Into Overtime

It was, as expected, a long night. The time was spent debating one section of the Rules of Procedure which deal with the proposal on ministry standards. A proposal to require a 2/3 vote to approve any changes in ministry standards was defeated by a vote of 57% to 42%. Another vote which would have locked in the assembly to vote on the four tiered recommendations on changes to ministry policy one recommendation at a time, was defeated by a vote of 58% to 41%. Two votes with very similar vote totals. It will be interesting to see if these vote percentages change at the time the assembly votes on the social statement and the proposal for ministry polices.

The debate on the rules took time. Bishop Hanson took great care to fairly moderate the debate. I found each speaker to be respectful and for the most part prepared. Sure some speakers repeated previous speakers. While you could sense a certain amount of tension, I felt that the speakers chose their words carefully, kept to the issue before us and did so in a good sense of order.

If you are watching the assembly via the Internet, we are sitting in the center section, six rows back from the stage, near microphones 3 and 4. Our companion synod from Northern Illinois is right behind us.

There are lots of tired voting members tonight. We begin at 8am Tuesday. Good night.