Famous oil painting titled Freedom of Speech (1943)
by the renowned American illustrator Norman Rockwell

Colleagues, Presbyters, and friends of Palo Duro Presbytery,

Our denomination gathers this week and next for the 226th General Assembly. The commissioners of each presbytery meet for one week online and the next week in person in Milwaukee. Please pray for Palo Duro Presbytery’s two Commissioners, the Reverend Dana Mayfield (Grace, Lubbock) and Elder Remelle Farrar (First, Canadian). They will join commissioners from across the country to discuss business and discipleship in our denomination. We pray the commissioners, and we pray the process emulate our God above.

May we celebrate one key that binds us together? Presbyterianism means representational democracy. If someone is in Christ and professes their faith in Christ’s church, they may be voted forward to represent the church at the Session. From the Session to the Presbytery, and now during the GA, from the Presbytery to the General Assembly. The Presbyterian constitution influenced our U.S. Declaration of Independence. But in the church, when we stand and speak, we do so through the lens of faith in Jesus Christ, the author and perfector of our faith. Another joyful detail is that each commissioner takes to heart how we live out “…on earth as it is in heaven”? Hard to do. And of course, we disagree, but we relish the freedom to have these conversations and the actions or mission that emerge.

If you hear of things that you think are the oddest, take a breath. Think of city council meetings across our nation; any commissioner can carry a voice to the microphone within Robert’s Rules of Order. This is representative democracy. These things may come to fruition; they may not. Constitutional actions from GA must be voted on at the presbytery level. Remember, Palo Duro Presbytery led the change to the constitution regarding the role and authority of the Commissioned Pastors, which now helps us fill empty pulpits across the nation.
So, my message is to take the time to pray and thank God for the freedom to think and act as disciples of Jesus in our churches and in God’s world.

Scott