My good friend and brother Kit just wrote a reflection on the 2010 New England Solemn Assembly and I’m going to take a few minutes to post my thoughts as well for those of you who were unable to make it.
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Ashley and I have as much a sense of direction as a squirrel in front of traffic. We were supposed to be a half hour early to meet my mother and father to drive to Plymouth, MA, but ended up being fifteen minutes late when we pulled in to our meeting place. For those of you who know us, this is not a new routine.
Coffees in hand, we drove and wondered aloud what the Assembly was really going to be like. It didn’t offer a program guide like other one-day conferences we’d been to so we were left holding onto the vague idea that we would be gathering with a bunch of believers who were longing for a living and breathing church and nation. Good enough.
We pulled in to the town of Plymouth and followed the crowds of people to the center where the meeting was going to be held. I yelled out the window when I recognized Kit’s orange hat and they saved us a seat while we passed by people carrying Shofars. Plymouth was as quaint as other New England sea towns, speckled with some marinas and seafood restaurants.
There was a buzz about the room as the Assembly was called to order with some worship and prayer. It was clear that there was a range of denominations, geographic locations and ethnicities represented. Within a few minutes the shofar were being blown and speakers came up to deliver passionate speeches and words urging us to call our church and our nation back to God in a personal, tangible, prayerful and global way.
I agree with Kit’s post that there was one point in particular which stood out from the rest. A First Nations man was invited up to speak. He began rather softly and in the heart of the “National Day of Repentance” he spoke come clear and poignant words. He asked forgiveness from us for harboring anger and resentment at what our forefathers had done to the First Nations people hundreds of years ago. He asked forgiveness for calling Christianity “White-man’s religion” and then professed that it is all man’s religion and he stood with us saying that Jesus is Lord and Savior. How powerful it was to see a First Nations man, a Mohawk, asking forgiveness from us! We were all blown away. He spoke a while longer and towards the end an exchange of gifts was made between him and another man signifying friendship, peace and forgiveness. It was one of the most powerful things I have ever witnessed.
The Assembly continued on until four in the afternoon. Four hours of worship, prayer, prophecy and gathering left us hungry so we walked past the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock (which Kit enjoyed reminding everything that this was not the actual Plymouth Rock or Mayflower) to enjoy a seafood dinner while mulling over the day.
I left encouraged. There were things which I agreed with and things which I didn’t, but the overarching message for me was that there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of churches and believers in New England (and across the globe) who believe that it is time to breath again, to live, to return to our God and to claim this time and place as his.
