Thursday, June 30, 2016

"Onesimus: In the Particular" Philemon 1: 8-21

We meet Onesimus  as this week's minor character.  Going into the sermon preparation, I wanted to focus on how one person in the particular mattered to Paul and also matters to God.  The sermon will have some of that in it, or at least at this point I think it will.  Onesimus means "useful," which Paul plays on by describing how Onesimus went from "useless" to "useful."

But as I did some background work on the text, I was reminded that this passage was one of the favorites of the pro-slavery people.  They read Paul's letter to Philemon and said, "See, Paul understands we need slaves."  In fact, I read an article by Bruce Reyes-Chow, a former Moderator of the General Assembly, who suggests taking issue with the slavery  when preaching on this passage keeps us from passivly letting the text support slavery (see http://thq.wearesparkhouse.org/featured/lect23cepistl/ Bruce Reyes-Chow, September 8, 2013 for more on that perspective).

Paul also makes an argument for what it means to be in Christ. His thoughts seem to be reflected by Martin Luther: “A Christian is not only freed from captivities, but for praise of God and love of neighbor. In In Freedom of a Christian, Martin Luther built his argument around this paradox: 'A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, but subject to none. A Christian a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.”

Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Reflections on "Aaron: Brothers Unite" Exodus 32: 1-6

As we walked through the Dayton airport around 12:15 am early Sunday morning, my fellow commissioner (and retired pastor), looked at me and laughed as he said, "I feel sorry for you having to preach this morning!"  I laughed as well, and then we agreed that we actually felt sorry for the congregation that was going to have to hear the sermon.  I reminded him that I had asked him several times through the week to give me some sermon material, but he had not done so.

The sermon uses a narrative text, which means it's a pretty good story that can tell itself to some extent.  The danger of not spending enough time with a text is that it is easy (well, sort of easy) to make generalizations or points about the text that are not very nuanced, some of which I regret having said later.  

The soccer illustration was probably a reach as to how I made it fit with the sermon.  The conclusion was also very undeveloped.  But, there is always next week!

Aaron:Brothers Unite” June 26, 2016; FPC, Troy Exodus 32: 1-6; Exodus 4: 27-31

(Exodus 32:1-6) When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, "Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." Aaron said to them, "Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a festival to the LORD." They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel. (NRSV)

Introduction: I was refereeing a soccer game a few years ago with two brothers. They were from a family of referees. The father was a really good referee with whom I worked many games before he gave up riffing a few years ago.

In our pre-game conversation, there were no clues for what was about to happen. One of them was the center ref, the other an assistant ref running one sideline while I did the other sideline. Early in the game, the brother in the middle overruled his brother on the sideline with the flag. That began a battle of wills between two brothers, including shouting at each other, in the midst of a soccer game

As you might imagine, the divided leadership from the referees led to coaches and players getting angry with the referees and increasing the intensity and anxiety of their play.

We read about brothers in the biblical text this morning. Aaron, the minor character we meet (remember I am preaching on minor characters in the Bible) is the brother of Moses (in fact, the brother of Miriam, whom we met a few weeks ago).

We we think about brothers in the Old Testament, they do not have a very good track record for getting along with each other.

First set of brothers we encounter are Cain and Abel – they have different skills (something will see in Aaron and Moses) and do different things – Cain tills the ground and Abel takes care of sheep; eventually Cain gets jealous of Abel and kills him.

Or remember Jacob and Esau? – Jacob, the younger brother, disguises himself and sneaks in to steal his brother's birthright from their father who is sick in bed.

Then, of course, we have Joseph and his brothers. Whether you blame Joseph for his superiority complex or the brothers for their jealousy, the brothers do not get along. IN fact, the enmity between brothers almost costs Joseph his life and does lead to his being sold into slavery.

New Testament brothers seem to do better.
At least, James and John or Peter and Andrew, brothers who were disciples, seem to be able to get along.

