Chalices of the 216th General Assembly

Interested in buying a chalice from the General Assembly's Sunday Worship?

These are always made by a local artist and this year's was a pewter chalice patterned from a Communion set used by the Augusta Stone Presbyterian Church in Defiance, Virginia in the 18th Century. This church opened in 1740 and is considered the oldest continuing Presbyterian Church in Virginia. The communion set was made in London in 1760.

Unfortunately, unlike other locations for General Assembly, Richmond's COLA -- Committee on Local Arrangements -- did not make these available to the general public. Other locations for the General Assembly have made these chalices available and sold them to those attending the Assembly, with the funds helping to pay for the cost of the Assemlby.

One person working with Richmond's COLA told me they sold all of the chalices online prior to the Sunday Worship service because they wanted them available only to the local community. I checked with the COLA office and the GA office at the Assembly, and no one could help me. The COLA office in Cokesbury's bookstore in the Assembly's Exhibition Hall was not helpful.

What a disappointment! I have a small collection of these chalices from previous Assemblies and use them in the local church for special occasions.

The man I talked with from the Richmond's COLA offered to sell me one of his for $200. A pretty steep price compared with other General Assembly chalices - normally about $30 to $40.

However -- good news! I have found the local artist, who was happy to sell me one, complete with the Presbyterian seal inscribed on the side. If you are interested in a chalice, contact Shirley Pewter in Williamsburg, VA.

And by the way -- rather than the $200 pricetag the fellow with the Richmond COLA was asking-- the artist only asked for $58. The Presbyterian seal was added for an additional $4. This was still expensive compared to other Assembly chalices, but a fair price (certainly more so than the $200 the individual with the Richmond COLA asked for).

Shirley Pewter can be found at the Market Square on the edge of Colonial Williamsburg near the William and Mary College. Call them at 1-800-550-5356. I found them very helpful! And their shop is full of wonderful goodies!

One Last Report from the 216th General Assembly

The 216th General Assembly has concluded it's work. There will be no meeting next year as we move to holding these meetings every other year. The 217th Assembly will meet in Birmingham, Alabama, June 15-22, 2006. The last action of the Assembly was to introduce people from Birmingham who will help make the local arrangements.

On its final day, the assembly approved a budgets for 2005 and 2006. Several international issues were addressed.

TAIWAN: The PC(USA) expressed solidarity with the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan and with the Taiwanese people, and the assembly asked for continued monitoring of the relationship of Taiwan with mainline China, describing that as "an emerging issue fraught with danger."

AFRICA: The Assembly asked for "a concerted, coordinated effort" to bring attention to the crisis of AIDS in Africa, and to encourage Presbyterians to give generously to help.

CUBA: The Assembly is asking the U.S. Treasury to rescind new regulations involving travel to Cuba. Victoria Rodriguez, an elder from Florida, argued in favor of the new restrictions, saying that travel by Americans to Cuba "puts money in Fidel’s pocket" and helps keep Fidel Castro in power. But Diane Lacey Winley of New York City Presbytery said the new regulations hurt "ordinary families" and won’t allow Cuban Americans living in the U.S. to go back home any more than once every three years, with "no exceptions." Winley said she knows a Cuban-American priest who was denied a visit to Cuba, even though his father was hospitalized there.


A Last Word...

This is the last email I will be sending about the General Assembly. Ginny and I will be taking a few days vacation, but we look forward to seeing everyone in church on July 11th. The Rev. Will Dietrich will lead worship at Good Shepherd on July 4th, and will continue our series on the Book of Acts.

As you gather for worship, I encourage you to give thanks for the work of this General Assembly. It was one filled with encouragement and hope.

The Rev. Terri Thomas preached in one of the worship services from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 6, "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." In her sermon, Terri said, "Whatever you are full of will come out!" Noting it is easy to fill our hearts with anger, bitterness, and hate, Terri suggested that we fill our hearts with hope.

Similarly, the Stated Clerk while seeking re-election said, "The first task of the leader is to inspire hope."

May God fill all of us in the Presbyterian Church with hope, joy and enthusiasm!

The Grace of Christ be with you...

The Rev. Dr. W. Maynard Pittendreigh
Senior Pastor
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
1400 Killian Hill Road
Lilburn GA 30047
Telephone: (770) 921-7434
Web Page: http://www.goodshepherdpc.org/

Election of a Stated Clerk and Voting on Ordination Issues

There were quite a few decisions made at the General Assembly today, but two were of particular importance.

Stated Clerk Election ... The Stated Clerk is the "chief executive officer" of the General Assembly office. The position's duties include interpreting the Book of Order. Cliff Kirkpatrick has been the Stated Clerk for 8 years and was being challenged by 3 other candidates. Kirkpatrick is plainspoken, but not inflammatory. He has used his authority as Stated Clerk to mediate the diverse groups in our church, rather than to support a particular viewpoint. Kirkpatrick said in his campaign speech, "The first task of a leader is to inspire hope." Indeed -- his was a very hopeful and positive voice among the candidates.

