Inside and Outside
On
Monday morning at the General Assembly all the difficult work begins. The
glorious opening worship service opened the week on Saturday. The first
several, full, business sessions included a lot of preliminary work like
introducing the commissioners to the electronic voting system, introducing the
various agencies of the General Assembly, and discussing the process and
procedures for debates and decisions. Of course, there is now a long standing
tradition of devoting an early, full business session to the election of the
new Moderator. Again at this General
Assembly this was done on Saturday evening, the first day of the Assembly.
Now on
Monday morning all the Commissioners gather in their assigned Committees to
tackle the Action Items assigned to them. Committees will meet for their
meetings during the day on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning. The full
plenary session of the General Assembly will not gather together again until
Wednesday afternoon.
It
seems to me, as I try to grasp all the different action items before this
Assembly, that it is possible to categorize them into Inside the Church issues and Outside
the Church issues. This year there are several Inside the Church issues before the Assembly that are important and
transformative:
- The report of the Mid Council Commission and the possible elimination of the Synods as a governing body. This also includes the question of non-geographic presbyteries.
- The report on the Nature of the Church in 21st Century is an important theological statement about the way we understand the Church today.
- The proposal concerning the revision of the four Special Offerings is significant and has already sparked significant debate.
The
issues coming before us in what I am calling “Outside the Church” are also numerous and significant. These
include:
- The debate over our understanding and involvement in the Middle East.
- The debate of Immigration policy in United States.
There are issues that have a huge impact both inside the
church and outside the church.
- This year the debate over the definition of marriage clearly is the most heated issue and divisive question before us.
- In a less controversial light, the call for 1,001 New Worshipping Communities is a goal with impact both inside and outside the Church. We must as a church begin to embed into our heart and soul the need to plant, create and give birth to new communities. Simply continuing and maintaining our current congregations is not good enough. But for several generations we have neglected our calling and spiritual obligation to plant new communities of faith.
- The concern which has influence both inside and outside the church and is important to me is our commitment to World Mission. At this General Assembly we will celebrate the 175th anniversary of Presbyterian World Mission, which was started in Pittsburgh in 1837. In my mind, this continues to be one of the most essential aspects of our common ministry.
The list of issues and concerns is
long and important. Please pray for the work of our General Assembly.
