Learnings and Experiences of General Assembly by Rev. Rachel Boden
Full disclosure: I did not want to come to GA. I had serious regret about volunteering to be a commissioner about 45 minutes into the Zoom committee meeting process. (Part of that was that my church’s VBS fell on the same week, so that’s not GA’s fault). Then I came to Milwaukee (which is on the shore of Lake Michigan, who knew? Probably most people. But I didn’t.), and I dreaded the long days of work to be done in a massive freezing ballroom that took a full minute to walk the length of, full of bureaucracy and Presbyterian pastors who enjoy hearing their own voices.
And make no mistake, it was all of those things. Over the last four days I have been frustrated, angry, sad, irritated, exasperated, and exhausted. Often all at the same time. BUT – I have also been filled with awe, gratitude, understanding, and compassion. I have cried, groaned, danced, and laughed with hundreds of my siblings in Christ. I have met and interacted with people from all over the country, all over the world, and from all walks of life. I have experienced actual joy – a joy you cannot know until you have been in a massive freezing ballroom that takes a full minute to walk the length of, full of bureaucracy and Presbyterian pastors who enjoy hearing their own voices – and who also enjoy the hard, important, good work that is discerning the will of God, striving to serve God’s people with energy, intelligence, imagination, and love.
I am profoundly thankful for the experience of serving as a commissioner at the General Assembly of the PCUSA, and I would willingly, gladly choose to do it again.
Things I Have Learned at GA:
