Monday, August 25, 2008

Reflections on GA - Shari Stump - August 24, 2008

LOVE KINDNESS - Shari Stump
Micah 6:6-8

I’m guessing that it doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows me that my General Assembly experience is all about being social! I was delighted when one of the Presbyterian Women staff in the Louisville office called to ask if I would staff the PW booth in the Exhibit Hall during General Assembly. I immediately said, “Sure, Yes, Of course!” During the course of the five days that the Exhibit Hall was open, I think I spoke about the work of Presbyterian Women to ALMOST everyone who attended. We had one night off – when the exhibit hall was open to GA commissioners only and each booth was staffed by a member of the General Assembly Council. Other than that, from opening to closing each day, I shared the news and stories of what’s up with Presbyterian Women. I was in heaven – and always talking!
I have a couple of experiences that I want to share with you this morning – experiences that touched me and speak of our connectedness and diversity - how different and yet how alike we are!
Buddy and Diana Monahan – whom some of you know from their years here at Covenant – were there staffing the Racial-Ethnic ministries booth next to Presbyterian Women. They live now in Albuquerque where Buddy is on staff at Menaul School. Some of the women’s ministries resource boxes didn’t arrive prior to the opening of the exhibit hall – and when they did, needed to be carried into the Exhibit Hall, one by one – those were the rules! Oh joy, I thought – but soon someone offered up a couple of temporarily unenthusiastic, but muscled young men to help me and after just a few trips to my car trunk by myself, I was joined by the two young men. We had 70 boxes to move…it was going to take a while. On the first trip, in the elevator, I noticed that the boys were wearing Menaul School tee shirts and I told them that I knew someone on the staff at Menaul, and started to ask if they knew Buddy…and I didn’t even get Monahan out of my mouth when it occurred to me that I was looking at younger versions of Buddy. My helpers were Buddy and Diana’s two sons, and I told them that I knew them when they were tiny…and all of a sudden, those welcoming Monahan smiles lit up their faces and 13 year old Jordyn and 11 year old Brandyn and I became related through our extended Presbyterian family. They’re doing very well, by the way, and are handsome, healthy looking, extremely polite young men. Ultimately, as brothers do, they turned the moving of the boxes into a competition, and I was no longer needed to complete the task!
As many of you know, I was on the staff of the Mary Magdalene Project for seven years, and for about 10 years before that, was a volunteer. At this General Assembly, Women’s Ministries chose the Reverend Ann Hayman, former Program Director of the Mary Magdalene Project and dear friend of mine and to many of you, as a recipient of the Woman of Faith award; an award given at each General Assembly to honor the contributions and gifts of two or three special women in a particular focus area. This year’s award went to three women who are in the forefront of “Visionary Women Transforming the Church and Society.” Ann’s work with street prostitutes for almost 30 years certainly qualified her for nomination – and the General Assembly Council saw fit to honor her transformative ministry, ironically two months after she was let go from the Mary Magdalene Project staff. God does work in mysterious ways – and this honor not only affirmed Ann’s contributions and ministry, but also affirmed for her the value of her ministry to society. Not that she really ever doubted the value of the work of the MMP – but she was and is going through a period of discernment and questioning of where God is leading her in the next adventure of her life. Part of Ann’s Woman of Faith statement reads, “I believe in the dignity and worth of each human being. I believe racism is wrong, that sexism contradicts the common good, and that economic disparities are indefensible. I also believe that forgiveness is possible, that grace abounds, that faith sustains and God’s love prevails.” I was privileged to be part of this tribute to a woman whose ministry reflects Micah’s challenge to us all.
The third and final experience that I’ve chosen to share with all of you this morning is that I attended a wedding in the middle of General Assembly at the More Light dinner when Derrick Kikuchi and Craig Wiesner chose to marry each other in front of their “friends” – their friends being those of us at the dinner. Derrick and Craig were married in a church ceremony 18 years ago and chose to legalize that commitment in a Civil Ceremony with the same pastor pronouncing them married and the same witnesses signing their marriage certificate who had been in attendance at their original marriage ceremony. David and Craig are members of the First Presbyterian Church, Palo Alto – a church being honored by More Light Presbyterians for their inclusivity. And so, before a room full of friends and friends not yet met, they promised to, among other things, find…the courage to resist the many deaths by which love can die…to be willing to take the risk to accept the vulnerability to love again and again and again,. Both had written vows and promises that brought tears to my eyes. I turned to the man sitting next to me – Bill, a Presbyterian clergyman – who also had tears in his eyes, and said, “I can’t imagine what I’d be like if I actually knew the happy couple!” He laughed and agreed – and Bill & I became friends for the duration of the GA. We were all invited to stay and sign their marriage certificate. At the end of the ceremony, the couple looked out onto a sea of people all wearing rainbow scarves and Craig said, “This is a proclamation in a public place saying why this union – although often scorned by people – is blessed by God. We’ve made an incredible journey these twenty years to be here with you tonight. May God bless us all.” And to that I can only add, Amen!
And now, would you please join me by standing either in body or in spirit to sing, “All Are Welcome”

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