Monday's Business at General Assembly
Committee work is over and the commissioners of the General Assembly are now gathering together as one body for their plenary sessions.
Joan Gray is doing a great job moderating the meetings. At one point, commissioners suggested she was moving the meeting along too quickly for them. I've never seen a Session or General Assembly move TOO quickly, but Joan promised to slow down a bit.
The hard work began early in Monday's plenary session with intense debate over what to do with a theological paper on the Trinity. Deborah Block, one of the candidates for Moderator,
spoke in favor of the document, describing how helpful she had found it in explaining this difficult doctrine to her new membership class. Many others, however, pointed to what they saw as problems in the document. Greater Atlanta Presbytery's Dorothy Hill, shown here, referred to the third Commandment that we not misuse the name of God. "God is able to name himself," she said, "and this report makes the mistake of using metaphors about God and uses them as names of God." The paper was approved 283 to 226.
Two overtures before the Assembly called for the ordination of Christian Educators -- one called for creating the "office of minister of Christian education" and the other would have created the "office of educating elder." Both overtures were referred to the Office of Theology and Worship, which is currently studying the ministry of all church members, both ordained and not ordained.
The Assembly approved a motion that calls on all congregations "to renewal, through Word and Sacrament, of our life together in Jesus Christ, by engaging in practices that deepen baptismal life and discipline." Specifically, congregations are invited for the next two years to set the baptismal font in full view of the congregation, open the font and fill it with water as part of each Sunday's worship, set the chalice and Communion plate on the Lord's table on every Lord's Day, lead appropriate parts of weekly worship from the font and from the Table, and to increase the number of Sundays on which the Lord's Supper is celebrated. This is an invitation to our church, and our Music and Worship Team can discuss how we might do this at Good Shepherd.
Another issue related to worship is the approval of a new hymnal and a study of the possibility of a new "E-Hymnal" that would be an electronic, computer hymnal. This was an appropriate measure, as this year all commissioners are provided with laptops with network connections that replace the 1,000 page books that commissioners had to tote around in previous Assemblies.
In other actions"
>The Assembly expressed its support for the human rights work of the Presbyterian Church in Colombia in that South American nation, but it referred a number of specific requests for more overt action directed at the U.S. government’s support of the Colombian government and military to the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy and the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program for study.
>The assembly made the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) a provisional member of Christian Churches Together (CCT), a new ecumenical organization more broadly-based than older organizations such as the National Council of Churches.
>The Assembly confirmed the Rev. Bill Carl as the new president of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
>The Assembly confirmed Davis Perkins to a fourth four-year term as president and CEO of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation.
>Monday evening after worship, the Assembly celebrated the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women as ministers in the PC(USA). The Reverend Margaret Towner, the first woman minister in our denomination, is present at this General Assembly. Towner was ordained in 1956.
Not all of the General Assembly is business. As one wanders around the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center, you never know what you might run into -- groups engaged in deep theological
discussions, groups who carry signs advocating for a particular position on any given issue, or as shown in this picture, a group of musicians singing praise to God. This group came to the General Assembly from the Congo and sang during Sunday's worship. They sing in their native language, but it is clear they sing with passion and joy.
Joan Gray is doing a great job moderating the meetings. At one point, commissioners suggested she was moving the meeting along too quickly for them. I've never seen a Session or General Assembly move TOO quickly, but Joan promised to slow down a bit.
The hard work began early in Monday's plenary session with intense debate over what to do with a theological paper on the Trinity. Deborah Block, one of the candidates for Moderator,
spoke in favor of the document, describing how helpful she had found it in explaining this difficult doctrine to her new membership class. Many others, however, pointed to what they saw as problems in the document. Greater Atlanta Presbytery's Dorothy Hill, shown here, referred to the third Commandment that we not misuse the name of God. "God is able to name himself," she said, "and this report makes the mistake of using metaphors about God and uses them as names of God." The paper was approved 283 to 226.Two overtures before the Assembly called for the ordination of Christian Educators -- one called for creating the "office of minister of Christian education" and the other would have created the "office of educating elder." Both overtures were referred to the Office of Theology and Worship, which is currently studying the ministry of all church members, both ordained and not ordained.
The Assembly approved a motion that calls on all congregations "to renewal, through Word and Sacrament, of our life together in Jesus Christ, by engaging in practices that deepen baptismal life and discipline." Specifically, congregations are invited for the next two years to set the baptismal font in full view of the congregation, open the font and fill it with water as part of each Sunday's worship, set the chalice and Communion plate on the Lord's table on every Lord's Day, lead appropriate parts of weekly worship from the font and from the Table, and to increase the number of Sundays on which the Lord's Supper is celebrated. This is an invitation to our church, and our Music and Worship Team can discuss how we might do this at Good Shepherd.
Another issue related to worship is the approval of a new hymnal and a study of the possibility of a new "E-Hymnal" that would be an electronic, computer hymnal. This was an appropriate measure, as this year all commissioners are provided with laptops with network connections that replace the 1,000 page books that commissioners had to tote around in previous Assemblies.In other actions"
>The Assembly expressed its support for the human rights work of the Presbyterian Church in Colombia in that South American nation, but it referred a number of specific requests for more overt action directed at the U.S. government’s support of the Colombian government and military to the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy and the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program for study.
>The assembly made the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) a provisional member of Christian Churches Together (CCT), a new ecumenical organization more broadly-based than older organizations such as the National Council of Churches.
>The Assembly confirmed the Rev. Bill Carl as the new president of Pittsburgh Theological Seminary.
>The Assembly confirmed Davis Perkins to a fourth four-year term as president and CEO of the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation.
>Monday evening after worship, the Assembly celebrated the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women as ministers in the PC(USA). The Reverend Margaret Towner, the first woman minister in our denomination, is present at this General Assembly. Towner was ordained in 1956.
Not all of the General Assembly is business. As one wanders around the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center, you never know what you might run into -- groups engaged in deep theological
discussions, groups who carry signs advocating for a particular position on any given issue, or as shown in this picture, a group of musicians singing praise to God. This group came to the General Assembly from the Congo and sang during Sunday's worship. They sing in their native language, but it is clear they sing with passion and joy.
posted by Presbyterian Pastor at 8:16 PM
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