The front of First Presbyterian, Kirkwood
About 50 of us visited First Presbyterian Church of Kirkwood, Missouri, this morning, which is about 30 minutes from downtown St. Louis in one of the many suburbs that make up the Greater St. Louis area. The church is large and relatively new, with a membership of about 1000, but about 500 active participants. The worship service was impressive, but what make it extra special is that the person who was director of music at the big opening service that I wrote about yesterday was the person who was the director of music at this church, so the music was spectacular. The prelude was three pieces by a brass and percussion ensemble, they had a new pipe organ that played so loud that I could barely hear myself sing (which I just love), and the chorus was about 70 voices of very good singers. Hymns were accompanied by both the organ and the brass ensemble, and it all was very pompous and grand. They were happy to have us commissioners there and fed us a good meal after the service.
I sat with several other commissioners at the meal, all from North Carolina. I have met so many people from the east and wondered why they outnumber us, but today I learned that the 10 largest presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church (USA) are in the east, and North Carolina itself has four of them.
The plenary session from 2:30 to 5:00 was rather difficult to sit through because it was one report after another. We heard a report from the 2020 Vision Team, from The Way Forward Committee, and from the All Agency Review Committee, among others. I was relieved when it was over.
Every commissioner is assigned to serve on one of 13 committees. I’m assigned to the GA Procedures Committee, and this evening we had our first meeting, but we spent most of our time in worship and then in getting familiar with each other. Tomorrow and Tuesday we have no plenary sessions, only committee meetings, so I doubt that I will write anything until Tuesday night. Just a heads up – one of the items of business my committee will consider is a proposed raise in the per capita amount. I’ll let you know how that goes.
I sat with several other commissioners at the meal, all from North Carolina. I have met so many people from the east and wondered why they outnumber us, but today I learned that the 10 largest presbyteries in the Presbyterian Church (USA) are in the east, and North Carolina itself has four of them.
The plenary session from 2:30 to 5:00 was rather difficult to sit through because it was one report after another. We heard a report from the 2020 Vision Team, from The Way Forward Committee, and from the All Agency Review Committee, among others. I was relieved when it was over.
Every commissioner is assigned to serve on one of 13 committees. I’m assigned to the GA Procedures Committee, and this evening we had our first meeting, but we spent most of our time in worship and then in getting familiar with each other. Tomorrow and Tuesday we have no plenary sessions, only committee meetings, so I doubt that I will write anything until Tuesday night. Just a heads up – one of the items of business my committee will consider is a proposed raise in the per capita amount. I’ll let you know how that goes.
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