| In the past few years,
when I have attended the General Assembly of the PC(USA),
whether as a commissioner or simply as an observer …
I haven’t said a whole lot about it when I came back,
except in response to specific questions that one or more of you might
ask.
It occurred to me this past week that that really might be a mistake
…
that if I’m going to run away for a week and go do something
"churchy,"
I should really say more about it when I get back!
The "liturgical scholar" side of me has some trouble with
using a worship setting to give you a report on a meeting,
but here I am and here y’all are,
in a way that we’re not together at other times.
I beg your indulgence …
but it’s been an interesting week,
and I think it will interest you also.
One of the things I’ve never quite figured out about this
congregation’s history
is that, on the one hand,
we have always been a generous supporter of the larger
church
in a financial sense …
that is, the amount of money that we send up the chain each year
to fund the work of Grace Presbytery, the Synod of the Sun,
and the General Assembly, is significant.
Per capita, that is, per member,
it’s the second-highest in this entire presbytery.
We are second only to that big ol’ wealthy congregation
in downtown Fort Worth.
So when it comes to being committed supporters of the church,
we’re in the big leagues,
We don’t celebrate that enough about ourselves.
But what puzzles me is this:
Along with that amazing level of financial commitment,
that we have sustained fairly well even though our membership has not
sustained,
we seem to have a peculiar lack of interest, on the whole,
about issues and concerns and actions taken at the national level.
As long as our Sunday school curriculum gets here on time;
as long as pension dues don’t get raised too much in any one year,
as long as the secular press doesn’t get too worked up
and blissfully misrepresent something that Presbyterians are doing…
we don’t seem to care a lot about what happens in Louisville,
or what happens at those annual GA meetings.
I think that’s too bad.
Because the Presbyterian Church (USA)
is listening closely to what goes on in our nation and our world,
and we are doing amazing things both here and around the globe.
This morning’s reading from Luke reminds me that
in our opening worship service last Sunday,
we commissioned dozens of peoples as missionaries,
some for short-term service of a year or less,
others for lengthy terms of service.
We recognized the retirement of seven people who, collectively,
have served as missionaries for more than two hundred years.
We have been sending laborers out into the harvest,
and they are serving faithfully and enthusiastically.
Believe it or not,
a lot of retired Presbyterians choose to
spend a few of their early retirement years
sharing their knowledge and training and skills
and the good news, as mission workers in different parts of the
world.
This is not only a decision that gets made
by young folks just getting started.
At any rate,
let me share with you a few actions that were taken,
some of which you may say "yeah!" to,
and some of which you may give "two thumbs down,"
and some of which simply may make you think …
a few vignettes,
and finally, a few thoughts for the future.
As I list for you some of the actions that were taken,
please remember that one of the historic principles of Presbyterian
government
is that the General Assembly does not speak for us;
it only speaks for itself,
but it does speak to us
about important issues in the church and the world,
that people have spent time studying,
and it invites us to be thinking seriously about those issues as well,
and about what our faith has to say about them
The General Assembly:
· Refused to back away from our denomination’s historic
pro-choice position, but did ask that a pastoral letter be sent to all
churches, being sure that we are aware of the rich array of resources
available through the PC(USA) for women who find themselves in the
midst of problem pregnancies, and to help them think clearly through all
the alternatives that they may have.
· Made a very strong statement in opposition to the war in
Iraq, and wrote a very beautiful confession of sin and apology for the
outrageous treatment of Iraqi prisoners that we have witnessed. I
assume this message will be communicated through our brothers and
sisters in the Presbyterian church in Iraq.
· Condemned terrorism, but also insisted that Israel stop
building its wall and commit itself to a peace process that involves a
two-state solution.
· Insisted that states must provide, and the federal
government should recognize, some kind of civil-union status for
same-sex couples that would provide them with the same rights in
regard to each other that married couples have. This was especially
important because the Virginia legislature had, on the previous day,
passed a law refusing to recognize such civil unions or to grant any
such rights and privileges to unmarried partners. So far, the governor
has refused to sign it.
· We heard a progress report on a denomination-wide effort
to raise $40 million for mission, half of it for new churches here at
home and half for new missionaries in various parts of the world where
the needs are greatest. Although this $40 million will primarily be
raised through major gifts from individuals and congregations, we will
all be invited to participate a couple of years from now. You might
give some thought to whether you’d like to set aside some monies for
this cause, which is being called "Joining Hearts and
Hands." It has already started to fund three new full-time
missionaries.
A few scenes that will stay with me for a long time:
· Tuesday morning’s preacher was a young-ish pastor of a
Korean church here in the U.S., who was 7 years old when his family
emigrated from Korea to the U.S. (By the way, did you know that there
are more Presbyterians in Korea than in this country? … and, that
the largest Presbyterian church in the world is in Seoul, Korea?)
Anyway, Rev. Kim recalled for us the moment when he knew he had
finally become an American. It was not, he said, when he received his
green card. It was not when he took the oath of citizenship. It was
when he heard himself say for the first time, "We’ve got to do
something about all these foreigners coming to our country." By
acknowledging his own learned racism, he made us think seriously about
our own.
