Thursday, July 1 - Last pre-assembly posting

We've completed the assembly preview for stated clerks.  The penultimate event was a service of communion. The worship during this event was wonderful and the communion was the best of the three services.  The service ended with the hymn "Lord, You Come to the Lakeshore."  For me it is the most touching hymn I sing.  It reminds me of my father in his final years.

I took time out from the sessions to assure Hannah's parents that she was truly here and able to negotiate from the airport to her hotel.  She had no trouble, but knowing that I would be there made the parents more comfortable.

One of services of the Association of Stated Clerks is to prepare, after the Assembly, a summary of business items proposed to the presbyteries for their concurrence.   I volunteered to be part of a three person team following one set of items through the committee process so that we can identify the "for" and "against" arguments after the assembly.   That will keep me busy Sunday afternoon and all day Monday and Tuesday.  I'll be following committee 05-Polity.   If anyone cares about the work of the assembly go to the business site, www.pc-biz.org or the General Assembly site, www.pcusa.org/ga219

 More of our delegation arrive Friday with some more to follow on Saturday.   Tomorrow is the day I pick up registration material. and have a free day before the activities start on Saturday.  Hannah has a day of orientation tomorrow.

I've heard a lot of good ideas for the way we help churches.  Such as the church that elects officers in November and trains them for an hour or so each week until May when they are installed.  Those officers get real training into the responsibilities and opportunities for service to the church and its members.

Also several thoughts about how the presbytery can help churches with regular assistance from the presbytery.

There's so much that the presbytery and the member churches can do when the churches cooperate with each other and the broader church.