General Assembly and the life
of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

This year's General Assembly in Indianapolis was the first to take place since the recent economic turmoil began in the fall of 2008. As such, there were many indicators that these financial problems had reached the church and were at the forefront of everyone's mind. Exhibitors cut back on free giveaways, many congregations that usually attend the event were absent, and the conversations regarding future assemblies and other missions of the church were dominated by talk of the economy. It would seem to any casual onlooker that a great way for the church to save money which could be used for the many mission goals such as starting new congregations, would be to eliminate General Assembly altogether.

On paper, the event seems like a financial nightmare: All registrations are barely able to cover the cost of renting the space and hiring workers, all those wishing to attend must spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars traveling across the country and paying for hotels and food, and any organizations must pay for expensive booths and exhibits in order to showcase their work.

However, to just analyze the worth of General Assembly in strictly financial terms would mean overlooking the profound impact the event has on those who attend, and even the denomination as a whole.

General Assembly is the one chance every two years that the denomination gathers together with nearly every Disciples organization and members of congregations across the world with the goal of reconnecting with each other, analyzing where the Disciples are, and setting new goals to reach in the coming years. In a tough economic climate, it is even more important to sit down together at Assembly and access which missions and programs are effective, and which are not achieving their goals. At Assembly, unlike other meetings of Disciple leadership, regular members are given a voice and a chance to express their views about issues pertaining to the church and its future. This way, we as a denomination can make decisions about what to keep, what to do away with, and what to expand, and if something happens to a branch of the church, it can be discussed anew at the next Assembly.

Another positive aspect of Assembly comes in the form of spiritually serving our denominations clergy and lay leaders. Clergy are always giving and sharing their spiritual gifts, but have precious few opportunities to reenergize their own spirituality. For many of them, General Assembly allows them to sit back and engage in worship and workshops in a non-leading role which can help refocus them for when they leave and go back to their own congregations. In a sense, General Assembly offers many of the benefits of a sabbatical for many Disciples without the enormous expense or extended absence. Now, for most of the Assembly attendees the event is very busy, chaotic, and even stressful; however, I would argue that this is the closest experience to church camp that most adults in the church experience on a semi-regular basis, in the sense that there are stressful times, but there are also moments of profound spiritual connection which make it all worthwhile.

In such a difficult time, I think that the General Assembly plays an even more important role in the life of the church. For these reason, I believe that although tough economic times may force us as a church to reevaluate or eliminate some things, General Assembly should be preserved in its current form.