Good morning! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Claire Harris. I’m here today to talk to you about my experiences at the 217^th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. I served as a Youth Advisory Delegate, or YAD, from the Presbytery of East Tennessee. The 217^th General Assembly met in Birmingham, Alabama for a week during June. Thank you for allowing me a few minutes to reflect on my time at GA. I’d like to begin by reading an excerpt from an editorial by Jack Haberer in the latest Presbyterian Outlook magazine.

This special edition of The Presbyterian Outlook has been prepared to help bring some perspective. We have gathered together some of the best thinkers in the church, asking them, "Why stay?" Why would people remain in a church that they believe comes up short on matters of holiness or justice, on matters of piety or service, on matters of civility or courage? Why not go someplace that’s more congenial, more single-minded, more united in its identity and mission? Why stay in the PC(USA)?

The question the Outlook is asking is an important one, in my opinion. Why stay? Why do we stay in a church that apparently falls short on so many counts? Why stay in a church in which we are so clearly dissatisfied and unhappy? Well, I may not be one of the best thinkers in the church, but you’re in luck! I’m going to tell you what I think anyway. Could it be that we’re not so dissatisfied and unhappy after all? Could it be that we happen to talk more about the negatives rather than about the positives of our life together in the PC(USA)?

This may be shocking to some of you, so I’m glad you’re sitting down. My time as a YAD at GA actually made me consider the numerous positive aspects about our church. Two big positives stand out in my mind. I can honestly say I felt the love of God and the love of my fellow Presbyterians while I was in Birmingham. Yes, I witnessed Presbyterians disagreeing with one another on a variety of issues. I mean, I was a member of the Ecclesiology Committee that dealt with the Peace, Unity, and Purity (PUP) Report. When I say I saw Presbyterians disagreeing with one another, I really mean it. Every person on my committee was passionate about the views they held regarding the PUP Report. But, in the midst of sometimes heated debates, I felt God’s presence. We paused to pray before and after every controversial vote. It would be logical to assume that the room was filled with tension during those times of prayer. However, I felt a sense of peace and calm settle over the room, both during committee meetings and during the meetings of the entire Assembly. As Susan read from the 23^rd Psalm, "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me." What I felt during those quiet moments at General Assembly is hard to describe except to say that I knew God was among us.

Another positive piece of my time at GA was that I was surrounded by the love of other people. When I pulled out of my driveway, headed towards Birmingham, I cried. I was so nervous about the responsibility placed before me. I didn’t want to let anyone, especially you, my church family, down. I was also feeling overwhelmed by the love and support I had been shown from the moment I found out I was to be a YAD at this General Assembly. Just one example of an instance when I felt your love was when Lina Hart, from the Presbytery Office, came over to me during a committee meeting break. Lina told me that she had been watching the committee meeting and wanted me to know that she was there to support me. She said that Kerra had told her to make sure I knew that you all were thinking about me and praying for me. That message came to me at a point during our committee meeting when I was totally exhausted and feeling rather alone. Thank you all for your kind words, love, and prayers. I really felt you there with me in Birmingham.

My time up here would be incomplete without mention of my fellow commissioners, alternate delegates, and the other observers from the Presbytery of East Tennessee. Their faith and love is a true inspiration to me and I look forward to working with them over the next two years as we continue to serve as commissioners to the 217^th General Assembly.

Hundreds of faithful people were a part of this GA. However, as I have already mentioned, we did not agree on all issues of politics and polity. On my committee of close to seventy people, everyone held different viewpoints. Yet, despite the numerous stances on issues, the way that the people on my committee treated one another was pretty amazing and quite inspirational to me. The people on my committee really listened to each other. We grew to know, respect, and even love our fellow Ecclesiology Committee members. In I Corinthians 13, Paul tells us that

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious, or boastful, or arrogant, or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

My fellow committee members and I may not have entirely lived up to Paul’s description of love, but I believe it was an honest effort.

So, let’s return to the original question. "Why stay?" I think we stay because we love God, we love one another, even though we don’t always agree with one another, and we love our church. The PC(USA) may not be perfect, but neither are we. Maybe, we stay because our church embodies us in all of our imperfections. Maybe, it’s more agreeable to us to be a part of an imperfect church who knows it’s shortcomings than a church who believes itself to be perfect. Maybe, we stay because we like the fact that our church doesn’t claim to have all the answers. Maybe, we stay because we’re happier in our church than we’d like to think.

Now, I know this next part will feel a little uncomfortable for some of you. However, I am going to go out on a limb and ask it of you anyway (remember Kerra’s sermon last week?!). I would like for us to sit silently for a minute or so and consider some of the things we love about being a member of the PC(USA). Then, when I give the word, I would like for us each to turn to someone nearby and tell them at least one of the things that came to mind.

* 90 seconds of silence

* 90 seconds of discussion

Thank you for humoring me. I think it’s high time we started being more optimistic about our faith and our church. After all, if we aren’t excited about the faith and the church we’re a part of, who will be?