Saturday, June 23, 2007
Day 1
Hi all - Sorry no post last night - it was a LATE night. Yesterday afternoon Synod began with hearings in the afternoon - including one on the immigration resolutions which I attended and which was packed with people and full of positive, constructive conversation and questions.
Then the opening business session took care of lots of business stuff, and included a play/video thing telling of recent and not-so-recent UCC history. During this session, the collegium presented a passionate pastoral letter on Iraq, which you can read about at http://www.ucc.org/news/synod-churches-receive.html The only controversial item of the day was the motion that the General Synod sign on to the letter, which eventually passed with a very large majority - but not at all unanimously, with concern and care around the discussions of these issues.
Then it was off to grab dinner, and return for the opening worship. All the San Bernardino crew sat near each other for this - it was an inspiring and exciting worship that moved right along. After worship the tired ones headed for early bed and the rest of us stayed for more reports and presentations - which were unfortunately much less fast paced than worship and dragged long after the appointed time to close. The Southern California/Nevada Conference had a reception planned for after the evening events - apparently people came in waves to that, and many didn't make it. Others of us stopped by there and then headed to the young adult reception at another nearby hotel, where the music and fun continued till just before midnight.
All in all, an exciting day - for some of the highlights, which included the evening sermon by youth and young adult advocate Rev. DaVita McAllister, see the news coverage at http://www.ucc.org/news/
And, one of the best parts of Synod for me is reuniting with old friends and making new ones. I have seen several of my seminary professors and classmates, and also some of the "kids" - now adults - who Dave and I once counseled at summer camp. And we've got the great kid-tool for making new friends - they always help start conversations.
More soon, friends...
Then the opening business session took care of lots of business stuff, and included a play/video thing telling of recent and not-so-recent UCC history. During this session, the collegium presented a passionate pastoral letter on Iraq, which you can read about at http://www.ucc.org/news/synod-churches-receive.html The only controversial item of the day was the motion that the General Synod sign on to the letter, which eventually passed with a very large majority - but not at all unanimously, with concern and care around the discussions of these issues.
Then it was off to grab dinner, and return for the opening worship. All the San Bernardino crew sat near each other for this - it was an inspiring and exciting worship that moved right along. After worship the tired ones headed for early bed and the rest of us stayed for more reports and presentations - which were unfortunately much less fast paced than worship and dragged long after the appointed time to close. The Southern California/Nevada Conference had a reception planned for after the evening events - apparently people came in waves to that, and many didn't make it. Others of us stopped by there and then headed to the young adult reception at another nearby hotel, where the music and fun continued till just before midnight.
All in all, an exciting day - for some of the highlights, which included the evening sermon by youth and young adult advocate Rev. DaVita McAllister, see the news coverage at http://www.ucc.org/news/
And, one of the best parts of Synod for me is reuniting with old friends and making new ones. I have seen several of my seminary professors and classmates, and also some of the "kids" - now adults - who Dave and I once counseled at summer camp. And we've got the great kid-tool for making new friends - they always help start conversations.
More soon, friends...
# posted by Petra : 10:10 AM
