January 8, 2010: Reading The General Assembly Manual

As we continue looking at "how to read" for the Assembly, one final category: the mail.

Huh?

The internet has changed many things, but paper is alive and well in the General Assembly world. Commissioners and advisory delegates will be known in a few short weeks, as many presbyteries confirm and deliver to the Office of General Assembly their names and addresses. Those lists are public information; thus, many special interest groups will request and get a disk with those names in a database. Then starts the flow (er...flood) of informal information.

Now, before you get upset at the compromise of your privacy and the imposition that such an intrusion represents, be aware that this is actually a good thing. It is remarkable that so many people care so much about what the church says and does that they invest time, resources, energy, and risk polite etiquette in order to provide you with information and analysis you can use in order to help you be discerning. You will not agree with everything that you receive, and you may be offended by some of it. Yet, the truth of the matter is that everything you read is something you are likely to hear in a speech at the Assembly.

Many people panic or fear being tainted if they make contact with the "special interest groups." They feel like they are getting too "political." In the nicest way possible, please hear me when I say this: get over it. Many of the people involved in special interest groups have been coming to Assemblies for years. Many have served as commissioners and advisory delegates. They understand what you are experiencing and want to help you do the best you can. There is no upside to being suspicious or mistrusting. Instead of ostracizing and being afraid of them, use them.

Yes, I wrote it, and I'll write it again: use them.

I have a friend who reminds me each time, "General Assembly is a team sport." He is referring to the idea that it takes a number of commissioners and advisory delegates to accomplish something on the plenary floor. But it extends beyond that. There is a reason why state and federal legislators have staffs and interns. There is a reason why they send out assignments for research, delegate people to make calls or investigate. Be the captain of your own team. Get help to be prepared for the votes you are going to be asked to cast.

For more than a decade, I served as the Executive Director of one of those "special interest groups." My goal was to provide commissioners and advisory delegates with the tools and resources to do the job as best they could. Whether it was process advise, whether it was as mundane as paper and staples, or helping to shape a speech; my role was to make the process work for them. I was not (and am not) unique in that role.

Read the material that comes in the mail. See what information connects with you and begin building relationships with the people who are offering help so that you have a team for Minneapolis. Who do you know who can help you understand what is happening with ACSWP? Who can I get to run over to OGA to find out when a report is going to be posted? What are the latest developments in Church Orders? What's going on with the nFoG?(Yes, I deliberately dropped in acronyms without telling you what they represent. We will be covering all of them in the next few weeks.)

If you take the time to read the mail sent to you, you will have a much better perspective on what are the issues, what are the options, what are the likely outcomes, than if you only read the overtures and reports.

To recap: Embrace the flood of paper, do not be overwhelmed by it. Use it as an vetting process for putting together your team of resource people.

 

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