216th General Assembly -- 2004 Richmond VA

Chalices of the 216th General Assembly

2004-07-08T09:18:00.000-05:00

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

2004-07-03T22:03:00.000-05:00

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

2004-07-02T22:59:00.000-05:00

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

2004-07-01T22:59:00.000-05:00

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

2004-06-30T22:59:00.000-05:00

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

2004-06-29T17:13:00.000-05:00

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

2004-06-27T19:47:00.000-05:00

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

216th General Assembly -- It's Saturday, and We Have A New Moderator

2004-06-26T22:44:00.000-05:00

General Assembly Report - Saturday Evening

Our church has a new Moderator -- he is young, dynamic, exciting and on fire for Christ and the work of the church. He is an elder from Arizona, and at the age of 40, he is the youngest Moderator our church has had since -- well, nobody seems to know if we've ever had anyone this young for the position of Moderator!

In all honesty, I walked into the Saturday evening session a bit bored by the anticipation of tonight's election process -- three men were running for the position. There were to be three 5-minute nomination speeches, followed by the three candidates having another 5 minute each to give a speech, followed by 45 minutes of questions and answers.

The person nominating Rick Ufford-Chase appeared at first to be nervous. She even called her nominee "Nick" on one occasion, prompting a smile from the speaker and a bit of laughter from the audience. But I'm not sure she was as nervous as she was passionate and excited about her nominee, so eager to talk about her nominee that she kept stumbling over her words.

The other two nominees seemed to be outstanding people -- Moderators of our General Assembly always are outstanding leaders. But I think that Rick came across as extraordinary.

On the first ballot, Rick came in with the most votes, but not a clear majority (he had only 46% of the vote, followed by David McKecknie with 34% and Ptomey with 20%). On the second ballot, Rick won with 55% of the vote. Immediately following the election, he was installed as our new moderator and he will preside over the meetings for the rest of the week..

The primary duty of the moderator is to serve as the presiding officer of the assembly's meetings in the same way that a committee presides over a meeting of a committee in our local church. Of course, with 544 voting commissioners.

But there is more to the moderator than presiding over this week-long meeting. The moderator of the General Assembly will continue to serve throughout the months ahead as the ambassador, spiritual leader and pastor of our denomination. As we move from annual meetings to bi-annual meetings, Rick will be the first moderator who will serve for two years.

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

www.pittendreigh.com

The 216th General Assembly Convenes -- And I'm Enthusiastic!!

2004-06-26T22:17:00.000-05:00

The 216th meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, USA, officially convened today, Saturday, June 26th. Much of the morning involved the usual things that people do when arriving for a week-long meeting - walking around and getting lost, seeing lots of familiar folks and catching up on friendships, standing in a line to register and then finally being told - "the line you need is over there."

Well, so far that makes General Assembly sound pretty much like meetings we've all been to. But General Assembly is different. It is the church at work.

Like many other such gatherings, there is the Exhibition Hall, with hundreds of displays. Every group in the church seems to be represented here.

Among one group of displays and exhibits about the youth ministries in our church, a group was selling T-Shirts that read "I'm Enthusiastic About The Presbyterian Church, USA." And they are! Enthusiastic, that is. They offered materials on Mission Trips for youth, conferences for youth, resources for congregations in working for youth -- but the most exciting thing they offered was their contagious enthusiasm. It is great to see people feeling so good about our church.

For the most part, that is the attitude of those arriving for General Assembly. There is excitement and enthusiasm. People are proud and happy about what they are doing in our church.

I talked with people who were from Pakistan. They work at Forman Christian College in LaHore. Pakistan is a Muslem nation where the government took over all Christian schools 31 years ago. They are now beginning to hand these back over to the churches. Before being given back to the Presbyterian Church, this college had only 5 Christian teachers. There are now 59. During the three-decade period of government administration, not a single new book was added to the library. Presbyterians are adding books and computers. There are 3,408 students in this school. The church is hoping to completely fund the education of any Christian seeking a degree -- at a cost of only $305 per year per student!

