YAADs Beat the System FTW

Today has consisted of one big plenary meeting, with breaks for lunch and dinner. We have addressed several controversial topics, debate on some dragging on longer than others. After excessive discussion on one overture, Katie went to the microphone with an orange paddle to call the question…unfortunately, someone got there first, so Katie couldn’t speak (she got her turn to speak later!).

With too much time spent debating the same item of business, it becomes easier and easier to tune the speakers out. Staying focused and alert gets increasingly difficult as the day goes by!

The conference hall has no internet access; we are only granted access to the PC-Biz website where all items of business are posted. This restriction of internet access was probably instilled to keep kids (and adults) off facebook and encourage delegates to pay attention to action on the floor. As most will agree, young people have relatively short attention spans (side note: I’ve seen an equal number of YAADs and adult commissioners playing solitaire on their computers today…just saying). Being the creative and tech-savvy young people that we are, the YAADs quickly developed a method of communicating with each other without the availability of internet access which our generation has grown so dependent on.

Check this out.

On the PC-Biz website, there is a service called “Session-Sync” which syncs the user with the current item of business being discussed on the floor. When the current item is displayed, there is a teeny-tiny button in the right-hand corner which says “Notes,” where a user can jot down notes of importance pertaining to the business on the floor. This device exists simply for personal use; no other user can see these notes.

It is possible, however, for several individuals to log on to one account simultaneously. Once logged on, a person can leave a note which everyone else logged onto that same account can see as well. Tory has offered his account up for use by the YAADs, which means any YAAD who would like to participate in this “chat” must sign onto PC-Biz using Tory’s username and password. Once logged on, users can leave “Notes” in a simple format: [name: message]. Tory cleverly changed the name on his account from Tory Kaspar to John Calvin. Ha.

So why am I broadcasting to the world that we used our sneaky computer skills to beat the system? This ongoing chat has actually been helpful in keeping the YAADs informed of the current business on the floor. General Assembly addresses a huge amount of business each time it convenes. Assuming that all 173 of us have had the time or patience to read through every single overture presented to the 219^th GA is simply unrealistic. Most of the YAADs did their fair share of reading in preparing for their individual committees, but did not read through the overtures from other committees in depth. My committee alone had over 30 items of business to discuss. That’s a lot of reading!

The ongoing chat gives YAADs who have served on a specific committee the opportunity to inform other YAADs of the basics regarding business on the floor. The YAADs can give their opinions on the current item of business and bring up points from previous discussion in their committees which the other YAADs were not able to hear. The chat has been extremely helpful and I think the adult commissioners would be impressed if they were to look at these conversations. Instead of engaging in frivolous banter, the majority of the messages are addressed directly to the business on the floor, keeping all participating YAADs focused and informed of ongoing actions.

Props to the YAADs for being awesome…now it’s back to the floor for some intense debate!

And by intense, I mean intense. We just spent an hour and 45 minutes debating a motion which would potentially allow members of the LGBT community to serve as ordained ministers in the Presbyterian Church:

Shall G-6.0106b be amended by striking the current text and inserting new text in its place: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown as italic.]

“b. Those who are called to office in the church are to lead a life in obedience to Scripture and in conformity to the historic confessional standards of the church. Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. Persons refusing to repent of any self-acknowledged practice which the confessions call sin shall not be ordained and/or installed as deacons, elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament. Standards for ordained service reflect the church’s desire to submit joyfully to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in all aspects of life (G-1.0000). The governing body responsible for ordination and/or installation (G.14.0240; G-14.0450) shall examine each candidate’s calling, gifts, preparation, and suitability for the responsibilities of office. The examination shall include, but not be limited to, a determination of the candidate’s ability and commitment to fulfill all requirements as expressed in the constitutional questions for ordination and installation (W-4.4003). Governing bodies shall be guided by Scripture and the confessions in applying standards to individual candidates.”

Debate over this issue was the most heated and passionate I have ever seen, and one commissioner declared that he and his family would leave the Presbyterian Church if the motion passed (this delegate was also a candidate for vice moderator of the General Assembly, if that’s saying anything). Katie jumped at the opportunity to represent the Utica Presbytery and expressed her views on the issue by speaking for the motion.

After nearly two hours of growing tension, we finally bowed our heads for a minute of silent prayer in preparation for a vote which could dramatically redefine ordination standards. The motion passed 53%-46%, and the results were met with a room full of silence.

At the moderator’s suggestion, we all stood together to join in singing “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds,” a song I personally associate with the conclusion of Sunday School each week as a kid:

Blessed be the tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love;
The fellowship of kindred minds
Is like to that above

For the first time, I really listened to the words of the song as something more than the weekly repetition of a classic hymn. As hundreds of voices sang together, I noted the lyrics’ symbolism of the unity our denomination must embrace in order to survive and function in an ever-changing and reforming world. I hope and pray that we can work together towards achieving the unity which everyone seems to be so focused on attaining, instead of just talking about it all the time.