Being a delegate to General Synod is a fascinating role. After roughly 12 hours of debate (a.k.a. – diplomatically arguing) the tension, especially this morning, is palpable. What are we debating? The need to help our seminarians obtain funds through a national-based offering.
After two votes on rather controversial amendments, the resolution itself has been diluted to a point where, as our flagship seminary president mentioned, ineffective. No national offering will be held…and that’s a cynical view. As a seminarian grad with five figures of debt and as a seminarian graduate who didn’t qualify for any UCC scholarships (after all, I am white, male, straight, and ‘privileged,’ coming from a humble low-to-middle class family), this resolution is disappointing.
Yesterday we passed another resolution placing the proverbial cart before the horse with the resolution to divest from fossil fuels. The resolution doesn’t address the sheer problem of demand – our insatiable appetite for gasoline, diesel, oil, coal-driven electricity, etc. Te root core of the problem isn’t the fossil fuel drilling, and digging, although environmentally is a growing detriment tithe world our great-grandchildren will inherit.
While I’m not comfortable in the environmental impact of our culture being victims of comfort, I’m confident we haven’t addressed successfully the core of the problem.
Not so surprisingly, this happens frequently here.
I call it…
Passion.
Passion energizes our vision, influences our stance, and even allows us to dig our heels in, even in the fog of seeing through our own lenses. Passion does, indeed, prevent progress as much as it is capable of encouraging progress.
Being “gung-ho”, on the band wagon, on the right track without paying attention to the finer points has been an accusation of one of the flaws of the United Church of Christ. While gifted in seeing a bigger picture, the finer points do occasionally get lost in the mix. I feel this happened last night and this morning.
It wasn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last.
Still, that’s the beauty of the UCC. This wild, wonderful gaggle of delegates comes together to be the Church in all its wonder, glory, function, and dysfunction.
That’s Church. National speaking to and not for the local church.
Frustrating? Yes. Beautiful, too? Yes.
One of speakers stated (in a few more words) that if you love something you love it with a passion.
You stand up for it.
You speak up for it.
You may even fight for it.
Do you love your Church?
I do. All of it.
The Journey. Rev. Greg Larsen 