you'll have to be stealthy...

Jesse's watching out for you.

Sunday

Just so you know, I don't know why, when you look at my profile, you will find out that I am a Scorpio, born in the year of the monkey. There may be more interesting things to know about me. But maybe not.

GA worship was good, as usual, and held in two locations simultaneously, with some parts shown back and forth. The technology worked, which is better than can be said about the plenary meeting hall- but they are working on it.

Speaking of technology, we elected a techie moderator who may drag some of us into the new century and teach us something about ministry to the next generations. I'm hoping that's true, anyway.

It was fun for the Charlotteans to give a shout out to our Tamara when she was introduced as a platform assistant yesterday, and today we had a great lunch with all our commissioners, staff, observers and Charlotte groupies.

Tomorrow is Eulando Henton's birthday, so we say a big GA Happy Birthday to our minister commissioner from New Friendship.

We're looking for a whoopie cushion to put on Jesse Hite's chair in the meeting hall, and Nancy Nutter is really excited to be seated between chatty me and chatty Shirley Hutchins. We'll just have a brief meeting in the plenary hall this afternoon, for routine business plus the nominations for stated clerk, then it's off to committees for the next 2 days.

also seen...

I'm also here, though the trip was less eventful... didn't form any new presbyteries or anything.

I saw Nancy Nutter (she's apparently high profile), saw Joanne Sizoo across the exhibit hall, spoke to Larry James waiting for the bus from the airport, and saw Warren Lesane (but he was deep in conversation).

This is my first GA, but I saw lots of familiar faces from various conferences like Montreat Wee Kirk. I met Bill Teng, Bruce Reyes-Chow, and Roger Shoemaker... all gracious and outgoing.

I got a mini-frisbee from the Presbymergent (oh look, there's the frisbee) booth and met the very outgoing and interesting Karen Sloan.

I'm in the Penthouse suite - well the 25th floor at least - of the Marriot, which is attached to the convention center. There's a beautiful view of San Jose and the ring of mountains on the edge of town.

The first three business meetings are tomorrow, and will include worship, welcome/orientation, opening remarks, and moderator elections (tomorrow night).

Online video for these and all plenary business meetings will be streamed online from the PCUSA site. The schedule for these meetings is HERE, and the link to the video should appear somewhere on that page tomorrow. In the past, the link has been available in advance, but this schedule is all I can find tonight. [Look for Tamara on the platform!]

~Robert Austell

Finally here

Well, Tamara comes sailing in at 2 something yesterday, while some of the rest of us cooled our heels at DFW for 5 hours waiting for a flight, since the delay in Charlotte made us miss our connection. We started a new Presbytery, the Presbytery of DFW (Dallas/Ft Worth Airport) while we waited- with YADs from Providence and Peaks presbyteries.

Today was anti-racism training, including a really interesting video on home loans and redlining after WWII. It has also been a day of quick hugs with old friends. After years and years of coming to the assembly every year, then having 5 years off, I'm finding that many of my friends have aged. Good thing I haven't!

I've seen Nancy Nutter and Shirley Hutchins wandering around, and Cece (our YAD and my daughter) has been seen dashing around in the company of other YADs.

We start in on business in the morning. I can't wait to see Tamara up there in all her glory! Although, I may not see anything from my vantage point all the way on the end down front...does the Board of Pensions pay for neck massages for kinks
from craning our necks to see what's going on?