Last week the South Sudan Presbyterian Evangelical Church (SSPEC) held their General Assembly (GA). That sounds like it would be a rather dry and officious meeting, but the long days were filled with lots of worship, prayer, animated discussion, laughter, and of course reports. One thing I enjoyed most was watching people from different parts of the country rejoice in seeing one another again. The repeated handshaking and expressions of delight and surprise as people from remote regions reconnected showed the deep level of connection that people had when they were all displaced or studying together in Khartoum.
Members greeting each other
I was told by a number of people that discussions would get heated and it might feel like people were about to start fighting, but then everyone would cool down and the matter would get resolved. “That is just the way it is in GA”, they said. And sure enough, I watched discussions play out like that. People were given an opportunity to ask questions or to share their opinions, and after a period of discussion there would be a conclusion or they would move on. I appreciated that even those who disagreed about a certain topic could laugh together later.
On the last day of the GA was the election for new leadership. The executive committee is now completely new, and the previous leadership showed humble grace in stepping aside and supporting the new leadership. Everyone I talked to seemed pleased with the election and to support the leadership, whether their choice of candidate had been selected or not. The day after GA ended, the old and new leaders met together to hand over the responsibilities and to share information. At the end of the week, the entire old and new executive committees came together to pray and to express their hopes for the church going forward.
2 comments:
What a delight it is to hear about those of so many different interests coming together and working things out!
These days, my news feed is dominated by stories of grim atrocities playing out right now, between Russia and Ukraine!
What a relief and an inspiration it must be to watch all those of good grace doing exactly what they should be doing to the benefit of the greater good!
BTW: Have you ever read, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, by Fisher, Ury, and Patton?
The first edition of that book came out in the middle of my tour of service as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and the paperback version was just being published right after I was finished.
That really has been on my mind of late, and I just recently chanced upon this link, which is a good reminder of the four key principles of the book.
I have cited those often. And I do keep them in mind. But suffice it to say, this link makes that citation a whole lot easier for anyone who may not have encountered it on their own already.
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