The first and most important thing to say on this occasion is "thank you."
So Carol Bechtel began her presidential report this morning. Not surprisingly, Carol was gracious, respectful, and winsome in opening her address.
She focused on three areas: Worship, Baptism, and Ministry.
With regard to worship, Carol suggested that worship should find a place among the goals, ends, and subends policies of the GSC. She also called for a task force. (In all cases, read the report which should be online pretty soon.)
Regarding baptism, Carol took on questions regarding what's going on in baptism (adult baptisms, child dedications, rebaptisms). She calls for the church to look closely at what's happening.
When it comes to ministry, Carol proposed the creation of a task force to evaluate what's happened since the creation of the Commissioned Pastor several years ago. Elders, it seems, are being baptized by Classes (!) or solely in order to become Commissioned Pastors (!!) or completely without attachment to a congregation's board of elders (!!!).
Kudos to Carol for taking on tough issues and speaking truth to power. She demurred from being a prophet (in the future-telilng sense) but clearly spoke words that needed to be said. I encourage you to read her report and proposals.
To my ears, it was refreshing to hear a President speaking articulately and convincingly about matters that are critical to the present and future health of the church.
[Read more about the President's Report on the RCA web site.]