I met several military chaplains at one booth. They are there in hopes of encouraging a number of seminarians to consider a calling in the chaplancy. It is exciting to hear from these chaplains how important spiritual guidance has been to the people in our armed forces, and how it has sustained them during the present war.

Presbyterians operate 66 colleges, 26 children's homes, and 10 seminaries in this nation, and we have a tremendous number of missions around the world. The displays and booths in the Exhibition Hall show just a small number of these wonderful ministries.

How could anyone see what is happening in the Presbyterian Church, USA, and NOT be enthusiastic?

Of course, we do have some challenges!

It is always interesting to see groups who disagree, but who have booths side by side in the Exhibition Hall. Our present time is not the only time there have been difficult issues dividing Presbyterians. The last time General Assembly met in Richmond was in 1847. Slavery was the hot topic of the time. A few years later, the nation and the church would be divided North and South -- and it would take over a century for the Presbyterians to reunite.

It is not always easy to be Christians and to be together -- but one of the themes I hear in a lot of conversation is the importance of unity. One of the vows of the Presbyterian minister, elder and deacon is to work for the "peace, purity and unity of the church." The importance of unity is felt by all of the commissioners, who believe strongly that Christ wants us to be united. As one commissioner told me today, "It may take years for us to become a church at peace over some of these issues, and it may take generations for us to become a pure church -- but we have unity right now, and we need to keep it."

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

Issues Facing The 216th General Assembly in Richmond VA

2004-06-25T22:09:00.000-05:00

Pray For Our Church's National Meeting

Greetings from Richmond, Virginia!

Your Senior Pastor arrived in Richmond, Virginia, today where he will be a non-voting observer for the meeting of the General Assembly of the Presbyerian Church, USA.

When I came to Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church last year, one of the items in my "Terms of Call" was a provision to send me to the meeting of the General Assembly and to report daily to the congregation via email.

This came from a positive experience I had in my last congregation. The Sunrise Church in Miami felt these daily email reports made them feel more connected to our denomination's national-level meeting. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be here for the Good Shepherd folks this year.

What is the General Assembly? It is the national level governing body of our denomination in which elders and pastors elected by the Presbytery votes on policies, sets priorities, and establishes new ministries and missions of the church. General Assembly has been meeting annually, but after this year it will meet every other year.

Moving to a new schedule of meeting every other year is just one of many things that makes this year's national meeting important. In many ways, this may be the most important General Assembly in a long time.

As an observer, Dr. Pittendreigh, will send frequent updates to our church's email list (and to a few others from other congregations who have requested these updates).

Some of the important highlights expected at this meeting:

1. Sexual issues will be prominent. Our church, like all other denominations, has debated and struggled with the issues of sexual ethics in a changing society. It is the position of the Presbyterian Church, USA, not to ordain and install homosexuals as Ministers, Elders or Deacons. While we welcome all people who profess Christ as Savior into membership, the church has expressed in our Book of Order the expecation that "those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture." The Book of Order specifically states, "Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness." As in other previous General Assemblies, there are those who will be challenging the church's traditional stand.

2. How should we evangelize the Jew? Growing out of a new "Messianic" congregegation in Philadelphia Presbytery, a number of overtures being presented to the General Assembly are calling for study and evaluation of Jewish-Christian relations and evangelism.

3. Abortion issues. Overtures will be presented seeking to insert in our Book of Order clear stands against abortion, and calling on policitical action to end abortion in this country.

4. Post 911 issues. How will the Presbyterian Church address issues related to peacemaking, immigration, response to terrorism, and Iraq?

5. Elections of a General Assembly Moderator and a Stated Clerk. Both are positions of leadership in our church and the election of these two positions will say much about where our church is headed in the next few years.

6. Family. Last year's General Assembly referred to this year's assembly the paper now known as "Transforming Families," with a concern that there be a stronger affirmation of the theological values of traditional patterns of family life. This revised paper is expected to be a major item before the Assembly.

Pray now for this meeting and the voting commissioners, that God would give them safe travel and wisdom in their debates and decisions.

