PGA (Post-General Assembly) Reflections

by Rev. Dr. Lisa Davison

Well, the family reunion is over, and all DOCs have made their way back to their hometowns. There was laughter, tears, hugs, apologies, sharing, worship, and a little dialogue. There were hints of honesty throughout the assembly, but mostly there was polite denial of differences and problems. Everyone seemed to want to just worship Jesus and forget our problems, or at least it seemed like everyone besides me and a few close friends.

No, we cannot undo the mistakes made in the NBA debacle nor can we deny that covenant was broken. Yet, we must first acknowledge the problems before we can work on solutions. Otherwise, the trouble boils under the surface, and trust can never be regained.

What did we accomplish with this GA? First, and very important, we elected and installed a new GMP (Rev. Sharon Watkins). We begin another 6-year term with the hopes that it will go better than the last one, that Sharon will not resign early like Dick Hamm did. We should celebrate that we are the first mainline denomination to be led by a woman! Yet, we cannot forget that there are still DOC churches that will not even consider hiring a woman for their pastor.

We passed a powerful resolution denouncing hate speech and spiritual violence against Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered children of God. However, the resistance voiced and the noticeable “no-vote” shows that we still have miles to go before all our members are willing to accept all of God’s children as inherently worthy. We are not as welcoming and inclusive as some want to claim.

We passed two resolutions regarding Israel/Palestine that were problematic. The resolution demanding that Israel “tear-down” the safety barrier was pushed through by Global Ministries and the World Council of Churches, who made people feel like they were voting for justice. However, their votes showed ignorance and egotism. While I believe the barrier is wrong, I do not presume to tell another country how to solve their problems. I have seen enough of the Israel/Palestine conflict to know that there are no easy solutions. The resolution about suicide bombers was watered down so that one could hardly know that we even condemn such action. Overall, our little resolutions will not influence the leaders of Israel and Palestine, but they do impact our relationship with the Jewish sisters and brothers in our own backyards. For too long, Christianity (yes, even DOCs) have claimed superiority over Judaism, and these resolutions only reemphasize such views of supercessionism.

Overall, I am still uncertain about the future of the DOC church. At least no decision was made with which I disagree. I can still remain in my denomination without having to sell my soul. We’ll see what happens in two years.

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Filed Mon - August 1, 2005, 09:58 PM in

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