Of course, the brothers in the story of the prodigal son do not seem to get along.

But back to Moses and Aaron. Moses, who will become perhaps the greatest leader of Israel and Aaron, who will become the head o the priestly order.

Move 1: We might not have imagined such greatness in the beginning.

a. Moses encountering God in the burning bush.
  1. Afraid to accept the mantle of leadership.
    1. Using his lack of speaking ability as an excuse.
    1. Aaron has not made the scene yet, but he is brought in by God to be Moses' voice and to do signs on Moses' behalf.
    1. In the scene we read, we see how it works. God tells Moses the words; Moses tells Aaron, and then Aaron acts as a mouthpiece and shares the word with the Israelites.
    2. Likewise, God tells Moses what sign to perform, Moses tells Aaron, and Aaron performs the sign.
6. the brothers united in their work.

b. Not5ice how well it works when their focus is on what God wants them to say or what God wants them to do.

  1. It is not Moses trying to get his brother to say something or do something just because.
2.  You know, the older sibling trying to coax the younger one into doing his chores or doing something that just because he wants him to do it.

3. If you grew up in the 1970s, you remember the Mikey commercial for Life cereal. You can actually YouTube it to see it for those of you who are too young to have seen it on TV (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Mikey).
    The older brothers do not want to eat the bowl of Life cereal in front of them because it's healthy and good for them.

    They decide to try and coax Mikey, the youngest brother who hates everything to eat it. He does, of course, and amazingly likes it.

    But we recognize ourselves in those brothers who are trying to get Mikey to do what they do not want to do as some sort of joke.

      3. it is Aaron and Moses working together, using their complementary gifts to do what God need to be done. His brothers Gifts that complement each other.

2. At this point, the story of Aaron and Moses is one of two brothers working together at God's command.

Move 2: Then we move to the wilderness.

a. Aaron and Moses do not do as well in the wilderness.
  1. In truth, no one does that well in the wilderness.
    1. Forty years of wandering and struggling to be faithful.
    1. The people get angry with Moses and God;
    1. Moses gets angry with the Israelites and God.
    1. god gets any with everyone.
    1. the wilderness is where the cracks in relationships appear; where the stress creates problems.
    1. Maybe its the fear; maybe its the weariness; maybe in Aaron's case he has become jealous of his brother Moses and his leadership role and his special relationship with God.
b. We do not why exactly, but when Moses goes up on the mountaintop Aaron leads a rebellion against God and against his brother's leadership.

              1. the Israelites are ready to turn away from God.
    1. again, maybe fear was driving them; with Moses gone maybe their fear was exacerbated.
              3.Maybe Aaron sees a chance for himself to take some of the power from Moses in Moses in absence.

  1. whatever the reasons, the Israelites, under Aaron's leadership, decide to make idols out of gold.
  1. Certain irony that while Moses is up on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments from God, which will include a command to “have no other gods before me,” the Israelites under Aaron's leadership are crafting idols out of their gold.
    1. As we see Aaron at work, we recognize that it is not his place to lead the people in this direction – after all, that should be Moses' role.
    1. and more importantly, these actions are leading the people away from God, not leading them in serving or following God.
    1. the brothers are no longer working well together.
Move 3: Lessons from Aaron and Moses.

a. We are called brothers and sisters in Christ.
      1.  How we work together shapes how well we serve and follow God.

      2.  When we see how our complementary gifts join together, instead of competing with our gifts, we can serve God better in the world.

      b. We can work together best when we start by listening to God.

      1. Listening to our fears, our jealousies, our own desires keeps us from doing God's work.

      2. beginning our work by turning to God for guidance allows us to keep the focus where it needs to be – God's saving grace.
Conclusion: In a few moments, we baptize Thompson, the younger brother to Trenton.

They are bound together by birth. Their parents will try to teach them how to get along. They will probably have some good days and some bad days in that regard.

