Assembly Ends and Home at Last!

Greetings to all! The 218th General Assembly ended last night with our own Jacob providing a little humor on the floor as his committee (Social Justice) presented their report. Jacob brought the house down as he presented a point of clarification concerning an overture on global warming. I will let him fill you in on the details. Some of you may be concerned over the action taken by the GA in regards to ordination standards. On Friday, the Assembly approved the Committee on Church Order recommendation to delete the well known "fidelity-chastity" language currently found in our Book of Order and constitution. If approved by two thirds of the nation's presbyteries, this action will remove the impediments to ordain persons to the office of Deacon, Elder, and Minister of Word and Sacrament who are self-affirming, avowed homosexuals. In related action, the Assembly disapproved an overture that would have re-defined marriage. Voting on all of the amendments to our constitution will take place at the presbytery level in the next few months. As we did two years ago, we will sponsor a "town hall" meeting in July and another opportunity in the fall to discuss the actions of the Assembly and hear from our representation. Thank you for your prayers. All who were involved sensed them each day as they labored together in name of our Lord. Our family especially thanks you for your many prayers as we traveled across this great country (over 7000 miles). See you on Sunday!