By the time you have received this, I will already be in St. Louis for the General Assembly meeting. It starts for me with an early meeting on Friday, the 15th, of “The Way Forward” committee. Delegates are arbitrarily assigned to committees and this was the one I was lucky enough to get. At first, I was excited about the committee as it sounded right down my alley. You would think the “Way Forward” committee would be about visioning and outside the box thinking as we move into the future God is creating for us as a church. Much to my chagrin, it seems the discussion focuses on the establishment of a corporation to distribute and manage the resources for the various boards of the national church. Radical, right!
Actually, it is a little more complicated than that but essentially it is one more committee recommending the creation of another committee. How Presbyterian is that! (You know the old joke: When two Presbyterians gather together they form three committees.) Hopefully it will be more than simply rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic, but we will have to see.
My weekend will involve a number of worship opportunities from the Opening Worship on Saturday morning to a special opportunity Sunday morning to go out and worship with local congregations in the St. Louis area. One of the things I am most looking forward to is singing and praying and dancing (maybe?) with Presbyterians from all over the United States and the world.
The other big thing this weekend is the election of our new moderator(s) who will serve a two-year term. There are a number of candidates and I will try and give you an update after the election. My hope in the coming week is to send you all some reflections on my experience. I cannot promise too much as I will be in meetings about 10 to 12 hours a day, but I will try. Pray for me!
Grace and Peace,
Alex