Leaving on a Jet Plane (or not!)

Well, General Convention is history. Ann and I went to the airport this morning to start our journey home only to discover that our flight out of LAX is delayed and therefore we would miss our connecting flight in Baltimore. So, they put us on the 11:20 PM plane tonight and we won't get back to Burlington until noon on Sunday! Yikes! The biggest problem is that I was scheduled for a visitation with the good people of Saint Paul's, Windsor on Sunday and now that needs to be rescheduled. Obviously, I am disappointed by this development and only hope that the revised travel plan works. Meanwhile, we wait at LAX and that gives me a chance to make an entry to this Blog.

Folks in Vermont can be very proud of our Deputation. Many of us had key roles in the Convention and our contributions were much appreciated. Four of our Deputies were elected to various boards and committees: Tanya Wallace to the General Board of Examining Chaplains, Thomas Brown to the Board of the Church Pension Fund, Anne Brown to the Trustees of General Theological Seminary, and Jennifer Ogelby to the Committee to Elect the Presiding Bishop (this is a committee that only meets if there is a need to elect a Presiding Bishop during the next three years, so while we congratulate her, we hope her committee doesn't need to meet!).

As Steve Smith reported earlier, General Convention adopted a "lean" budget. The current economic realities, resulting in reduced income for the budget led the Program, Budget and Finance Committee to recommend a budget with substantial cuts in many areas, including Staff at the Episcopal Church Center in New York and other regional centers. These budget realities invite The Episcopal Church to "re-imagine" some of the ways we do business and moves many mission initiatives back to the local level. There will also be a reduction in the asking percentage from each diocese in 2011 and 2012, a move that could help speed up our diocesan timetable for contributing our "full share."

Among its many actions, General Convention approved the new Denominational Health Plan, a mandatory Lay Pension Plan, a major revision of Title IV (clergy disciplinary canons), a Domestic Poverty initiative and The Charter for Lifelong Christian Formation. We renewed our commitment anti-racism and the Millennium Development Goals, strengthened our resolve to address climate crisis and other environmental concerns, and proposed many "Holy Women and Holy Men" for consideration on the church's calendar of Lesser Feasts and Fasts.

Two of the resolutions generating substantial news coverage are D025 and C056. D025"Commitment and Witness to the Anglican Communion" is, in the words from a joint letter from the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies to the Archbishop of Canterbury, "a multilayered resolution that addresses a range of important issues in the life of The Episcopal Church that clearly have implications for our relationships within the Anglican Communion." Their letter continues:

"We understand Resolution D025 to be more descriptive than prescriptive in nature—a statement that reaffirms commitments already made by The Episcopal Church and that acknowledges certain realities of our common life. Nothing in the Resolution goes beyond what has already been provided under our Constitution and Canons for many years. In reading the resolution, you will note its key points, that:

Our Church is deeply and genuinely committed to our relationships in the Anglican Communion;

We recognize the contributions gay and lesbian Christians, members of our Church both lay and ordained, have made and continue to make to our common life and ministry;

Our Church can and does bear witness to the fact that many of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters live in faithful, monogamous, lifelong and life-giving committed relationships;

While ordination is not a “right” guaranteed to any individual, access to our Church’s discernment and ordination process is open to all baptized members according to our Constitution and Canons; and

Members of The Episcopal Church do, in fact, disagree faithfully and conscientiously about issues of human sexuality."

You can read the full text of the letter at:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/documents/D025_letter_to_Archbishop.pdf

Tom Little, our Diocesan Chancellor and Deputation Chair had a significant hand in helping to craft the original language of D025, and Lee Crawford had a key role in the final draft as a member of the World Mission Committee. We are very proud of their leadership.

Resolution C056 "Liturgies for Blessings" passed in both houses in the form of a substitute resolution crafted by a group of bishops and then perfected through debate in the House of Bishops. I was privileged to be part of the "indaba style" group of bishops, from across the theological spectrum, who met for four hours of "holy" listening and sharing that ultimately led to the drafting of a substitute resolution C056. I was also part of the drafting group. After considerable discussion in the HOB, Substitute Resolution C056 passed with amendment. Two days later it passed in the HOD.

