Amanda Wells reports.
In early October, 400 Presbyterians assembled near Wellington to spend four days making decisions, hearing presentations and participating in worship.
General Assembly 2008 was described by most attendees as “better”. They talked of a better atmosphere and better quality of debate, in contrast to recent Assemblies dominated by arguments over sexuality and leadership.
People also spoke positively of the keynote speaker, the organisation of business and of the worship, lead by new Moderator the Right Rev Dr Graham Redding and students from the Knox Centre of Ministry and Leadership, of which Graham is also principal.
Graham framed his two sermons during Assembly with the road to Emmaus story from Luke 24:13-35. He considered its focus on listening for the voice of Jesus as we interpret Scripture, as well as the importance of Jesus going on to break bread with the disciples. “We’re left in no double about who is the true host at this table, and what the true nature of this meal is.” Graham called on the Church to place Communion firmly at the heart of worship. If you’re interested in reading his sermons and downloading the orders of service, these can be found on the GA webpage.
The issue that attracted the most heated debate during Assembly was the adoption of a contemporary statement of belief, called the “Confession of Faith – Kupu Whakapono” (previously known as the Focal Identity Statement). Task group convenor the Rev Richard Dawson gave a strong speech in support of the proposal, which was then considered by dialogue groups, whose “mixed” responses were fed back to Assembly before the issue was debated on the floor. People took differing positions on the theological implications of the different phrases in the Confession, and also on whether it was time to move away from the Westminister Confession. The eventual vote sent the Confession of Faith back to an expanded task group, which is to bring a new version to General Assembly 2010. The aspects that the task group will look at strengthening cover the attributes and character of God, and the inspiration and authority of Scripture. However, Assembly did also decide to commend the current version to parishes as an interim document.
One decision made with no debate was to approve the restructure of presbyteries. The proposal, fronted by task group convenor the Very Rev Garry Marquand, aims to switch the “default setting” of presbyteries from governance to resourcing for mission. Some governance functions previously performed by presbyteries will be given to national groups or committees (not Assembly Office), while presbyteries will become bigger. The transition process to the new model will be established by the start of 2009 and it will become operational soon after.
Press Go, which establishes a mechanism to fund growth projects, was also overwhelmingly approved. Assembly decided to encourage all congregations and presbyteries to voluntarily provide a 1 percent return on investment assets to Press Go, and also approved the release of $2 million from the sale of Laughton House. The criteria against which applications to Press Go will be evaluated will go out to presbyteries and UDCs for consultation.
General Assembly also agreed, after much discussion, to extend the use of capital funds, which previously could be used only for capital projects. Now they can also be used for projects that serve the purposes of “God’s mission” – a change from the proposal’s original wording, which specified “growth”. There are associated guidelines, which outgoing Resource Subcommittee convenor John Trainor described as “factors to be considered rather than rules to be followed”. These guidelines will be used by presbyteries and the Church Property Trustees when they evaluate applications.
One of the final decisions made by GA08 was to back a new system for ministry reviews. Ministers will undergo biennial reviews, though these will not be linked to remuneration increases. A Certificate of Good Standing will also be introduced, to be dealt with in 2010 under the special legislative procedure (previously the Barrier Act).
Many other decisions were made at Assembly and a full list, as well as much more detail on the decisions highlighted above, is available for download from the GA webpage.
A number of Assembly attendees described the three keynote speeches by the Rev Professor Randall Prior from Australia as a highlight. Randall is principal of the Uniting Church Theological College in Victoria and teaches at the United Faculty of Theology, which is an ecumenical theological education and research venture. He explored ideas about cultural context, the death of current forms of the Church, and rediscovering the way forward. The keynote speeches can be downloaded from the GA webpage as pdf handouts and also in MP3 audio format.
Assembly attendees also made positive comments about improvements in the quality of debate. As Stuart Sinclair, a commissioner from St Francis Uniting in Hamilton said, “in comparison to GA06, it appears that they’ve learned to be more considerate when putting their opinion across”. Many spoke appreciatively of an improvement in atmosphere compared to previous Assemblies, and of the smooth way in which business was run. Rather than going on to Monday morning as scheduled, business was wrapped up on Sunday night because of the tightness with which the agenda had been followed. During the Sunday, the communications team asked half a dozen randomly selected people six questions about their experience at GA08, and their answers are paraphrased on the following page.