Jimmy Percival's Report From GA

Jimmy is an elder at Alamo Heights Christian Church, San Antonio, TX .

For Saturday, August 1, 2009

Today was the wrap-up of the General Assembly, except for the Concert and closing Communion tomorrow afternoon.

What I got to hear of the final Business Session was the Pension Fund Report - Res #0914.  In spite of serious losses in fund value last year, the fund did not have to reduce any benefits and during the first half of 2009, they have seen a 3.8% increase in asset value and increased ministerial relief benefits.  Res # 0920 - Renewal of Farm Worker Ministry was adopted overwhelmingly - I heard no nays.

Res #0921 on Climate Change/Global Warming was also adopted overwhelmingly - again, I heard no nays.  Res #0917 Welcoming over 620 New Congregations in the Vision 2020 program was likewise adopted overwhelmingly.  Res #0915 as revised by the addition of specific current examples of man's inhumanity to man was brought back to the Assembly and after exhausting the balance of the discussion time, was adopted overwhelmingly.

Res #0925 - A Call for Action failed in the previous session as the required 2/3 of the counted vote was not attained.

Although it occurred prior to my arrival in the session, the Resolution on the revisions to the Order of the Ministry was adopted by a narrow margin.

After spending a little more time at the Inman Christian Center booth, it was time to pack up as the Exhibit area closed at 4 this afternoon.  By the time I went back to the hotel and put on long pants, it was time to head for the Marriott and the Disciple Care Network Dinner.  It is always a joy to hear Dr. Craddock.

The Reverend Doctor Frank Thomas of the Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis, Tennessee gave us a rousing sermon on the revival spirit of Pentecost.  Rev. Thomas told us that Christianity today needs the "Suddenly" event of the mighty wind of the Holy Spirit.  He is looking forward to that revival of the spirit that will lead the Church to be the hands and voices of God.

Bless you all and I hope that my notes on the proceedings have given you a small sense of some of the aspects of the Assembly.  There has been a great effort on the part of the leadership of the Disciples and those working on the Assembly arrangements to be greener.  While there have been some problems and miscues, I think much has been learned and it is my hope that an effort will be made in the future to have several attendees from each region report back via the net so that anyone who cares to can get a feel for the proceedings.

JP

For Friday, July 31, 2009

Short report tonight.

The DHM Report did go off as scheduled at the beginning of this morning's Business Session.  Everybody made it up on the stage and nobody fell over anybody else.  We actually made it through in time for questions, but there being none, the report was received.  There is then a gap in my observations of the session while some of us went to the Exhibit Hall for some pictures.  I got back in time for part of the discussion on Res #0915, Axis of Friendship.  It was committed for reference & council to be brought back at tomorrow's Business Session.
The NBA (dba Disciple Benevolent Services) Report - #0907 was up next.  In response to many requests they are beginning chaplaincy programs, particularly at former NBA institutions.  Res #0924 Is an update of Special Rules of Procedure for the General Assembly to bring them into line with the reduction of the size of the General Board approved at the Portland General Assembly.  The resolution was adopted.

After much discussion the Res #0925 - A Call for Action which is to revise the handling of sensitive subjects - heretofore issued as "Sense of the Assembly" resolutions, a voice vote was taken on a motion to refer.  The voice vote being inconclusive, a standing vote was taken.  The results of the vote will be announced at the next Business Session.
The Moderator, Dr Newell Williams gave a detailed talk on the Legalistic and Moralistic distortions of the Stone/Campbell Movement spirituality, which I am going to have to listen to the CD at least a couple of times to begin to absorb.

After lunch, I went to man the Inman Christian Center exhibit in the DHM area.  There was a steady flow through the exhibits for most of the afternoon.  Who knows the Blue Jesus?  Visit www.thebluejesusproject.com.

Dr. Watkins talk on Christ's call to wholeness of mankind included some highlights of a trip to the Congo recently and how the events of that trip brought home to her the reality that we are family - not just in this place, this denomination or this nation, but the world.  On their trip up the Congo River to villages otherwise inaccessible, one stop was at a village where the congregation was preparing to dedicate the baby son of one of the villagers while their Regional Minister was there.  As the Indiana Regional Minister was a part of the US group, he was asked to join in officiating in the service.  Their participation in this dedication service brought home to the group that we truly are a global village closely tied together.

The Congo has one of the largest remaining tropical forests.  We are therefore as dependent upon them for the very air that we breathe as they could ever be on us.
 
