June 16
The afternoon session opened with a message
from the Rev. James Reese, who serves in neighboring Philadelphia Presbytery,
and was prominent in the Civil Rights Movement, marching alongside Martin
Luther King Jr., as well as the subject of his address, the Rev. Dr. Eugene
Carson Blake. At the time, Blake was Stated Clerk of the United Presbyterian
Church in the United States of America, as well as Vice-Chair of the Commission
on Religion and Race for the National Council of Churches. He was prominent at
a time when the church held much greater influence in this country, so much so
that he appeared on the cover of Time Magazine. It was a time when churches had
a particular power, few more than the Presbyterians, when pastors would meet
with the president, as Blake did John F. Kennedy.
We life in a different time, a different church,
but as is often true of powerful, faith-based words, they are timeless. In
sharing Blake’s words, Reese reminded his listeners of what Presbyterians in
the US have been and have done.
Humility: We do not...come...in any arrogant
spirit or moral or spiritual superiority to “set the nation straight”…Rather we
come…in the reconciling and repentant spirit in which the humble Lincoln…once
replied to a delegation of morally arrogant churchmen, “never say God is on our
side, rather pray that we may be found on God’s side.”
Evangelism (as in “sharing the Good News) and
witness: We come to present ourselves, our souls and bodies, to be “a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our reasonable service,” in a
kind of tangible and visible sacrament which alone in times like these can manifest
to a troubled world the grace available…
And Reese himself brought the house to its
feet with his words we all need to hear in these often divisive times, noting ‘I
have felt isolated, marginalized, left out,’ “but I have never left the table.”
-----------------------
I’ll be honest, there are many amazing things
about being at the General Assembly, but now that I have to sit at a desk
instead of tending to commissioners or meeting with folks from around the
country, it does feel like we watch a lot of videos and hear a lot of greetings
and promotions. It is good to know that tonight we’re going to get on with it!
There were some good tidings of great joy, however. We were told of several congregations,
larger ones to be sure, from around the country, that have partnered to pledge
1.65 million dollars to education in South Sudan. There was great joy at this
announcement, and a challenge that even smaller churches can work together,
financially or with heart and hands, to tend to women, children, and the most
vulnerable among us. Like the 1001 Congregations we heard about yesterday, it
was a reminder of the potential within each of us and our congregations to be
agents of transformation as we allow the Spirit to move through us. If good tidings of great joy" reminds of Jesus' birth, that is only right: Christ is born every day and this was a sign of his love in action.
-----------------------
I am happy to say that the overture from
Lehigh has garnered more attention than I knew, as I discovered after that
plenary session. I went to overture advocate “training,” where several folks
spoke to me about it, before going to dinner with someone who contacted me just
to talk about it. Then people from the committee on which I’m serving wanted to
talk about it. Tomorrow I will make my one and only statement to the committee,
and we will see what we will see.
-----------------------
I am on Committee 12, known as “The Acronym Committee”
because we deal with Presbyterian Investment and Loan (PILP), Board of Pensions
(BOP), Presbyterian Publishing Corporation (PPC), and The Presbyterian Foundation
(what, no acronym???). Our leadership seems on top of things, for which I’m
grateful. And just so you know, Committee Assistant James Tse is just as tall,
dark, and handsome as you’ve been told! And no, he didn’t tell me to tell you
that…although no doubt he’ll appreciate that I did!
-----------------------
Okay, Happy Birthday to Alicia! Happy Fathers
Day! Thanks to Alicia, Rachel, and Daniel for making me the gift of themselves
that keeps on giving. And the Spurs beat the Heat!
Time to go to bed on a bunch of VERY good notes!
No comments:
Post a Comment