Whew--they really keep us busy here! The GA officially began with an opening worship service. The theme of this years Assembly is "Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water" (John 7:38). The welcome from the Stated Clerk said "Commissioners and advisory delegates come as individual believers from north, south, east, and west to discern together the mind of Christ for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Together, with God's help, the decisions they make will lead to "living water" of hope, justice, peace, and well-being for all of God's children and God's good creation." With those prayers, all of the commissioners and advisory delegates were commissioned for service for the week. For your information, there are 712 commissioners registered from 173 presbyteries.

Following the opening worship, we had the first business meeting, much of which was orientation. We heard reports from outgoing Moderator and Vice Moderator, from the General Assembly Mission Council, from the General Assembly Nominating Committee, and from the Chief Financial Officer of the denomination. We approved the docket in general terms. Then we practiced electronic voting. Each of us has a device that looks like a remote control. We are told which number to press for each option (e.g., Yes = 1; No = 2). We have about 30 seconds to vote, and the results are then showed on one of the three screens within about 3 minutes (including numbers and percentages).

The evening business meeting was devoted to the election of the new moderator and vice moderator. There were six candidates for moderator (each of whom has a "running mate" for vice moderator). There were nomination speeches for each candidate, a statement by each candidate, and then 90 minutes of questions (each candidate had to respond to any question asked). The rules require that a candidate receive over 50% to be elected. On the fourth ballot, Elder Commissioner Cynthia (Cindy) Bolbach was elected. Cindy is a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Arlington, VA (National Capital Presbytery), and the executive vice president/corporate secretary of BNA, Inc. (a publisher of legal records). Her vice-moderator "running mate" is the Rev. Landon Whitsitt, pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Liberty, MO (Heartland Presbytery). Please begin now to pray for Cindy and Landon as they guide the 219th General Assembly and serve as representatives of the PC(USA) for the next two years.

Well, it is 11:55 pm. It's way past time for me to go to bed. More tomorrow.