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A Note from David McKee  

Executive & Stated Clerk

Synod of the Mid-Atlantic  

March 2009

          When you read the minutes of a Synod Assembly, it’s easy to see the details of the body’s decisions and actions. But it’s nearly impossible for written minutes to convey the intangibles – factors such as tone, flavor, and atmosphere.  Often those elements are every bit as important as the actual decisions made – and sometimes they’re even more significant.  Those intangible impressions struck me particularly about our Synod Assembly on March 9-10.  I’d like to offer here some reflections about them.

          The first one I noticed was energy.  By stereotype, at least, we Presbyterians are not the most kinetic church folks around, particularly when we’re seated in meetings. Now I’m not trying to say that any of us were even close to bouncing off the walls.  But there was a definite feeling that the assembly was poised and prepared to address the matters before it with the kind of energy – as well as intelligence, imagination and love –  that we promise in the vows we take when being ordained and installed to office in the church.

          Which leads to a second intangible I detected: a sense of purpose.  The commissioners were focused on serving the Church, and not merely plowing through a list of business items and administrative minutia.  Granted, we are still in the midst of clarifying with greater precision the emerging purpose of our Synod; yet this assembly approached its work with a clearly evident sense that there is a point to it all, that our synod does fit within, and contribute to, the mission of Christ, and of the larger Presbyterian Church (USA).

          A third intangible that bears mention is a big one to me:  appreciation.  That was apparent to me on more than one level.  Commissioners were quite appreciative of one another: their viewpoints, their faith commitments, their experience in and of the church.  They were also appreciative of the process by which our work moves forward.  And I sensed a genuine appreciation for our distinctive, Presbyterian way of being the church together. 

          And one more:  humor.  This was present in at least two ways:  first, in terms of the good humor which abounded within the body throughout the meeting; and second, in terms of a lively sense of humor – a quality without which any group is greatly impoverished. 

          All of those intangibles – and other positives too numerous to mention in this limited space – came together for me in the worship service of communion and installation.  I have always been stirred by the way we worship at governing body gatherings.  Yet rarely have I been as touched and moved as I was by the service on the Monday evening of our Synod Assembly.   

          Every aspect of the service fit together in such a way that in those moments we became in reality what we strive to be:  a genuine family of faith.  From beginning to end – from the reverent offering of the unison prayers to the powerful singing of the Richmond Korean church’s men’s chorus, from the thought-provoking sermon to the moving prayer of installation and laying on of hands, from the eloquent charges to the quiet majesty of the Lord’s Supper – the service drew all of us even more closely into being God’s family.  And for me personally, having my father, at age 91, deliver the charge to me – as he has every time I’ve been installed over the years – has deepened that sense of family even more.

          To be even more personal, the synod assembly of March 9-10 signifies for me the moment when I was not only installed to the office I hold, but also welcomed into this family of faith known as the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic.  That is a reality, intangible though it may be, for which I am profoundly grateful.       

 Faithfully yours,

David

David W. McKee

 As requested by several people, a copy of Bob Martin’s charge to the Synod has been posted to this website; please click on the link to open it.  Also, as requested by the Commissioners, a summary digest of the actions taken by the Synod Assembly at its March meeting has been prepared, and is also available by link on the website. 

               CHARGE TO THE SYNOD   

      DIGEST OF 223RD STATED MEETING

DIRECTIONS TO THE OFFICE OF THE SYNOD OF THE MID-ATLANTIC

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