Kirkpatrick received 349 votes -- enough to win on the first ballot. Bob Davis, the most moderate of the challengers and the executive director of the Presbyterian Forum, finished second with 137 votes. The other two candidates were later viewed by people I spoke with as negative and divisive -- Rus Howard received 25 votes and Alex Metherell received 19 votes.

Following the election there was a feeling of electricity and joy among the commissioners and observers of the Assembly. One commissioner I talked with said he felt excited about the church "because we have an experienced, positive Stated Clerk, alongside a youthful, positive Moderator."

Ordination of Homosexuals... The General Assembly voted to make no changes in the current position of the church regarding the ordination of "self-affirming, practicing homosexuals" as ministers, elders or deacons. The vote was 297 to 218. This is one of the most divisive issues in our church -- and in most denominations. Following this vote there was not the sense of joy that one felt in the election of the Stated Clerk. Rather, there seemed to be quiet relief among the conservatives and continued frustration among the liberals who have been continually raising this issue since 1978. There is a special committee at work -- The Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church -- which both sides hope will be able to discern a resolution to this ongoing debate. This task force will give their final report in the next General Assembly -- and since we are no longer having annual meetings, the next Assembly will be meeting in 2006.

The Assembly seems to be a bit behind their schedule, but there is time built into Saturday's schedule to "catch up" on things.

The Grace of Christ be with you...

The Rev. Dr. W. Maynard Pittendreigh
Senior Pastor
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
1400 Killian Hill Road
Lilburn GA 30047
Telephone: (770) 921-7434
Web Page: http://www.goodshepherdpc.org/

Thursday's Work At General Assembly

IMMIGRANT FELLOWSHIPS -- The General Assembly began a process today that will help Immigrant Fellowships, such as the El Buen Pastor in our own Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Lilburn. Each Sunday Pastor Ozeas leads 30 to 60 Spanish speaking Christians in worship. Yet, like other Immigrant Fellowships, our El Buen Pastor has no voice or vote at Presbytery meetings. With the change of our culture, we need to change our Presbyterian Church's Book of Order. A motion to change the Book of Order to provide a pastor or designated leader of every Immigrant Fellowship with voice and vote at Presbytery meetings was approved today at General Assembly. Another motion will provide for a process for leaders in these Immigrant Fellowships to be recognized as elders.

As with any change of the Book of Order, once a General Assembly approves it, the change must now be approved during the next year by a majority of the Presbyteries.

YOUTH ADIVSORY DELEGATES -- Another item of business today was consideration of an overture from our own Presbytery of Greater Atlanta. Several months ago, a teenager asked her session to recommend a change in the standing rules of the General Assembly. Her Session agreed, and presented a motion to the Presbytery of Greater Atlanta. After Presbytery's approval, the motion was then passed onto the General Assembly.

The good news is that the voice of our youth can be heard.

The bad news is that this particular motion was voted down.

The overture, or motion, would have increased the number of Young Adult Delegates to the General Assembly. Young Adult Delegates, or YADs, are important to our process. They come to the Assembly and do a lot together, making new friends and learning about the church. More importantly, they advise the commissioners on EVERY vote. When a motion is made and the Assembly is ready to vote, the YADs vote first. While it is non-binding, their vote is announced before the commissioners can vote, thus advising them on the views of the youth of our denomination.

It was not an easy decision. The vote was 319 for, 213 against -- but since this motion was an attempt to change the "standing rules" of the General Assembly, a 2/3 majority, not a simple majority was required. So the motion failed.

A PRESBYTERIAN CREDIT CARD??? -- Another way to bring a motion to the floor of the Session is for an individual commissioner to make such a motion early in the General Assembly. One such "commissioner overture" called for the creation of a Presbyterian Credit Card -- in the hopes that it would generate funding for missions. The General Assembly voted down that motion 414 to 98, so you'd better keep the old Visa and American Express cards.

In other business (among the approximately 100 votes taken today)...

ABORTION -- The General Assembly declined to adopt a motion that would lead to the inclusion of a stand against abortion in the Book of Order (the constitution and rule book of our denomination). The Assembly also voted to provide materials of pastoral care to congregations on the subject of abortion.

SEXUALITY CURRICULUM -- Approved a "new and improved" revision of the sexual ethics curriculum for youth programs.

