Mr. Locke’s Classroom

For Presbyterians, General Assembly is part family reunion, part mega-convention, and part election day. It happens every two years, and decides a bunch of issues and proposed resolutions, as well as elects a Moderator (kind of like a cross between the Queen of England and Ambassador of the PCUSA).

My internet friend, Bruce Reyes Chow, is running standing for Moderator this year, and that fact alone put GA on my radar screen.  I guess it should have already been there, since I’m attending a Presbyterian seminary and am an inquirer for ordained ministry in the PCUSA.  But there’s nothing like a super-hero-rock-star candidate to generate interest in something that sounds like a really, really large committee meeting.

Anyhow, I would love nothing more than to be in San Jose, California right now, attending my first GA.  Except for the whole, “moving to New Jersey to start seminary in two weeks” thing, of course.  So instead, I’m watching the live feed on my laptop in my empty apartment in Princeton.  Thank God for that, at least.  I wonder how many others on this campus (or on this coast?) are doing the same tonight.  One way or another, it’s an important part of being Presbyterian, and the fact that I’m getting all geeky excited about it means that I have crossed that threshold once and for all.  Even more than when I bought a PCUSA baseball cap.

Right now I’m listening to the nominating speeches for Moderator (BRC went first), so I’ll hopefully post an update when the election is over.  My prayers are with Bruce, but also with the other candidates, the commissioners, and the PCUSA as a whole.  May God lead us in a new direction for a new world.

UPDATE:  At exactly 12:28 (East Coast Time), and with 55% of the vote in the second ballot, Bruce Reyes Chow was elected Moderator of the 218th General Assembly of the PCUSA.  I’m watching his family take to the stage now!  It’s a great day for the future of the Presbyterian church!  Way to go, Bruce!