August 2008 Note from Pastor Jon

Filed Under Archives, Pastor's Notes

I wanted to use this space to briefly comment on some of the issues you have perhaps heard about concerning the Presbyterian Church’s recent General Assembly which met June 21-28 in San Jose, California.

             I believe we each need to read about the issues that were in front of the assembly, and then decide for ourselves what we think concerning decision made.  Some very good things happened at this year’s General Assembly, most of which will not make the secular news because they are being overshadowed by the decisions that media are focusing on as newsworthy items.

For example, did you know that this General Assembly:

·         Elected a new Moderator:  Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow

·         Elected a new Stated Clerk:  Gradye Parsons

·         Issued a call for Peacemaking in Israel and Palestine

·         Approved a new social creed and began a process towards a revision of 5 answers in the Heidelberg Catechism in an effort to stay more true to the original German language.

·         Voted, for the first time in 50 years, to increase the number of mission personnel serving around the world.

You see, one problem that we face as Presbyterians, and as Christians, is that we rely upon the news media reports we are reading online and in newspapers.  Some pretty sensational headlines have been declared about some of the decisions made this year, and certainly, parts of decisions were reported, but in most cases, if the full decision had been mentioned, the headlines would not have been near as exciting.

Yet we continue to read the summaries by either secular media, or partisan groups, without going and looking at the full documentation available at the General Assembly website http://pcusa.org/ga218.  After viewing this information first hand, it is much easier to decide for ourselves how we feel about the decisions that were made. 

 

                                                       Pastor Jon

Posted August 2, 2008, 12:11 am | Comments Off