In brief, C056 moves the church forward in the work needed in order for General Convention to consider authorizing liturgies for the blessing of couples living in committed same gender relationships, acknowledges that we are not all in the same place around this subject, and recognizes the current need for bishops to provide a generous pastoral response to same gender couples, particularly in dioceses (like Vermont) where the civil jurisdiction provides for same gender marriage, civil unions or domestic partnerships. While the "authorization" of such liturgies by The General Convention is still a long way off (if at all) the necessary first step of collecting and developing theological and liturgical resources has now been set in motion. I remain hopeful that this process will lead sooner rather than later to the authorization of such liturgies and I look forward to sharing the fruit of our Vermont experience in service to this effort.

The provision for pastoral generosity in C056 draws on language from Resolution B012"Pastoral Generosity in Addressing Civil Marriage" submitted by several bishops (including myself) in dioceses where the state makes provision for same-sex marriage. The inclusion of this language in C056 allowed us to table Resolution B012. B012 had canonical challenges that would have been difficult to get beyond, so the passage of C056 is helpful to us in Vermont in terms of continuing our pastoral ministry of supporting and blessing the committed relationships of same gender couples. When I return to Vermont I will continue the conversations I began this Spring with clergy and lay leaders about how best to provide this pastoral support as we move forward with marriage equality in Vermont this September.

Unfortunately, as I send this from the airport in Los Angeles, the General Convention website link to legislation is not working, so I can't provide the links to the final wording of D025 and C056. Hopefully that will be fixed soon. You can access the General Convention website through our diocesan website: www.dioceseofvermont.org, where I am sure Anne Brown will post these resolutions as soon as she gets back to Vermont.

Again, it has been an honor to be with our deputation (and others from Vermont serving in various General Convention roles) and to see them in action. One of our Deputies calls us "the little diocese that could." I think she is right. For now, please keep us all in your prayers as we travel home.

Tom

Sine Die

The 76th General Convention has ended. Within minutes of the president's gavel landing on the block, the volunteers started dismantling the place we had known as the 'House of Deputies.' Down came all the standards which we had all decorated. Away went the blue books and notebooks people had left behind. When we walked out of the convention center, the House of Deputies was no more.

But as President Bonnie Anderson reminded us, we continue to be deputies until the next triennium or when we are not re-elected or chose not to run again. So we, your deputies, not delegates, will continue to fill out this blog when we return to Vermont. (See her concluding remarks below.)

For this deputy, I leave General Convention with a continued pride in this Episcopal Church that manages to conduct thoughtful, respectful meetings. We deliberate, pray, and sing. We struggle, cry, and laugh. And most of all, we remain (almost all) united at the communion table.

So more later but for now, it is time to pack and take off into the skies back to our beloved Vermont and Diocese of Vermont.

Lee

++++

President Bonnie Anderson’s closing remarks
to the House of Deputies at the General Convention 2009

[July 17, 2009] The following are the closing remarks of President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson to the House of Deputies on July 17 at the conclusion of the Church’s 76th General Convention in Anaheim, California.


Closing Remarks by the President of the House of Deputies,
Dr. Bonnie Anderson
76th General Convention, July 17, 2009

Deputies, Alternates, Guests, Visitors:

I have again been honored by you and elected to serve as President of the House of Deputies for the approaching triennium and through the 77th General Convention. Thank you for that honor.

During the first three years as my tenure as your president I have focused upon two things: identity and mission. Why Identity:

The reason for this choice was the growing concern that I have about the erosion of the practice of the polity of our Church.

