My new Presbytery covers quite the geographical range. It covers Arizona, New Mexico and part of Texas. I had just driven through El Paso on our trip to AZ, but found myself having to go back for my first State Presbytery meeting. Thankfully we now only have one car so I was forced to ride with one of the elders. Usually I’m not the best passenger (I get really bored and restless), but it was good to spend time with this elder and talk about a variety of issues regarding church and life.
When we came through eastern NM the week before I did not notice how much the stockyards stunk from the cattle. It was clearly evident this time around, however. What do you expect from so many cows in one place?
We checked into the hotel. It was a “no frills” hotel. I’ve been staying in “fancy” hotels, apparently. I was surprised at some of the things they considered “frills”.
- An exercise room. Yes, an extra but it would have been nice to spend some time on a treadmill after riding for 4-5 hours. The wind outside was kicking up plenty of dust, which can’t be great for your lungs.
- A continental breakfast. Thankfully the host church provided a very nice breakfast for all the Presbyters.
- An iron. When your clothes are still wrinkled from the cross country move, you really need an iron.
- A bottle of shampoo. It was very hard to tear an opening in the top of the shampoo packet in that shower.
The pastor of the host church used to be in my former Presbytery. He had a difficult call there. I was glad to see he ended up in a very good situation with some great lay leadership. Though the dress was casual, they were liturgical. Though in a rented facility, they invested lots of work to make it beautiful. There were very nice wooden pews, a wooden arch, paintings from an elder adorning the walls… The worship team included a pianist, violinist, keyboardist and bassist. Most of the music was traditional, but they did Chris Tomlin’s I Will Rise as an ensemble piece. It was a very encouraging worship service to begin our meeting.
The meeting itself was fairly uneventful. We examined one man for ordination so he can labor with RUF (the PCA’s college ministry), another transferred into the Presbytery, and we examined another for licensure. We heard from some military chaplains about some of the possible implications of the end of the “don’t ask, don’t tell policy” in the military. They are afraid they may be forced to do things contrary to their faith.
The most remarkable thing, for those who know me, is that I basically kept my mouth shut the whole time. Okay, not completely true. But I did not speak before Presbytery aside for expressing appreciation for the called meeting that brought me there when I was introduced. I updated them with the fact that we are in town, house sold, house bought and moved across country under budget. Yes, that’s it.
Much thanks to the host church for lunch. They had a guy making tacos for us. Delicious! I was (thankfully) able to go back for seconds. So I’m thankful that God gave us taste buds and put so many delicious things in this world for us to enjoy with thanksgiving.
Cavman Considers 
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