We are not bound together by birth, but by our relationship with Christ. We serve God best when we work together by turning to listen for what God desires for us to and use our complementary gifts to do God's work in the world.


General Assembly, final thoughts

Here are a few final thoughts on General Assembly:

1. A common question from people these days is, "How did you like General Assembly?" or something like that.  My first instinct is to give an answer that pokes fun at how we Presbyterians do things or roll my eyes as I describe the many hours of time spent in meetings.  In fact, it does seem strange to realize that I know nothing about Portland, except for the six blocks nearest to the convention center, which included my motel (Quality Inn was definitely not a hotel) and the restaurants where I ate when not eating a group meal at the convention center (I did manage to eat at Red Robin four times due its proximity).  But, I really enjoyed being a commissioner.  I loved the worship, seeing old friends, and making some new ones.  I really enjoyed spending time with the other people from our presbytery.  I like studying issues and listening to what others have to say about them.  It's not a perfect system, but I confess to liking being a part of it, and enjoying the excitement

2.  Prophetic vs. pastoral:  I do not think this General Assembly will generate as much angst and anger as some General Assemblies do.  In general, the approach of the Assembly was to try and keep people together and in conversation.  The running theme for the Bible studies was about people being at the table, and the decisions we made reflected a commitment to try and keep people at the table.  That, of course, is our pastoral instinct at work.  While I commend the Assembly for their efforts in that regard, I also recognize that others will look at the decisions and wonder how we missed opportunities to be prophetic and speak out more on certain issues.  Thus the ongoing dilemma we face as people trying to live out our calling -- are we called to be prophetic or pastoral?  Probably both, but it's hard to do both.  I think most of us lean one way or another.  If you are a member of FPC, Troy, you probably lean pastoral since that's how most of the decisions in this congregation through the years seem to lean (at least from my perspective).  I find no fault in that (that's probably my tendency as well), but we also need to acknowledge and be aware that sometimes we probably should be more prophetic. Pastoral care at it's best both nurtures us and challenges us to grow into the new creations God calls us to be.  Likewise, a prophetic voice that ignores the pain of the people has trouble being heard.

3.  It seemed to me that there was a general lack of confidence or trust in the group and/or the denomination.  For example, some of the people who chose to talk in our committee meetings (we have about 45 people on my committee) seemed to believe that if we were just smart enough to understand what they were saying, we would agree.  If it seemed like the committee was moving in a different direction, they would jump up and talk some more, as if their brilliance would somehow win the day.  There were some people who assumed that if an entity of the General Assembly had studied an issue and made a case for some action, the action was automatically suspect.  Others (I probably fall into this camp) made the assumption that if a group had studied a topic and reached a decision, then it had the presumption of being a good decision.  Probably both approaches are appropriate at times, but if the people who do the work cannot be trusted to do the work correctly, it makes it hard to make decisions.

4.  Robert's Rules:  I like having rules to how we discuss and do our business.  People resist the structure and complain about it, but behind the rules is the desire to give people the chance to be heard and for the process to work fairly.  At one point in our committee meeting, the moderator, on advice from the parliamentarian, suggested we work "as a committee of the whole," which meant there were no motions to be made as everyone shared their thoughts and crafted what needed to be done before moving back into our normal pattern of doing things and then making a motion to approve whatever came out of our time "as a committee of the whole."  As the conversation moved back and forth it seemed to me we proved the value of having rules govern our discussions! Btu, it also proved the importance of a moderator knowing how to guide the process to do what it supposed to do.

All in all, enjoyed my time in Portland, my work as a commissioner, and the chance to be in conversation with so many other Presbyterians!

Friday, June 24, 2016

General Assembly, new Stated Clerk

This morning we elected the J. Herbert Nelson as the new Stated Clerk of the PCUSA.  This is one of the most important roles in the church.  He was selected by the search committee and presented for nomination, but there was another person who was also nominated (this is allowed, much like we open the floor to nominations when we elect our church officers).

