Wednesday Night at GA

We are finally making real discussions about the future of the church and it is cool!  I am not going to “report” on everything all of this is on the website http://oga.pcusa.org/section/ga/ga221/  or www.pc-biz.org.  To be honest, it is hard to even remember what happened since everything we do is quite intense.  But that is good, because it is all important since it is all about the future of the church.  Saying that, I am looking forward to having a few hours next week to just crash!!!

This afternoon was a first for the GA with taking care of well over 100 items on the consent agenda, a new practice for the GA.  This included the resolution I have written about.  It is good to know that our denomination stands with the LGBT community in the humanitarian crisis that affects them around the world. 

Granted we have not come to the two most controversial things, but so far it has been incredible to see through this whole battle, disagreement without fighting, and genuine openness to the desire to see the church become healthier.  It was also great to see the church pass the Belhar confession so overwhelmingly.  This is going to call our churches to reflect and think seriously concerning race and race relations in our communities.  It is also a firm stance that we, as a denomination, stand on the side of Justice over our own comfort or self-interest.

In the evening we started with speeches from a Sikh, a Muslim, and a Reformed Rabbi.  What a cool thing!  Another statement about how committed we are as a denomination to interfaith and ecumenical dialogue! As for the rest of the night there were some presentations and we started the Book of Order stuff, but most of that will happen tomorrow!