General Assembly, the event, has come and gone. What we learned and what we have to do in response to the GA is now beginning. If you haven't received notice you will soon about an agreement we made with the Outlook. We have arranged to provide each congregant in the presbytery access to a summary document prepared by the Outlook to be used as a bulletin insert. I encourage you to use it. in addition, the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) has produced a pdf file as a summary about the GA. You can download it from the GA210 website. Again, while these resources are available, they will not work if we don't circulate them.

In addition to te printed documents, Dan Hignight, Ron Brown and I will be in Dallas on Wednesday, July 28, to meet with execs, stated clerks and moderators of all the presbyteries in the synod to discuss and reflect on some of the specific items coming down to our presbyteries from GA. I'm sure we will learn a lot and have much to share.

On a personal note, I will be away from the presbytery from July 30 through August 5. Edith, the girls and I will be on a end-of-summer/pre-college-departure family trip. Our oldest, Katherine, leaves for the University of the Ozarks on August 15, so we're having mixed emotions of joy and fear as she leaves home.

Keep Dan and Kathleen in your prayers. Kathleen fell last week and broke her right arm, requiring surgery last Friday morning. This week they found that there is still a crack in the bone nearer her elbow and below the rod that was inserted.

We said goodbye this month to Melodie Long. Melodie, who has served us well as pastor of Trinity, Jonesville and a variety of presbytery-level jobs, has moved to Sackett Harbor, NY as pastor of the Presbyterian Church there.

I won't post anything next Friday due to my trip, but will be back here on August 6. Don't forget about Pines School on August 7 in El Dorado. Get your registrations in.

'til later....

Back home in Ruston.

Preparing to do a presentation on GA tomorrow (Sunday) at Shreveport First. By the time I got back home, the Stated Clerk and Moderator had posted a pastoral letter to the church along with some FAQs about some particular actions taken at GA. I would encourage you to read them and share them with your congregations.

My first quick thoughts are that I am exceedingly proud of the commissioners and YAAD we sent from Pines. First of all, they behaved themselves. But more than that, they were engaged, asked strong questions and came away energized about this incredible thing we call PC(USA).

My wife, Edith, attended the GA with me. As CPM moderator, she had a chance to participate in a training event with CPM moderators from throughout the country. On the way back home she talked about what she learned and how she can't wait to share her learnings with our CPM.

I had a conversation with Marvin Groote, interim executive presbyter from South Louisiana, and we talked about what if we had a joint presbyteries' meeting, probably in Alexandria, in the fall of 2011? The three presbyteries in Oklahoma have held a tri-presbytery event for a number of years. What a great opportunity to get together with our brothers and sisters from the south (and they with their brothers and sisters from north Louisiana and south Arkansas) for a time of fellowship, worship, prayer and sharing the stories of God's work in our midst.

There's to be another Big Tent event next summer in Indianapolis. I think we should get a group together and join with over 2000 other Presbyterians there. Watch for more information from the presbytery office.

There's a lot of work and praying and studying to be done between now and the February meeting of the Presbytery of the Pines.

Get on and hold on! It's going to be a heck of a ride.

The text for the GA was "out of believers' hearts shall flow rivers of living water"- John 7:38. Rivers are moving, dynamic entities. Our church is a moving, dynamic entity. God is calling our church to new opportunities of mission and to create new disciples for our Lord, Jesus Christ.

'til later.....

Well, today certainly has been one of compassion and passion from the prayers to the music to the debates. The day began with a request to reconsider the actions of last evening to reopen debate around Civil Unions and Christian Marriage. The Assembly did not approve the motion to reconsider and went on.
The day was filled with quick motion on many items. Consent agendas were used widely to combine certain committee actions.
The Assembly overwhelmingly adopted the amended report on the Middle East as the amended report was much more balanced than the original document.
A significant debate took place over the recommendations pertaining to the Board of Pensions. The commissioners approved a request to urge the Board of Pensions to provide coverage for members, same-sex partners and children. This only pertains to any non-ordained persons. This extended coverage will result in an increase in Board of Pension dues by all persons of no more than 1% beginning in 2012. The Assembly also approved item 18-12: "The 219th General Assembly (2010) urges the Board of Pensions to develop a plan to ensure that funds from any Relief of Conscience churches do not go to fund abortions through any avenue." Of particular import is the use of the word "urge". The General Assembly lacks the authority to "instruct" the Board of Pensions, so the use of "urge" is the strongest term possible. The Board of Pensions has responded quickly when urged in the past and assured the Assembly that they will respond in this case.
The Assembly heard and acted on a report from the Committee on Polity, committee 05. To read this committee's actions and any other committees' actions, log on to pc-biz.

'til later.....

The General Assembly combined the majority report and minority report on Civil Union and Christian Marriage into one and sent it down to the churches and presbyteries for study. With this action the GA also answered all other pending business within committee 12 with the action. What does this mean? I believe it means that this assembly makes no change in our current standards regarding marriage.
The Stated Clerk and I will begin to soon form response groups to develop strategies for interpreting GA actions to the presbytery.

'til later....

Friends:
The GA just voted 53/46/1 to replace G-6.0106b with new language as found in 06-09 on pc-biz. We have lots of prayer and work in front of us. This amendment will be sent down to the presbytery for our action in February.

'til later....

Good Morning!!