The other candidate, David Baker, was a younger man, with lots of tech experience, who was also an ordained Teaching Elder (as is J. Herbert Nelson). For me, it seemed like a choice between the establishment candidate, Nelson, and the anti-establishment candidate, Baker.  Or, perhaps a generational difference with the older guard being represented by Nelson and the younger generation by Baker.

As they answered questions and then we debated their candidacies, I wondered if the younger generation was going to supplant the candidate put forward by the establishment.  In fact, when the Young Adult Advisory Delegates (YAADs)voted overwhelming for Baker, the younger candidate, I thought for sure we were headed in that direction. After all, I believe the commissioners had followed the lead of the YAADs on every other vote.  When the results were revealed, I was shocked to see that 4/5s of the commissioners voted for J. Herbert Nelson, the establishment candidate.

For me it is a footnote, but to others it is important -- J. Herbert Nelson is the first African-American Stated Clerk of the PCUSA.  When I looked at the commissioner next to me, an African-American woman who was in tears at his election, I realized that his election had implications I had not considered.  I'm not sure if it is a sign that race is becoming less and issue as indicated by my not thinking of it as an issue or if it was a sign that I am not as sensitive to race issues as I should be.

Regardless, add one more historic vote I have been a part of at a General Assembly.

General Assembly, back at it

We were in plenary (the whole group) until 11:30 pm last night.  Part of the reason for the long meetings is a recurring issue -- when the General Assembly commissioners begin their deliberations, there is little sense of urgency, so lots of changes and discussion takes place.  Eventually, the commissioners realize that the time is limited, so we need to be more efficient.  By the end of the evening and the final vote on a fairly important issue, the vote tally had 15% less commissioners voting, presumably due to commissioners getting tired and leaving.  Hopefully, things will move more efficiently today.  Please note, that when I suggest efficiency, that does not mean (at least to me) glossing over important conversations; rather, it suggests that we spend time on the important issues and not so much time over the little stuff.

Prayer.  Prayer follows (or leads) us throughout our time together.  Some of the prayers are scripted and part of the formal process; others appear as we go.  For example, as my committee began our work, we prayed for a commissioner who was supposed to be on our committee, but instead had to go to her sister's to care for her on her deathbed.  Yesterday morning we prayed for a fellow commissioner who had fallen on the way back to the hotel and broken her arm and had a concussion. Last night, when news broke that the UK had vote to leave the European Union, one of the commissioners called us to pray for those impacted by that vote.  We prayed this morning for the people and churches of West Virginia as they deal with recent flooding.  Those moments of prayer remind us that even as we think in global terms about the church, we serve a church that is made up of real people in real situations.

Perspective: Yesterday I was talking to a friend who is an Executive Presbyter, and he mentioned that he had skipped out on the morning session to go hike with his daughter at Multnomah Falls.  When I was on Clergy Renewal five years ago, I was driving from WA to Salt Lake City and saw the signs for Multnomah Falls, so I stopped and hiked it myself.  I did not realize that it was merely thirty minutes away from Portland.  I realized that except for about an eight block radius of Portland that surrounds the Convention Center (I did take a train ride downtown one night), I have seen almost night of Portland.  I suppose I will have to come back to Portland if I ever want to really see it.  That reminded me of the challenge we have as a denomination -- how do we take what happens at General Assembly back to the congregations that minister in their own contexts?  It's easy to feel the importance of these issues as we debate them, but fail to see how they translate to being the body of Christ in our own congregations.


Thursday, June 23, 2016

General Assembly, making history?

So far, nothing too controversial has come to the floor for vote, but I believe we are part of some historic change for the Presbyterian Church, USA.  Yesterday, we approved adding "The Belhar Confession" to our Book of Confessions.  "Belhar" comes out of the the South African experience as they fought against racism and apartheid.  It offers a clear call to end racism and speaks to God's justice.  Six years ago when I was a commissioner to General Assembly in Minneapolis, "Belhar" was sent to the church for more study, instead of being adopted as its supporters have hoped.  I would have voted for its inclusion in the Book of Confessions then, and I did vote for it last night.  Now our confirmands will have a new confession to learn!

