As I write today, the General Assembly of our denomination is meeting in San Jose, CA. In the two days left to conduct their business, the Assembly will deal with its most controversial issues, including an overture to ammend paragraph G-6.0106b of the Book of Order dealing with ordination standards, and overturning the findings of the Peace, Unity and Purity report passed at the 2006 General Assembly. These are the issues that will no doubt dominate media coverage of these decisions.  As of Friday at 1:00 p.m., these decisions have not been made. I want to let you know about events and decisions at this General Assembly you might not hear much about. 

(cont.) Last Saturday night, the Assembly elected the Reverend Bruce Reyes-Chow, a 39-year-old new church development pastor and a leader in the emergent church movement. Rev. Reyes-Chow is pastor of Mission Bay Community Church, an innovative new church of San Francisco Presbytery who recently received the Sam and Helen Walton Award for outstanding new church development. Reyes-Chow, the grandson of Chinese and Filipino immigrants to California, was raised in Sacramento and Stockton, CA. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University and San Francisco Theological Seminary. He describes himself as a “pastor/geek/dad/follower of Christ.”  In her nominating speech, my friend Vivian Guthrie, the widow of Shirley Guthrie, said Reyes-Chow’s election was needed, “to keep our church relevant … or we aren’t going to be on the same page as younger people. Bruce has a profound understanding of the way the world is changing, so he can help us feel less anxious and less resistant to change.”

On Tuesday, a proposal to significantly simplify the Book of Order was approved for referral to the General Assembly Office and to Presbyteries and churches for study. This will be a landmark process and will no doubt enhance our understanding of Presbyterian polity.

On Wednesday, the Assembly approved a resolution “On Calling for Tolerance and Peaceful Relations Between the Christian and Muslim Communities.” The vote was 547-149. The Assembly found common ground with interfaith groups in the concept that Christians, Jews and Muslims may hold different understandings of how God has been revealed to humankind, but all three groups are called to love God and neighbor and care for the poor. That means Presbyterians ought to be in conversation with Jews and Muslims, celebrate religious holidays together and even set aside days to worship together — all to promote understanding, respect and goodwill.

On Thursday, the Assembly celebrated an announcement concerning the denomination’s Mission Initiative. To date, over $33 million has been raised nationally to support missionary efforts at home and abroad. Half of these funds will be used for new church development projects in the United States, and the other half will fund missionary efforts around the world.

Please keep our denomination in your prayers as today and tomorrow major decisions will be made concerning controversial matters. Know that whatever decisions are made, the Presbyterian system requires they be sent to the Presbyteries to be ratified. So ultimately, no change will happen as a result of today’s decisions. Change may be initiated, but no final decisions will be made.

I continue to believe it is an amazingly hopeful time for our congregation. This year’s General Assembly gives me hope for our denomination’s future.  We’ve elected a visionary leader. We’ve committed a tremendous amount of money to mission.  We’ve made a bold statement calling for interfaith dialogue. All in all, I see these things as positives. I look forward to discussing with you all the matters that come from this General Assembly in the days and weeks ahead. 

In Christ,

Joe