Giant Puppets in Worship--Trend or Tragedy?

There's been some snickering in the blogosphere about the opening worship processional at the 219th General Assembly, particularly over the giant puppets that were in evidence. One wag dubbed this "the Lion King meets the PCUSA."

(If you are like me and didn't attend, then you can see a clip on You Tube here and here.)

The blog Bad Vestments even called them the Giant Paper-Mache' Calvinist Puppets of Doom. I have to admit I was sad to realize that I can't kid my Episcopalian brother about their Clown Eucharists anymore!

Yesterday Bad Vestments revealed that he had found a trend in the use of Giant Puppets in worship among several Protestant denominations and ranted: "what the hell is the deal with giant puppets during Christian worship?"

So, Gentle Readers, what say you?

poll by twiigs.com

GA 219: Mixed Results

Yesterday's GA voted to send a change in 6.0106b of the Book of Order which would, in effect, permit the ordination of non-celibate gays, to the presbyteries for approval. The vote was relatively close-- 53% in favor and 46% opposed.

Then late last night the GA voted to accept BOTH the majority and the minority reports on Marriage and Civil Union and commend them for study by the presbyteries and churches and not to take any action on the recommendations that came from that committee. That means presbyteries will not be asked to vote on changing the definition of Christian marriage in our BOO from a man and a woman to "two people." This passed by a narrow margin--about 51%.

This morning's Twittersphere is full of tweets speculating about whether a motion to reconsider yesterday's vote on the Marriage and Civil Union report will be brought to the floor today. So maybe the issue will come up again? Stay tuned.

Other business yesterday included a lot of "social justice" debate which makes the church resemble the caucus of the Democratic party in Congress. Once again we divide the church along secular political lines instead of using the GA to find ways to strengthen its gospel mission in this country and the world.

And there will be more of that today as the controversial Middle East Report comes to the floor of the assembly.

Where is the discussion about addressing decline in membership, strengthening our churches, planting new churches in growing areas, renewing our missionary efforts around the world and spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ?

GA 219: nFOG Goes to Presbyteries, gives QG homework

The revised Form of Government (hereinafter referred to as the nFOG) was approved by the General Assembly by a vote of roughly 70% for and 30% against. Hence it will go to the presbyteries where it must be approved in order to go into effect.

I'm of two minds on this issue. On the one hand, I think the government section of the BOO badly needs revision and cleaning up. It's a mess. The index is terrible so it is difficult to be sure that you have found all the sections that apply to an issue that you are trying to clarify.

On the other hand, I'm not sure the nFOG, which is much more than a revision and cleaning up, is the answer. Some valid concerns about its effect were voiced on the floor of the GA this evening.

It dawned on me this afternoon that since my duty on session this fall is to coordinate and lead our new elder training classes, we are going to need to be prepared to include information about how the nFOG will change the BOO if it passes the presbyteries.

You see my dilemma. Maybe I'll open the class on polity by passing around cups of PresbyPolity Alphabet soup. That's soup with mostly B's and O's in it.

Book Review Just for GA: The Organist Wore Pumps

Lucky for you, PresbyPolity types and GA commissioners! Mark Schweizer's latest Liturgical Mystery, The Organist Wore Pumps, has just been published and you can download it to read on your Kindle, IPhone or IPad while pretending to be paying attention in another one of those interminable committee meetings you are stuck in this week.

The only problem is that you will be hard-pressed to stifle your laughter while reading it and when you try in vain to suppress those tears of hysteria from flowing down your cheeks your fellow commissioners may mistakenly think you are In The Spirit.

In this eighth adventure of our hero Liturgical Detective Hayden Konig--full time police chief of St. Germaine, North Carolina and part-time organist/choirmaster of St. Barnabus Episcopal Church--the mystery involves the bones of one of the Three Wise Kings, an obnoxious deacon, some skunks, the Best Christmas Parade ever and a dead body in Lake Tannenbaum. Konig is hampered by a broken arm but not hampered enough to prevent him writing his execreble Raymond Chandler knock-offs or to keep him from solving the crime. This book can be read on its own, but you will appreciate it more if you have read the other seven, beginning with The Alto Wore Tweed. Also available on your Kindle and various Kindle Apps.

Favorite line from the book: "anything too stupid to be said can be easily sung." I really don't know how Schweizer does it, but this book is just as good as the other 7. For more fun, go here and you can listen to The Pirate Gloria, The Mouldy Cheese Madrigal among other things from the series.

Now your Auntie QG feels a bit disloyal recommending a book involving Episcopalians to our GA commissioners, but let's face it-- the Episcopal Church is both more colorful and more liturgical than us Presbys.

Though after seeing some descriptions of the opening worship with the Dancing Eagle and other things I'm thinking that maybe we are getting in a position where we can compete with them. The question is: who will be our Mark Schweizer?

GA 219 Goes To Ground So QG Cooks

For those of us PresbyPolityGeeks who are NOT attending GA 219 in person, the GA has gone to ground for the next couple of days as commissioners burrow into a millionty committee meetings that are not being streamed live. So until the next plenary meeting on Wednesday, we rely on our blogger, Facebook and Twitter feeds to learn what is happening.

