Monday, July 19, 2010

So what happened at General Assembly

So what is General Assembly, why ought I to care and what happened at its last meeting?

First General Assembly is the every-other year gathering of elders and ministers, elected by our regional bodies called presbyteries, who look at issues facing our denomination. This gathering studies, debates and recommends directions in which the denomination ought to go. It also makes recommendations as to changes in our constitution (called the Book of Order) that guides our corporate life. Any changes to our constitution must be voted on by the regional bodies before they come into effect.

We should care about what happens at General Assembly because changes the Assembly might make could impact (even if in a minimal way) the life and work of First Presbyterian Church. While most of what we do here at 1669 W. Maple is directed by our elders and you the congregation members, recommendations and changes in our constitution can affect the overall governance and life of our congregation.

So what happened at this last meeting (I list only the five most important)?

  1. The Assembly debated the definition of marriage. Currently our constitution specifics that marriage is between a man and woman. In the face of several states allowing same-sex marriage the Assembly struggled with our current definition. The outcome of the debate was the reaffirmation of our existing definition.
  2. The Assembly debated the language surrounding the qualifications for ordination. Currently our constitution requires that those coming for ordination live celibate lives if single and that sexual relationships are only appropriate for married (one man, one woman) clergy. The Assembly voted to remove this language and allow congregations and presbyteries full authority to decide who ought to be ordained (this will go to the regional bodies for a vote).
  3. The Assembly debated the overall structure of our constitution. Our constitution was at one time small enough to fit into a shirt pocket. Over the years it has grown into an ever larger document outlining procedures to cover virtually every aspect of the life of a church or regional body. The Assembly approved a reduction in the size of the constitution which focuses on fundamentals of governance and not the details. Churches and regional bodies will be able to work out all of the details for themselves (this will go to the regional bodies for a vote).
  4. The Assembly debated the nature of our relationship with Israel and the Palestinians and their ongoing conflict. Historically our denomination has insisted upon the right of Israel to be safe within its borders, the right of the Palestinian people to their own nation and the desire for Jerusalem to be open to people of all faiths. This position was once again affirmed by the Assembly along with a call for Israel to move the separation wall back to its borders and off of Palestinian land.
  5. The Assembly discussed the current boundaries of our regional governing bodies and elected a commission (which can act with the authority of the Assembly) to reorganize those boundaries when and if requested by those regional bodies.

If you have more questions about the Assembly you can ask me or our own Rosy Latimore who was a delegate to the Assembly. John

Monday, July 5, 2010

Visions From Our Story: The Church as Worshipping Community

So what makes the church different from any other organization that does good things and trains children to be helpful, caring individuals? I ask this question because much of what the church does is also done by other organizations. We focus on caring for the environment. Greenpeace, The Nature Conservancy, Earth First and hundreds of other organizations do the same. We focus on making our children better, more caring people. Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, and most of our schools do the same. We focus on helping those in need. Lighthouse, the Red Cross, Orchards Children and Family services along with thousands of other organizations do the same. So what makes us different?

The answer can be found in two words, worship and witness. This week we will look at worship and next week at witness. (Actually we will spend several weeks looking at what it means to be church…but these two factors, worship and witness, define us in our most essential essence).

Wikipedia defines Christian worship as, "the central act of Christian identity, the purpose of which is to ascribe honor or worth to God." While this definition is helpful it does not quite get at the fullness of what Christian worship is about. Warren Wiersbe (with some personal additions from me in italics)
offers a better definition. He writes, "Worship is the believer's response of all that he/she is--mind, emotions, will, possessions and body--to all that God is and says and does (in Jesus Christ)." In other words worship is a life orientation as much as it is something we do for an hour on Sunday mornings.

The people of God have always struggled with this definition of worship (though it is at the heart of the entire Biblical story) because it demands so much. It has always been easier to choose one of two alternatives.

The first alternative is to see worship as a particular set of practices (singing hymns, saying prayers, offering gifts, listening to sermons, etc.) rather than a way of life. In other words as long as we go through the religious motions we have met all of God's requirements. We have liked seeing worship in this way because it allows us to be in charge of our lives rather than turning control of our lives over to God. The outcome of this choice however is that we often fail to love others as God in Christ has called upon us to do, thus the Promise of a transformed world is lost.

    The second alternative has been to assume that if we live good lives then our worship is complete. In other words as long as we are nice and polite to people around us then we have fulfilled everything that God desires and we don't actually need to be "in church" and engage in a particular set of liturgical practices. We have liked this choice because we don't actually have to take the time to give praise and glory to God…we don't have to give God any of our time and attention. The outcome of this choice however is that we lose our connection with the living God and thus the Promise of transformed lives is lost.

    We are different from other organizations because in worship we offer our minds, emotions, wills, possessions and bodies to the living God through a particular set of practices and then go forth showing the sacrificial love of God in Christ to the world in all that we say and do. Worship sets us apart in both action and orientation. So as we seek our vision for our life together we need to hold worship as central to our life and to our identity as the people of the Promise.