As Deputy Wade reminded us this morning in the opening meditation, William White, upon whom shoulders we stand, was a revolutionary. His strange ideas about the ministry of all the baptized, taking their place in the counsels of the Church, caught the imagination and spirit of this fledgling Church in America. His strange ideas about the equality of the voices of all the people of God live today in our polity and in our baptismal covenant and in our Catechism. We are the ministers of the Church – the laity, the clergy and the bishops together, doing God’s work, each bringing our gifts to bear upon the reconciliation of God’s world.

The ministry of all the baptized is not the “lowest common denominator” as it were, from which we all begin and then some advance while others do not. The truth is quite the opposite. Our most unifying truth, our clearest moment of ubuntu is actually found in our baptisms and through our baptismal covenant. Each time we reaffirm our baptismal promises we are committing to ubuntu; we are pledging our life and our service to being agents of God’s love and grace by dying to self and living through Christ. It is from that place that we are one in the eyes of God and one with each other.

I have tried during this past triennium to address my growing concern about our identity as the Episcopal Church, and in particularly, the House of Deputies, in some specific ways.

First, to educate the deputies and the Church that we are deputies, not delegates. We are intentionally named deputies by our forebearers. We are elected because our dioceses trust us. Our dioceses deputize us to vote our mind. Our dioceses trust us, that, after careful prayer, listening to each other and stating our own views we will vote accordingly. I think that we have done that here. Our Church always has deputies. We are deputies when we leave here. We are deputies until we are either reelected by our diocese or another deputy is elected to take our place. There are ALWAYS deputies. We are leaders in our dioceses. We do not rise from the mist like Brigadoon. Our church ALWAYS has deputies. We are acting together in our own dioceses, in the counsels of the church, vestries, standing committees, commissions on ministry, on CCABs – where the only voice of clergy and laity in the larger church is possible through our canons.

Further, regarding identity, through the work of Kim Tucker and Cheri Salanty, my two dedicated and skilled staff assistants, I have created a tool that allows deputies and first alternates to communicate regularly during the past triennium. We have created a moderated deputy online forum to share important information leading up to General Convention. We have created and maintained a tool so that I am able to communicate regularly and effectively with the Deputies and First Alternates.

Our identity as deputies extends beyond the House of Deputies and into the Anglican Communion. At a first-ever conference in Costa Rica this year, the scope of our relationships to clergy and laity in the Anglican Church of the Americas has been extended. We have created new relationships in mission through our diocesan partnerships and mission work. We have strengthened old relationships in this same way. I believe that God is calling us to this work of reconciliation.

As your president, my focus in the areas of mission and identity have intersected at this General Convention and at the pre-General convention synods leading up to it. Our relationships, our quest for UBUNTU, our “I in you and you in me” is only possible if we KNOW each other. We are one in Jesus Christ and it is where our own stories and the story of Jesus intersect that we find our UBUNTU and our call to be a people of God’s mission. I ask you to exercise the leadership that is already yours in your diocese.

So what’s next? Believing that God speaks to us in many different ways during each day and in our dreams at night, this morning I spent time in my room thinking and praying as I do each morning. Then, if I have time, I read the paper. This morning when I opened the door of my room to get the paper, the BIG letters on the front page of USA Today, read, “WHATS OUR NEXT STEP?” The paper was talking about the space frontier. But our next step as a Church is a frontier also.

First, when you return home, meet with your deputation and design the report you are canonically required to provide to your diocese. The President’s Deputy Online Forum will be a place where resources for your reporting will be posted.

Refer to yourselves as deputy. If someone refers to you or other deputies as delegates, use it as a teaching moment to talk about the polity of our church. Don’t let it go by.

Next, in your own diocese, in your own congregation, take the leadership that is already yours and do mission. Start something, strengthen something, We can use the skills we have learned here in the art of public narrative to strengthen or and create relationships, to deepen our spirituality and Christian community. Keep it in your mind and heart there is an urgency now to our mission. Keep in mind now that we are the voices of the people of God, together, clergy, laity, bishops.

