Day 2

The Wonders of Technology—In years past, GA commissioners have had a small tree worth of paper documents sent to them prior to the meeting for them to study, lug to the site, and be able to access as needed. Thanks to the wonders of computers, wireless networks, and the internet, those items have simply been posted online for anyone (commissioners or not) to download as they have interest. The system is ideal, saving a small forest of trees, making it much easier for commissioners and others to access documents they need, and sparing them the hassle of carrying reams of paper with them.

Except when the system doesn’t work. Like this morning. After spending about an hour trying to get connected, I finally went for help and was relieved to hear it wasn’t me. I guess they have a day or two to get the system ironed out before it begins to be critical. Glad I’m not in charge of that!

I finally got on to the pc-biz system in the afternoon. Hopefully things will work smoothly for the rest of the week.

PCUSA Video—Overview of the denomination through a look at all that is done through the six areas under the General Assembly Council. It was very well done and made it easier to see how our denomination is doing much more than just the sum of what all the individual churches and presbyteries do (which in itself is massive and would make for an impressive video from each presbytery). I wonder if we can get a copy of this? It was probably about 20-30 minutes in length and would be great to show at a fellowship dinner.

General Assembly Council (GAC)—Evangelism & Church Development; Theology Worship & Education; Vocation (Military Chaplians, etc), Compassion: Peace & Justice (such as Presbyterian Disaster Assistance), World Mission (partnerships in 100+ countries).

Office of the General Assembly (OGA)—Helps the church be the church; under the leadership of the clerk of the GA. Publishes the constitution & helps interpret it. Keeps annual stats. Preserves the church’s heritage. Partners w/ecumenical churches worldwide. Plans/organizes the GA and other national meetings.

Presbyterian Publishing Company (PPC)—Geneva Press (Hymnal), The Thoughtful Christian (Bible and theology Christian Living, Religion and Popular culture, youth, etc.), Westminster/John Knox Press—Self-sustaining, one of the top 5 religious publishers.

Presbyterian Foundation—like Texas Presbyterian Foundation (TPF) that we’ve started a permanent funds ministry with, but on a national scale.

Presbyterian Investment and Loan Program (PILP)—Low-interest loans for construction, land, and refinancing loans. Funded through Presbyterian endowment funds and Presbyterian investors.

Board of Pensions—oversees benefits for ministers and other church staff. 1000+ grants awarded each years. See board’s new website. Offers seminars for plan members, encourages self-care to improve health and well-being.


Moderator Election
Four candidates put their names in the hat for moderator. All impressed me as being people of deep faith and great commitment to the church.

One, Carl Mazza, had an amazing story of having been homeless as a youth when a group of Presbyterian youth from a small church reached out to him with the gospel and ultimately welcomed him into the family of God as he gave his life to Christ. The majority of his years of service as a pastor have been dedicated to the ministry to homeless people that he founded 20+ years ago. It has drawn in churches from across the denominational spectrum to serve the homeless and work together. Great story.

Another, Bill Teng, had served as a moderator of National Presbytery (Washington D.C. area) and impressed me as mature, even-keeled, and likely to be quite good at moderating the General Assembly. There were some key aspects of his theology I was attracted to, as well.

A third, Bruce Reyes-Chow, was young (39), enthusiastic, and eloquent. He seems to have one foot in our church’s tradition and another in the future to which God is leading us (though not all of what he believes is where God is calling us—of course that’s true for everyone; none have perfectly grasped God’s vision for our future). He also seems to be living out the missional church theology that will be the future of our church, understanding that God calls us together to send us into the world to bear witness to the gospel in all kinds of ways. (Theologians are reminding us that “mission” means “sent”.) I think he will be quite effective after the assembly in the role of ambassador that the moderator takes on for two years. I especially think that youth and young adults will be drawn to him across the church, as they overwhelmingly were here. Where I sense I differ with him theologically I’m not too concerned, first, because I don’t believe the moderator influences the theology of the assembly very much and second, because I don’t believe his theology was what got him elected, so it doesn’t serve as much of a bellwether for where this assembly is headed.