Indeed, a fair, but very kind reflection on the GC session. The essay informs us in a very polite way that for the most part it has been a boring event, run by a very well oiled machinery. I concur - though somewhat less polite. It has been a waste of time and money - but most of all: a missed opportunity. A good start with referring to pentecost and the Holy Spirit unusually frequent … I only felt the air conditioning blowing.
In sum, the hierarchical restructuring of the church continued, the controls were tightened, the ever present emphasis on the “Spirit of Prophecy” made us look like a cult, pre-occupied with self and us and no one else (certainly not for serious dialogue).
As to the frequent prayer… this is a clobber argument later on: “we prayed about it, therefore it must be right.” Such an instrumentalization is unworthy of a tough process where delegates actually dealt with theological arguments … but simply were voted down by majorities. (To be sure - majority votes are foundational to democracies; at the same time … how we deal with minorities may even be more telling).