The 219th General Assembly brings together 712 elected commissioners from every Presbytery in the nation. The gathering also includes 173 YAADs, or Young Adult Advisory Delegates, 25 TSADs, Theological Seminary Advisory Delegates from the Presbyterian-related seminaries, 8 Missionary Advisory Delegates, 15 Ecumenical Advisory Delegates. These are the people attending the General Assembly upon whom rests the responsibility to discern God's will together relating to a variety of issues and concerns facing the church and the world today. In the plenary session, the people, mentioned above sit in a dedicated area altogether in approximate alphabetical order by Presbytery. The Cascades contingent are seated just about in the middle section in the first two rows. They get an up-close perspective on the action.
Others who are attending this gathering sit further back. There are designated sections for the presbytery and synod executives and another section for the stated clerks. Though in the back corner, my assigned seat IS in the front row of the section, and a pretty good place to view things. In back of all the designated representatives sit the observers in the bleachers. People have come from north and south and east and west, just to observe the goings on and meet old friends and colleagues. It's all a part of the tradition. One doesn't have to look far to find a long lost friend. Sitting in the lobby of the convention center for a few minutes or strolling through the exhibition hall is the best way to discover familiar faces.
Volunteers from three local presbyteries have labored for a few years to make this gathering a reality. The Committee on Local Arrangements or COLA, consists of 200 volunteers and 2000 volunteers. Right now they are all working intensely and in a dedicated way to make sure everything goes smoothly and that all attenders feel welcome. It is most appropriate that the theme of the Assembly is "Out of a believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water." Minnesota is a land of many waters. Legend has it that it is the land of 10,000 lakes, but more accurately, it is 15,000 plus. The name Minnesota is based on the Native American Dakota word "minisota," meaning "water that reflects the sky." In the first plenary session on Saturday,
those in attendance were greeted by those Presbyterian Minnesotans who have been planning and preparing for us.
The other major item of business for the first day of the assembly is the selection of a new moderator, who will lead the meeting in the days to come and be a spokesperson for the church in the next two years. Bruce Reyes-Chow, Moderator of the 218 General Assembly, and who is a member of San Francisco Presbytery presided over the evening. Bruce is affectionately known as the "techie" Moderator, as he pastors a church made up of mostly 20 and 30 somethings and advocates and uses tweeting, facebook, and other social media to connect with people and spread the gospel.
There were 6 very qualified people who have felt the call of the Spirit to serve as Moderator of the 219th General Assembly. I felt that I would have been pleased to have any one of them as moderator of my church. They were each introduced in a speech by an advocate, then they were each given time to speak for themselves. After that there was a question/answer period where each was given the opportunity to respond to questions of the commissioners. Having six well spoken candidates go through this process, took a great deal of time, but after we'd heard all of them speak several times, we began to get an idea of who each one was. Finally the voting began. Commissioners and Advisory delegates vote with a wireless voting device. Unfortunately, on this first run of the system, things didn't go very smoothly. Many were not getting their votes registered. The evening went on with the trials of an electronic system. The rule is that a candidate does not win unless they achieve a majority of the votes.
When the system's glitches finally seemed to be worked out, it took two votes before one person finally received 51% of the vote. That candidate was Elder Cynthia Bolback, the only elder in the group of about half men and women. She is from the National Capital Presbytery and has been a part of the task force working on the new form of government (FOG). It seemed to me that she will very ably moderate the meetings of the General Assembly with seriousness, polity expertise, and a quiet but appealing wit. It seemed that all was chaos for much of the process, but the end result, it seemed was actually a work of the Holy Spirit. With the announcement of the election results the tired crowd came to life again to celebrate and pray for this new leader. Among her supporters on stage was a life size- cardboard figure of John Calvin. Even this ancient founder was on hand it spirit to celebrate with the church.
Please pray for our new moderator, Cynthia Bolback as she begins her important service to the church this week.
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