It is time for us to end chapter 76 in the book of life of the House of Deputies. It is time for us to leave this place and to take leave of each other. We go back to our loved ones. I go back to the comfortable place where I am not called “Madam President” and no one waits until I rise before they do the same.

With each other in Anaheim, we have shared a part of our lives together. We have worshipped and eaten the bread of life, we have risen to sing and lowered our heads to pray. We have breathed the air that has been in our neighbors lungs. In Jesus we are one of another. We are a Christian Community, made in the image of God.

Let us give great thanks to our senior deputies that will not be returning and for all that we have been given.

[photo: everyone is present except Tanya who was ill]

A light moment

More sartorial silliness to counter some of the agonising and difficult work in which we have been engaging.


The other day was Jenny's birthday and when we went out to the provincial dinner, there was a woman who made these amazing balloon creations. We got her to make one for Jenny and here it is. She did not wear it on the floor.

Meanwhile, yesterday we spent about three hours discussing, debating, trying to amend the triennium budget (the bishops spent less time on the resolution as they were concurring). The cuts are difficult: most everything was reduced by 20-25% (see Steve's piece below). That includes our partnerships with Liberia, Mexico, the Philippines and Central America. It means 35 people lost their jobs yesterday. It means that Episcopal Life (the inside of the Mountain Echo) will appear only four times instead of ten times a year. For a moment, it is a downer but somehow we have to look at new and creative ways of being the church. As someone on Executive Council, I will say it is going to be an adventure living into this new reality.

Today at 9.30 Pacific we will be taking up C056, the resolution on marriage equality that the bishops so soundly passed. I anticipate that there will be the usual parliamentary procedures, a motion to divide, a vote by orders, all the stalling and jockeying that goes on with a debate like this. I am trusting that the House will concur with the bishops. It is a far different House than three years ago.

So off we go with your prayers.

Lee

Money Makes the World Go Around

Yesterday we discussed the Episcopal Church budget for the coming triennium, 2010-2012. Who would have thought a budget could be exciting? This one is. What makes it so is a projected 20% decline in revenues. It turns out that the Church, like all the rest of us, is not immune from the impact of our dismal economy.

"Never waste a crisis," it is said; and in that spirit this budget begins a transformative reduction in the superstructure of our church. It increases our giving to others, decreases the "asking" from dioceses, and reduced staff size at Church headquarters by almost 20%.

Some factoids about the budget:
Millennium Development Goals (http://www.undp.org/mdg/basics.shtml) continue to be funded at .7% of the budget each year.
A like amount is committed to eradication of extreme poverty inside our borders.
The Church's "tax" on dioceses is reduced from 21% to 19% over the triennium.
General Convention is shortened, essentially from two weeks in length to one week. (hooray, says your exhausted deputation!)
Some church commissions, committees, agencies, and boards will be eliminated.
Church commissions, task forces, etc. are given far less budget money for travel and asked instead to meet electronically sometimes.
Church Center positions are reduced by 30, from 180 to 150.
Episcopal Life will probably be published quarterly instead of monthly.
And more.

Stay tuned. As gardeners know, pruning often leads to healthy growth.

/Steve

Behind the Blue Curtain

by Susan Ohlidal

Behind the Blue Curtain…

My time at General Convention has been spent working in the Office of the President of the House of Deputies. I am the only staff person in the office most of the time. Bonnie Anderson and her full-time assistant, Kim Tucker, come and go to various meetings, press briefings, and –of course—legislative sessions. Various advisors, international guests, media folks, senior deputies, and others come daily. There is a constant parade of folks, many with statements that begin “I need Bonnie for…”. I have come to call my work here a “ministry of presence and hospitality”. Being in the office, welcoming and trying to assist all who enter, are my primary tasks.

I have a canonical reason for being at Convention: in my ministry as Executive Director of the Province of New England, I convene a caucus of our New England deputies so they may nominate members to the Presiding Bishop Nominating Committee. I also host a dinner for all New England deputies and bishops. But other than these duties, my time at Convention is without a formal role. This is why I accepted Bonnie’s invitation to work with her.

