Day 3

Reading
I read two publications by Presbyterians for Renewal yesterday, both of which I found insightful. First, a brochure entitled, "Why Stay PC(USA)?" It is available online at http://www.pfrenew.org/images/pdfdownloads/WhyStayBrochure.pdf. There is a button on the Adobe toolbar (on my computer it is the 4th icon from the right) that allows you to turn the document 90 degrees for easier reading. It's good food for thought.

The second was a booklet about the 12 issues they consider most important at this GA. I don't believe it's accessible online. It's helpful to have someone who's spent time studying all of the issues to some degree sort through what is most critical and what is more mundane.

Worship
What a joy to simply worship with no responsibilities for leadership! My mom is a great cook who enjoys putting out a special meal for guests. I sense that when she eats in restaurants, there are times she thinks, "I know how to do this meal better," other times she thinks, "This dish is great; I've got to get the recipe," and still other times she simply enjoys eating food she didn't have to prepare and doesn't have to clean up after.

For me, worshipping as a participant rather than a leader is a fairly rare treat. When I get it, it's so easy to become a critic (I can do that better) or a connoisseur (I want to do this at home!). Today, I simply enjoyed being open to God and grateful to God in a service I didn't have to prepare or clean up after. Ahhh!

Rev. Joan Gray, the moderator for the 2006 GA and a pastor I worked under for almost a year, preached. I will still describe her preaching as being extremely challenging but where you know that the challenge comes from someone who loves you and wants something better for you. That's a recipe I'd love to be able to prepare as consistently well as Joan.

Committee Meetings Tomorrow
I'll be attending the meetings for the Form of Government Revision, as that is likely to be the hardest thing to understand and one of the more important ones coming out of this assembly. What is very unclear to me at this point is how accountability will take place if the FOG Task Force's work is adopted. Other church governments (Epsicopal, Methodist, Catholic, etc.) have a more top-down government where an individual (bishop, district superintendent, etc.) can quickly and efficiently reign in pastors or governing bodies that act outside of the church's polity. We don't do that well in the PCUSA. Of course, less I wax too longingly for a more authoritarian system, it must be noted that those systems are only as good as the individual in whom all the authority has been placed. Learning to exercise a love that includes accountability [hey, that's inclusiveness, isn't it? ;-) ] may well be one of the hardest things we are called to do as Christians.