Synod--Day One

We just finished the first working day of the 2010 general synod. This is the most tense and arguably the most important Synod meeting in years, due to the controversy regarding Erskine College and Seminary. The forecast for tomorrow is stormy with a chance of broken friendships and hurt feelings. Let's hope the storm blows over.


This controversy has had an interesting effect on the tone of synod. Tempers have flared in some committee meetings, but overall it has been peaceful so far. There is a strange feeling of unity here, not the unity of people who agree, but of people who have no choice but to be here, who realize that whether or not we are on one side or another, we have to go through it together.

Tonight I heard someone pray that God's will be done. I wanted to say "what do you think will happen except his will?" but I restrained myself. God's will being done is not the problem nearly as much as our being willing to accept God's will when He does it. We are always thinking that God's will will be pleasant for us. When often His will hurts. A lot. I'm just praying that, no matter what the fire, It will refine us.

Synod is like heaven in a way. Everyone you know from many different churches meet together in a beautiful place. There we sing Hymns, prayer prayers, and slap each other on the back in greetings. Year after year they are the same people--a little grayer, more wrinkly, and a bit unsteady on the feet, but the same otherwise. If heaven allowed uncomfortable chairs and floor fights, it would be Synod.

One thing bothers me about Synod more than anything. Synod takes itself way too seriously. We're prone to forget that we are just one little sliver of the whole Body of Christ, and that what we say or do does not matter that much in the larger scope of things. We allow ourselves paroxysms of piety, and feel great and grand in our dark suits and power ties. It's easy for us minister to forget that the mother of all sins is pride, and indulge in grand posturing. If ever a group needed the Marx Brothers, it is Synod.

Still, every so often a gem emerges from the usual slush., like tonight when the children sang, or when the man spoke honestly and from his heart about taking care of orphans. Then there was the conversation under the trees where a minister told me about an old drunk in his church who got saved, dried out, and healed of terminal cancer, and then testifying in church with tears in his eyes that God really answers prayer.

Another gem found at the Synod is my friend Jay Hering, professor of New Testament at Erskine Seminary. I've known Jay since he was sixteen. He's my oldest friend in this denomination. At an early age, he brought his brothers to Christ and lived to see his parents follow as a result of their testimony. In his twenties he developed a passion for Germany, and became fluent in the language, going to Berlin as our first missionary to Europe. Then he went back to school, got his Ph. D and became a professor at Erskine. Jay has become a target in this controversy with the school, and has been accused of being disloyal to his vows. No on who has ever known Jay could think that he would behave in any way but in charity, humility, and integrity. He is one of the most genuine souls that I know. Sharing some time with him will be one of the highlights of this synod for me.



We don't know what tomorrow will bring. Whatever it is, God will guide it. I know, because of all the prayers that have been prayed, and because He is and always wil be in control. Keep us in your prayers, though, that we can be the tools through which he works, instead of the stumbling blocks that He will overcome .