Presby-Musings

The 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is underway in Minneapolis. Every two years Presbyterians of the PC(USA) stripe gather for several days of...  I really am not sure how to describe what happens at our GA gatherings.  I do know that each time we have one we seem to grow a little more divided and a little more irrelevant as a denomination.  But that's just my opinion. But the people who are there, working, meeting, worshiping and trying to "reason together" as Christian brothers and sisters seem to be enjoying it--or at least are energized by it. On the first day of GA219, Cynthia Bolbach was elected Moderator for the next 2 years.  She takes over the stole of Moderator from Bruce Reyes-Chow , who was one of the youngest Moderators in recent history (the first from my generation since I became a Presbyterian), and without a doubt the most technologically savvy.  Chow did a great deal to revolutionize the role of the Moderator an...

Not long ago, I had a lifetime member of my church ask that he and his family be removed from the church's membership rolls.  He told me that he no longer felt that he could remain a member of The Presbyterian Church (USA) because he felt the denomination had moved too far away from what he believed to be true Christian doctrine and praxis.  Interestingly, he said that he didn't want his request to jeopardize his relationship with the church that he had called home for his entire life.  Essentially, he told me, he desired to withdraw from the denomination as an act of conscience, but wanted to continue journeying with us in our particular aspect of the Body of Christ---as long as we would have him, he added.   I assured him that we wanted him to continue journeying with us as he felt led.  I also expressed my admiration for his desire to act with integrity while making what must have been a very difficult decision.  I was inspired by his act of conscience, I told him---an act...