OK, I finally have a moment. As promised...
Last Sunday evening the good folks of my church got together to discuss the PSW/ABCUSA impasse. We have been allotted 12 delegates, and we had made a decision to place the issue before the congregation: do we support the decision of ABCPSW to separate from ABCUSA? We'll be voting Sunday morning (in the Sunday School hour, between the services).
I made a 25 minute PowerPoint presentation giving the background and the issues. (If you ask me really nice, I'll email it to you; get me at desertheo1957@yahoo.com.)
I was impressed by the thoughtfulness of the questions. A few expressed concerns about a loss of autonomy (some were unaware of the policy of PSW about "welcoming and affirming" congregations, adopted back in 1995, in the wake of the dismissals of churches from ABC of the West). A few expressed concerns about either "singling out" homosexuals or about timing. All in all, in the 100 minutes were were together, everybody either asked their question and/or had their say.
One of the most interesting moments was when one of our young bucks, Keith A., asked the two retired pastors present what they thought. One, ordained five years before I was born, compared it to the pain of a divorce--but a necessary divorce. The other, my predecessor, Doug B., said, "Well...I support my pastor and I support my region."
I'll tell you, the reader, how things went after Sunday's vote.
No comments:
Post a Comment