· Thursday afternoon, we were brought greetings from one of
the ecumenical advisory delegates, the pastor of a Presbyterian church
in Baghdad. Later, as the Assembly debated what action to take in
expressing its concerns about the war, one of the commissioners asked
this Iraqi pastor to comment briefly on whether his congregation were
better off since the invasion. Apparently the translator emphasized
the word "briefly" … because our Iraqi brother approached
the microphone and simply said two words: "Much worse," and
sat down.
· Friday afternoon, as the debate swirled once again about
ordination standards, and who should or shouldn’t, can or can’t,
be ordained in the PC(USA), a commission-er in a wheelchair approached
the microphone to speak. She said, "I came to this Assembly with
my mind made up on this issue. I didn’t want us to talk about it, I
thought we should refer it to the Theological Task Force and not
decide it here. But something happened. This convention center is not
accessible for disabled people …" (and we could tell here that
she was angry. She continued:) "I arrived for my committee
meeting, and I couldn’t get in. I couldn’t open the door from my
chair. And as I sat there and waited, unable to get in, the Holy
Spirit spoke to me. I realized, this is what it’s like, to want to
get inside, and to have to wait for someone to notice me, and
to open the door for me. We can’t wait any longer. There are people
waiting for us to open the door."
Finally, some thoughts for the future:
· Every year, I am impressed by the youth advisory
delegates (YADs)… most of them, anyway. These are young people who
are late high-school to college age, one from each presbytery, who may
speak but not vote in the actual Assembly, and can speak and vote in
committees. It’s common to hear people say that "the future of
the church is in good hands" with these young people. I think it’s
more correct to say that the church in the present moment is in
good hands, with these energetic and seriously engaged young people
who are already so committed to their church. The experience of
participating in GA as a YAD can change your life. It certainly did
mine, 26 years ago.
· Partly because the issue of same-sex marriages and/or
civil unions is forcing us to think about it, the General Assembly
spent a lot of time discussing, arguing about, marriage. We have not
yet found the language to affirm marriage as a positive good – which
it is – without suggesting, however faintly, that there is something
wrong with those who are not married, whether it’s because
they are single, or divorced, or involved in a long-term committed
relationship that they aren’t allowed to call a
"marriage." We have to keep working on this. Unmarried
adults, make up about 50% of the U.S. population, but significantly
under-represented in our congregations.
· Friday afternoon, immediately after the vote that failed
to remove one of the obstacles to ordination for our gay and lesbian
brothers and sisters, a group of about 300 of us met across the street
from the convention center to grieve, to worship, to sing "We
Shall Not Be Moved," and to offer support to those who once again
have had the door shut in their faces. I stood in the midst of that
crowd with tears streaming down my face – on the one hand grieving
and angry – and on the other hand, profoundly grateful for you all.
Many of you have journeyed way beyond your comfort zones as we have
tried to be a welcoming church, and have largely succeeded … You
have been willing to keep your minds open; you have been willing to
expand the circle of your friendships; you have been willing to
welcome as sisters and brothers and leaders friends whom too
many Presbyterians still refer to as "those people." Thank
you for your willingness to be open to God’s grace. You are way
ahead of the Presbyterian Church (USA) on this one.
· I sent a report for you last week on the election of our
new Moderator, who will serve for two years: Rick Ufford-Chase is an
elder who spent a semester in seminary but realized after about a
month that he had misunderstood God’s call and he was not
supposed to be there … He is co-founder and co-director of a border
ministry in the Tucson area that does numerous things to help
immigrants. He appears to be fluent in Spanish. His enthusiasm for the
Presbyterian Church is a thing of beauty to behold! During the week,
any number of people could be seen sporting buttons that read
"Enthusiastic to be Presbyterian." Unfortunately, I never
found out where they got them. But it seems to me that this,
perhaps, is something that we could learn from this Assembly.
Invariably, no matter how many votes do or don’t go your way, people
come away from GA enthusiastic about this conflicted, confused,
wonderful denomination that we are part of. I suspect that we need a
dose of that enthusiasm, somehow. If I were to think about designing a
button for this congregation to wear, collectively, it would read
something like "Content to be Presbyterian." Which is good,
but I’m not sure it goes far enough. We may never be hand-waving,
charismatic kinds of Presbyterians … that’s okay, in fact, it’s
probably too okay with me! But we need more than contentedness … we
need even more than those delightful T-shirts that say "Sinfully
Proud to be Presbyterian." We need enthusiasm. And this, I think,
is something that perhaps we can learn from that body assembled in
Richmond, and take as a goal for ourselves.
My friend Fran Shelton – who is now on staff at Preston Hollow,
but this happened when we were both in San Angelo – Fran was once
asked, "What would you be if you weren’t Presbyterian?"
Expecting, perhaps, an answer of "Methodist," or
"Episcopalian," or some such. What would you be if you weren’t
Presbyterian? Fran said, "Ashamed."
We don’t have to be quite that excessive about it –
I don’t think she really is, either! –
But if our denomination is going to survive in this postmodern,
fragmented world,
if this congregation is going to survive,
we’ve got to get beyond content to enthusiastic.
Like the first disciples that Jesus sent out
to people who had never heard the word before.
Inviting them into fellowship, into discipleship,
to this table that Christ sets for us and for the world.
We are not alone in the task …
but it won’t get done without us.
Thanks be to God for the gift of our sisters and brothers
around the church and around the world …
Thanks be to God for the gift of an enthusiastic faith.
Amen. |