At this General Assembly, I saw the struggle of the Presbyterian Church trying to cope with the changing world. I sensed that many recognized the church could not remain as it had been. How can we be faithful to our Lord Jesus Christ while meaningfully engaging in a dialogue with the changing world that surrounds us? That was the big question we were struggling with at this Assembly. The Christian community has been struggling with that question from the very beginning. There was a lengthy debate about the uniqueness of Christ. Behind this debate, I saw that it was not just about the uniqueness of Christ but our own identity. Who are we in the context of this fast changing world? What is our own uniqueness?

Rev. Dr. Cheol Soon Park, Moderator of this year's General Asembly, wants to see the church move to the forefront of society. "Church should have the vision and understanding of the future or of the next generation, and we as a Christian community should show the people what to prepare and how to prepare and how we should move into the next stage; so my main theme is change."

"We are trying to help women see where the good news lies. We are taking the veil off issues they normally don't talk about," said Dr. Mercy Oduyoye, founder of The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, in her address to commissioners at the E.H. Johnson Award Luncheon on June 3.

In Matthew 5, Jesus says "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled … Blessed are those who mourn, for the will be comforted." When we seek justice, we have Christ's promise that we will find it in Him, that the brokenness in our relationships with God, our planet and each other will be healed and we will be reconciled through the grace of Jesus Christ.- Curtis Babitz, Student Representative, St. Andrew's Hall/Vancouver School of Theology

I was pleased to be able to spend a week with 18 new friends at General Assembly. YARs we were called – Young Adult Representatives. Our days were full of activities. Starting Sunday morning with a buffet breakfast with anything you wanted then heading straight to St. Andrew's, a truly beautiful church. Sederunt One began that evening in Knox, another beautiful church.

"If you invite someone to be open and honest about wounds you've inflicted on them, either personally or through identification, then you also have the responsibility to ask for forgiveness from the individual or group you have wounded," said Rev. Dan MacKinnon of Grace, Ottawa, following his request that the moderator apologize to General Assembly's aboriginal guests.

Rev. Dr. Hans Kouwenberg expressed concern the Presbyterian Church may have more of an institutional stance rather than that of a movement. "Although our new national resource centre, the Vine Network Helpline and The Vine Leadership Links sound promising, I continue to be concerned about adequate advocacy within the national offices for ongoing local congregational development, worship and evangelism, as well as for developing new national and regional strategies for new church development," Kouwenberg told commissioners in his closing speech as moderator of the 133rd General Assembly.

The enthusiastic congregation gathered at Knox, Ottawa, for the opening of the General Assembly experienced a worship service that was memorable. The presence of several hundred ready-to-sing Presbyterians put the average karaoke bar to shame. The Knox organ and choir were properly "classical" in that wonderful building and brought sweet memories to those who are weary of the 7/11 songs of seven words sung 11 times.

Mr. Moderator, let me begin by saying thank you for the opportunity to come and observe the court this week, and for the chance to share my reflections with the venerable assembly.

The longest debate at this year's assembly was an extension of issues raised last year by the Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations Committee. An overture asked assembly to reaffirm the uniqueness of Christ because the committee's revised mandate "included words that left people confused in terms of our relationship with people of other faiths," Rev. Shannon Bell-Wyminga, of B.C.'s Cariboo Ministry explained to the Record.

“I marvel as I look out among you at such a disparate and varied group. you are young and old, come from all corners of the nation and world, but you are also one. your passion and perception is a credit to your congregations and presbyteries.”

As a young girl, Pauline Brown dreamed of going to India. Years later, while a navy nurse, she met a man with gangrene who used to be a missionary in India. She told him of her dream to travel there, and his encouragement made the pull even stronger.

“I want to see a mighty flood of justice; a torrent of doing good.” Amos 5:24

Overtures regarding the Korean translation of Living Faith and The Book of Forms, and simultaneous Korean translation during future General Assemblies were referred to Assembly […]

How to be a commissioner in 4 easy steps.

Photos from the 133rd General Assembly (Waterloo, Ontario June 3-8, 2007)

Assembly is a good time for meeting friends and sometimes saying goodbye to them. One friend from my intervarsity days is annemarie Klassen, who is stepping down from her good work as associate secretary of stewardship and education in mission; another is Pauline brown, who is nearly a legend as a missionary, serving over 55 years in India and who has always encouraged me through my years at the renewal Fellowship. Pauline, although retired, will return to India and continue to do the work she has been doing, now on a volunteer basis. The three or four standing ovations indicated the high respect, love, and deep honour the church holds for her. another friend in the leaving mode is Jim Czegledi who worked as associate secretary of evangelism and Worship for most of the last decade. Others and I have deeply appreciated his leadership in this field. Finally, my friend Hans Kouwenberg was elected moderator of assembly and we wish him every blessing in the year ahead as he emphasizes grass root ministry in congregations as the core ministry in the church's mission.

Dr. Ernie Regehr's passion for his peace-building work was shown with tears while accepting the E.H. Johnson award for being “on the cutting edge of mission.” His emotions were evident when he recounted a conversation he had with a sudanese refugee during the north-south civil war — a time when outside aid was so non-existent that the thousands of squatters had no food, not even tea. The young man asked Regehr why no one had stepped in to help. “The desolation haunts me in a more visceral and immediate way than do the scenes of the inhuman physical hardship and deprivation that are strong and present there. The reality of utter abandonment was something that E.H. Johnson knew very well — and he refused to tolerate it.”

Being a Young Adult Representative at this year's General Assembly is one of the most unexpectedly enjoyable things I have done in my life. In all honesty, I had no idea what to expect. I was being thrown into the inner workings of the church I had grown up in, and I did not know if I would come out the other side. I felt unprepared and inexperienced and I was starting to get uneasy about the whole affair. Fortunately for me, when I arrived at the beautiful campus at Waterloo, my uneasiness was quenched when the smiling face of John-Peter Smit, a YAR group leader along with his wife Tori, greeted me. He took me to a magical land where there were 15 other young people, all of whom were quite confused. That was the beginning of our adventure. We were told about the procedure of assembly and the general order of things, but there is a big difference between being told what will happen and experiencing something as it is happening.

Photos by Andrew Faiz