Loaves and Fishes

Things finally got going yesterday at GA. I was up at 6am and didn't get to bed until after midnight, so I'm not getting much beauty sleep. And, as my kids would say, "You sure need your beauty sleep!"
An interesting day, meeting lots of new people, and getting reacquainted with many others. At this stage, the political divisions don't mean much, since none of the issues have reared their heads. They will.
I went to a presentation on the Peace, Unity and Purity Report (PUP) which was only supposed to be for information, not advocacy. There were two such meetings going on, one on PUP, the other on the divestment issue. According to tradition, pre-Assembly meetings are not supposed to deal with matters of controversy, because it gives a clear advantage to one side. We had been assured that the meeting would only be to explain the recommendations, but within 30 seconds of getting through the door, it was obvious that this was not to be the case. It was patently unfair.
When we finally got into a plenary session, it became apparent pretty quickly that we were going to have trouble with our new best friend - LES. LES is the online posting of all Assembly business that many of us have been using for months to plough our way through reports. It didn't debut very well yesterday. At one time, we used the electronic voting machines to work out how many commissioners were able to access LES, or get on the relevant page. Only 50% of commissioners could do so. The service was as slow as molasses, and we were frequently booted off the intranet and had to repair the connection to get back on. This is worrying, because, clearly, many people were more intent upon getting their laptops up and running than they were on paying close attention to the business. Fortunately, early business isn't terribly important, but there was one point where I feel we were very badly served. An overture had been proposed by one presbytery, requesting that the recommendations of the PUP Report be voted on ad seriatim, meaning, taken separately and in sequence. The powers that be recommended disapproval, pointing out that, since this was really a matter of procedure, it ought to emerge from the Assembly, or one of its committees. Be that as it may, it would have been helpful to have debated the point, particularly since (a) it's more likely that recommendation 5 will be voted down if we vote ad seriatim; and, (b) I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for the powers that be to remind us when would be a good time to make that motion. But, at that precise moment, LES decided to wander off into the nether regions. I looked around. Everyone in my neck of the woods was whacking keys trying to get the system up and running (except Kevin, who was playing pinball). The failure in the system meant that we could not see the relevant documents (which I'm not convinced had been posted on LES anyway), then it stole our attention. This does not bode well. I should add that the hundreds of notes or comments that I had attached, electronically, to the business papers on LES have also disappeared...
Then came some unexpected good news. A Colorado businessman, Stan Anderson (I hope I remember his name correctly), tired of continuing membership loss has put together a gift for his denomination. He has set up a fund called "Loaves and Fishes" with $150 million, to encourage church growth and transformation in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He is requiring that projects be matched, 10% by any Presbytery requesting them, with an extra 1% for the theological education fund. That means that his 100% will be multiplied to 111%. Projects must be for outreach, (with a few riders), and he hopes that the entire amount, plus interest, will have been spent by 2012. Wow! What a gift! We can only pray that it will be administered faithfully and prayerfully, and not squandered.
Then, at the close of a long day, came another pleasant surprise. On the third ballot, the Assembly elected Rev. Joan Gray, from Atlanta, to be the Moderator of the 217th Assembly. She is a long-time friend of renewal, a truly humble lady, with a steel trap for a mind, and a heart for Christ. She is firmly against the removal of ordination standards, but she said so in a pastoral manner. I believe that she will be trusted by both sides, and that she will be absolutely fair. Perhaps we will begin to see an end to some of the abuses that continue to plague us. Is it too hopeful to wonder whether a level playing field might be in sight? One person cannot turn around a bureaucracy, but I'd like to think that Joan will give it a try. One of the advantages of having moved to biennial assemblies, is that she now has much more time to find out what needs to be done. It will not be as easy for her to be hoodwinked by staff.
One sad note: one commissioner was taken ill yesterday morning and subsequently died. Assembly stood to honor him, to commend him to the Savior, and to seek the strength and peace of the Holy Spirit for his grieving family. It was a touching moment. Perhaps, as a denomination, we would do well to remember that, in the midst of life, we are in death, but also, that in the midst of death, we are in life eternal.
Presbuteros