On Thursday, July 1st, I head to Minneapolis for ten days of intensive meetings for the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA). I am a commissioner, elected by the Presbytery of Chicago along with nine other commissioners to participate in this week of work on behalf of the national church.

The PC(USA) website says of General Assembly:

It reviews the work of synods, resolves controversies in the church, is responsible for matters of common concern for the whole church, and serves as a symbol of unity for the church.

Some of the work we will be dealing with has to do with a very controversial Middle East Study Report & peacemaking issues, gay marriage and civil unions (& the definition of marriage), gun control, the death penalty, violence against women and children, educational issues, economic issues, Ordination of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender) persons, interfaith issues (including Christian/Muslim and Christian/Jewish relations), war in Afghanistan, violence in Sudan, ministry in North Korea, theological issues, health issues, and so so many other issues!

You can read about the business (or at least see the overwhelming list) here.

There will be live web-streaming of the full assembly meetings during the second half of next week. I’ll be sure to post the link to that. I will also be posting some brief blog posts about the business we will be taking up.

For the first half of the week, I am serving on Committee 11, Social Justice Issues.

If you are a praying person, now would be a good time to begin to pray for us all!