a commissioner to this church assembly. It has been several weeks of hard, concentrated work, from reading overtures that varied from fossil fuels to sexual misconduct policies and, of course, the overture from Olympia Presbytery that caused significant volumes of literature to be sent to my email from a host of people from all spectrums of the church urging me to take actions on their views.
I spent about 40-some-odd hours reading materials in preparation for the assembly weeks before our actual committee work began. Then, on June 25, we started our committee work in earnest. We completed the online video conferencing on Thursday evening.
Friday was a “rest” day, meaning I packed and prepared for my journey to Salt Lake City. Then, I had to be up early Saturday morning to fly out of Pittsburgh Airport.
That first evening was spent at a reception of the 400+ commissioners and 100+ Young Adult Advisory Delegates from all the presbyteries across the United States and several Ecumenical and Missional delegates from countries from around the world.
On Sunday morning, we worshiped in local churches in the Salt Lake City area. Then, we had the first of many plenary sessions to discuss the church's business. We worked from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. almost daily until we finished our work on the 4th of July when most of us flew home.
As I write this, it sounds like it should have been an extremely exhausting few weeks. But they were invigorating. I repeatedly saw how the Holy Spirit moved and motivated us as the Body of Christ.
Amidst this, a silent presence descended upon all of us there, and I took comfort in that presence. As overtures were presented, motions made, and votes were taken, something transformed our actions. What seemed weak and out of place was changed and reconsidered with a bit of discussion and amendments that resulted in something much greater and fairer than that which came in the first motion presented.
Polity 01, or the Olympia Overture, was a perfect example of the Holy Spirit moving. Without going into detail, the resulting motion from the General Assembly to the presbyteries for consideration takes a firm grasp on being inclusive and valuing our tradition and history.
This wasn’t an appeasement process, but it was trying to find a way to ensure everyone had a place at the table. It focuses on us having a conversation, not a place of judgment that many feared would happen. I hope to share more at the September Presbytery meeting.
So, thank you all for your prayers and support, especially our Ruling Elder Commissioner, Dana Hartman. She attended all those plenary sessions while continuing to work her real job remotely, doing meetings on the phone during breaks. With all this, I was amazed at her incredible focus on loving and serving the church.
I spent about 40-some-odd hours reading materials in preparation for the assembly weeks before our actual committee work began. Then, on June 25, we started our committee work in earnest. We completed the online video conferencing on Thursday evening.
Friday was a “rest” day, meaning I packed and prepared for my journey to Salt Lake City. Then, I had to be up early Saturday morning to fly out of Pittsburgh Airport.
That first evening was spent at a reception of the 400+ commissioners and 100+ Young Adult Advisory Delegates from all the presbyteries across the United States and several Ecumenical and Missional delegates from countries from around the world.
On Sunday morning, we worshiped in local churches in the Salt Lake City area. Then, we had the first of many plenary sessions to discuss the church's business. We worked from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. almost daily until we finished our work on the 4th of July when most of us flew home.
As I write this, it sounds like it should have been an extremely exhausting few weeks. But they were invigorating. I repeatedly saw how the Holy Spirit moved and motivated us as the Body of Christ.
Amidst this, a silent presence descended upon all of us there, and I took comfort in that presence. As overtures were presented, motions made, and votes were taken, something transformed our actions. What seemed weak and out of place was changed and reconsidered with a bit of discussion and amendments that resulted in something much greater and fairer than that which came in the first motion presented.
Polity 01, or the Olympia Overture, was a perfect example of the Holy Spirit moving. Without going into detail, the resulting motion from the General Assembly to the presbyteries for consideration takes a firm grasp on being inclusive and valuing our tradition and history.
This wasn’t an appeasement process, but it was trying to find a way to ensure everyone had a place at the table. It focuses on us having a conversation, not a place of judgment that many feared would happen. I hope to share more at the September Presbytery meeting.
So, thank you all for your prayers and support, especially our Ruling Elder Commissioner, Dana Hartman. She attended all those plenary sessions while continuing to work her real job remotely, doing meetings on the phone during breaks. With all this, I was amazed at her incredible focus on loving and serving the church.