Sisters and Brothers of Wabash Valley,

Yesterday about 80 of us gathered at Geneva Center for our "non-meeting" of Presbytery to share fellowship, worship, educational presentations, and dialogue about the proposed amendments to the Constitution of our denomination. We were especially delighted that the Vice Moderator of the 221st General Assembly, Rev. Larissa Kwong Abazia, was able to join us and share some of her experiences of the past seven months since her election to that office. The words of ordination vows to "serve with creativity, intelligence and love" were sustained in her address to those assembled. The church which she serves is a multi-cultural church of several ethnicities and is located in the most ethnically diverse county/borough in the US, Queens, New York. She cited the need for us individually to define who we are and to allow God to take our burdens from us in order to fully realize the hopes that we have in serving the kingdom of God. Through the use of "flash paper," she cleverly had each attendee write their own individual burden on the paper and then literally ignite it in the flame of the candle to completely combust in a nanosecond!

Following Rev. Kwong Abazia's remarks, Revs. Alan Griffin and David Smook, melded her message with a dialogue on defining ourselves as Presbyterians by the 4 Gs:

• God always acts first: God initiates and humankind responds.
• Groups: like grapes, we Presbyterians are better in bunches. Discernment comes through communication.
• Grace: God responds to sinful ways of His beloved children through Grace, unearned and freely given.
• Gratitude: Christianity is not "hell insurance;" rather, it is living in gratitude to God.

The afternoon session was devoted to discussion of the proposed amendments to the Constitution both as a group and then later in Table Talk discussion. Discussion primarily centered on the amendment to the Worship Directory of the Book of Order in redefining marriage as between two people, rather than the traditional man and a woman. Speakers in opposition to and in support of the amendment raised their concerns. Trust issues of the denomination expanded definition of marriage and possible mandates were followed by explanations of Freedom of Conscience as an inherent doctrine of our denomination. While Sessions have the ultimate decision-making ability of church usage for same gender marriages, Teaching Elders have fully invested Freedom of Conscience in officiating at the marriages of any couple, heterosexual or homosexual. The respectful postures of all those participating in the dialogue truly demonstrated the closely held values and the thoughtful position statements. All are to be commended!  

Next up is the voting on the proposed amendments on February 24th. We will be voting on the Confession of Belhar at our May Assembly.

Peace to all,

Jill Kitowski, Moderator 

 Copy of the sermon, power point and Proposed Amendments can be found at www.ourpresbytery.org home page.