Surely the Presence of the Lord is in This Place

As I write this, the Bishop Coyner is offering a prayer "that we may see God's glory in the face of everyone we see this day." He began with a reminder that, "Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place." As much as the delegates disagree this day, I hope we all believe that this is true.

We just took a break following a vote to not support the petition in favor of changing the human sexuality language in our Social Principles.

A protest group is surrounding the Communion Table in the center of the room, singing, "What does the Lord require of you?"

Before the break, and after the vote, this group gathered at the Table for a time of spontaneous Communion. Our church has not changed our language about human sexuality. And there is a lot of pain in the room.

We are now being dismissed quickly for lunch. The protest is peaceful, but it is out of order. It is expected that all non-voting delegates will be removed from within the bar of Conference by the time we return.

Tough times at GC2012.