Given that I am in the office all day, usually 7:30 AM—6 or 7 PM, I have not gotten out and about much to see exhibits or participate in Convention as most others do. Instead, I have had the opportunity to see “behind the blue curtain” of how Convention works administratively. I use this phrase because in Bonnie’s office, there is really a blue-colored curtain that hangs, dividing the large room between the public space by the door and the inner work space where Bonnie and others meet and confer.

When I return home to Vermont, I will bring with me a deeper understanding of some systems and the structure of our church. We have a very human and complex organization! I am glad to have shared and, hopefully, contributed to this Convention.

Holy Women, Holy Men

One action of General Convention that may not get much publicity but is a very exciting development is the approval of major additions to our Lesser Feasts and Fasts calendar. More than 100 new "heroes of the faith" will be commemorated,including such interesting people as J.S.Bach, G.F.Handel, St. Cecilia (patron saint of music), G.K. Chesterton, Frederick Douglass, Anne Hutchinson (who, in her search for religious freedom was banished from Boston and went to Rhode Island), Joan of Arc, Thomas Merton, Frances Perkins (Labor Secretary in F.D. Roosevelts's cabinet), and Christina Rossetti (a devout Anglican and poet).

When the Prayer Book Committee was hearing testimony about this new calendar (which will be published in a new book entitled Holy Women, Holy Men), I gave brief testimony about how pleased I am that the new calendar includes The Dorchester Chaplains, four Army chaplains who were on a troop ship in February, 1943, when it was torpedoed. The four chaplains (two Protestant clergy, a Roman Catholic priest, and a Jewish rabbi) gave their life jackets to men who had none, and then stayed with the ship and continued to give comfort to men as the ship sank.

One of those chaplains was the Rev. George Fox, who served the Methodist Church in Thetford Center, Vermont, before he became a chaplain. There are still a few members
of that congregation who were Sunday School students when Fox was the pastor and they remember his kindness.

How nice it is that we Episcopalians will be regularly remembering him and his colleagues as a result of this action by General Convention.

John Morris

Testimony in Prayer Book, Liturgy and Church Music Committee

John Morris writes:

There was a public hearing sponsored on resolutions having to do with the blessing of same-gender relationships. The Diocese of Vermont convention had submitted a resolution entitled, "Rites of Holy Union" (and given the number "C031"). This is the testimony I gave at that hearing:

I love Vermont. It is where I have lived most of my adult life. It is where my wife and I (married for 43 years) reared our three children. It is where I have served as a parish priest for 38 years.

Exactly 9 years ago, in July 0f 2000, Vermont's civil union law went into effect. For the first time in the United States, there was legal recognition of gay and lesbian relationships.

At almost the same time 9 years ago, the 73rd General Convention was meeting in Denver. Some Vermont deputies wore a special t-shirt at that Convention. On the front of the shirt was the symbol of the Diocese. On the back was an outline of the state and the words, "First in Equality" — referring to the fact that Vermont was the first state to ban slavery in its constitution,, the first Diocese to elect a woman as Diocesan Bishop, and the first state with civil unions.

I was going to wear one of those t-shirts at this hearing, but I didn't like the symbol of my having to turn my back on this committee to show you the words on the back — not an appropriate gesture! — but I have one of those shirts in case anyone wants to see it.

This shirt continues to relevant because, this spring, Vermont became the first state whose legislature voted in favor of civil marriage for gays and lesbians.

Now, in this General Convention as the Spirit-led movement for legal recognition of gay and lesbian relationships spreads, we have the unique opportunity to encourage and guide dioceses that desire to move ahead with rites for same-gender couples.

Resolution C031, proposed by the Diocese of Vermont, outlines a very careful and transparent way to do that.

I hope you will act favorably on that resolution. Thank you.