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
www.Pittendreigh.com

My sermon following 215th General Assembly meeting

2003-06-01T22:56:00.000-05:00

The following is a sermon I delivered to the Sunrise Presbyterian Church in Miami, Florida, after returning from the 215th meeting of the General Assembly which was held last week in Denver, Colorado.

Maynard’s Motorcycle
Acts 2:38-47

Acts 2:38-47
38 Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-- for all whom the Lord our God will call."
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."
41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.
44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.
45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.
46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
(NIV)

If there is one thing that the other Presbyterian ministers know about me, it’s that I love motorcycles.

I bet that’s something many of you didn’t know about me, but the ministers of the Presbytery of Tropical Florida know it.

Many times I’ve attended a Presbytery meeting and during the course of the day, three or four times people will come up to me and ask, “Maynard, did you ride your motorcycle to Presbytery.”

I always tell them “no, I drove my car.”

I was in a committee meeting at the Presbytery office just last week and someone asked, “Maynard, do you wear a motorcycle helmet?”

I told them I never did, because it wouldn’t do any good anyway. Everyone smiled.

A few weeks ago, my wife and I went to Key West to attend the annual overnight meeting of the Presbytery. My wife, Ginny, rarely attends a meeting of the Presbytery, and she noticed people kept talking to me about motorcycles. After all, if there is one thing ministers know about Maynard Pittendreigh, it’s that I love motorcycles.

After dinner on the first night of the meeting, someone came up to me and my wife and said, “Maynard, I was down on Duvall Street and I found the perfect T-Shirt for you.”

Well, if you’ve seen the T-Shirts on Duvall Street, you will understand why I was hesitant to ask about what the T-Shirt said. But I had to ask. “Tell me about this T-Shirt.”

The minister told me that on one side the T-Shirt had a big picture of a motorcycle. On the back, it had these words – “If you can read this, my wife has fallen off.”

I told my friend that the next time I rode my motorcycle, I would have to wear that shirt.

Now, I’m going to tell you something that none of the ministers in our Presbytery know about.

I don’t like motorcycles.

I don’t own a motorcycle.

I don’t ride a motorcycle to Presbytery meetings because the last time I rode a motorcycle was in 1969.

That was, in fact, the only time I have ever ridden a motorcycle.

I need a chair to sit in, a cup holder for my drink, a steering wheel, a seat belt and an airbag.

I’m just not a motorcycle sort of guy.

But somehow, the rumor got started at Presbytery that I love my motorcycle. Three or four years ago, I gave up trying to set people straight.

Now, there is a rumor about the Presbyterian Church.

I don’t know how it got started.

And unfortunately, we have given up trying to set people straight.

The rumor is – and I bet you’ve heard this – “Presbyterians are the frozen chosen.”

We are dull.

We sing dull songs.

We go to dull meetings.

We have dull classes.

We never smile, except by accident.

We never laugh, at least not in worship.

We have dull sermons – OK, maybe the part about sermons is true. At least sometimes.

But friends, Presbyterians are not the frozen chosen.

It bothers me whenever anyone says that.

To call us the frozen chosen is to suggest that Presbyterians are not children of an exciting, loving God.

It suggests that the last place you would ever want to be is in a Presbyterian Church.

This rumor that we are the frozen chosen has always bothered me. In fact, not long ago I wrote a book with the title, “The Presbyterian Church Welcomes You.” I started the second chapter by saying, “Woe to anyone who dares to say in my presence that Presbyterians are the frozen chosen. Our church is alive with the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. We are a people who love the Lord Jesus Christ. We demonstrate a love and concern for our neighbors. We are an incredibly active group of Christians.”

I spent last week at the annual meeting of the General Assembly. And I left amazed that anyone could possibly call us the frozen chosen.
The General Assembly is the national level of our church.

The local governing level is the Session, composed of the elders you elect. You see their name on the back of the bulletin every week.

