This past week (Thurs - Sat) I attended the New England Synod Assembly. For synod assemblies it was pretty boring, or as a colleague called it - bland. There were only 4 resolutions one on Palestine, youth/young adult participation at synod assembly, energy audits in our churches and giving the bishop permission to speak against Arizona immigration laws and similar legislation that is coming to legislation in New England. Each of these resolutions passed by over 90% of the vote and for most of them either people did not speak against them or only brought up concerns about them. No sex! Nothing about evolution! No concerns over who we are all going to hell as a church because we now allow pastor who are gay to be in relationships!
But the resolution time is either hotly debated or boring depending on the year, but what about the keynote? Well she was lofty, that would be a good word. She spoke softly not in volume but in tone with lots of pauses. The main topic was on the Trinity which makes my head hurt and is a hard topic to grasp onto in order to bring back concrete ideas to implement in an individual congregation. At one point I looked back on the assembly hall (I was sitting near the front) and the majority of people looked like their eyes were glazed over or they were about to fall asleep.
But there was some highlights. A friend of mine and fellow blogger was ordained. Churches in Rhode Island were uplifted for the great work they have done with Good News Garage. And of course, because we are Lutheran, there was beer. I had a wonderful time catching up with friends and meeting new people around a beer in the evening or over a meal.
And while fellowship is the part of synod assembly that I most enjoy, I do hope that next year will be a little less bland.
No comments:
Post a Comment