Finding a Way Forward

Nearby to the convention center in Minneapolis is a popular restaurant called “Hell’s Kitchen.”  One section of the eatery is the “Far Side Pub” and, yes, the wall of the pub is plastered with reproductions of “Far Side” cartoons.  More specifically, the cartoons are all related to the subject of Hell and the devil.  Prominently [...]

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Speak, Lord; Your Servants Are Listening

Is the will of God discerned when the vote on an issue passes by 51% to 49%?  I suppose it all depends which side you are on.  Nevertheless, in our Presbyterian polity the answer to that question is, “Yes.”  Or, perhaps, “Yes…for now.” One of the basic tenets of our polity is that those elected [...]

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Being Connectional, Even When It Hurts

What does it mean that the Presbyterian Church is a “connectional church?”  Among many possibilities, I believe that it means we are committed and bound to one another, to live together and work together in spite of our differences, in spite of all the many ways we can end up disagreeing with each other. A [...]

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Youth Are the Church of Now

When I served as a commissioner to the 209th General Assembly in 1997, I was seated next to a young woman in the committee on which we served.  She was a “YAAD” – a Young Adult Advisory Delegate.  Every presbytery is invited to send a YAAD to the Assembly meeting.  These young people have voice [...]

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The real work begins

And so to the time of plenary… After two-and-a-half days of discussing, debating and deciding myriads of items of business in committees, the commissioners of the 219th General Assembly are now meeting en masse in one giant hall of the Minneapolis Convention Center.  Between Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning there will be nine plenary sessions [...]

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Decent and Orderly…or something like that

The rallying cry of Presbyterian government is “decently and in order,” and nowhere are we more blessed (or cursed) by our obsession with regularity than in the business of the General Assembly.  I have been sitting in on the work of several of the committees, and to an outsider it would surely be quite maddening.  [...]

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The Joy of Worship

Almost any pastor will tell you that there is great joy in being an ordinary worshiper as opposed to being a worship leader.  Pastors are known (well, let’s say that I have been known) to seek out worship opportunities even when on vacation, just for the blessing of being able to lift up heart and [...]

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Report from General Assembly 1

It is not without a large grain of truth that the PC(USA) General Assembly is called a “family reunion.”  I have encountered several old friends already in just 24 hours here in Minneapolis.  That doesn’t come close to matching my wife Barbara, however.  She has been a presbytery executive for less than a year, but [...]

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