August 9, 2007
ELCA Churchwide Assembly Day Five
Thursday
Grace, Peace, and Blessings on Thursday of the Churchwide Assembly…
I have to say that, dress it up all you want, the Navy Pier is a singularly unattractive and uninviting space to hold an assembly such as this. I am not maligning the efforts of the organizers of this assembly. They have worked extraordinarily hard to make the assembly a success. And it will be a success, in the sense that we will complete the business of it. But, all the cloth in the world, all the banners in the world, all the jumbo-tron televisions in the world will not warm this place into the sort of intimate space that you need for real deliberative work and, more importantly, for worship.
Navy Pier, Festival Hall, is cavernous. You could hide intercontinental ballistic missiles in the stalls in the men's room. Weather happens indoors among the rafters. This place is big. [I exaggerate a wee bit for effect.] The assembly (fully 1400 people by the time you include the youth group, congregational observers, and visitors), three jumbo-trons, a multi-keyboard organ, voting machines, the Church Council, flowers, platforms, cameras, sound staging, and Secretary Almen are all in one end, about 1/3 of one of the concrete and steel girder spaces in the Festival Hall. The sound system is state of the art but not up to dampening the sensation that what you are listening to is being yelled into a metal barrel with about 6 inches of water in the bottom. The organ, massive enough, sounds thin and reedy. And the singing sounds stretched and lacking color. The place is just too big. We are a size 8 object in a size 24 hole.
You could put all the voting members in their places, run a plenary session, and in the other end hold shotgun duels and take no collateral casualties.
You have to leave for the bathroom before you feel that you have to go so as to arrive there just before the emergency. "I am going to the bathroom. I don't have to go, but I will by the time I get there." Tricky, that.
I am not being negative – I am trying to be accurate and honest. This has been bothering me for days now. We need to hold this assembly someplace, anyplace else, and never come back here. Navy Pier is probably a brilliant place to hold an auto show, computer extravaganza, American Idol, or a rock concert, but it is cold, impersonal, and even tarted up, lacking any warmth as a space for a churchwide assembly.
Add to that the extraordinary inconvenience of having to live a mile from the site and expensively use shuttle buses and you have a real problem. Popping back up to your room to get something you forgot is an hour's exercise, at best.
I'll hear about this observation…
It seemed that Thursday was one large arrow, pointed at 3:35 pm in the afternoon. That's when we took up the sexuality memorials. Everything else seemed to be by-play. 60 minutes were allocated. Speeches would be two minutes, no more. People will line up at microphones by where they came out on the motion to refer: those in favor over here, everyone else over there. The chair will alternate between the two sides.
Motion: because of the contention of this subject, every 20 minutes take 1 minute for silent prayer followed by a prayer offered by the chairperson. Passed.
Motion: Postpone the discussion of the E1 Memorials till after the discussion and disposition of the E2, E3, and E4 Memorials. Reason proffered: the preponderance of the memorials in the E category fall into the latter three categories and it seems best to take up the largest workload first.
[All the memorials are divided into groups for efficiency and comparison. The E group is for those concerning the Sexuality Study matters. E1 happens to deal with same-gender relationship blessing.]
Bishop of Virginia Synod rises to oppose postponement of E1, thinks the schedule is appropriate to the workload.
Motion to Postpone E1 Defeated.
Motion: deflate the time for debate, 20 minutes for each amendment and 20 minutes for the main motion. This is an efficiency that was used to great effect in Orlando for the 2005 discussions.
Oppose Motion: this is important material and information. We should listen to it all
Motion Defeated
Refer: Bishop Carol Hendrix, motion is made to refer this memorial and all others to the Task Force on Sexuality Studies
Refer: Honor the process that has been set up. I believe the Sexuality Studies will speak to this issue (blessing of same-gender relationships) adequately.
Debate the Memorial: Don't put a cage on the Holy Spirit; it is possible that the Spirit is doing a new thing.
Memorial: Honor the request of the synods. Debate the motion.
Refer: Have the patience to stick with the process. The Church will be better for it.
White Card Question: What happens to the memorial if the motion to refer fails?
Answer: the memorial goes away.
Call the Previous Question
Vote to Close Debate: 914 YES, 123 NO Passed
Vote on Motion to Refer: 733 YES, 278 NO Passed. The memorial concerning blessing of same-gender relationships is referred to the task force.
Motion: move to remove all issues of sexuality from this assembly's agenda
Bishop: Motion is out of order since there is no actual motion before the house right now. Wait till there is a motion and make your motion, though you will have to do it each time.
E2 read into the record: this is the resolution to direct the removal of the policy that requires celibacy.
Motion made to remove this from the assembly's agenda
Bishop frames the issue to be voted on: if you want this to remain on the agenda, vote YES; if you agree with the removal, vote NO
Vote: 753 YES; 280 NO the resolution will be remain on the agenda
Substitute motion is made by Bishop Stumme-Diers. He moves the actual memorial as the Substitute motion
Now before the house is the motion to refer from the memorials committee and the actual memorial itself.
Bishop Stumme-Diers to the Memorial: This is a great church that does NOT cower in fear. 21 synods have asked us to hear them and to hear the voice of the Gospel
Gladys Moore: motion to amend the Substitute Motion by adding the words from Vision and Expectations so that LGBT persons are indeed bound to treat their partners in the same manner of faithfulness, fidelity, and mutual support as the heterosexual minister treat their spouses. Speaking to the motion, she said that she desired the same end result for LGBT ministers. She said do not fear the reaction of people of color as others opposed have said we should. People of color are more upset by exclusionary rules than they are by homosexuality.
David Weeks White Card: Why is it only 50% to pass these resolutions and it was 2/3 in Orlando in 2005? And, does V&E flow from the constitution and bylaws?
Bishop: in 2005 the assembly sought to actually edit the documents, to own them, that made them have to have a 2/3 majority. This time the assembly is directing that the documents be edited. That only requires 50%+1. As to the other question, it is a question better asked during debate, rather than to the chair.
Vote on the Gladys Moore amendment: 739 YES; 268 NO amendment passed
Bishop Don McCoy: since we agreed to the honor the 1996 Conference of Bishops' statement, we should continue to do so and honor the process honestly by referring the motions to the task force.
Speaking in favor of the Substitute: this memorial should be addressed by the body
Refer: Since 1989 and the beginning of developing a social statement on sexuality, the church has not passed any of the pieces of special legislation for parts of such a statement
Speaking in favor of the Substitute: My son seeks to live up the standards required to be a minister. He wants to be a pastor and lots of people think he has the gifts for it. But he has to choose: follow his call or invite loving companionship into his life. This policy must go.
Bishop: the time allotted has run out
Motion made to postpone the Introduction of the top candidates for Secretary to tomorrow so that the debate can continue.
Bishop: that would be a change to the Order of the Day and requires a 2/3 vote to succeed
Vote: 570 YES; 438 NO not 2/3, the debate ended, to be continued on Friday
In the evening we again put up the full display of the Shower of Stoles and held a reception which was well attended.
More tomorrow…
Thursday was a most interesting day, and so will Friday be…
Phil Soucy
Director Communications LC/NA
communications@lcna.org
