ELCA 9th Churchwide Assembly - Day 4 Reflections

Conversation and community is a powerful thing. Today the CWA entered a "Quasi Committee of the Whole" in order to have discussion without debate or motions. This took place for 60 minutes and any voting member who wished to speak was called to check-in at a mic and the mics were open in order of check-in. Each speaker was given 2 minutes and there were a total of 30 speakers (this is contested as it was reported at 31, but others counted 29, I counted 30.) At the end of this, the same gentleman who attempted to amend the rules of the voting surrounding the three sexuality issues called for a point of order. He went on like a 3 year-old that he was not given his right to speak, that he had waited 8 years and now was being robbed of this time and right. The chair (the Bish) ruled him out of order. Then someone made a motion to open another hour of conversation. This motion was then amended to say that those who had checked in but were not given the opportunity to speak because of time constraints would be allowed time to speak. This (I believe3) required a 2/3 vote and was defeated. So the agenda was not amended.

Following this vote, quite a few people left the assembly (voting members.) I was deeply troubled by this.

Additionally, as I was heading to dinner I noticed a sign for the advocacy group Good Soil that pointed to shuttled that would take people off site for a seperate Good Soil worship gathering. I was and still am greatly troubled by this! Just earlier many with connections to this group spoke out and called for unity! - yet here they were being divisive and joining in worship apart from the body that is gathered in a mode of conversation and community. We CAN NOT call for unity only when what we say or believe is accepted, but otherwise we do our own thing - this is hypocrisy!

Today was smooth however, and tomorrow is bound to be high with tension and anxiety. Please continue to pray for the CWA and all those who will be making decisions.