John Morris

[Note: after the public hearing, the committee decided to combine part of C031 with a resolution sponsored by the Diocese of Missouri — C056. This new resolution was passed by the committee and was sent to the House of Bishops for initial action. The House of Bishops is scheduled to debate this new resolution in the near future.]

posted by Lee

And then there were two and three

In our warm, warm House of Deputies out in California, we are slowly gaining in the Ecuadoran fashion department.


Jenny and Lee model the over-the-shoulder shawl and wrap shawl.


And Tanya who started the trend first also models the wrap shawl. In this photo, the House is singing 'Joyful, joyful we adore thee.' We break for hymns and prayers when scheduled or called for.

+

Backing up, here are other photos of where we are spending now a good chunk of our time.


This is the view from my seat, in the fifth row. We don't really need to look at the jumbotron because we can see the people up front easily but it's still useful. Speaking is President of the House of Deputies, Dr Bonnie Anderson.


Here is the House, before things get going, taken from the very back of the room (still inside the division between the floor and the gallery). It is a VERY long way from the back to the front.


Anticipating decorating our standard, I had gotten a few things to remember Vermont. I though this was over the top but this General Convention has seen an explosion both in quantity and variety of décor. Later, toward the end of Convention, I will do a photographic tour of the various decorations. Anne and John are getting ready for a legislative session.


More of the deputation gathers. It is important to get to the floor ahead of time to get one's notebook in order. Otherwise, 815 people clicking three-ring binders at once can be deafening.


And here is a view taken from the very front looking back. The space is huge, no?


In a short amount of time, one's space gets covered with papers — the notebook (cardboard cover this time instead of plastic — don't spill your coffee or water over it), blue book which is red, notepads, post-its, in my case, icons of Vermont, and elsewhere, semi-buried electronic voting gizmo which is working far better than three years ago, and coffee and water. The deputies sit in two rows, four and four. Our seating arrangement is from the aisle in, front row: Tom, Anne, Lee, John. In the second row, it's Thomas, Nanci, Tanya and Jenny. Each one of us sits in the same place each day so we can leave whatever we chose at our place. Walking through the House, one sees a profusion of photos, food (candy mostly) and papers. Heaven forbid if we have an earthquake while out here!


Three days ago and following, there has been a pigeon flying around inside the room. The first time it flew across the space, heads craned and the House collectively gasped. It's not terribly clear in this photo, even with an arrow, but for some time, the pigeon perched up on top of the blue curtains. As it arrive just as we were to vote on Trustees to the Church Pension Fund, to which Thomas Brown ultimately was elected today, the whole place gasped as it flew across the space.

There's so much more but again, the night is late, and morning will come too soon.

Later, updates on our votes.

Lee

Teaser

I have lots and lots of photos to upload but it is way past bedtime. So here's a photo to tempt you... Tanya showing how warm (!) it is in the House of Deputies. She is wearing a shawl (made in Ecuador) she bought from one of the many vendors in the Exhibition Hall next to the House of Deputies.


And here is the standard for Vermont, decorated with the diocesan shield, Calvin Coolidge's 'Vermont is a state I love', some mountain postcards and two empty Ben and Jerry's.


And just one more photo before I go... a shot from the very front of the House of Deputies, looking toward the back. If you look to the left, you will see Vermont.

More later....

Lee

Late Friday night at General Convention

Greetings:

I've just returned from the joyful celebration of the Holy Eucharist sponsored by Integrity. It was held in the huge Pacific Ballroom and there must have been a thousand or more people there! Bishop Gene Robinson presided and Bishop Barbara Harris was the preacher - and did she preach! Wow! Her words about gospel inclusion and celebrating the lives and ministries of ALL the baptized was inspirational. The congregation interrupted her several times with applause as she held up the vision of a church in which there are no outcasts. Among those present at this Eucharist were over 200 GLBT clergy who gathered around the Altar with Bishop Robinson as he offered the concluding blessing. Also present was the 24th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Reverend Edmond Browning, who first uttered the words "in this Church there will be no outcasts" 24 years ago following his election as PB in 1985, right here in Anaheim.

