Hi All! Sorry it has taken me so long to get a post up about the last couple of days of GA--needless to say, they were a complete whirlwind, and I flew out Saturday to come to Montreat, North Carolina, my second home! Friday started off with a bang as a commissioner moved to rescind our actions from the night before in regards to the definition of Christian marriage. The vote was very close on Friday night--a difference of 24 votes. Many people thought and wrote that we were just too tired to go on Friday night, so we quickly voted to let a response answer for all of the overtures. I really felt, though, that Friday's actions were answered when teh assembly voted by a much larger margin not to reconsider. Although some folks might have been tired on Friday night, I really feel like many folks felt that we as a church just weren't ready to define marriage as an institution between "two people" instead of "a man and a woman." I did feel for the ministers who live in states where gay marriage is legal--many of them had had gay couples in those states come to them asking for these ministers to officiate their weddings. These ministers were looking for some definitive guidance and some help beyond our constitution.
We also spent quite a bit of time Friday discussing the Middle East study report. As I thoroughly read the report before GA, I quickly realized that I don't know half as much about Middle Eastern issues as I should. Some former GA moderators had sent a letter before GA expressing their support for the report, while others had sent a letter denouncing it. I respect lots of those folks, so it really helped me to hear that they came together at GA to support the report as it had been tweaked. That really helped to guide me in my decision making.
Our Friday night plenary session was, far and away, the most exciting and fabulous time for me. As an assembly, we voted to spend almost $150,000 over the next 3 years to reestablish an Office of Collegiate Ministries--funding it for staff and programming. We also voted to spend almost as much for our Young Adult Volunteer Program, a program in which post-college young adults spent a year in a national urban or rural setting, or outside of the United States. One of my students who graduated last year is leaving in August to spend a YAV year in the inner city of Nashville. Out of every decision we made with financial implications, these two had the most $ attached to them--and we are going to spend it for our college students and young adults. Fabulous!!!!! I was a proud mama for my college students and a proud commissioner on Friday night!
We ended the assembly on Saturday with a few more things, then we spent a final time in worship together. I then headed to the airport for a great flight to Asheville and Montreat! Since I'm still pretty exhausted from the whole GA experience, I'm heading to bed at good ol' Assembly Inn. I'll post again tomorrow with some GA wrap-up thoughts! Peace, Rachel
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