While "Church Meetings" are much maligned, they can remind us of our interdependence and interrelatedness is we can just see past all the seemingly endless discussion and debate - without overlooking the concerns our brothers and sisters are trying to convey as we discuss and even debate.  If any of us manage to live long enough, we may even figure out that none of us has The Answer and by pooling our insights we may be able to move closer to The Answer, to each other and to God.

JP

For Thursday, July 30, 2009 

This morning's Business Session went fairly smoothly with only a couple of exceptions.  Dr. Richard Lowery's meditation was well received.  Though I didn't get to hear much of it as we were preparing for the DHM report presentation which was scheduled for this session, what I heard was good.

The first Resolution to come before the Assembly was #0919 from the Disciples Peace Fellowship.  As originally drafted, this was apparently a very strong condemnation of war.  As the Fellowship did not approve of changes made by the Board, the recommendation was to refer it to COCU for further consideration.  Many were upset that referring the resolution was being considered and wanted to vote on the resolution.  While there were substantial votes, Yea & Nay, the resolution was referred.   The next resolution to be voted was #0928 to change the boundary between the Southwest and Mountain West Regions.  Farmington, NM had requested to move to Mt W due to their closer proximity to the congregations in that Region.  Following a more-than-a-year trial period the vote was overwhelming to approve the move - I heard no Nays.  The last resolution coming for a vote in the session was #0918 was one requiring the change as soon a practical (2015 would be the earliest possible effective date) to alternating the date of the General Assembly between Summer and Fall.  After much discussion of the strain of summer events on camping programs and staffing and whether summer or fall interferes more with family scheduling and which promotes better youth attendance at assemblies and an indecisive voice vote, the resolution was voted down by a narrow margin.

Reports from Christian Board of Publication (#0903), which reported flat sales volume, but another overall surplus with Chalice Press sales increasing by 14%: Christian Church Foundation (#0904) which reported strong donations in spite of sharp drops in fund values due to the current economic conditions; Board of Church Extension (#0905), which reported strong activity from both new and existing congregations on both new and existing loans; and Higher Education & Leadership Ministries (#0911) reported an active year at the various campuses.  The report from DHM was bumped to the Friday Morning Business Session due to time constraints.

I did not attend the discussions in the afternoon - and there was no Business Session, as indicated in some schedules.  I spent some time in the Exhibits and visited a lot and ran a couple of errands.
The Christian Church Foundation Dinner at the Marriott Ballroom across from the Convention Center was well attended, though not sold out.  The short program consisted mostly of recognition of staff and board members, current and past, remembrances of first president and vice president of the Foundation who died within a few days of one another last fall, and the presentation of the James P Johnson Stewardship Award to First Christian Church of Bowling Green, Kentucky.  The award was in recognition of their work in stying and building a permanent fund to ensure funding for outreach and programs as well as building maintenance items while emphasizing the supplemental nature of these funds  rather than depending upon them to replace current stewardship by the membership.

The evening worship followed up on Cynthia Hale's message that we are perfect creations of God.  Rev. Douglas Skinner, of Northway Christian Church in Dallas, reminded us that as perfect as we were created, all have sinned and fallen short.  We need to ask God and each other for forgiveness and strive to forgive our brothers and sisters regularly.
There was a room full at the CCSW reception after worship - a good opportunity to visit with many folks around the Region and a few exes - such as Grandpa & Grandma Parker and Marion Cross - who are still in Oklahoma City.

And I was going to get to bed earlier, but the computer did not see it that way!

JP

For Wednesday, July 29, 2009

As the General Assembly began this afternoon, the Pre-Assembly Mission Event ended late this morning.  I was again at the Peace Garden which Global Peace Initiatives is putting in at a community center north of downtown - about 10 miles.  The Center is located on 71st street - a few blocks east of the Augusta Christian Church.  The garden is located behind a bowling alley which was purchased and donated to the center to expand it's services.  The garden will provide fresh vegetables for the center's food bank.

Our group - with the help of a church group unrelated to the Assembly - finished removing the grass from all the plots for the garden.  We left the group from Queens, NY continuing to till up the soil in the plots.  It was funny to hear the teenagers - some of the NY folks were college students - talking about food.  The New Yorkers were excited about fast food chains they don't have in The City and the ones from other parts of the county were talking more about the unique local restaurants they ran across as much as different chains.  The Arkansas kids were saying that one of the things they missed was Whatburger!

