Maintaining an Historic Trust

Expecting to have a busy day, I arrived early to the committee room. One other member was early as well. a quietly distinguished, white haired southern gentleman from Louisana, who had been one of the volunteers to do extra work for the committee. I thanked him again for his extra work and asked him what most affected him before coming. He told me of a teen who needs our prayers as he is now being mentored and surrounded by caring individuals after having experienced the effects of taunting, beating, being blamed as the sole perpetrator of violence and being convicted without due process of malicious crime. As my new friend acknowledged with humbleness, he was the intervening lawyer to appeal the adult conviction in the Jena Six case (and the modern equal of Gregory Peck in "To Kill a Mockingbird"). His full focus now is to help one young man grow up strong in faith and capability.

When the subject of managing different views on how best to further mission while protecting the integrity of restricted and designated giving, both the Foundation and the General Assembly Council (GAC is the mission agency) presented proposals. After moving these mutually inconsistent proposals as well as one initiated within the committee to the floor of the committee, we had to consider if we would endorse the originally referred proposal or replace it with any one of three substitute motions. What an opportunity to test Roberts Rules - I handed the gavel to my Vice Moderator! We moved into quasi committee of the whole and with 60 members working cooperatively together (though necessarily disrupting planned dinners with an extra evening session) the committee fashioned a good substitute from the committee members' motion. We exited to normal debate, voted to perfect the original referral, perfected the good substitute, replaced the original, struck the remaining two sproposed substitutes and rose to sing the doxology with enthusiasm. That's exciting - then we passed the new recommendation without a single vote against it. Before passing the recommendation, both the Foundation and the GAC agreed that this approach will keep the faith with both mission and with donors and our own John Matta representing the Constitution Advisory Committee advised that this new approach satisfies constitutional requirements.

We celebrated a time of worship together and departed from our confining home of two full days at some late hour - too tired to check and perhaps suffering a bit of Stockholm Syndrome.- Blessings - Kears