When Polity Becomes a Weapon

I have a confession to make.

I have a love/hate relationship with Robert and his Rules of Order.

(I suppose this is a particularly scandalous confession seeing as how I am the Moderator of Beaver-Butler Presbytery. Perhaps impeachment proceedings will have begun before I begin the drive home on Saturday. ;-)

I LOVE that we have a tool that ensures those in the minority have a voice in any and every discussion.

I HATE that, like any good gift of God, it can be used improperly.

In my committee meeting yesterday, I believe I saw polity used intentionally as a weapon by a very knowledgeable person to prevent the possibility of passing a specific overture.

This was INCREDIBLY frustrating. I admit the overture as written would NEVER have passed (I don't know that I would have voted for it then) but the committee was denied the chance to reshape it through amendments. It is my belief that, had we been given the chance, there was a real possibility that we could have crafted something that people could have gathered around. (Instead, the original overture did its best to shove people into the farthest corners of the room; not a smart way to get something passed, if you ask me.)

This was also incredibly frustrating because, from the moment I stepped foot into the COBO Center, I have heard the refrain that all voices are welcome at the table. (You can read about my hopes because of this kind of welcome HERE.)



And in one motion to disapprove an overture (which means it cannot be amended), my voice was silenced. The voice of conservative evangelicals was silenced. The chair at the table was pulled out from underneath us.

As I work through my anger (I bet you can't really even imagine me being angry, but I assure you my reaction was quite visceral!), here are some of my conclusions:

• I am so grateful that Beaver-Butler Presbytery has decided to explore other ways of conducting our business, using some of Robert's lesser known Rules. 
• I am so grateful that we will work toward meetings that are guided by mutual trust, so that polity can be used fairly. 
• I am so grateful that we are going to explore the use of consensus-building and constant searching and discernment of God's will for us. 
• And most of all, I am so grateful that BBP is the kind of place willing to try something new, for things which are new are often scary as well. But new things can bring great discoveries. 

As we gather again in plenary session, now that our committee work is done, please continue to pray for ALL of us!