We also approved revisions to the Book of Common Worship.  As I have often told our church leadership, I continually find that the worship we do, particularly at memorial services and weddings, provides a powerful witness to how God can be at work in liturgy.  I trust that the revisions will help us continue in that tradition.

There was an important change in our language about the Lord's Table.  For generations, we have invited those who have been baptized and trust in in Jesus Christ to the Table.  The revisions remove the requirement that people be baptized to come to the Table.  In truth, I cannot remember the last time I was at a communion service (except ours) when the minister included the words, "those who have been baptized."  I have continued to use those words because they are part of the current Book of Common Worship, but I will stop doing that as of July 3rd's communion. The mandate now is to encourage the unbaptized who come to the Lord's Table to be baptized.  Although even before this change I would I not have refused to serve someone I knew was not baptized, now that willingness to welcome even the unbaptized to the Lord's Table is the norm for us.  Of course, the caveat to this change is that we only approved the revisions being sent to the presbyteries for their approval (it takes a majority of presbyteries to approve the revisions).

In some ways, coming to General Assembly seems like being at a giant Session meeting, plus a committee night that last two days!  Yet, as I look back on the two times I have been a commissioner, I will babe been at the assemblies that voted to remove one's sexual preference as a criteria for ordination (six years ago), added "The Belhar Confession" to our Book of Confession, and approved the revisions to the Book of Common Worship for the approval of our presbyteries.  That's a lot of change for which I have had a front row seat!

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

General Assembly, Ecumenical worship

Opportunities for Bible study and worship are two of the joys of being at General Assembly. This morning we had the ecumenical worship service, which is held each year as a sign of the commitment the Presbyterian Church has to be connected to its ecumenical partners.  Here are some of my thoughts about being a part of that service:

1.  We used music in lots of different places, most of which came from the new hymnal Glory to God.    In most instances, the music enhanced the worship. In fact, I have the bulletin in the General Assembly handbook, so I will probably will be trying out some of these songs in worship in the church I serve.  One of the songs did not work, and I discovered what it was like to be in the congregation when a song floundered (surely congregants from FPC, Troy cannot know this feeling!).  It reminded me how music can add so much to a service, but only if it works!

2.  We sat in our seats at the tables where we also sit for our plenary sessions.  It is a huge space with giant screens in front of us where the responsive parts of the worship service were displayed.  The sound was not a problem, but it was a bit odd to worship in that space.  I found it easier to be distracted when my view of the worship leaders was primarily on the large screen in front of me.

3.  The worship leaders used the ecumenical Lord's Prayer, which tripped me up as I recited it from memory.  Again, I discovered what it is like to be surprised by the unexpected in worship.  As one who sometimes perpetrates surprise on a congregation, I experienced how it can be uncomfortable, but I also realized how it can make us rethink what we sometimes unthinkingly do as rote memory.

4. I heard a powerful sermon by Reginald Jackson, a bishop in the AME church.  I would share with you some highlights form the sermon, except I am going to use some of those highlights in a sermon later this summer.  No sneak preview from this blog!

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

General Assembly, more committee meetings

After running late with our committee meeting last night, I arrived late to the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary reception to visit with other alums and staff.  No surprise to discover lots of connections.  One of the alums is a person with whom I went to college where we were fraternity brothers.  Our time in seminary overlapped, but because of how our internships fell, we never lived on the seminary campus at the same time.   That we knew each other was not surprising, but when I started talking to his wife, it turned out we also had lots of connections.  At one point, she was in tears as she remembered some of the people she spent time with in her youth at presbytery events.