ORDINATION OF HOMOSEXUALS -- The General Assembly will address more directly the issue of ordination of gays and lesbians on Friday (possibly on Saturday), but today the Assembly did vote down what was viewed as a "back door" attempt to allow ordinations of homosexuals. Presbytery of Hudson River, which has been very vocally in favor of ordaining gays, presented a motion that would place an individual's conscience as the guide for approving individuals for ordination. Many who support ordination of homosexuals felt this particular motion was inappropriate and vague.

FREQUENCY OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY MEETINGS -- As we approach a new process for our General Assemblies, meeting every other year rather than annually, one Presbytery presented a motion that we resume meeting annually. This was not approved, but it may continue to be discussed as we make this transition.

We seem to be a bit behind schedule right now, and we have some of the most important and potentially controversial issues yet to come. I'll keep you posted!



The Grace of Christ be with you...

The Rev. Dr. W. Maynard Pittendreigh
Senior Pastor
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
1400 Killian Hill Road
Lilburn GA 30047
Telephone: (770) 921-7434
Web Page: http://www.goodshepherdpc.org/

Military Chaplains, Iranians, and Jewish Presbyterians

I had an opportunity to meet some more interesting folks today.

There are a number of Presbyterian military chaplains here. Barb Sherer is a chaplain with the U.S.Army, who was deployed with the 3rd Infantry Division. "I had a soldier ask me to bless his vehicle before we headed out," she said. "I don't normally bless things but in this case, I thought, 'there's no harm, so I did it. We all gathered around and blessed the vehicle. It had such an impact on everyone. The next thing I knew, I was blessing vehicle after vehicle -- over 100 of them. The blessings was a reminder of God's presences with them." When she was finished, a group of soldiers gathered around and blessed the chaplain's vehicle.

The Presbyterian Church has been in Iran for 175 years. I met a pastor from Iran today. He reports that many of the Christians in that nation are leaving for economic security. But he also says that not a day goes by that someone doesn't call his office asking, "how can I become a Christian," which is a difficult question to ask in a Muslim nation.

Jewish and Christian relationships was the focus as the General Assembly began voting on issues. For the past two days, all of the issues to be presented to the General Assembly has been in committee as small groups of 30 or 40 commissioners gave careful study to these issues. The Committee on Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations gave its report, which included the issue of a new Presbyterian Church that a Presbytery in Pennsylvania has recently started. The church's pastor is a Jew who has converted to Christianity. Worship is held on Saturday, the traditional Jewish Sabbath. Many Jewish traditions are continued as the church reaches out to the converted Jews. The new church offended many in the community who felt it was inappropriate to evangelize Jews. General Assembly approved motions to strengthen Christian relationships with Jews, but it refused to cut funding or to stop the so-called Messianic congregation.

Other actions included...

Authorized work to begin on the publication of a new hymnal. Our last one was published in 1990. Hymnals usually have a life span of 20 years, and take a number of years to produce.

Confirmed a new president for Princeton Seminary and a new president for Louisville Seminary.

Approved a long list of routine business items, such as approving the Sacrament of Communion at various conferences, receiving reports from military chaplains, electing delegates to meetings and assemblies of other Presbyterian and Reformed denominations, etc.

The Grace of Christ be with you...

The Rev. Dr. W. Maynard Pittendreigh
Senior Pastor
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
1400 Killian Hill Road
Lilburn GA 30047
Telephone: (770) 921-7434
Web Page: http://www.goodshepherdpc.org/
www.pittendreigh.com

Meeting Presbyterians From Iraq and Kuwait

Meeting Presbyterians From Iraq and Kuwait


Monday and Tuesdays are two days when all of the commissioners go off into various rooms and spend time in their appointed committees. They won't all get together again until Wednesday morning. For non-voting observers like me, Monday and Tuesday of General Assembly are days when we can just hang out and chat with old friends and meet new friends.

At lunch today, I saw a man wearing a white clerical collar along with a turban and long flowing robes -- so I asked if I could sit with him and chat. He is an amazing man! The Rev. Amanuel Ghareeb is a pastor from Kuwait who serves a 70 member congregation in the heart of Kuwait City. The church was founded by American missionaries, who turned the church over to Arabic ministers in 1954. He talked about the gratitude his church and nation has for America, remembering how Kuwait was freed from Saddam Husien's invasion forces under the first President Bush. "President Bush is a hero in our nation," Amanuel told me. "When he came to my country, it took him four hours to drive from the airport to his hotel -- everyone wanted to see him. He came to our church and spoke to our people and worshipped with us briefly." He wasn't wearing a tie, but Amanuel proudly spoke of the tie tack bearing the Presidential Seal that Bush gave him on that trip in 1991.

How do the people of Kuwait feel about the second George Bush? "We don't agree with everything of America, but we remain allies and we remain grateful to America."