I also had the privilege today of joining with Bishop Robinson in a lunch conversation with three Primates from other parts of the Anglican Communion who are here as guests of the Chicago Consultation. Those Primates are:
The Most Rev. Dr. Philip Aspinall, Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia, and Archbishop of Brisbane;
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Idris Jones, Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway, who will soon retire as Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church;
The Rt. Rev. Solomon Jongmo Yoon, Presiding Bishop of the Anglican Church of Korea, and Bishop of Busan.
Our conversation was rich and engaging as we discussed Anglican Communion matters and the shape of ministry in our different contexts.

Meanwhile, the House of Bishops is in full swing with the legislative agenda. The Committee I chair, The Committee on the Church in Small Communities, has completed work on the two resolutions we received and both have passed the House of Bishops and have been sent on to the House of Deputies. One resolution will help shape the work of the Standing Commission on Small Congregations in the next Triennium. That same resolution calls for the next General Convention to have a major emphasis on the mission, ministry and vitality of small congregations. The other resolution supports increased funding for Native American ministries in our church. We will have to wait and see what the final budget looks like, but there was strong support for this resolution in the HOB. Our committee is hoping that a new resolution on domestic mission will be referred to us.

Our Deputation from Vermont (along with others from Vermont who are here at General Convention) is working hard. Each and every person is fully engaged in committee work, worship and all the other parts of General Convention. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Tom

Hearings and hearing

A lot of time at General Convention is spent in hearings large and small. Each legislative committee has to hold a hearing on every resolution assigned to it. The hearings must be posted four hours in advance so that everyone can know about them. Some resolutions receive no interest beyond that of the committee and no one comes to speak to them. Other resolutions garner much attention and the hearings are held in large hotel ballrooms that can hold up to 1600 people.

Tonight the World Mission Legislative Committee held a hearing on 13 of the 16 resolutions related to GC 2006-B033, the Consecration of Bishops. Of the 51 people who spoke over the two hour hearing, only 9 spoke for continuing B033. The rest spoke of moving on in some form or another.

Curiously, there were fewer people at this hearing than at similar ones in the past. Though we were in a ballroom that could seat 1600, I don't think more than 500-750 were there at any one point. As the evening wore on, people drifted out. And of those people, I think I only saw four bishops. I say this as I was sitting up front looking out at the crowd.

Reid Farrell got to speak about halfway through (the names were called up in this order: deputy, bishop, alternate, guest).

Tomorrow the House of Deputies continues its Committee of the Whole, a way of engaging the entire House in a discussion. The last time this happened was in 1976 was during discussion and debate about the ordination of women to the priesthood.

Sorry for these short reports but it is 3.16 EDT and 12.16 PDT and our meetings start at 7.30.

Keep your prayers coming.

Lee

A dog named Kona

One interesting part of General Convention is the Exhibit Hall. There are 150+ exhibitors from all over the world. They range from Episcopal Seminaries to Wimmer Cookbooks; from Integrity to Daughters of the King; and from Seaman's Institute to Crafts from Jerusalem. I have had a bit of time to wander up and down the isles and look over the various offerings.

Yesterday and today, I spent some blessed minutes with Kona. He hangs out at booth #717 which is the exhibit home of the Episcopal Disability Network and he is a member of the Diocese of Los Angeles Program Group on Disabilities. Kona, who is owned by the Rev. Lisa Golden, is a therapy dog. He visits classrooms to help teach children about disabilities and he works with disabled individuals.

Kona is a very calm and serene dog (my cat Morgan should take note.) Kona just wants to be petted. When I approached him and started to stroke his soft fur, he moved closer to me and began to wag his tail with vigor. He seemed to enjoy just being with me.

May we all be blessed with ministries in which we can display such joy in our service to and with others.

Life as a Legislative Aide

Yesterday we began the day at 8:00 a.m. with Committee meetings. I am serving the National and International Concerns committee as the Legislative aide. After securing a latte at Starbucks', I found our meeting room on the fourth floor of the Hilton. (God is good - Tom and I are on the 10th floor of the Hilton.)

