General Assembly Opening Worship

Worship is one of the best things about attending a meeting of the General Assembly, and today’s opening service of worship was no exception. 

For me, the worship brought to mind the restoration of all creation that is our hope… a new heaven and a new earth.  The worship moved from the dawn of creation, embracing all of the earth and its creatures, to a celebration of God’s glory, mercy and grace, to the word proclaimed and sealed in baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  In the midst of this, we recognized those who are serving as military chaplains and we remembered those ministers who have joined the church triumphant from the time of our last General Assembly until the end of 2009.  As so often happens as these events for me, I was moved to tears.  Tears of joy at the shear beauty of so many voices raised in praise and worship, tears of gratitude that I belong to this particular family of faith, tears of sadness as I recalled (way too many) friends who have died, and back to tears of joy as we celebrated the sacraments. 

After worship (which lasted two hours, by the way… and it seemed only a minute), a friend from Seattle and I shared lunch and caught up with each other’s lives.  I then made my way to the convention center to pop into the committee meetings and see our commissioners at work (yes…they are all here and hard at work!). 

At 5:30, we boarded busses and were transported to Nicolette Island, located in the middle of the Mississippi River where we attended the reception for the new moderator, Elder Cynthia Bolbach, from National Capital Presbytery.  

 

After a wonderful meal and catching up on emails, I’m ready to call it a day.  But before I close, I just want to say that they Spirit of God is alive and at work in the Presbyterian Church, USA.  Thanks be to God.

Shalom y’all!

 Rebecca