|
|
Maumee Valley Presbytery is the
body of Christ, Presbyterian (U.S.A.), in northwestern Ohio and
southeastern Michigan. Our vision statement is: |
218th General Assembly Recollections from Elder Commissioner Norma WibleThe 218th General Assembly Trying to report on what this event is like is like trying to describe all the markings on a Dalmatian racing through your yard. You only see your side of the dog (he may be a solid color from the opposite side), and when he's out of sight, you ask yourself, were there any spots on his tail? It goes THAT fast. The GA is a gathering of delegates from all 173 presbyteries in the US, as well as advisory delegates from youth, seminaries, missionaries, and ecumenical bodies, along with executive presbyters and support staff. It now convenes every two years, and has the task of dealing with all legislative overtures that come before it. Overtures can come from councils within PCUSA, from presbyteries, and even from commissioners. The business of GA is first sent to committees, to be examined more closely, and approved, disapproved, or amended, then sent on to the GA as a whole. The first couple of days are set aside for worship, orientation, and election of a moderator. Committee meetings follow, then full assembly meetings convene. Having been to Birmingham, the 217th GA, I knew that I wanted to meet the candidates for moderator in the informal meet-and-greet session. There were written responses to questions that had been posed to all of them, and I'd read those to get a sense of who the candidates were. But in person is a much better way to size up a person's strengths and weaknesses. I had good reasons to like ALL the candidates, which is not surprising. Although I didn't vote for the eventual winner, I am very enthusiastic about Bruce Reyes-Chow after having watched his masterful way of handling difficult situations. He uses self-deprecating humor to diffuse tension, and relies on the Holy Spirit for guidance in all things. I believe he will be a fantastic representative for our church as he travels around the US (and the world) in the next 2 years. Our presbytery's seats were in row E, so we were very close to the lectern, and could hear the "asides", and came to appreciate Bruce's quick wit, and thinking on his feet. The committee to which I was randomly assigned was Mission Coordination and Budget. We dealt with such simple things as a name change for the General Assembly Council to General Assembly Mission Council (reflecting that what they DO is mission), to the more complex question of who should have the final say in resolving money disputes between two arms of PCUSA, the Foundation and the GAC, now called the GAMC. There were about 60 diverse people in this group and we spent our initial meeting in getting to know one another, without lobbyists or officials in the room. By the end of two and a half days, I felt I knew some of them very well. While we agreed on a few things whole-heartedly, there were other areas in which we disagreed. With the help of the Holy Spirit, we were able to come together in unity on most issues, and in fact, had only one minority report, I believe. (This is where a group of people disagree with the majority, and want to bring this to the attention of the GA.) Our thorniest question was overture 08-21; the Presbyterian Foundation and General Assembly (Mission) Council were asking for guidance in how to resolve fund disputes. They are in agreement over 95% of the funds that are entrusted to them. The Foundation is bound by fiduciary trust in executing the wishes of donors. The dispute that crystallized this for the committee was personified by a Pakistani woman who traveled halfway around the world to speak for funds for the school which she had attended as well as her mother and grandmother. Because the funds had been stipulated "to India schools", and the geographic borders had changed, the funds were held up. She spoke eloquently about the 10% literacy rate for Pakistanis, in comparison with the 65% literacy rate for Indians. Like Jesus' parables, this story brought the dry facts to life. When we finally put the finishing touches on a proposal that both the Foundation and the GAC could approve (thank you to my grammar teachers of years past who played a part in this, and opened my eyes as to how I could be useful on a "budget" committee!), we gratefully stood up and sang the Doxology! Although we approved reinstating a Mission Season Offering, as a fifth special offering to support mission personnel here and abroad, it was defeated on the GA level. We voted to give Presbyterian Men a seat on GAC, which passed, although with some disagreement. Just as our own Presbytery tried to take the pulse of our people on mission and what we ought to be doing, a huge group of Presbyterians gathered in Dallas in January to pray and study together about mission; the result was dubbed the Dallas Initiative, and essentially, it was a renewed call to work together in collaborative mission, giving it a priority in our churches for the health of the body of Christ. The proposal was amended slightly, but approved by the committee (who stood and recited the theological underpinnings of the Initiative), and then approved by the GA. Meanwhile, all the other
committees were busy with honing their resolutions to bring to the GA floor.
Just as I could only give you the highlights of my committee, I can only give
you a glimpse of what happened on the floor. I'm sorry to confess that a severe
sinus headache and nausea precluded my being at quite a bit of Friday's plenary
session, although I was present for the election of Stated Clerk, Gradye Parsons
and the debate on the definition of "marriage". The GA kept to the designation
of marriage being between a male and female. Other important issues were
consideration of a Book of Order replacement section, known by the acronym FOG
or Form of Government. This was a 114 page document, which the GA voted to send
to presbyteries for examination and input, before the 219th GA. Another
headline-making action was a vote to strike the current text of G-6.0106b to
substitute: 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. As a final note, I did actually speak on the floor, although I did it during the 15 minutes of Speak Out, when any commissioner can take one minute of time to relate what's on his/her heart, unrelated to the business of GA. We had just come in from sharing a meal with our fellow MVP commissioners, and we had been accosted on the streets outside the convention center by angry protesters who'd told us we were going to hell for our actions inside. I felt compelled to say that despite being told we were heading for hell (yes, I used the word!) , I had great faith in the process and hope for the direction of the Presbyterian church. I still say that.
|
Maumee Valley
Presbytery P.O. Box 853 Findlay, OH 45839-0853
|
![[ Yahoo! Maps ]](http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/mp/gr/mplogo.gif){kind=small}