Attended worship this morning to commission and re-commission mission co-workers and youth volunteers. I remembered Les and Cindy Morgan and their incredible gift to Christ's Church and to us in the Pines.

There is a sense of quiet this morning. I don't know whether it's exhaustion, boredom, or anticipation of what might come. We shall see.

Had dinner with our commissioners last night. Donna, Beth and Jessica are already beginning to discuss their presentation to presbytery in October.

Have a great day. I'll send periodic updates as things progress.

'til later.....

Well, the first day of plenary has recessed. Two items have been sent down to the presbytery so far. The Belhar Confession was approved and sent down for approval by the presbyteries. Because it is an addition to the Book of Confessions, it will require a 2/3's vote of the presbyteries and approval from the 220th GA (2012) before it could be added. In addition, by a 69%/30%/1% vote the New Form of Government was approved and sent down. It needs to receive a 50%+1 vote to replace the current Form of Government of our Book of Order. This nFOG, as it is called, does not change anything in the Directory for Worship or the Book of Discipline.
Some of you have said that you can't read my postings. I checked this evening and discovered that Microsoft Internet Explorer does not properly display the posting. For those of you who are currently using Internet Explorer I encourage you to change your browser to Firefox for Windows. It is a simple download and works very well.
'til later.....

Folks,

Sitting the in first plenary session. Hope you're watching on the GA website. The plenary began with a series of budget implication statements of actions yet to come. We have now affirmed the election of new presidents of Columbia, Louisville and Johnson C. Smith seminaries.

The assembly is now debating the amendments to be added to the work of the group working on the Belhar confession for inclusion of their report due later. The instructions were given earlier today to the committee working on the retranslation of the Heidleberg Confession to present the retranslation to the 220th GA (2012).

'til later...

Tuesday has dawned bright and clear.

I visited with Donna Rose this morning who is hopeful that her committee, Health Issues, will be through with their committee agenda today.

General Assembly Procedures continued to slog through its agenda until almost 10:00 pm last night. The bulk of the evening session was spent in debating overtures from San Diego Presbytery to amend the approval percentage for Book of Order amendments from the current simply majority to a 2/3's vote and an overture from Foothills (SC) Presbytery to move to a six year GA cycle. The San Diego overture was turned down while the Foothills overture was referred to the committee reviewing the biennial assembly process.

Middle Governing Bodies has completed the hearing process and is now in the wordsmithing stage. The committee is recommending to the Assembly that the commission on synod and presbytery boundaries be established.

It appears that most committee work will be complete by dinner with the assembly gathering in plenary after lunch on Wednesday.

Don't forget to follow on pc-biz and watch the streaming video that begins when we reconvene on Wednesday.

'til later.....

It's a gray, rainy day here in Minneapolis. The committees have begun their work. Attended the GA Prayer Breakfast this morning. Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons presented a meditation on the story of Jesus sleeping out on the lake while the disciples were very frightened during a storm. He closed with his mantra : "Get in the boat, go out into the lake, there will be a storm and you will not die." Phyllis Tickle, author of "The Great Emergence" spoke briefly about her book and participated in a time of Q&A.

Following breakfast I sat in with all three committees to which our presbytery folks have been assigned: YAAD Jessica Walter (General Assembly Procedures); Elder Donna Rose (Health Issues); and, Rev. Beth Sentell (Middle Governing Bodies). All three committees were in the open hearing portion of their work. Remember, if you want to follow along, log into www.pc-biz.org. You can see what items are being discussed, what decisions might have already been made and what's coming up.

Jessica made a comment to me that this assembly sure was different from her home church (Chidester, Tates Bluff). I reminded her that the committee she sits on is three times larger than her church.

Edith and I attended the Small Church Luncheon and picked up some new resources on small church ministry. Heard some good warm success stories about churches living through struggles and becoming stronger.

There seems to be a lull in the energy level around here right now. Folks are going about their business in a friendly, collegial way. We'll see if it holds.

'til later........

Well, the first day of GA 219 has come to a close. The meeting convened at 1:30 with moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow bringing down the gavel. The afternoon session was spent with housekeeping announcements, brief reports from the moderator and vice-moderator, and various reports from the leadership of the General Assembly Mission Council. A significant amount of time was spent in orienting the commissioners and advisory delegates to the ins and outs of the meetings. As it turned out, the training in using the balloting boxes would stand the voters in good stead later in the day.

After dinner the assembly convened for the election of the moderator. There were six moderatorial candidates. There were nomination speeches and speeches from each of the candidates. Following the speeches, there was a ninety minute period for Q&A for each candidate. After that, the voting began. After two ballots, a question was raised about the vote totals being shown on the big screen. It was discovered that there were almost 200 votes not being counted. So, we stopped the voting and went through a time of voting on whether or not folks had dinner to narrow down the technical issues. During this, a motion was presented to amend the standing rules to allow the lowest vote-getter's name to be deleted from receiving further votes. The motion received a 73% positive vote but failed because an amendment to the standing rules requires a 3/4's vote (75%). So, back to the voting for moderator. After two more ballots, Cynthia Bolbach, an elder from Arlington, VA, First Presbyterian was elected.

After installation and an exchange of gifts from the assembly to the outgoing moderator and vice-moderator, the newly elected moderator declared the assembly to be in recess for the evening. Long day.

'til next time.....

Check out the live streaming from GA on the PCUSA GA 219 website. Just click on the GA button on the presbytery home page.

Off for Minneapolis.