By now, most commissioners and advisory delegates to the 219th General Assembly (2010) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have become accustomed to receiving big packages in the mail. Some are official mailings, others are from unknown sources. These are the infamous “special interest groups.”
The natural response of first-time commissioners is to try to avoid anything that appears to be “lobbying” or “political.” It is understandable; they want to be prayerfully discerning people who vote on the basis of what they believe will be best for the church. They view with suspicion people who will try to influence them or get them to do something they do not want to do.
The suspicion and fear are unfortunate.
By and large, “special interest groups” are populated with Presbyterians who care about the church and care about helping commissioners accomplish what the commissioners want to accomplish. They produce materials and attend the Assembly as observers at their own expense. Many spend hours (more than they would like to admit) thinking about how to equip neophyte commissioner and advisory delegates with the tools necessary to navigate the process.
Let me illustrate by using a piece produced by a group with which I would probably disagree about most everything: Presbyterian Voices for Justice sent a piece to commissioners and advisory delegates that begins “Congratulations and Welcome!” It is a primer for how the Assembly works.
Read it. I tried for years to produce something this concise. I don’t know if it is Doug King (return address) or someone else who is primarily responsible, but it is well done. (Update: Doug King wrote, telling me credit should go to Gene TeSelle.)
(If I could find it online, I would link to it. (Update: see here.) Here is the summary of business piece which is posted online. For anyone unfamiliar with how the progressive part of the church views the business coming to the Assembly, here is a snapshot.)
Here’s my point: there are people who come to the Assembly willing and desiring to be helpful to people who are new to the process. Many are former commissioners who have gone through the experience of feeling overwhelmed and were themselves embarrassed about asking for help.
How can you tell the difference between a good “special interest group” and one to avoid? Simple. If the resource people are helping you to achieve what God is calling you to support, that’s good. If they are telling you God wants you to support what they want you to do, not so good. Over the course of the years, there were a number of times I met with commissioners who had questions. If I disagreed with them, I would do two things:
a. I would tell them I disagreed, but try to provide them with the procedural options available to them to achieve what they wanted to do; and,
b. I would point them in the direction of someone who was more likely to agree, so they could check my suggestions.
Good special interest group folk will not spend time arguing with you. That is not the best use of their time and it is not the best use of yours. The best use of their time is allowing them to do the things you cannot do by yourself: gather like-minded commissioners together, give the benefit of their experience and share some of the history of the issues, and help you with procedural tools.
You know by your own experience in your local congregation, you are not going to agree on everything with anyone — and yet you still are able to work together. The same is true at General Assembly. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from the “special interest groups.”
P.S. Some quick hits about on-line resources to check out now:
a. Robert Austell has put together a great resource (GA Help) which gives links and updates from a broad range of perspectives.
b. Presbyweb is the go-to for daily news. It is a subscription site, but I think there is a deal for commissioners and advisory delegates.
c. The Coalition site has summaries and explanations of some of the big issues coming to the Assembly.
There are lots — and lots — of others. Find what is helpful, use it; move on from anything that is not. It is important to do this homework now (before the Assembly). The information flow at the Assembly will be different than in the past because there are not going to be mailboxes. Thus, knowing where to look online for resources will be key.
Bob,
According to an e-mail reply I got from Gradye Parsons, when I wrote him to plead for mail boxes for commissioners and advisory delegates, there ARE going to be mail boxes after all. Apparently OGA has changed its mind and WILL supply the traditional mailboxes.
It would be good for others to confirm from Gradye that that is indeed going to be the case.
Good news.
Jim Berkley
Seattle, WA