UNCO is Church

I was a guest blogger on the unconference website:

 The first Unconference in 2010 was a spiritual life preserver thrown to me on a sea of tweets. I grabbed it and haven’t let go.

I struggle with the challenges of the institutional church, moving through church pastorates and decades of decline always 30 years younger than the congregation as we grow old together.

In UNCO a found a church built of people seeking to find how God is reflected in others, not in budgets to raise and buildings to preserve. Folks gathered their spirits and strengths and gently held together each other at the broken parts….

…read the rest at unco.us

Old Time Religion

Here is my first recorded sermon. I was asked to preach at Carol McDonald’s installation as Associate Synod Executive. Scripture readers include Lucia Bamgardner (sp?) and Sue Whitford. Thanks to Jay Hudson for running the video (He was NOT expecting the preacher to move!)  Enjoy!

220th Presbyterian General Assembly Video Clip Guide

(C) Presbyterian Church (USA) Used by Permission. Photo by Danny Bolin

Here are some video clips of some of the mountaintop moments and walks through the valley of the 220th General Assembly of the PC(USA) meeting in Pittsburgh in July 2012. Not official or complete! Have one not on this list? Leave a comment to get it considered! 

Mountaintops - Inspirational

• Welcome to Pittsburgh! by Committee on Local Arrangements (COLA)
  Muli-Media presentation 
  A LIVE Speedy Delivery from Mr. McFeely of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood  (David Newell)
• Neal D. Presa Speech for Election to Moderator
• Small group prayer
• Mark 2:1-12 Reading & “The Welcome Mat” worship drama
• Jump Prayer with Children at Tribute to Mister Rogers
• Energizer by the YAAD to “Revolution” by Kirk Franklin & the Family
• Advisors are here to advise

Valleys - Difficult

• Vice Moderator resigns office “I am a pastor”
• Redwoods Presbytery’s compliance with the PJC decision’s rebuking Rev. Jamie Sphar
• We Need Greed
• “…large number of people incarcerated through our social justice system”
• Abortion payments by the Board of Pensions
• Merging Pensions & the EPC church discussion
• Same gender domestic partner benefits
• Divestment discussion

 Memorable Speak-Outs

• Jeremy Glideen welcomes cousin Sally & Andy’s upcoming child
• Followed by Dale Deist leading the Assembly in “God Bless America”

 Featured Overtures

• Forwarding of Per Capita  03-02 (Presbytery of Detroit)
• Property Trust Clause Intro 06-06 (Stockton Presbytery) & 06-07 (Santa Barbara Presbytery)
   Resuming Property Trust Clause 
   Mr. GA Help himself, Robert Austell asking about ruling recorded above
• End of Corporal Punishment (Spanking) 11-05 (Presbytery of Grace)

The Best of Gradye

• Strange Birds
• Limits of the Clerk’s Expertise
• Counting Abstentions in a Majority Vote
• Praying Gnome for Bills & Overtures

Videos

COLA’s Welcome to Pittsburgh

• Walk
• Run
• Soar

1001 Worshipping Communities

• The Bridge @ Union Church
• Northland Village
• Common Table
• New Hope
• Team Sweaty Sheep 
• Thien An
• Water’s Edge
• Bare Bulb Coffee
• El Buen Pastor
• New Faith

Last General Assembly’s Come Walk with Us video invitation to Pittsburgh

Reports

•  PCUSA Demographics Report

Still working on this as I go through the videos, emails and comments.

Other Sites

There are other individual sites for General Assembly information.

Robert Austell at the GAHelp.net site

 Steve Salyards at the GA Junkie site

Hints for Presbytery Speakers

In March of 1998, my then teenaged daughter Rachel attended a Presbytery meeting as part of her confirmation process for active church membership. She posted some helpful hints for speakers on the Presbytery web site. How well will General Assembly do in heeding her advice?

1. maximum time is 5 to 7 minutes
2. look around!
3. change your voice so people don’t fall asleep
4. move, walk, or something!
5. use hand motions
6. have charts or something to look at
7. stick to one subject
8. make people laugh or smile at least once
9. talk loud in the beginning to wake people up from the last speaker
10. wear different colors so we can tell when a new person is speaking
11. try to get an early spot before our brains are numb

What is your favorite? Which do you do?

GENERAL ASSEMBLY Plenary Sessions

Times when the entire General Assembly…assembles…are called “plenary sessions”, meeting times whenever all the commissioners (never “representatives”!) are invited and entitled to meet together, to watch, listen, vote, debate, pray and worship.

The assembly opens the week in plenary session, elects a moderator, breaks up into committees then comes back to plenary to vote on the committee recomendations at the end of the week. 

Here is the schedule. It may be changed by the assembly during the session lengthening a session or starting a session early, but generally the commissioners will be meeting during these 12 periods of time.

REMEMBER - You must be registered with a badge ($30) to enter the meeting hall. (Not the exhibit halls or other free and ticketed events.) Video monitors on site and streaming on the internet are available for those not in the hall.