Polity- the word for how a particular Christian tradition governs itself, basically the rules for how we make decisions and get things done.
Presbytery- a regional [for now] grouping of congregations who are accountable to one another for things like preparing people who might be called to serve in ordained leadership positions, attending to the relationships between congregations and their current leadership, and praying together about how to support one another as a whole toward the end of doing Christian ministry.
Nominations- a committee composed of members of the presbytery [we just LOVE committees. We love committees so much that sometimes we think that the only purpose of a committee is to meet as a committee. Think, corporate America and it's love of meetings for the sake of meeting.] whose purpose is to fill positions on the other committees that are tasked with some of the functions specified above in the life of a presbytery.
Everybody up to speed? Good. Back to our regularly scheduled program)
The head of Nominations calls me because in addition to filling the positions that keep our presbytery committees functioning, they also tap the commissioners to the General Assembly.
(Time for more terminology. Maybe this kind of thing floats your boat, but after awhile it gets pretty tedious. And people wonder why our short-attention-span generation has lost interest in church.
General Assembly- up until just a few years ago the General Assembly met every year. Presbyterians are like onions, or is that ogres? We have layers of leadership. Congregations -> Presbyteries -> Synods -> General Assembly. Each presbytery sends two commissioners to General Assembly. [if you're thinking, 'hey, that sounds an awful lot like the U.S. Senate where each state gets two senators,' there's a reason for that. You can blame, or credit, the Presbyterians for a good deal of influence in the governing structure of the United States' constitution.]
Commissioner- one who is sent on behalf of her, or his, presbytery to participate in the business of the General Assembly.)
Long story short. They asked me to be the teaching elder commissioner to this year's GA.
(crap! okay...
teaching elder- there's some confusion about this because we JUST changed the terminology. There are three ordered ministries in the Presbyterian tradition: teaching elder, ruling elder, and deacon. Teaching elders are seminary trained individuals who jump through all kinds of hoops so that they can be ordained to that office in order to serve primarily as pastors in the church. Some serve in other pastoral capacities such as college professors, chaplains, etc. Ruling elders are members of a congregation who are ordained to the council of a local church to measure and direct the mission and ministry of that body. Deacons serve congregations through particular acts of Christian service including ministry of assistance to individuals in need [for my money they are where the rubber of the Gospel meets the road of ministry])
That's right they asked ME, Mr. Who Needs to Study for the Polity Exam When it's an Open Book Test, Mr. ANOTHER Presbytery Meeting!?!?!? I know, right?
I am being sent by my peers in ministry to participate in this year's debacle we call General Assembly. I'm sure I'll explain the 'debacle' remark in a later post. In Greek the word 'apostolos' means "a delegate, messenger, one who is sent forth". I guess that's me.
The truth of the matter is that when it comes to the call of God, reluctance is part of the game. The scariest people are the ones waving their arms in the air for God saying, "pick me! PICK ME!" You don't see a lot of that in the Bible. Generally what you see is people who aren't sure they're up to whatever it is that God is calling them to do, and even less sure that they necessarily want to be a part of it. And yet, I'm going. Because that's what you do when you are called, and sent. You go.
I am looking forward to following your blog. I just hope you have time to update during GA!
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