Faith Works 7-27-19
Jeff Gill
Church meetings can be more than agendas
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Even among those of us who take the clear teachings of holy scripture very seriously, it's not a highly respected passage.
Acts 15:6 says "The apostles and elders met to consider this question."
That's right, having church meetings is in the Holy Bible. And the next words in verse 7 are "After much discussion . . ."
By the time you read this, I'll be home from my religious tradition's "Y'all come" gathering that's held every other summer, a "General Assembly." Some denominations have very strict rules about who comes, and who votes, and may be a bigger church than my own but have many fewer in attendance.
We had over 3,000 people, clergy slightly in the majority but not by much, together for four worship services, two with communion, dispersed last Sunday morning across the region to different local churches (and almost always communion there), and nine hundred and seven business sessions.
Okay, I may be a little high on the number of business sessions. There were over a hundred workshops across three afternoons, and I took two in as an attendee, and did two long afternoons as a workshop leader myself, on my tradition's history and polity.
Trust me, I have been and can be jaded about stuff like banquets at conference centers, and tech complications in meeting rooms. I feel a stiff smile fading on my face after a couple of fourteen hour days and long walks through seemingly endless corridors.
But I come home from Des Moines having heard inspiring preaching, from getting the Bible opened up for me in new ways (I have to look up some information on the Sheep Gate when I get home!), and from having had communion and also communed with people I just would not have met had I just stayed put in Newark, Ohio.
Though I did keep running into people who were from Licking County, who grew up in Newark, who had been past the giant basket building, who had connections to me and us and ours in ways I wouldn't have known unless I went to Iowa to find it out.
It really was inspiring, for me as a Christian, to experience my unity with Haitian preachers in Miami and pastors who lead Hispanic congregations on the Mexican border, with women and men new to ministry and those who have been mentors to me since before I even was ordained thirty years ago. I also got to travel with my dad, as we've done for three other General Assemblies (I think this is my ninth or tenth); he just turned 85 and through his eyes I'm learning something about the challenges of accessibility in a convention center and sports arena – oh, the stairs! The endless, ubiquitous stairs . . .
My faith tradition stretches across the United States and Canada; while they are Americans, the Christian Church in Puerto Rico has been an "autonomous national church" for many years (a long interesting story of polity and history). Miguel Morales, the leader of that church, came to express in many different settings and meetings within our assembly, the appreciation and stories of the faith at work in that island nation.
Miguel explained that Hurricane Maria was unique not because it was a hurricane, but because normally a hurricane hit the north side of their large island, and the southern side would keep electric and open roads, and help the other half with recovery; in the past a bad, big hurricane might strike the east end, while the west would remain intact and be the engine of recovery for the whole.
Hurricane Maria, as we saw in a striking projected satellite radar image, ran right over the center of Puerto Rico, and took its time passing over. The entire island took damage, severe damage. And as you have probably heard in the news, they've had their own problems with governance.
Rev. Morales said again and again that our relief and support agencies of our shared church fellowship called him BEFORE the hurricane struck, and got aid to him and his churches BEFORE any governmental assistance arrived. I knew a little of this story, but I heard the whole narrative in full, and it made my assembly.
Not just that we helped each other, but to hear about the resilience and renewal felt in so many congregations which lost everything, and realized that in their faith they still had everything necessary. The generators rushed there by our Pension Fund and Week of Compassion agencies were incredibly important, but it was a kind of communion, then and felt again now, that gave them hope.
Attending this meeting gave me hope, too. I hope to bring some back to Newark with me.
Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; he is really ready to go home. Tell him how you experience fellowship at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.
