Today began as most Sundays do for many of us – joining together in worship, giving thanks to our God and sharing in the sacrament of Holy Communion. The difference for those here in San Jose is that today our congregation grew. I have heard estimates that between 5,000 and 8,000 people were in attendance at one worship this morning. The congregation was housed in two buildings, a mile apart, but worshiped together with their own worship leaders, two 225-member choirs, two orchestras and one simultaneous live broadcast between the two venues.
After worship, the afternoon was spent with a variety of events. Some people went on tours around the area. Some spent the afternoon visiting booths in the exhibition hall, and some caught up on the reading they need to do for their committees. Most of my afternoon was spent in a luncheon sponsored by the Presbyterian Media Mission and the Presbyterian Communicators Network. The keynote speaker at the luncheon was actor and activist Mike Farrell, best known as Dr. B.J. Hunnicut on the TV show M*A*S*H*. Mike is a great humanitarian and spoke about the many injustices in our world that involve torture of our fellow human-beings. After his presentation, Mike opened the floor to questions and later made himself available for photos and the signing of his new book, Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist.
The late afternoon business meeting included the nomination of candidates for Stated Clerk. The person who is voted into the office will follow outgoing Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick. The process in introducing the nominees was very similar to the process of the Moderator election last night, but nominations from the floor are not allowed. The Stated Clerk Nomination Committee presented Rev. Gradye Parsons as their nominee. Other nominees included Rev. Winfield Jones, Rev. Edward Koster and Rev. Dr. William Tarbell. The election will be held on the next to the last day of the assembly meeting – Friday morning, June 27.
The day ended for most people with General Assembly Committee Meetings. Each commissioner and delegate has been randomly assigned a committee to attend. They will study the issues at hand, discuss ways to solve them, discern God’s will, and bring proposed resolutions to the General Assembly to be voted on. There are 17 committees, with the Seattle Presbytery having representatives in nine of them. Tonight I dropped in on the Social Justice Issues committee. Just as I entered the room they were beginning a video from the ministry Living Waters for the World. This is a ministry, sponsored by the Synod of Living Water, that serves as a resource to churches of all denominations, civic organizations and others in mission, enabling them to provide clean water to their partners in need. The video we watched is very powerful and viewable on their website. I highly recommend that you take some time to watch it. God may speak to you to partner with them.
Well the day is over, and it is time to rest.
Good night and God bless you,
Heidi Francis
Communications Director, Seattle Presbytery
