A report by Rev A.A.L. Aalderink
The second day of meetings this week is another fraught one.
The moderation committee has made some proposals on which questions will be asked. This will be through several rounds. The first round of questions is to ask informative (clarifying) questions. Round two gives opportunity to ask more substantive questions. In the third round there is room to submit (counter) proposals or amendments.
So many questions are already asked in the first round that the moderation committee needs almost an hour and a half to answer all of them. With that, the morning meeting is soon over. When asked, the moderation committee reflected how deep the chasm is that runs right through our denomination. This shows how real a schism is. This distress forms the background to these discussions.
In the second round, twenty-six delegates (half of all delegates) asked to speak again. The contributions are of course very diverse, but what you do hear repeatedly is the deep concern for our churches. There is criticism of moderation proposals, but how to go about it? We spent the afternoon searching and groping.
Meetings in the evening are similarly searching for answers. The statement, "no solution can be made without getting dirty hands," is apt. After a long day, it is decided to continue tomorrow to finalise various proposals.
