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June 11, 2009
No business as usual
1,500 gather in Atlanta for first-ever ‘Big Tent’ celebration
The Rev. Anna Carter Florence, opening worship preacher at Big Tent. ATLANTA — “I can’t believe this. I’m in a room with 1,500 Presbyterians and I’m not packing a Book of Order!”
With those words, General Assembly Stated Clerk Gradye Parsons greeted an enthusiastic throng that packed a Hyatt Regency ballroom here for the first ever Big Tent event, a combined gathering of 10 PC(USA) conferences that fulfills a dream of Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) leaders since the denomination moved to biennial legislative General Assemblies five years ago.
“I’m the moderator but there’s no business to transact,” General Assembly Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow told the crowd just prior to opening worship. “What do Presbyterians do when there’s no business to conduct? They worship and they talk about mission and celebrate their unity in God’s spirit!”
That was the promise when biennial Assemblies were instituted —that in non-Assembly years Presbyterians would gather to celebrate mission and ministry without divisive votes on contentious issues.
This gathering of Presbyterians clearly relishes that opportunity.
“Can you hear it? It sounds to me like a mighty wind — the Holy Spirit — who has called and gathered us here for this unprecedented celebration,” said Linda Valentine, executive director of the General Assembly Council.
“It’s a huge birthday bash with over a thousand of my closest friends here in the birthplace of the PC(USA)!” she said, referring to Presbyterian reunion, which took place here in 1983. “It’s a dream come true!”
The 10 conferences meeting concurrently here — with shared worship, meals and workshops — are the Healthy Ministry Conference, the National Multicultural Church Conference, the National Elders Conference, the Stewardship and Investment Conference, the Evangelism and Church Growth Conference, the Peacemaking Conference, the Presbyterian Health, Education and Welfare Association (PHEWA) Social Justice Biennial Conference, the Presbyterian Communicators Network National Conference, the Racial Ethnic Convocation, and the New Immigrant Ministries Convocation.
In her sermon, the Rev. Anna Carter Florence — homiletics professor at Columbia Theological Seminary in nearby Decatur — recounted the story in Mark’s gospel of Jesus drawing such large crowds that a paralytic’s four friends tore up a roof in order to lower the man to Jesus for a healing touch.
“Jesus’ homecoming could have used a bigger tent,” she noted. Those already inside objected to the intrusion, but the four were willing to break the rules to see Jesus.
“How big a tent do we need? Florence asked. “How big a tent does it take for everyone who wants to see Jesus?” A bigger tent than most want to acknowledge, she said.
A Korean Presbyterian dance troupe offered a liturgical dance at Big Tent opening worship.
Photos by Erin Dunigan But it was not the breaking of the rules by those faithful followers that so disturbed the religious establishment, she added. “It was Jesus’ willingness to change the rules that so infuriated the scribes,” Florence said.
“’No more room’ isn’t exactly a deterrent to Jesus,” Florence said, “but a signal that it’s about to get interesting, an invitation to a miracle.” This story, the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus taking to a boat when the crowds along the Sea of Galilee grew too large, she said, are all examples of Jesus’ willingness to expand the tent to whatever size is needed to include everyone.
“When you really want to see Jesus, you will find a way,” she said, “and Jesus gives major points for effort, which he calls ‘faith.’ A blind man sees, a paralytic picks up his mat and walks.
“Look at that.”
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