Between Great Lakes

Pastor Dale, Rev. Tami Seidel, Leslie Mardenborough, Erica Restaino, and Stephan Valastro at General Assembly in Detroit

I just got back from the Great Lakes region on Saturday and I return to the area on Sunday.  Detroit was the home for the 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to which i was a commissioner.  The city is located on the Detroit River which flows from Lake Huron to Lake Erie.  Then on Sunday I leave with the high school mission team to Niagara Falls, NY, which is located on the river connecting Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.  Being on either end the Great Lake I used to call home is about the only thing these two trips have in common.  One was a week of sitting in meetings and the other will be a week of working hard to keep up with energetic teenagers.

The week in Detroit was a memorable and moving experience.  After a nightmare flight with two cancellations and a night on the floor of the Minneapolis airport, we settled in for a week of reuniting with friends, worship, committee meetings and plenary sessions.  Our delegation from Hudson River Presbytery included one person I knew well (Rev. Tami Seidel from Yorktown) and three others I would know well by the end of the week (see photo caption).  We were a good delegation that faithfully fulfilled our duties and had fun doing it.  We took turns writing in our HRP GA blog, which you can still review at Hudrivpres.org.

General Assembly handled countless issues that came before the church in the form of overtures from Presbyteries around the county.  HRP sent up several including resolutions dealing with gun violence, sex trafficking, marriage equality and fossil fuel divestment.  Other important issues included approving the Belhar Confession which came out of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.  Copy and paste the web address below to download and read this inspiring theological reflection on social justice: http://www.pcusa.org/resource/belhar-confession/.

The real excitement of the Assembly came when we approved changes to the Book of Order and offered an "Authoritative Interpretation" to provide marriage equality to all God's children.  The vote was not even close, an indication that the church is finally coming to a consensus on this issue that was so divisive in the past.  We heard that we have lost 300 churches in the last 4 years (about 3%) and we will lose some more.  In HRP we have maybe one more church who will leave our fellowship, but otherwise our Presbytery and denomination are moving forward as a more inclusive and welcoming church.

The most drama was over the vote on the overture from the Mission Through Responsible Investment committee on Israel/Palestine.  The issue that has been before the church for a decade was whether to phase in divestment from three U.S. companies who are profiting from activities in the West Bank and Gaza that the church finds particularly offensive.  caterpillar, HP, and Motorola provide products and services that among other things, maintain the separation barrier and the surveillance and control of check points, and even home demolitions.  Our Palestinian Christan brothers and sisters along with Jewish Voices for Peace lobbied for divestment.  Other Jewish groups argued against divestment and brought considerable pressure to bear on the assembly through speeches and leaflets.  Both sides had young people in t-shirts supporting their perspective.  When it came time for the vote there was a gasp as the gap was unbelievably narrow--31- to 303 for divestment.  Immediately our new moderator, Elder Heath Rada, pleaded with the media to report that our love for our Jewish brothers and sisters is not diminished with this vote.  He was absolutely right.  In fact, the intensity of this debate has renewed my commitment to reach out to Jewish families and leaders in our community as well as to advocate for an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people.

This week in between has been busy and quiet at the same time.  Busy because I am catching up on being gone and planning to be away again next week.  But quiet because other staff members are on vacation.  I am looking forward to my third summer in New York with opportunities for ministry, planning and a little time off.  In July I plan to fly over those Great Lakes and spend some time with my family in Western Canada.  In the meantime, I look forward to sharing my experiences in Detroit and Niagara Falls in worship and private conversations.

See you in church,
Pastor Dale