If it is Saturday, this must be Detroit

June 15, 2014

Grace to you all, and peace — and welcome to Detroit!

The fireworks started long before many of us got to General Assembly…I got a call from one of our Lehigh Presbyterians about storms delaying his flight, then got to Philadelphia and saw Synod friends whose flight east to go west encountered the same storms and spent the night in whatever hotel they could find. Thank you, Chantal Atnip, Synod Treasurer, for the ride into the city! And I’m glad to tell you that all those whom you elected are here, safe and sound.

Even so, a mad dash to get registered, get some food, and get to the Convention Center by 7PM —especially when every ten feet or ten seconds (whichever comes first) you run into someone you haven’t seen in a year, or even two, since the last GA.

And then, the strangest thing, an early Father’s Day gift if you will. I met my daughter Rachel for dinner, as her schedule as an intern with the Presbyterian News Service gave her the window of time. And here is the strange part: many of my old friends are now her new friends! It wasn’t just seeing her as the adult she’s becoming, which is a wonderful thing in its own right, but also feeling like this is what church can do and be for all of us, an ever-widening circle, ripples of relationship, with Jesus Christ at the center, as the Center. I was suddenly struck by how all of those years of Sunday School, and church picnics, and visiting all of the churches of Lehigh Presbytery, EVERYTHING, had brought us to a place where the church meant enough that being here was important.

I don’t know if there are words to describe the voting situation, which is a mess every year, but was a summer blockbuster of a mess this year (Godzilla, anyone?). I was concerned that arriving late and missing orientation would mean I wouldn’t know how to vote with the new system instituted this year: using computers, tablets, or smartphones to vote, rather than a handheld device. Turns out that in the trial run earlier in the day, the wireless internet was insufficient to the task, and by the time I got there we were back to the handheld device. And even that didn’t work! The election of moderator, scheduled to begin around 7PM, began around 8:30PM, if not later.

In the meanwhile, we filled the time with singing and sharing of information that did not require voting…more or less. We were treated to a series of videos made by five different New Worshiping Communities around the country, each one a reminder of how God is at work in the world, and inviting us to be inspired to look around our own corner of the universe. The top videos focused on one congregation  that has built a vibrant music ministry in conjunction with local schools and colleges, providing a gift to the whole community, while another reaches out to the food service industry workers, providing a place of faith and support for many who otherwise go unnoticed or unseen: waiters, dishwashers, cooks. “Those with eyes to see, let them see.”

We were also informed that by due process, ending with the consent approval given at this Assembly, the updated version of the Heidelberg Catechism that was approved by the last General Assembly and a sufficient number of presbyteries, has become the official version of the PCUSA. This was an ecumenical effort, working with two other Reformed denominations.

Finally, we got to the moderator’s election. From their statements and Q&A responses I thought any of the three would be fine, although none of them particularly distinguished themselves. Unfortunately, momentum was slowed when another series of trial runs with the voting machine was….less than satisfactory. For the first time since 1987 the Assembly used paper ballots, which only heightened the wisecracks (and frustration) going around the room (Example: “If we are using paper ballots, can we get a smoke signal when we finally elect a new…moderator?).

But then, perhaps most shocking of all, a moderator was elected on the first ballot, the first time I can remember that happening in quite some time. Ruling Elder Heath Rada, former president of the Presbyterian School of Christian Education received 52% of the votes. With the other two candidates splitting the other half evenly, this was a clear call of the Assembly, foreshadowed by what appeared to be the same division among advisory delegates. (It was hard to tell, since they were holding up colored cards to have their votes tallied, given the failure of the voting machines. Actually, the peak miscue happened when delegates used the machines and the results from the 2012 election appeared on the screen!) Rada certainly brought a presence to the stage, and I look forward to arranging his visit to Lehigh.

Rada confessed that when he had been approached to run for the office, he originally turned it down. He felt that older white males have had their opportunity long enough and it was time for the changing face of the PCUSA to be well-represented. His concerns abated, however, with recommendations for his running mate, now vice-moderator, Larissa Kwong Abazia, pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Forest Hills, a multicultural, multiethnic congregation in Queens NY. May God bless them both in the two years ahead!