Here's a shout-out to the Presbytery of New Covenant delegation: they have their own blog ( PNC Notes from Minneapolis) and several new posts went up today from commissioners. Keep up the good work! Pray for our EP Rev. Mike Cole as he testifies against the Middle East Peace report today.

Meanwhile, I've been cooking, so I'll share two "keeper" recipes from yesterday's Fourth of July festivities Chez QG.

The first one is a variation of the beloved and famous Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake-- the Texas Strawberry Sheetcake.

Kudos to blogger Homesick Texan for the recipe which you can get here. Everyone really LOVED this. It is easy, very fruity and moist.

The second one is a super fabulous Truffle Mac and Cheese. I got this one from the site What We're Eating. Here's the link to the recipe. It's a rather fussy recipe, so not exactly something you're going to whip up on a weeknight to go with your meatloaf. However for a special occasion it is outstanding. My guests gave it 5 stars and requested a re-run for Labor Day and Thanksgiving.

As I always say, when the goin' gets tough at GA, the tough get cookin' at home.

GA 219 Icon for your IPad or IPhone

Fellow PresbyPolityGeeks--you can download an icon for the home screen of your IPad or IPhone that will take you directly to the GA219 streaming video.

I just put it on my IPad and it's working perfectly!

Go to the GA210 home page (http://ga219.pcusa.org/) and follow the simple instructions.

Geekily yours,
QG

Onward Into the Fray: GA 219

The senior pastor of our congregation sent out a letter about the 219th GA that convenes this coming Saturday in Minneapolis. He reminded us that like the kings of ancient Israel, the PCUSA go out to do war in the spring of the year (2 Samuel 11:1).

Well, okay, so technically it's summer already, but you see his point. So onward PresbySoldiers, into the fray.

The PCUSA remains deeply divided along the same lines that divide American culture, and this shows no sign of abating. Presbyterians continue to prefer fighting about these types of issues every other year at GA rather than try to address the church's continuing sharp membership decline and resulting irrelevance.

The three "hot button" issues for this year's GA are:

• The definition of Christian marriage (our presbytery sent an overture to GA advocating retaining the traditional "one man one woman" definition and this was also endorsed by our session). Any change by the GA will have to be concurred in by a majority of presbyteries to become effective.
• Ordination Standards and the issue of gay/lesbian/transgender eligibility. Any change by GA in the current Book of Order requirements will also require presbyteries to vote to concur.
• Middle East Issues: a highly controversial report is coming to the GA that will draw much negative publicity and create further division within the church. This won't require presbytery vote and approval .

Why does anyone think that the commissioners to GA have the time and expertise to pronounce on this complex subject, and why do they think that this exercise is good stewardship of the PCUSA's declining resources and influence? Presbyterians for Middle East Peace has a petition on their website asking the report not be adopted and there is still time to sign, which El Jefe and I have done. The website also has good information about the report.

There are 6 candidates standing for the position of Moderator. I just finished reading their responses to questions posed by the Presbyterian Outlook. Interestingly all but one said that the most important issue before the GA was the adoption of the Form of Government report. Really? Revising our Book of Order is the most pressing issue? That will be a hard sell back in the home churches.

By now those of you wanting to follow the doin's know where to go and how to do it online. PresbyBlogger Robert Austell (also a commissioner to GA this year) has developed a great website GA Help for commissioners and those who want to follow the proceedings in the committees and plenary sessions in detail and that is new this year, so you may want to check it out. The plenary sessions will be streamed live so you can watch at home in your pajamas, too.

Sometimes I feel the GA is like the slow motion train wreck that I can't bear to watch but also can't stand to turn away from. So this time I'm not planning to watch every proceeding and blog about it, but will doubtless watch some of it and may blog. Or not.

But I will be praying.

Reverend in the Sky?

Yesterday evening while El Jefe and I were taking Bea for her evening walk we saw this cloud that looked like a Founding Father to us.

Maybe it's the Rev. John Witherspoon, PresbyPastor and Declaration of Independence signer, come to watch over the doin's at the GA over the Fourth of July weekend in Minneapolis.

We certainly hope so!

GA Help

PresbyBlogger Robert Austell, a pastor in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a commissioner to the 219th General Assembly of the PCUSA has created a website for other commissioners to help them anticipate and prepare for their roles at GA: GA Help.net.

The site includes official links to the business before the assembly as well as links to many different news and commentary sites on the internet. He even includes handy links that will help you track blogs, twitter feeds and other social networking feeds that may be relevant. This would be a handy site to bookmark and use during the proceedings. It is a work in progress, so check back as Austell continues to expand the information that will be included.

Tweeting the 219th GA

Presby-Polity types who are planning to follow the upcoming 219th GA should check out a very informative and interesting series of posts that PresbyBlogger Robert Austell is writing called : "Twitter: What Could It Mean at a General Assembly?"

If you are not a Twitterer, you will learn why you might want to follow the GA on Twitter and the basics of how to get started. Austell also has a lot of specific information on who is tweeting and how to follow them.

Check it out!