Of course, there is always more to do and there will be opportunities for individuals and groups to go out for a part or whole day during the Assembly to many of the same sites where we worked, but it seems that we accomplished most of the jobs that were planned.  The one thing we didn't get done at the community center was moving and reconstructing a storage shed.  It is pretty well along and should be able to finish up rather quickly, but our carpenters were pretty disappointed not to get finished - seems it's always easier to start from scratch than to try to salvage and rebuild something old.

Most of the groups pretty well finished what was planned.  The turnout for a food distribution at Southport Christian, where we were staying, was disappointing and left several volunteers with not as much to do this morning as they would have liked.

Robin Zerweck, the wife of Carl whom many of you know heads Disciples Home Missions volunteer programs, and her sister, Lisa, headed up the kitchen team and kept us all well - and DELICIOUSLY- fed this week.  Their hard - and early and late - work was much appreciated by all.

Because of the process of getting loaded up and cleaned up at the church and checked in at the hotel and showered down sufficiently to be presentable, I didn't make it to the State of the Church presentation this afternoon.  I am counting on it being available on DVD.  I did get to the Board of Church Extension 125th Anniversary Dinner this evening.  The Eiteljorn Museum of American Indian & Western Art, where it was held has a very good exhibit, including a number of Remingtons and Russels.  It was great for Brite Divinity School & Elaine Valencia Kellam, Chair of the Board of Trustees to be among the honorees and the turnout was to the capacity of the very lovely facility.

It was pointed out that this year is the twentieth anniversary of the last General Assembly held in Indianapolis.

The Reverend Cynthia Hale preached the opening Worship this evening.  If that lady cain't move ya, you ARE IMMOVABLE!  The whole service was moving.  Very well done.  As we entered, each person was given a green constuction paper hand - sure glad somebody didn't get the idea that cutting out paper hands was a good mission project - our offering was to write on our paper hand what we, individually, feel called to do toward the "Healing of the Nations" - the theme of the Assembly.

Enough of yesterday.  On to today.

JP

For Tuesday, July 28, 2008

Today's activities were about the same as yesterday's except that most volunteers got to work at a different agency.  None of our group went to Second Helpings or Horizon House today.  Horizon House is a daytime service center for the homeless.  Last week they moved into their new, much-enlarged job-training center.  They have many physical and mental health services, job training including interview and GED instructions, short and long-term storage services, laundry facilities, & a computer lab to mention only a few.  They are open from 7 am - 3 pm for their unemployed neighbors & in the evening for the employed homeless.

Second Helpings is patterned after an agency in Washington DC.  Three chefs in Indy - like 12 years ago - were having 2 problems - a shortage of trained restaurant/kitchen help and no way get food which they did not sell to the needy in the community.  They spoke to friends in DC whose answer to these issues was a similar agency.  Each day they get in food from multiple sources, restaurants, retail & wholesale grocers.  Their biggest supplier is US Foods & they just started receiving newly outdated products from 10 area Kroger stores.  They have on staff a registered dietitian who each day works up balanced menus from what they have on hand.  They prepare 600 meals a day for 50 non-profit agencies around Indy.  Additionally they have a chef on staff who conducts 10-week training courses for the unemployed.  Classes have ranged from four to fifteen.  The course ranges from menu planning to food preparation to presentation and serving.  Each day they serve lunch to the staff and volunteers of the agency.  They are now on class #55.  Just to answer a question, I did not chop any onions yesterday.  Our group was washing and chopping potatoes.  I washed potatoes for three hours and my arm did not fall off, though it felt like it was going to.

Groups worked at the Martin Luther King Center both days - and again tomorrow - painting, doing yard work and interacting with the children.  A group also worked at a work-release center for persons on work programs from various penal institutions painting several rooms.

Another group worked today tearing out drywall at a house which an agency is helping a refugee from Romania and her daughter to buy.  They are currently in a homeless shelter where they cannot stay together.

The largest group each day, including tomorrow, is working with Global Peace Initiatives, a local organization formed 9/15/2001 from the combination of Indy Peace & Justice and Tehachapi Peace Initiative to promote local peace initiatives.  One of the big pushes are peace gardens.  Our group is working on a new garden intended to provide produce to local non-profit agencies.  The property on which this garden is located is a bowing alley property which was recently purchased and donated to them.  The building will be used to expand their community center next door.

On Monday one group cleaned up a city park in a poor neighborhood.  The neighborhood children and the staff of a neighboring community center were thrilled to be able to use the park again.  Coincidentally a committee from the city parks commission came by about the time they finished to check on the situation as "someone had indicated that there were problems at the park."

Take care,

JP