Tuesday

Oh goodness--where do I even begin? As our committee reconvened today, I walked in thinking that this was going to be a hard day. And I was right. How do you come to decisions, either individually or corporately, when you know that--whatever you decide to do--someone is going to be hurt? I knew that, if we decided to change our ordination standards, we would cause folks whose churches are already on the verge of leaving the denomination to leave (and many already have). As a result, we would run the risk of losing folks who have tremendous gifts of God to celebrate. And I knew that, if we decided to strengthen our ordination standards, we would lose (and already have lost) many folks who also have tremendous gifts to share, and are gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered. To be frank and honest, it absolutely sucks to know that people are going to be hurt. If you know me, you know that I take no joy in seeing people who are in pain, and certainly no joy in knowing that I have caused some of that pain.

So we debated. An elder on our committee suggested a substitute motion--a letter to all of our churches in which we recognized the deep pain and division that our fights over ordination standards have caused. The letter urged our churches to repent of our sin of exclusion and to find ways to be resources for the LBGT folks in our midst. But in doing so, the letter also urged us to uphold the ordination standards which are currently in our Book of Order. I thanked him them, and I thank him now, for trying to find a creative and pastoral solution--but I also thought that, if we asked for repentance for our exclusion of these folks, that we couldn't continue to exclude them from ordination. The substitute motion failed, so we began our debate of resolution 06-09.

After much debate, this is was the committee's recommendation, by a vote of 36-16-1:

Final Text:Shall G-6.0106b be amended by striking the current text and inserting new text in its place:Standards for ordained service reflect the church’s desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life (G-1.0000). The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation (G.14.0240; G-14.0450) shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate’s ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003). Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.”

Since the rest of our resolutions pertained to ordination standards, we ended our committee meeting by saying that our response to this resolution would be our response to all of the resolutions. We then were called to Christ's table to share the Sacrament of Communion together. It was a powerful way to end our time together, and I'm so thankful that, after much hard and contentious debate, we were called to come together in community at the table. It was great to know that our time together was formed around worship. We began each meeting time with a devotional and the reading of Scripture. Every time our debate became contentious throughout the last two days, we would stop, pray, and sing together, "Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me." And we ended by sharing together in the feast.

Everything that each committee passed will now be debated before the whole General Assembly, and that begins tomorrow.

A few personal observations:

1. Presbyterians eat well (as if you didn't already know that). I began my day with the Maryville College breakfast. Maryville is my alma mater and one of our PC(USA) related schools. It was great to meet Maryville's new president, Dr. Tom Bogart. I also went to the Collegiate Ministries lunch, where I joined other campus ministers and chaplains as we heard from Steve Hayner, the new president of Columbia Theological Seminary--and a former campus minister. I'll start my morning tomorrow as the Interim Executive Pres in Sheppards and Lapsley takes our commissioners to breakfast. And . . .

2. speaking of breakfasts, most of these take place at the ungodly hour of 7am. Simply put, campus ministers do not function that early. I think I was a zombie this morning :)!

3. Did you know that I'm stubborn? If you want to help me understand the way you are feeling and empathize with you, then telling me that you are right--and inferring that I'm wrong if I happen to disagree, is not the way to do it. In fact, it is the way to make me feel very unchristian as I think about slapping you. I kid, a little bit. Right before I flew to GA, I received an e-mail from someone in Birmingham telling me that he interpreted the Bible in a very certain way--and that this was the only way it could be interpreted. Another person in my committee said the same thing today--that his way of reading it was the RIGHT way. Since I disagreed with their interpretation, they then say that I am wrong. Not a good way to communicate! I had the honor of sitting by an elder commissioner throughout our committee meetings. Although we disagreed on many issues, he was gentle, kind, and humble to me--and I hope I was in return to him. That is the way to do it, folks!

After this very long day, I'm heading to bed. Peace to all of you! Rachel