wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Thousands at GA experience worship on a grand scale

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #7708 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Thousands at GA experience worship on a grand scale
GA03018

Thousands at GA experience worship on a grand scale

by Bill Lancaster

DENVER, May 25  The Opening Service of Worship and Holy Communion at the 215
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) gave several thousand
commissioners, visitors, staff members and volunteers an experience of
worship on the grand scale that has become a hallmark of this service from
year to year.
	
	From the opening invocation, with a flute solo by Calvin Standing
Bear, a Native American from Denver, to the closing Highland Cathedral,
featuring bagpipes, organ and a massive choir, the music was stirring and
inspiring. Bear, originally from the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota,
wore Native American dress and was accompanied by a powerful combination of
drums from the orchestra.
	
	John Kuzma, minister of music at Denvers Montview Boulevard
Presbyterian Church, conducted the choir. He had written an anthem on
commission for this service, on the Assembly theme, A House of Prayer for
All Peoples, a reference to Isaiah 56:1-8.

	The anthem featured the adult choir accompanied by a diversity of
instruments representing various cultures and traditions  including organ,
orchestra, steel drums, bagpipes, Indian rain stick, cymbals, and brass.
Kuzma also arranged most of the music for the service. One hymn, Where
Mountains Lift the Eye, focused on the Creator God who through the movement
of plates of bedrock thrust the Rocky Mountains into the sky. The mountains
are a constant presence to the west of Denver. 

	In addition to the adult choir, childrens and youth choirs added
their textures to the music. Listeners were caught up and blown away in the
whirlwind of sound created by the massed choir on the opening hymn,
Alleluia! Sing to Jesus! and enfolded in peace during the childrens
choirs anthem, With One Heart and One Voice, conducted by Leslie Britton.
The congregation was brought to its feet clapping when the youth choir
performed He Never Failed Me Yet! conducted by Fannie C. Scott.

	The service was enhanced by visual imagery projected on giant screens
and by a very long, dramatic communion table with blue ceramic plates,
chalices and bowl created by potter Sandy Pond.

	The Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel, moderator of last years 214th General
Assembly, preached a sermon titled A House of Hospitality and Prayer, on
the theme text from Isaiah, as well as texts from 1Peter (Above all,
maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins)
and the Gospel of John (In my Fathers house there are many dwelling
places; I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me.)

	Noting that, in the early church, the focus was on the people of God,
rather than the ministers, Abu-Akel recognized a long list of groups within
the PC (USA), having them stand for applause. He gave special recognition to
his wife, Mary Shibly Zumot, who read the Gospel lesson, the Rev. Clifton
Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the General Assembly, and Elder John Detterick,
executive director of the General Assembly Council.

	Abu-Akel then preached about the Biblical story, his own life story
and the challenges facing the PC(USA). He recounted his experiences during
his travels in China and Sudan, where he said people gather by the thousands
to worship in the name of Jesus Christ.

	The moderator linked the Bible story about Gods wishing his house to
be a house of prayer for all peoples. He told about his childhood, when his
mother taught him the scriptures and the Nicene Creed. When his family was
routed from their home by Israeli soldiers, and forced to move to a refugee
camp, his mother stayed behind, saying that shed rather be killed than to
give up their house, land and church.

	Four hundred Palestinian villages were destroyed by the Israelis
during the war, he said. That injustice is still present today. He urged
his listeners to pray for justice and reconciliation between the Palestinians
and Jews, and said only America can lead the way to peace in the Middle East,
a land important to Muslims, Christians and Jews alike. He said Jerusalem
should be a city of hospitality. 

	Abu-Akel said the principal challenges facing the PC(USA) are staying
united and maintaining a focus on mission. He spoke of the Scottish
Presbyterian missionaries who came to his home village in Palestine, and said
PC(USA) missionaries have changed the world  so that now there are more
Presbyterians in Korea than in the whole of the United States. He said the
same is true of Kenya and the Middle East.

	Abu-Akel said God is helping us by sending the world to our doorstep
in the United States. And he supported the Mission Initiative, the PC(USA)
campaign to raise $40 million for international mission and new churches in
this country, especially in racial-ethnic communities.

	Inviting participants to the Communion table, he said: This is the
Lords table. The Lord is the host. We are the guests.

*** For instructions on using this system (including how to UNJOIN this
meeting), send e-mail to mailrequests@ecunet.org
------------------------------------------
Send your response to this article to pcusa.news@pcusa.org

------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send an 'unsubscribe' request to

pcusanews-request@halak.pcusa.org