GA Summary - Day One

The General Assembly convened for its first day of business Saturday, although it could hardly be called the first day of General Assembly. Stated Clerks have been here since Tuesday, Committee Leadership since Wednesday, and all Commissioner and Advisory Delegates had to report Friday for training in racism awareness. The first days of the Assembly are the most joyful: people are fresh, old friendships are renewed, and people haven't gotten bogged down in the hard work of committees. The first day had a number of surprises: the outgoing moderator, Joan Gray, appeared looking like the loser in a prize fight -- she had taken her last moderatorial "trip" on a San Jose curb, falling on her face and breaking her cheekbone. She toughed it out like Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open, and handed over the moderatorial duties tonight to our newly elected moderator, Bruce Reyes-Chow of San Francisco (more on that below). Perhaps less surprising were the technical difficulties with the "PC-biz" electronic GA business tracker, which failed to work and forced the first official business -- the report of the GA Business Referrals Committee to be twice delayed.

PC-Biz was not needed, however, to conduct the moderatorial election. Four candidates were "standing" (not "running," which I gather is unseemly for persons seeking church office) for moderator: Each defined himself (they were all male) with a theme or cause, much like beauty pageant contestants. This didn't use to be the case, but with two-year terms now, it has become commonplace. You can only talk about the actions of the assembly for so long before it becomes old news. The four were Carl Mazza, a minister from Delaware who has a commitment to ministry with the homeless; Roger Shoemaker, an elder from Lincoln, Nebraska, whose theme was renewed commitment to local congregations; Bill Teng (pronouced "tongue") a pastor from Washington, D.C., who trumpeted evangelism and global mission; and Bruce Reyes-Chow, a minister from nearby San Francisco, who advocated outreach to young adults through "missional" and "emergent" ministries. Chow is 39 years old, and presented a clear contrast to the three much older men. He was the overwhelming favorite of the Youth and Theological Student Advisory Delegates, but took two ballots to gain a majority vote from the generally older commissioners. Reyes-Chow was outspoken in his support of progressive church politics (read: gay ordination), but vowed to be "excruciatingly fair" in his moderatorial duties.

It seemed to me as an observer, however, that this moderatorial contest generated amazingly litte energy or enthusiasm. Even the supporters of the winner were subdued in comparison to past campaigns. Perhaps it is because an open race for Stated Clerk garnered the pre-Assembly buzz, or perhaps it is because we are growing tired of fighting our ideological battles, or perhaps we have come to realize that the Moderator's role is mostly symbolic and makes little difference in the realpolitik world of the denomination.

For Plains and Peaks readers, there is a healthy presence of folks from our Presbytery at the Assembly, but one that is not present is one of our two minister commissioners, Wayne Nickerson. Wayne was called away to New Hampshire shortly before the Assembly to deal with a family emergency, which he hoped would not prevent his attendance at the Assembly, but ultimately required that he withdraw. The benefit of having four commissioners, however, means that our Presbytery is still well represented by the Rev. Stephen Roosa, Elders Joe Tunner and Sylvia Dooling, plus YAD Kelsey Day and TSAD Christopher Williams. Keep Wayne and his family in your prayers, however.

Tomorrow (Sunday) will be highlighted by the mass opening worship service, the new moderator's reception, and the begining of committee work (in the evening). Oh, and the Committee on Business Referrals may finally get to make its report.