General Assembly

I have a few minutes to write a bit about this amazingly busy and interesting time.

I am at the General Assembly for the Christian Church (Disciles of Christ) in Nashville
Tennessee. Our church does these every other year all around the country and this is the first one that I have attended and stayed for the whole time. Audrey and I are rooming together at the Doubletree Hotel downtown and it is really wonderful to be within walking distance of everything and, of course, with her.

I have been hanging with her and her friends and it has been fun, but I really have found it different to always be known as "Audrey's Mom" now. It is always a time of reunion with other people from my past and I am often surprised to see how old they But enough of that old song about how strange it is to be over 60 and watching the young ones come in and be so accomplished in new and different ways.

The Assembly has had some great preaching, inspired singing and thought provoking messages about the church. The Disciples are a church in decline numerically as are most (all?) of the mainline churches. I went to a workshop on the "missional church" which is the direction we are on in Karl Road and heard many stories in the sharing time that sounded like us. I come away from this thinking that we are on the right track. And that I don't really like these workshops!

I continue to know that I am very happy to be part of this denomination which is (to quote Sharon Watkins) "Anti hierarchical, radically flat"
I have more to write later but for now I will say that the good news is not the church but ...as always...the mysterious work of God's Holy Spirit in our midst.

Again to quote Sharon "It is an amazing time to be church."

I also have great faith in the work...the ongoing, mysterious, life changing work....of the holy spirit.