Kuwait is, of course, a Muslem nation. Amanuel says relationships between Christians and Muslems are fairly good in Kuwait, unlike in some Muslem nations. "Our church has a feast every year at Ramadan," Amanuel said, referring to one of the high holy days of the Islamic faith. "We invite Muslems to come to our church to eat, and they do and we have a wonderful time."

Amanuel believes his church has an important role in bringing Christians and Muslems together, noting that his church knows the mind of the Muslem far more than any American church.

Amaneul is attending the General Assembly as one of several international and ecumenical advisors.

Another international visitor is a Presbyterian pastor from Iraq -- the Rev. Younan Shiba is the 40-year old pastor of two Presbyterian congregations in Baghdad. One is the 120 member Assyrian Evangelical Presbyterian Church in the center of Baghdad, organized by American and Iranian missionaries in 1920. The other is a 60 member newly-organized congregation on the southeastern suburbs of the city.

Shiba is grateful for the $30,000 grant that has been sent from the Presbyterian Church (USA) to the six Presbyterian congregations in Iraq. His church received $6,000 of that grant, but he says this is a "drop in the bucket. Families need help. Churches need repairs." He spoke of a recent discipleship class which concluded with him taking 16 children outside to shovel away the rubble on the streets around the church.

The church is located in what was one of Baghdad's most affluent neighborhoods. "Now it is surrounded by chaos. There are lottings, rapes, robberies. Whatever you may say about Saddam Hussein's dictatorship, it did deter crime. Now kids are stuck inside, for safety's sake; men complain that their depressed wives aren't keeping up household routines; and wives say their husbands are short-tempered because their money is short and there is no work."

The Iraqi pastor spoke of how many in his church are packing their bags and heading for the border, fearing what might happen with the transfer of power from the United States to the new Iraqi regime.

He is hopeful American churches will provide more funding and more missionaries trained in peacemaking. He is eager for a strong Presbyterian presence. "Some big-money evangelists are moving into Iraq, stealing the sheep" of Shiba's flock by offering them $25 baskets of groceries to those who become new members of their developing churches. Meanwhile, churches that have been in the country for decades, such as the Presbyterians, have no resources to share with the people.



The Grace of Christ be with you...

The Rev. Dr. W. Maynard Pittendreigh
Senior Pastor
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
1400 Killian Hill Road
Lilburn GA 30047
Telephone: (770) 921-7434
Web Page: www.goodshepherdpc.org
Personal Web Page+ www.pittendreigh.com

Sunday Worship At The 216th General Assembly

Ask anyone who attends General Assembly, "what was your best experience," and the answer will almost always include the Sunday worship service. My wife and I attended the opening worship of the General Assembly today in the Richmond Coliseum. It's not often I've worshipped in a building that was surrounded with banners advertising, "It's Miller Time," but the use of a sports arena for worship is about the only way to accommodate the large gathering.

There were over 8,000 in attendance.

The choir was made up of over 400 -- wearing a variety of robes as a symbol of the many congregations from which they had come.

Worship leadership included over 20 Presbyterian leaders, and one Jewish cantor who sang Psalm 23 in both Hebrew and English.

Liturgical dancers called us to worship.

The Sacrament of Holy Communion was served, using communion ware crafted in 1760 for a Virginian congregation, along with a number of chalices and plates recently made, patterned after the 1760 set.

Recognition was given to 6 retiring missionaries, 15 new missionaries, 14 long term mission volunteers, 31 Young Adult Volunteers who will be serving for 1 year throughout the world, 4 new military chaplains, and 4 retiring military chaplains.

In keeping with tradition, the retiring moderator, Susan Andrews, preached the sermon. Speaking on "Abundant Abudance," Andrews used John 10:1-15 as her text, and declared that abundance is not the accumulation of material goods, but the blessings that pours out from the heart of God. She walked up to the baptimsal font and dippered her fingers gently into the water, and then said "God does not sprinkle us with grace but drenches us with grace" With that she began to use both hands to slosh the water from the font, spraying the floor around her with the waters of the font, graphically demonstrating the theme of her sermon.

It is also the tradition for the retiring moderator to select the recipient of the Sunday Worship's offering. The offering of more than $42,000 will go to education projects in Ethiopia and to a farmworker's coalition in Florida.

Worship is central to what we do as Presbyterians. It is a requirement in our Book of Order that all of our meetings of Session, the congregation and committees open and close with prayer, and you see this reflected in the national-level of our church as well. Throughout each day there are gathering times for worship. There is a chapel for those who desire quiet places of solitude for prayer.

Presbyterians can't conduct the business of the church without worship -- thank God!


The Grace of Christ be with you...

The Rev. Dr. W. Maynard Pittendreigh
Senior Pastor
Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church
1400 Killian Hill Road
Lilburn GA 30047
Telephone: (770) 921-7434
Web Page: http://www.goodshepherdpc.org/
www.Pittendreigh.com