By Way of Introduction

It's only a couple of weeks before the General Assembly of the PC (USA) gets under way in Birmingham, AL. I'm being sent as a commissioner by the Presbytery of New Covenant, based in Houston, Texas.
Actually, I'm rather amazed to be a commissioner, since I have colleagues who have been in the ministry for 30 years who have never been asked to go. I've only served in the PC(USA) for 13 years, having spent ten years prior to that as a minister in the United Reformed Church in the United Kingdom. I went to the URC General Assembly once as a commissioner, but then, at that time, there were only about 100,000 members (I may be mis-remembering; there are certainly fewer nowadays). The PC(USA) has about 2.4 million members, but is also experiencing a decline. Last year we lost 40,000 members, and projections are for larger losses for the next two years. That leads me to my second reason for amazement.
I represent, unashamedly, the evangelical wing of the church theologically. I do believe in a broad church (God forbid that I should have all the answers) but I also believe that a broad church should have boundaries. The PC(USA) has not been very good at boundaries for some time. We fail to define the essential tenets of our faith, even though we ask officers to say that they will adhere to them. And we let well-intentioned crack-pots get away with bending the rules for a wide variety of odd reasons. The fact that I'm not terribly afraid to say this is what makes me amazed that I am being sent as a commissioner.
I'll confess that I'm apprehensive about GA. I went two years ago as an observer, and was fairly horrified by some of the political posturing. I really had difficulty identifying with the denomination on display in Richmond, VA. It felt completely unlike anything I have ever experienced in the Presbyterian Church in Texas, or in Pittsburgh where I served for five years before coming down to First, Lake Jackson. It's difficult to say exactly what the difference was, but I think it had to do with the culture of the environment in which I found myself. Believe it or not, but at Presbytery meetings in Houston, I've heard the Gospel proclaimed (not always, but often). I've had conversations about the assimilation of newcomers and how to reach postmoderns. When I was the chair of the Evangelism and Renewal Team in New Covenant, which I was until the end of 2005, they let me spend a pot of money on advertising, including several thousand dollars on a TV campaign. But as I sat around the conference hall in Richmond, and toured some of the displays, I heard different priorities. The word I heard most frequently was 'justice.' Of course, I'm aware of the biblical injunctions to seek justice, and I want to honor them, but in Richmond the term was used to justify a series of activities that would have seemed anathema to most of my congregation in Lake Jackson. I'm not in a hurry to experience that kind of alienation from my own denomination again.
So, I covet your prayers, for myself and for the other commissioners who will start to gather in Birmingham, AL on June 14. Pray for the company of disciples known as Presbyterians: that we will be open to discerning the call of the Holy Spirit, and then willing to obey it. Indeed, I pray that the Wind of God will bring new life to our communion, and that Holy Fire will both purge us and energize us. Join me in this prayer.
As I am able, I will update my blog. One thing, I promise: that I will try not to take myself too seriously; on the other hand, I am deadly serious about seeking to be obedient to the sovereign call of our covenant God.