This is a picture of the room where all of us gather to take care of business.
There are over 600 commissioners from over a hundred Presbyteries in the PC(USA). These commissioners are what are now called teaching elders (ministers) and ruling elders (lay people, or as my brother in Christ Nik from Mt. Sterling says, regular elders).
Our first order of business today as the General Assembly was to worship. We worshipped together which included communion and a commissioning of us commssioners. Then during the hymn "God, bless your Church with Strength" the commissioners went forth toward the plenary room to begin our business as the rest of the gathered worshippers sang "God bless your church with life. May our branches thrive, unblemished, wholesome, bearing fruit, abundandantly alive."
The words faded as we walked away from where we worshipped and walked toward the plenary room, and the sound I heard was the call of the bagpipes. And there the piper was-all dressed in his finest. The tune changed as I approached, and I recognized "Simple Gifts" as I walked by the piper and into the room in which we will decide God's will for the church.
I have a lot of trepidation about being given this task of discerning God's will. It's heavy stuff because this is the Lord we're talking about, and this is His Church.
I have been placed on one of the most controversial committees-the one which deals with Civil Union and Marriage Issues. In preparing to come here to Pittsburgh, I was assured that within the parameters of representation (gender and minister vs elder) the committee assignments are random "So assume," the clerk of GA has said, "that your assignment is the work of the Spirit." I have joked that I wish the Spirit didn't have so much faith in me because I didn't want to serve on such a controversial committee. But in all seriousness, the discernment process is a process, and perhaps my reluctance to serve means I am still open to how the Spirit is going to move within this governing body this week. I hope so.
Tonight we elected our new moderator for General Assembly, The Reverend Neal Presa. I had the opportunity to listen to him this morning, and what struck me about him was his commitment to the peace of the church. His gentle manner and quiet thoughtfulness made me a little sad because I thought 'there's no way this guy is going to get voted for moderator.' He's too gentle. He won't stand out as dynamic. And yet he did stand out. The Assembly voted, and he was chosen. His thought-filled manner, his concern for peace and working with those even when we are in disagreement hit a note of harmony with the gathered church. And they said yes.
Though I had forgotten about it, one of my childhood heroes had his home here in Pittsburgh. That person is Fred Rogers. I grew up watching Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. Mr. Rogers died shortly before my daughter was born. If she'd been a boy, we would have named her Fred in honor of this gentle, caring man who was also (if you didn't know it) an ordained Presbyterian minister.
As a special treat today, one of the characters from Mr. Rogers came to G.A. and welcomed us to Pittsburgh. Mr. McFeeley! I was starstruck. There was the REAL Mr. McFeeley! Oh, my gosh!! And he looks exactly as he did when I was five years old. Anyway, I loved Mr. Rogers because he was such a gentle spirit. He never yelled or got angry. I loved that about him.
Anyway, maybe there's something about Pittsburgh that encourages that kind of calm demeanor. Here's something interesting. This is a big city, and yet when I jaywalk, the cars will stop and let me cross the street. Without horn honking or brake screeching. You think that ever happens in Atlanta? Heck no.
As Reverend Presa took on the gavel as moderator, the gathered assembly said farewell to its former moderator of two years Cynthia Bolbach. Cynthia has been battling cancer and undergoing chemo. In spite of that, she is here at GA-in a wheelchair, but here and she preached an incredible sermon today at our opening worship and she moderated our meeting until we elected a new moderator. I can't imagine what it must be like to have the job of being moderator of the PC(USA) when one is also battling cancer, but of course, God equipped her for what she needed to do, and she is doing it.
In these three people-Fred Rogers, Cynthia Balbach, and Neal Presa-I have witnessed the strength of calming presence.
I am encouraged by that witness tonight and I consider that it is the Spirit which is calling to me to be calm as well.
It's going to be all right. As one of my favorite verses reminds me. "Wait for the Lord. Be strong, and take heart, and wait for the Lord."
I'll miss being with my church family at First Ashland tomorrow, but I will be in worship at First Pittsburgh.
Good night from Pittsburgh,
Your Commissioner and sister in Christ,
Jennifer