But today we are back doing business in our committee meetings.  I left frustrated yesterday over people who seem to need to speak endlessly at the microphone and for what seemed to me to be weak committee leadership.   I continue to discover that when committee leaders feel uncertain about process, it makes the committee unsure and people feel the need to try and help, which seldom helps.

Yet today is a new day.  The committee leadership seems to have done some homework last night and are taking charge of the process a bit more.  We are still spending more time on what I think are unimportant issues, but I am hopeful that God is at work in our midst, despite our failings.

I again found the morning Bible study to be helpful for us in our conversation with the added bonus that the text discussed Barnabas, who is another one of my sermon topics this summer.  In addition to an article I read last night about another sermon topic, my time at GA has included discussion of three of my updating sermons.  At this rate, the summer preaching series will be complete before I head back to OH.

We just heard the powerful testimony of a male minister who had been sexually abused at a youth convention by the youth leader, who was a Commissioned Lay Pastor.  He shared his story with us because we are voting in a bit on a policy on child protection for the General Assembly.  Part of his story is about how the presbytery knew the man had a conviction for child pornography, but chose to believe he had repented and let him take the youth from the presbytery to a convention.  Part of his story also reveals how the church institution sought the cover of legal responsibility instead of openly addressing the charges.  Even as I wonder how those other Presbyterians and their committees could make those choices, I am prayerful that the groups with which I work have (and will) recognize when the institution needs to protect others, instead of protecting itself.  


Monday, June 20, 2016

General Assembly, committee meetings

We begin each day, today in committee meetings, with a Bible study.  The Bible study is around the theme "Messy Tables, Messy Mission."  This morning we used the text in Samuel when David finds out that Jonathan's son is still alive, and he sends for him to invite him to the king's table because of David's previous promise to Jonathan that he would take care of his family (I have preached several on the Hebrew word hesed, which describes the love Jonathan and David felt for each other's that led to this pledge).  We discussed what a great honor it was to be invited to the king's table, but how that also could be a huge responsibility, or carry with it implications beyond the thrill of being invited to the king's table.

The conversation has me also thinking about those who never get invited to the table.  Those who are already at the table often overlook, forgot, or do not want to share the table with others.  As we think of how Jesus continually expanded the circle of those whom he sought to engage (or remember that even knowing Judas would betray him, he still invited Judas to the Last Supper), we are reminded how Jesus calls us to seek to extend ourselves to others and empower others.

I was also thinking about those people who choose to stay away from the table, even when they are invited.  It is easier, of course, to criticize the decision made by those at the table if we are not one of the people at the table.  Perhaps the challenge is not just expanding who is invited to the table, but also accepting the responsibility of sitting at the table.

As I sat through the Bible study, I was reminded how much I enjoy the opportunity to reflect on biblical texts.  In fact, I had some thoughts about a sermon that I will preach later in the summer.  It reminds me that pushing to find time for reflection in my weekly schedule and having others with whom to reflect is an important part of being able to gain important insights.

One more story about the connectional church.  One of the commissioners on the committee I am serving is a minister from Charlotte, where my daughter went to college.  She knew the church where my daughter attended.  She is also from Wilmington, OH, and when she started talking about her ordination service, I realized that I had been the Moderator (or Vice-Moderator subbing for the Moderator) who presided at her ordination service.  Neither of us really remembered meeting, but we remembered enough about the service to know that we were both there!  Or course, it not only reminded me of the connectional system I love, but also how long I've been in ministry!

Sunday, June 19, 2016

General Assembly, early Sunday afternoon

A long day of travel to arrive at General Assembly, where the afternoon is just beginning in the Pacific time zone.

I took the mass transit from the airport to my hotel.  It was suggested as the "green" option, but it also was the less expensive option.  Taxi=$35.00; Shuttle=$15.00; mass transit=$2.50.  A no brainer.

