I had the privilege of representing the Presbytery of New York City as a Ruling Elder Commissioner. There were eight of us from New York City who got to sit in the inner sanctum … holy of holies … inside the dark blue curtain on the Assembly floor. We were six commissioners … Teaching Elders Jose Gonzalez-Colon, Lonnie Bryant, and Mieke Vandersall … Ruling Elders David Ofori, Annie Rawlings, and me … one Young Adult Advisory Delegate Joshua Narcisse and one Theological Student Advisory Delegate Ruling Elder Deborah Mahaney.
Every committee meeting, plenary session and worship service began with the reading of the scripture, Isaiah 40:38-31.
Six hundred eighty-eight commissioners and two hundred thirty-one advisory delegates were assigned to twenty-one committees which dealt with one hundred twelve overtures of presbyteries and synods included in the approximately eight hundred items of business the assembly had to deal with.
When the assembly convened in Plenary on Saturday evening, our first order of business was to elect the Moderators of the 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) who is The Reverend Dr. Neal D. Presa from nearby Elizabeth Presbytery across the Hudson River in New Jersey.
We did have the unfortunately incident of the moderator’s choice for Vice Moderator, the Reverend Tara Spuhler McCabe, chose to resign amid some controversy surrounding a same-gender wedding in Washington, DC. Personally, I think it is unfortunate that some Presbyterians can’t disagree without being nasty … can’t act more like Jesus. Some of us walk around with rocks in our pockets ready to condemn. The new moderator reluctantly accepted her resignation and named The Reverend Tom Trinidad of the Pueblo Presbytery as the new Vice Moderator.
In trying to organize a Presbytery of New York City delegation dinner on July 4th Interim Executive Presbyter Tony De La Rosa guessed there may have been at least thirty people from the Presbytery of NYC.
On Sunday morning twenty-nine Presbyterian congregations invited GA attendees to worship with them. There was luxury bus service to take us to churches not in walking distance of the convention center and hotel area. Approximately sixty of us went to Bidwell Presbyterian Church. While there The Reverend James Foster Reese told everyone that Bidwell is the place of his very first sermon over sixty years ago.
I was assigned to the Committee on Confessions of the Church. Six members of the committee brought a minority report to the Assembly floor after it failed as a substitute motion in committee. I spoke against in committee and on the floor of the assembly. Speaking at a microphone on the floor of the General Assembly is something I thought I would never do. Never say never.
What impressed me was the passion and sincerity of the commissioners and advocacy groups. There weren’t the angry outbursts I expected. As far as I could see people treated each other with courtesy and respect. The person who led the group bringing Minority Report came to me later and asked that I forgive her if her action hurt me in any way. We hugged.
The committee report that took used up the most time was the Committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues. Discussion on Friday, July 6th lasted from 1:30 PM through 8:30 PM with time out for dinner. There were Minority Reports, amendments, and so on. The Assembly voted to neither re-affirm nor change the denomination’s definition of marriage as “a civil contract between a man and a woman.” The Assembly approved a proposal generated from within the Assembly Committee on Civil Union and Marriage Issues calling for two years of “serious study and discernment” regarding Christian marriage.
Earlier that day, Interim Executive Presbyter of the Presbytery of New York City, Tony De La Rosa, had the honor of being the only Ruling Elder to preach at one of the worship services.
Working on the committees and in plenary was really hard but rewarding work. We all met new friends on the committees and sitting near us on the assembly floor. On the final evening, Friday, July 6 our work in plenary didn’t end until 1:30 in the morning. Some committees still had to meet after that. Trying to keep our eyes open and attention focused some were singing praises to Jehovah Java while others want to bow to El Shut Eye.
What greatly impressed me was the Young Adult Advisory Delegates. They give me hope for the future of the church. Although they were all over the church political landscape they showed the older adults out to live together in harmony and how to work today and worship together without condemning each other.
There were two other things that greatly impressed me. One was the COLA people … Committee On Local Arrangements. Members of the congregations and staff in Pittsburgh volunteered their time to be present everywhere to help anyone attending GA220. Wearing bright yellow vests with the PCUSA symbol on the back they were at the airport, in the hotel lobbies (and the GA used more than seven hotels), they were on the streets near the convention center, they were all over the convention center. You could ask them anything and they would find a way to help you. The other thing that greatly impressed me was the people in the red t-shirts … the back of the t-shirts read, “We are praying for Yinz.” Yinz in Pittsburgheese means the same as Ya’ll. If you needed prayer you just have to walk up to one of them and they would pray with you or take you to a convenient prayer room for prayer.
Someone asked me if I would go again. The answer is yes. As a matter of fact my wife and I plan to attend the 221st General Assembly in Detroit, MI in 2014. And yes I would recommend it. Don’t put it on your bucket list. Put it on your Must Do List.
Just as every session was opened with scripture from Isaiah, every sermon used the same sermon text, Mark 2:1-12. It’s the familiar story about the men who dug a hole in the roof to let down the crippled man to be healed by Jesus. The text ends with Jesus saying, “I say to you, stand up, take up your mat and of to your home.” And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”
And I say of the 220th General Assembly, I have never seen anything like this. It was wonderful! Praise God. <><