The next governing level is the Presbytery, which is made up of churches from several counties. Our Presbytery of Tropical Florida goes from Lake Okeechobee to the north, to Key West in the South. From the Everglades in the West, to the Bahamas in the East.

But national level of the church is the General Assembly. This is where we do the work of God that takes the whole effort of the denomination working together. This is the level that deals with sending missionaries all over the world. This is where we decide on ministries to the poor and the hurting in other nations. This is where we fund disaster relief programs. This is where we set national church policy.

I have to tell you that no one can ever go to a meeting of the General Assembly and ever say, “We are the frozen chosen.”

You go to a General Assembly meeting and you realize that we are living out the Second Chapter of Acts.
Now, if you start reading the Second Chapter of Acts, you will insist, “there is nothing here that even remotely sounds like the Presbyterian Church.”
In our Scripture lesson, we started at the middle of the chapter and that is where it obviously sounds Presbyterian, but let me read to you the opening verses of chapter two:

1. Presbyterians Are A Welcoming Church
Acts 2:1-4
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
(NIV)

Errr…. When was the last time this happened at Sunrise?

But in truth, this is the only time in the New Testament this happened. From time to time the Holy Spirit of God has made himself visibly manifested, but the last time he came appearing as a flame sitting on top of someone’s head was this one time in Jerusalem, over 2,000 years ago.

But beyond this dramatic, first appearance of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, what we see as we read further in the Book of Acts is that God cut through the economic, social and political barriers of people. Through a miracle, people were able to speak to one another and understand other languages they had not learned.

I wish through some miracle I could speak all the languages of the world – I wish I could speak Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish. There are times I wish I knew how to speak English.

In the Book of Acts, this came as a miracle. It was instant knowledge of language.

We have to work at this today.

The Presbyterian Church is working hard to achieve what was in the Second Chapter of Acts – we are trying to reach across cultural, social and political barriers.

We are not the frozen chosen. We are a people who reach out and welcome everyone.

Every minister has patterns of speech. I know I have some. Anette has one. It is a beautiful phrase I’ve heard her use in several of her prayers. “Everyone included, no one excluded.”

That’s us. That’s the Presbyterian Church.

You could see this at General Assembly with the theme for this year. The theme was everywhere – on banners, and on brochures, and on a sign at the entrance of the Convention Center where we met – “A house of prayer for all people.”

Presbyterians are not the frozen chosen, we welcome everyone. We welcome all people.

You could hear it in the music in worship. Beautiful traditional music from Europe, with Bach and Handel, with the organ and choirs. Music that was from Korea, Afghanistan, Africa – Christian music that may have been new to me, but was glorifying Christ and saying, “We cut across all lines of division. We welcome everyone.”

When you say, “Presbyterians are the frozen chosen,” you are saying, “You’re not welcome here. You wouldn’t like it here.”

But that is not who we are.

2. Presbyterians Are A People of the Book – God’s Book

Let’s take another look at the Second Chapter of Acts.

(2:42) "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."

We devote ourselves to the apostles’ teachings. Presbyterians love to study the Word of God. We gather for worship and there is a sermon – a teaching from the Word of God. I don’t know if I have ever seen a Presbyterian Church that didn’t have Sunday School so that from the youngest to the oldest there were opportunities for Bible Study.

If you want to be a good Presbyterian, you’ve got to open this book. You’ve got to study the teachings of the Word of God.

There is no way you can read and study the Bible and be a frozen chosen short of person.

The Bible is an exciting book.

It tells us time and time again to praise God.
Which is another way of telling us to be happy about what God is doing.

Frozen chosen aren’t happy.

The Bible is a challenging book.

It tells us to love one another.

Frozen chosen don’t impress me as loving people.

Do you think of yourself as a frozen chosen sort of person? Open the Bible – join a Sunday School class. Study the Word – you won’t be frozen long.

3. Presbyterians Enjoy FellowshipLet’s take another look at the Second Chapter of Acts.

(2:42) "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship…"

We at Sunrise like fellowship. It’s not just Sunrise, it’s all Presbyterians. All Christians.
We love to get together.