As someone who has never visited Portland, I noticed some things I did not expect.  Visually, it looks a lot like Seattle, and there is a snow-capped mountain off in the distance.  I was surprised to see traffic moving very slowly on the highway as we moved by on the train.  I was glad to be on mass transit at that juncture. The convention center is really interesting looking.  It was a mild 65 degrees, so I did not even work up a sweat walking to the convention center form my hotel.

I arrived at the convention center for the first plenary meeting (a gathering of all the commissioners) a bit early to go through the registration process.  It did not take very long, so I had a few minutes to wander the Exhibition Hall, the place where all commissioners and visitors end up in pursuit of freebies at some time during the week. Even before getting to the Exhibition Hall, I ran into a colleague with whom I ran every afternoon during our seminary time together.  Then,  within five minutes of entering the Exhibition Hall, I ran into a colleague with whom I went to synod youth activities way back when I was in high school.

One of the joys of coming to General Assembly -- it is sort of like an extended family reunion.  You may not know everyone you see, but you will know some of the people you see, and if you stop and talk to almost anyone, you can figure out a connection.  In fact, one of our former members in Troy has sent me a text message to try and connect me with a minister from Tulsa where she now lives. Of course, as we go through our proceedings in the coming days we will see the family metaphor lived out in the squabbles we have.

Tonight we move into our committee meetings.  By the time I get back to my hotel room, my day will have been going for 21+ hours.  The adrenalin charge from General Assembly will be tested tonight.

General Assembly, early Sunday morning

It is 4:45 am Sunday morning, and I am at the airport for an early flight to Portland, OR, where I will be a commissioner to General Assembly. General Assembly actually started yesterday, but I am running a day late due to a previous commitment to participate in a renewal of wedding vows yesterday.

Yesterday I counted how many times I have been to a portion of a General Assembly, and I was suprised to realize that this will be the fifth General Assembly I have attended.  Inseminary, I worked for the General Assembly behind the scenes.  Six years ago, I was a commissioner.  Now, I return in that capacity.

I know that yesterday a new moderator was elected, and they had the opening worship service that included communion.  I greatly enjoy both of those activities, so I was disappointed to miss them.  It is a powerful feeling to worship with a convention center full of Presbyterians of all kinds, and then to share in the sacrament of the Lord' Supper together.  I can well remember my first General Assembly twenty-five years ago when I first shared in that worship.

I am a bit disappointed to search the web this morning and find no news of who was elected as Moderator.  This General Assembly there was an option to elect co-moderators.  This change reflects the demands of a moderator now that General Assembly meets every other years.  It will be interesting to see how that new model will work, if co-moderators are elected.

I will be serving on the General Assembly Precodures committee (that sounds exciting doesn't it?).  Not sure what that's all about yet, but by the time I land in Portland, I plan on being prepared (what better way to spend a two hour layover in Chicago and then a 4.5 hour flight to Portland than reading material related to my committee work.

I am trying out new technology this time at General Assembly.  Instead of taking my computer, I am using my iPad mini and bluetooth keyboard.  I hope it works! After carrying my heavy laptop (perhaps I need a new, lighter one) last week-end so I could work on a sermon while in Spokane, I decided no laptop this week.  It only took one phone call to Mario (our former youth pastor  who knows technology) to adapt a blue tooth keyboard we had at the church to my mini iPad, and here I am using it in the airport.  Let's hope it continues to work since wifi and computer (or other device) are the mode of operation for the General Assembly.  As I write that, I am reminded that in Detroit two years ago, I watched as they voted with the paper ballots when electing the moderator because of glitches with the technology!

Friday I was in a text messaging group with the other commissioners from our presbytery.  They were  feeling the excitement of arriving in Portland and getting settled before the opening gathering on Saturday.  As I read their messages, I began to feel the excitement as well.  Before the day ends, I will be experiencing that excitement in person.

I will be posting a daily blog from General Assembly through my preaching blog, so you can read it each day to get a feel for the life of a commissioner to General Assembly and what is happening at General Assembly from my perspective.