This post is a little late since I was just too tired last night to write before going to bed. Yesterday was a full day of the legislative process that is General Convention. There is not a great deal to highlight at the moment. We are spending a great deal of time getting organized and working out the details of resolutions before they make their way to the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. I will highlight a few things though.
The Committee for Prayer Book, Liturgy, and Church Music has recommended a resolution to start the process of organizing ourselves for a Prayer Book revision. What that basically means is that we are committing to thinking about how we are going to do it. Kinda watered down, right? At least the conversation is happening!
Morning worship was particularly joyful because of the decision of the Supreme Court yesterday. Episcopalians were actually dancing in the aisles before the service began and there were many tears of joy for many people. I understand that not everyone was pleased with the Supreme Court decision yesterday and I hope that in joining in worship of the one God, they were able to find peace just as those who were celebrating were able to find joy. The Rev. Gay Clark Jenning, the President of the House of Deputies gave a fantastic and very engaging sermon and the music for the service was out of this world. A shout out to Ann Phelps, from Mississippi, who is the lead singer in the jazz combo that helped lead worship.
Our morning legislative session centered on a joint session with both houses where we broke up into small groups to discuss the positives and negatives of our church structure - from a national level down to the local level. We were asked to tweet, yes tweet, our responses. If you are interested in seeing some of the responses, check out #gcgas (hehehe). The conversation was meaningful and I really look forward to how the governance and structure committee use the responses.
After lunch I testified at the Formation and Education for Ministry Hearing and spoke to the importance of better advertising of the short term disability given to every woman for having a baby. It was surprisingly scary to testify, even though I am so used to speaking in front of people. I was so impressed by all the young and old people who got up to speak in support of the legislation.
Our afternoon legislative session started with one of the best gifts of GC - the Rev. Lester McKenizie - Chaplain for the House of Deputies. Chaplain McKenzie is a very outward and visible sign of all that is good about our church. He is a faithful, nonassuming and joyful witness to the love and reconciliation of Jesus Christ and he pulls everyone in to an experience of the Spirit through his wise prayers and amazing singing. It is a joy to have him as chaplain.
Our most argued legislation focused on a "Donor's Bill of Rights" to be used within congregations. This resolution was rejected largely because of its really bad stewardship theology. While this might not seem that important, I think it really says something about our church and how we honor the gifts given us and more importantly, how we understand our relationship to money because of our relationship with God. I hope the committee can come up with a resolution grounded in theology and our belief.
After legislation was done, I went to a Gathering of Leaders (GOL) reception. GOL is a program that lifts up the gifts of leadership found in clergy people. It was a great opportunity to see good friends from all over the country and to celebrate the ministry that the Rt. Rev. Claude Payne has offered to all of us through GOL.
As you can tell, things are up and rolling. There isn't much time for writing or even processing everything that is going on. Please keep us in your prayers. This is a marathon!
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