Creator in Community - An Oregon Synod Assembly Experience 5/20/06

I am at the Red Lion Hotel on the River at Jantzen Beach in the Main Ballroom around 8:00 AM. The Oregon Synod Assembly is in its second day. Our delegates are about to start another day and I have come today to see the keynote speaker, Dr. Allen Powell and to check out a Music in Worship, Music in Context workshop.

The first person I meet from Creator is Nita. We catch up on news and chat about the next time she and Mary will meet to collate, fold and staple together the newsletter. Nita always has a smile and is ready to dig into what needs to be done. She is looking forward to the day.

We find the table with the other Creator members who have arrived. Joel and David normally are like Nita, a smile and make you immediately feel at home. Today Joel and David are welcoming but too tired (I'm sure partly from all the synod work the day before) to smile and joke much. David talks about being overwhelmed with work responsibilities and health issues in his family. We haven’t had time to talk recently and now I know why.

Joel's thoughts are on council issues and church concerns. He was Creator's president for two years and, given there are members that are a part of the church's foundation, Joel and his family are on that list.

Pastor Dayle, Peter, Tamara, Larry and Sara all arrive and I am impressed with the representation that Creator consistently shows for events where the Cluster or Synod gathers.

The Assembly starts with worship as we sing “All Are Welcome” and music from a sampler of the new Evangelical Lutheran Worship Pew Edition Sampler which appears to be collecting devotional songs from other countries, new composers, together with carrying forward hymns from the old hymnal.

We sing a strong African hymn “Jesus, We Are Gathered” that has a reverential weight to it and a simple Swedish hymn called “You are Holy” that has something special about it to my ear. Maybe it just appeals to my Swedish family roots.

Dr. Powell’s keynote address is substantive and entertaining. He talks about being offended by someone with a “Jesus is for Losers” t-shirt until he gets the double-entendre. The topic is leadership in the church and he makes it clear that the best leader is getting out of the way while leading us to Jesus.

After the address there is a suggestion to get a group photo taken with the quilt that was made by Creator for the synod quilt auction. Our former vicar Amanda, now Pastor Amanda Wilson, snaps the picture and after that we break into our workshops.

I attend a Hunger Awareness Workshop Nita brought to my attention. It is a dynamic session full of ideas to bring back to the team that are educational, fun and empowering.

The Music in Worship, Music in Context workshop is pointing participants to a music path Creator is already on. Rather than dividing worship by musical taste (contemporary versus traditional, for example) the question is asked if all can accommodate to one another’s taste and worship together. Of course there is always work to do in discerning that music and it makes me think about music that might attract our community and how to raise the visibility of that music to the community.

I leave invigorated but with the knowledge I am not involved in the actual voting or business of the Synod Assembly. I am appreciative of those taking that task on this year.