Recap of the PCA General Assembly 2006 - 1

My blog title is "the Jollyblogger," but I'm thinking of changing it to something like "Senileblogger," or something along those lines.  Earlier in the week I mentioned that the GA looked compartively boring when considering the PCUSA General Assembly and the Southern Baptist Convention, and I also mentioned that I would blog more during the week.  However, I took my trusty laptop to the GA to blog and forgot one minor detail - the power chord.  My batteries went dead soon after that last post and, well that was it.

However, I think I was right - the GA was a tad boring in a good way.  There was some good discussion, but the issues discussed weren't all that controversial and there wasn't as much heat as I have seen at some past GA's.  I'll just mention a couple of things of interest to me.

In that earlier post I mentioned that we were getting a report from our Strategic Planning Committee and I expressed some disappointment that, after something like five or six years we were discussing changes in the Rules of Assembly Operation.  I expressed a desire to see the best minds in the PCA address something more substantive like addressing how we might engage an unbelieving world.

I wrote that post mid-report and after I wrote that Ligon Duncan, who is on the committee, addressed a few issues related to the report.  One of the things he pointed out was that there were so many issues they could have addressed and they just didn't have time to address them all.  I appreciate that and agree that they couldn't address everything.  I also want to point out that there is much more to the report from the Strategic Planning Committee than their recommendations on changing the Rules of Assembly Operation (RAO).  The proposed RAO changes were just a part of this year's recommendations and the idea seems to be that if we can make the assembly move better this will facilitate other more important matters.

Also, this will probably not interest those outside the PCA, but for PCA'ers a complete report from the Strategic Planning Committee can be found here, and you will see that it addresses far more than just Rules of Assembly Operation.

I've really just scanned the report and it addresses some good stuff.  At the same time, it seems to me to mainly address internal matters, i.e. how we can make our committees, agencies, etc., more effective.  Ostensibly that will lead to a healthier denomination and better outreach but when I think of these things I can't help but think back to Jack Miller's book Outgrowing the Ingrown Church.

Jack wrote this book way back in 1986, before anyone ever thought of emerging in the church and before it was cool to be missional.  Yes, Jack was missional when missional wasn't cool.  In the book he said that churches (and I would say denominations, by extension) naturally gravitate toward being ingrown, concentrating on matters of internal concern.  He said that churches that get wrapped around the axle with internal concerns devolve in health and the antidote is to learn to be outward focused.  Paradoxically, the more concerned we become with our own health, the less healthy we will be.

I think that is a good word for any Christian, but particularly for leaders of churches and even for our denomination to think about.  I fear that the more concerned we become with internal procedures the less healthy we will become. 

One example of my concern is in the SPC's report on ministry to the rising generation.  It is almost fully devoted to ministry to covenant children.  I couldn't discern anything of substance related to ministry to the children of nonbelievers.  I will admit to having a personal bias in reading this - my personal bias is that I was not raised in a covenant family.  The report is excellent and necessary - we are losing a lot of our covenant children and need to study ways to keep them.  But there is nothing in the report that I could discern that would help us reach kids like me.  As it stands now, the PCA often has to rely on FCA, Young Life and other organizations to effectively share the gospel with kids.  I know some churches are effectively reaching kids, but for the most part we aren't, our ministries are focused on keeping the covenant kids. BTW - Anthony Bradley laments that even many college many ministries are focused on baby-sitting covenant kids and highlights one that is focused on reaching out and seeking to transform the campus.

In any case, I hope this didn't come off as too big of a rant, as I love the PCA, appreciate the work of our leaders, and appreciate the need for the things addressed in the SPC report. But I do think the PCA started off with an aggressive missional emphasis.  Now that we are 34 years old we are reaching a point where the temptation will be to turn inward and focus on our own internal concerns. I hope we'll heed Jack Miller's advice and give the best of our time, money and energy to outward focsued concerns.

As usual, this post got away from me and went longer than I originally intended.  So, I'll address a couple of more issues later in the week.

Comments

[JW]

David

I thought this was kind of interesting:
http://www.pcaac.org/2006%20General%20Assembly/22%20Declare%20Auburn%20Avenue%20Session%20Heterodox,%20etc.pdf

[Tim]

Welcome to the world of Senility! Isn't is interesting? I live in a truck and I have plastic boxes to put my stuff in. Taped to the lid of each box is an inventory list. Power cord.... check, spare batteries.... check, air freshener.... check, soap and toothpaste.... check. It works for me!

[cavman]

Just another sign of a fortress mentality instead of a mobilization mentality. We in the ARP have the same sort of issues.
What about the Auburn Ave. stuff???

[David Cho]

Ah the power cord. I do that all the time. Why can't they standardize that dratted thing.