Earlier this week I spent a total of 26 hours in Pittsburgh, about 19 of those awake. As most of you know, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) is taking place there this week. I basically went because it was within driving distance, I’ve never been to a General Assembly, I wanted to gather resources, and I hoped to see old friends and make some new connections as well. Since I’m only going to be in the office today and tomorrow this week and I am taking part in a memorial service on Saturday, I don’t have a great deal of time to craft my blog post this week so I will just lay out for you what I did there and what I learned.
1. There is a great deal of diversity in the Presbyterian Church (USA). As I walked around it was nice to see people of all skin shades and even to hear people speaking to one another in Spanish, Korean, and even Arabic. There is also a lot of political and theological diversity there as well. In the exhibit hall the Pro-Life Presbyterians booth was right across from the More Light Presbyterians, which is a group within the PC(USA) that lobbies for full inclusion of LGBT persons. The woman who sews beautifully artistic ministry stoles was right down from the web design and social networking booth. The PC(USA) looks a lot like the USA. The difference is that everyone there, regardless of their differences in appearance or views, agrees that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior. That’s what holds us together.
2. Our beloved Cincinnati Reds have their hands full with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Sitting by fellow Presbyterians from Alaska, Florida, New York, and Iowa, I attended the Pirates-Astros game on Tuesday night. PNC Park is a great stadium that is pretty similar to Great American Ball Park in appearance, size, and
location in the city. It was a lot of fun and the folks in Pittsburgh are very excited about their ball club this year, so much so that on a Tuesday night the stadium was more than ¾ full. Although I secretly rooted for the Astros since that would help the Reds more, I do have to confess that when Drew Sutton hit a walk-off game winning home run in the bottom of the 9th I did stand up and go crazy with everyone else. Hey, don’t judge! Good baseball is good baseball. When the crowd chanted “MVP, MVP, MVP!” whenever Andrew McCutchen came up to bat, I silently chanted “VOTTO, VOTTO, VOTTO!” in my head. Our Reds better get it together because Pittsburgh is for real.
3. Fundraising dinners are fine, but I’ll take a cheeseburger at the Rusty Keg over chicken and rice pilaf served on fine china any day. Plus, it’s cheaper. Throw in some of Lori Iverson’s potato/cheese/bacon casserole and one of Arlene Thompson’s homemade pies and I’m set.
4. I would like for our congregation to have a relationship with one particular mission co-worker, couple, or family serving somewhere in the world. I spent a
long time talking with a gentleman named Bruce whose job is to match PC(USA) mission co-workers (what we use to call missionaries) with congregations to develop relationships of support. He gathered a lot of information from me about our congregation to help in the matching. I told him we are passionate about hunger ministries, our pews are filled with educators, we have some real prayer warriors, and we are very generous when a need doesn’t just involve an abstract “budget” request but involves real people.
5. Put a couple of hundred Presbyterians in a beautiful Art-Deco ballroom with marble walls and the acoustics will raise our voices to heaven. I was at a breakfast during which I participated in some of the most beautiful and worshipful singing I’ve ever been a part of. I could not help but get a bit emotional as we sang, “It is well, it is well, with my soul.”
6. Big changes are likely coming to the PC(USA), many of which a lot of folks in this congregation will not agree with and may even be upset about. What I always remind people of is that worship and ministry take place locally. We are too busy
praising God, feeding the hungry in Christ’s name, and bearing one another’s burdens as the family of God’s people right here in Washington Court House, that we don’t have a whole lot of time and energy to spend getting mad about what may or may not happen nationally. What is happening in Pittsburgh is very important, but it is not of ultimate importance for our everyday walk of faith. Remember, Hebrews 12:2: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