My job with Committee 9 includes, obtaining legislative process information and forms from the Secretariats; providing for or arranging for copying or word processing of committee materials; assisting with arrangements for committee meetings or open hearings; delivering legislative process forms to or from Dispatch of Business or the Secretariat, including posting notices of open hearings; assisting with inter-committee communication as part of assisting the officers.The above description is straight from the letter I received before arriving. The most important part of my duties is: "(and) other tasks related to the smooth running of committees that may be assigned.”

I do quite a bit of walking between our committee room and the convention center (which is mercifully close this year - just out the back door of the Hilton.)My supervisor is our own Lynn Bates, who is very nice :) This is my third convention as the aide for the committee. Committee 9 can deal with resolutions concerned with the environment, health concerns, justice issues, reconciliation, warfare and others. It is one of the larger committees and already there are over 40 resolutions before the committee.

Opening Eucharist – July 8

This post is written by -- and posted for -- Steve Smith:

Visualize a thousand people meeting to worship in a convention hall. There’s an altar on a raised podium, and images resembling stained glass windows are projected onto large screens – but it’s still pretty hard to forget it’s a convention hall. We gather around tables, a hundred tables or more, spaced generously so as almost to fill the vast space. For many of us, the presider and celebrant look far far away. That makes this first coming together largely, for me anyway, an auditory experience.

And what a fine one. Reflecting this General Convention’s theme of “Ubuntu, I in You and You in Me , the music is canted somewhat toward sub-Saharan rhythms with their inviting syncopation and call-and-response structure. Plus there are some more traditional hymns that you can really belt out.

The text of the service leaflet is printed in two columns, English on the left and Spanish on the right. The Lesson from Ezekial is read to us in English and the Gospel from John in Spanish. After the Gospel reading, instead of “Praise to You, Lord Christ,” we all say “Te alabamos, Cristo Senor,” some of us with more confidence than others.

For me the most transporting and beautiful moment of the service comes with our saying The Lord’s Prayer. The Presiding Bishop recites it in Spanish, and this is what booms over the loudspeakers. Those able among us (perhaps twenty percent) also recite it in Spanish, and the rest of us in English. This ought to have produced a competitive and cacophonous jabber, but something else happened instead: the voices in the two languages reached out for each other, fused, grew, and soared. It made for the most beautiful music of the service.

It’s a blessing to be here.
/Steve Smith

Vantage point

This afternoon the House of Deputies met en masse for the first time. Our deputation's seating is amazing: we are smack in the middle only five rows up from the very front of the hall. We actually can SEE the President of the House of Deputies without looking at the jumbotrons on either side.


Our standard (pole that has Vermont's name on it) already is decorated with two Ben and Jerry's containers that Nanci sacrificially consumed for the cause and there are some post cards along with Calvin Coolidge's 'Vermont is a state I love' quotation for ambiance.

We have front row seats — a real change from usual.

Meanwhile, committee meetings are well underway with hearings tonight on various resolutions.

Lee

Leavin' on a jet plane

Ann and I leave for Anaheim tomorrow morning. We go in the knowledge that the good people of the Diocese of Vermont will be holding us in your thoughts and prayers. I had a good conversation on Thursday wtih the other bishops who are sponsoring resolution B-012 "A Resolution Concerning Pastoral Generosity in Addressing Civil Marriage." Here is the link on the diocesan web site for this resolution: http://www.dioceseofvermont.org/Episcopal%20Church/GenConvention2009/BishopsMarriageRes.html
I also visited the young people at Rock Point Camp on Thursday. Unfortunately, I will miss the opportunity to visit with the counsellors and campers during the next two weeks. I plan to check in with them by visiting the Rock Point Camp Blog. You can too! Here is the web address: http://rpsc.wordpress.com/

Keep checking this blog and our deputation will try to keep you up to date!

Tom