What Did It All Mean?: GA Wrapup and Reflections

The 221^st General Assembly was not pretty, but it was historic. Low budgets (GA222 will be even lower) meant less pageantry and condensed schedules. The internet-based voting system didn’t work at all, and the wireless backup was at times unreliable. We elected a fine team as moderator and vice-moderator, but the management of the debate was halting and sometimes frustrating. And, it seems at times that the commissioners were not only lost in the issues, but also poorly grounded in our polity and ethos.

But when looked at as a whole, the actions of the Assembly were historic, and signaled a watershed moment in the history of the church. With no organized evangelical voice at the Assembly, there was little resistance on such issues as marriage equality and gun violence. The once-controversial Belhar Confession will likely be approved by presbyteries in a cakewalk. While Middle East issues do not conform as neatly to an ideological paradigm, the right wing is more strongly pro-Israel, and their diminution was enough to provide the 2% difference from 2012 to approve divestment.

The theme of this assembly was “Abound in Hope,” and it would appear that as the denomination settles into a post amendment 10-A landscape, with the departure, however painful, of many of our largest and most strident evangelical churches, a new identity is emerging, and with it, a clearer, stronger voice, and – dare I say it – hope.

The new PC(USA) is less contentious, less obsessed with 20^th century culture wars, more attuned to the issues and needs of Gen-Xers and Millennials, more multicultural, and, of course, more theologically and socially progressive. That poses new challenges as well as new opportunities. We are still an aging church, and will continue to lose members simply due to the demographic realities. It is unclear how quickly and to what extent power will shift to newer, younger leaders. Financial support will continue to decline. The organizational system is entrenched in models that reflect a 1970s context, while trying to function with a fraction of the human and financial resources it once had.

Nevertheless, there is a sense of relief – perhaps on both sides – that the Thirty Years’ War in the church over sexuality and culture seems to have run its course, at least at the national level. But if the hope that has been generated is to be translated into new vitality, it will require stronger leadership than we have seen in recent years, a clearer denominational purpose and vision, and a church-wide adaptive strategy, beginning with the six-headed beast at the top.

Kudos are due to the Committee on Local Arrangements and the City of Detroit for their gracious hospitality and smooth operation. Any who didn't attend out of concern for the site missed out on a great city with a vibrant and safe downtown convention area. I did not hear of a single incident that would have validated any concerns about the location.

So, now we look to GA222 in Portland, Oregon, meeting June 18-25, 2016. One thing is certain: it will be a different PC(USA) that meets there, and a different one that emerges.

My thanks to you who have followed this blog. So far, it has received 50% more page views with fewer than 2/3 the number of posts than my last GA blog. God willing, I will be back in two years with An Insider’s Guide to the 222^nd General Assembly.