Just a few weeks ago, many of our members went to a baseball game. What a night! It was cold. Well for Miami – I think it was 71 degrees. And windy! At least I think that’s why the Marlins outfielders kept missing the ball. And rainy – I never believed we would actually play all nine innings, but we did.

And there we were, a bunch of Sunrise members, enjoying the ball game and enjoying fellowship with one another.

Of course, one of the things we love about going to these games is that we get to see out church’s name on the scoreboard. We wait for it. We look for it. When we see it, we cheer it.

They put all the groups up there on the big screen.

All the offices that go as a group. All Boy Scout Troops that go as a group. And all the all the churches that attend as a group.

And then we saw it, and much to our dismay, they made a mistake.

How complicated is this -- Sunrise Presbyterian Church.

That’s what it was supposed to say.

But instead, there on the big screen for all the world to see, someone in the Marlins office had typed our church’s name incorrectly – Pittendreigh Presbyterian Church.

Well, a week later they fired the Manager. I’m not sure there was a connection, but I hope next time we go they’ll get our name right.

And that is just one thing we do together – Miami Zoo trips, to plays, to picnics. Or just in the courtyard after worship.

We like to be together.

And it’s important.

It’s biblical, and it’s here in the Book of Acts.

Fellowship.

We are a body of Christ. Not a bunch of lonely Christians.

You cannot be a Christian in isolation. It is something we do as a community.

Fellowship is important because we are a body of Christ.

We bear one another’s burdens.

We support one another.

We enjoy fellowship.

Frozen people can’t do that.

But Presbyterians aren’t frozen.

4. Presbyterians Are A People of Worship and Prayer

Let’s take another look at the Second Chapter of Acts.

(2:42) "They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."

“Breaking of bread and prayer” -- sounds like eating to me. If you’ve been at Sunrise for more than a couple of weeks you know we can’t do much without eating. The motto of our church is supposed to be “The Church where love lights the way,” but we act like out motto is “If you feed them, they will come.”
We enjoy eating when we come together because sharing meals binds families together, it binds friendships. Meals often seal business agreements. And sharing food builds up church fellowship.

But in the Second Chapter of Acts, the breaking of bread is not merely having lunch together. It is the sharing of the bread of Christ, the body broken for us – the Sacrament.

The Book of Acts says the New Testament Church devoted themselves “to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

We jokingly say we Presbyterians can’t do anything without eating together – maybe that’s true, maybe not. But what is true is that we can’t do anything without worship.

It is literally a church law. It is in the Book of Order, our church’s rule book, that we can’t do anything without prayer. We can’t start or end a committee meeting without prayer.

Everyday at General Assembly, we started with a worship service.

One of the precious memories people who go to General Assembly come back with is the memory of the first worship service that opens the General Assembly’s week. I’ve heard that from everyone who ever attended a General Assembly.

What binds us together is not the building.

It’s not the food.

It’s not even going to a baseball game together and seeing our name on the scoreboard.

It’s worship.

How can anyone ever go into the presence of God in a worship service and stay frozen and dull?

It’s wonderful to be a people of worship and of prayer.

Some of you may have been reading my daily emails about the General Assembly. Others of you may have read about it in the newspapers. You may think of some of the decisions as being controversial, and I know that many of you have questions or comments about them. Perhaps you wanted me to talk about some of them today. But that’s for another time and place. Let me tell you about other resolutions that didn’t make the newspapers.

A resolution to pray for peace.

A resolution to pray for the military chaplains.

A resolution to pray for people in Colombia.

A resolution to pray for Presbyterians in Cuba.

These never made the newspapers.

But we are, above almost everything else, a people of prayer.

5. Presbyterians Are Proclaiming The Good News
Now there is one more thing I’d like to reflect on about the Presbyterian Church and the Second Chapter of Acts.

It’s from the middle of the chapter, but it was where we started our New Testament reading for the day.

38 Peter said, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-- for all whom the Lord our God will call."
40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."
41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

Evangelism.

Sharing the Good News of the Gospel in such a way that people are brought to Christ.

