Pandemic Religion: A Digital Archive

Committee Resolution

When I was going through confirmation classes as a teenager at First Presbyterian Church in Tyler Texas, I was told an old joke to illustrate our church’s form of governance. “How many Presbyterians does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Four: one to propose the motion to get a new bulb, two to carry the motion, and one to actually screw in the new light.” We’re a bunch governed by committee, we gather in a group, sit in a circle, and arrive at a quorum, and that’s just for social gatherings (sometimes there’s a cheeseball but that has more to do with the small-town ambiance of it all). These last couple years as a college student my committee designate has been in youth leadership, Wednesday night bible study circles is where I can usually be found. Since being in Austin for school, I’ve helped lead out at Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian after a recruitment call during my freshman year from my old youth pastor who came to the capital for bigger better things. Plaguetime might have thrown a wrench in the system of our regular meetings and my active participation had new technologies not enabled us to gather in our customary decision-making circles with relative ease. Admittedly we look a little like the Jedi Council meeting via hologram, each of our faces illuminated by blue light and voices ringing with the tinny hollowness of laptop speakers, but still we gather, and still we nominate, propose, pass and carry orders of business, chasing the feeling of being in agreement with one another.

2020

Presbyterian

Texas

personal story