To borrow a phrase:
I did not insert the word ‘not’ above, and I don’t know who did!
Actually, much of the week was well spent, in spite of the hot, humid weather, the endless chicken meals and the occasional commissioner who felt that he or she must express an opinion on every “little” item on the docket.
There was that magnificent sermon on opening night by the outgoing moderator, Herb Gale. His compelling challenge to “jump into the cool, refreshing river of God’s abundant grace and splash around” was an invitation hard to resist. Then there was the excellent leadership of Rick Horst, the new moderator, as he guided the assembly through some rocky rapids with efficiency and good humour.
This year there seemed to be less of that rancorous right/left theological division than in other years. It was still there but it was expressed with respect for the other’s opinion and with a welcome generosity of spirit—for the most part. During discussion on the wording of a statement about our church’s relationship with the Jewish people, which called us “to reach out in friendship and hospitality” to Jewish neighbours, a commissioner moved to insert the words “and with prayerful witness.” This gave rise to spirited debate on what constituted “prayerful witness.” Some of us saw these as code words for “converting the Jews” which seemed to be out of place in a public statement that would be shared with Jewish sisters and brothers. The amendment was narrowly defeated in the assembly’s only standing vote.
Assembly made one decision that could have far – reaching implications for our theology of the ministry of word and sacraments. This is the ministry to which ministers have always been ordained in our church. But this assembly decided to permit presbyteries, in special circumstances, to commission a properly trained ruling elder or a member of the Order of Diaconal Ministries to administer the Sacrament of Holy Communion. This, of course, is a change to the law of the church so it must be sent to presbyteries for their vote. I welcome this change because it provides a means for folk in remote areas to receive the nourishment of the sacrament on a regular basis; but stay tuned for some confusion over what the ordination of ministers is all about.
The assembly’s response to the cry from Palestinian Christians, known as the Kairos Palestine Document, was keenly debated. This debate reflected the difference of opinion on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that exists in Canadian society and around the world. But in the end the assembly wisely, I thought, decided to respond as one body of Christians writing to another, not fully agreeing with them but expressing Christian solidarity.
If there was one issue at this assembly that defined the struggle that we find ourselves in as a denomination, it was the lack of a comprehensive vision for the church, which prevents us from setting clear priorities and leaves us stuck with a national structure that claims to give priority to the needs of congregations but is built on an anachronistic Christendom model that is no longer suitable in a post – Christendom era. This was evident in three overtures that called for restructuring of the national organization. Each of them referred to the decline in membership and the loss of congregations, and the need for the national structure to focus money and staff on the renewal and resourcing of congregations. This was a cry for help, but it gave the impression that if we just get the structure right our churches will be rescued. Of course that is not true, but it does indicate that the church out there expects a level of help from the national structure that it is not getting now.
The dilemma for the national organization is how to respond to this cry at the very time when contributions to Presbyterians Sharing are declining. The Life and Mission Agency tried to meet this impossible challenge by a merging of departments into a peculiarly named office called Canadian Ministries/The Vine.
Commissioners attempted to address those overtures by asking for a special committee to take on the task of visioning and restructuring. In the end the assembly decided to leave this task to the body that is supposed to be doing it—the Assembly Council. My conviction is that we must now do what we should have done 20 years ago; that is, imagine that we have no national structure in place, start from scratch and design a structure that will meet the realities of today and stop trying to fit a round peg into a square hole by rearranging things at Wynford Drive.
Such are my random impressions here on the last day of assembly. We probably could have done in two days what we took five days to do, but hey, we would have missed all those chicken meals.
We are a gifted and struggling church, but the river of God’s grace flows in abundance, so hope is the main item on the docket. And honestly, I don’t know who inserted the “not” above.