I went to a baseball game in Denver. I hope you don’t mind, but I was within walking distance of the ball park.

Coming out of the park, there were a number of street preachers. I don’t think we see much of them in Miami. But there they were. They had climbed up on benches and were standing on wooden boxes. They even had these old megaphones – you know, the cone shaped megaphones people used to speak in to amplify their voices.

And they were preaching.

I don’t know – you walk out of a ball game and some stranger is yelling at you “You’re a sinner and you’re going to die and go to hell.”

It’s not my way to do evangelism. And I didn’t see anyone coming to Christ or being inspired by this preaching.

What few comments people made about him – well, I can’t tell you because I’m not supposed to use that kind of language in the pulpit.

But I thought about it later – at least he’s doing something. At least he’s trying. I don’t think he is succeeding, but he is trying.

I think this is the one weak point in the Presbyterian Church’s relationship with the Second Chapter of Acts.

If there is any truth to the rumor that we are “the frozen chosen,” it is here, with evangelism.

We are frozen in place, and we are not moving out to reach others for Christ.

Now, I’m not asking you to go to Pro-Player Stadium with a megaphone and to tell people they are going to go to hell when they die. There are better ways to do evangelism that that.

But we need to do something.

The saddest moment in the General Assembly – from my point of view – was when one of the church leaders, the Rev. Cliff Kirkpatrick, gave a report. He said he had been doing his job for 20 years. In those 20 years, he had seen the Presbyterian Church decline in membership by 20%.

Now, that’s a sin.

Church growth is not that difficult.

I know, because in my experience I’ve seen how easy it can be.

In my last church, the congregation doubled the first year I was there. It doubled again the second year I was there.

None of my other pastorates had such dramatic growth as that, but they all grew.

Except one.

Sunrise.

Why aren’t we growing?

We have talked about this in our annual elder and deacon retreats for the past three years and I’ve come to the conclusion that we are not growing because we do not want to.

I came to that conclusion very easily – it did not take a lot of research or discernment or insight on my part. I came to that conclusion because I have had members – including elders – tell me they don’t want Sunrise to grow.

They like a church this size.

They like knowing the people here.

They don’t want to see the church go through a growth program because then we won’t be Sunrise anymore – we’ll be different.

But friends, like it or not, we are changing.

People die. People move away.

We’re going to change anyway, so if that’s true, why don’t we change by letting God add to our number, as he did with the church in the Second Chapter of Acts?

Let’s get unfrozen and move out to reach people for Christ.

We have a new Evangelism Committee chairperson and we have several new members of that committee. Their next meeting is this Wednesday at 7:30 PM.

This month’s issue of the church newsletter has several suggestions about what we need to do to grow.

But before we do anything else, we have to do this one thing – we have to want to grow. And as a church, we’re not at that point right now. But we need to get there.

Years ago my son was on a little league baseball team, and that year he was on a team that couldn’t win a game. The end of the season came. Last came. They hadn’t won a single game. The kids dragged into the dug out. They went to bat with gloomy faces. They didn’t stand in the outfield. They were sitting in the outfield.

Now I’ve always hated these parents of little league players who think they can do a better job than the coach and who visit the dugout. But couldn’t help myself. I went to these kids in the 4th inning and said, “Guys, what’s with you. You can win this thing. You’re only ten runs behind!”

Yeah, like that could really happen.

Well, one of the kids – her eyes got as big as saucers and she said, “Hey that’s right. We’ve never been this close to winning before. We can win this thing.”

All the kids got excited.

The next kid at bat, actually hit the ball.

Unbelievable! Made it first base. Incredible.

The team actually won the game.

They already had the skills they needed – they just needed the desire to win.

All they needed was for someone to tell them that they could win this thing.

I’m telling you. You have the skills. All you need is the desire.

Do you want to grow?

Hey guys, you’re only 20% behind for the past 20 years – but we could win this thing!

We could grow.

Do you want to grow?

Copyright 2003 by the Rev. Dr. W. Maynard Pittendreigh

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