Oh, what a glorious morning

Yesterday morning marked the beginning of General Convention, starting with The House of Deputies and The House of Bishops initial meetings. Chris Brennan Lee was volunteering in the House of Bishops so she had an early start.

I had breakfast in my room, coffee and water, and then headed over to Hall D for the Opening Eucharist. I wanted a good seat and I wanted to volunteer as a Communion Assistant. I obtained both.

Hall D seems to go on forever and yesterday I attempted to try to show the depth by taking several pictures and standing in one place. So far, that does not capture what I want it to do. I think that I will send the pictures to Danny Schweers to see if he and merge and post.

That said, it is amazing to me that it will be filled at the Eucharist. Here is a picture of the entire altar, followed by one of the large screens.I saw Tom and Janet Kerr and LaVerne Cheatham. All others were present, I am sure.
At the beginning of the service, as people filed in from the their respective Houses, a drummer from South Africa lead us in responding chants. At the end, the Presiding Bishop entered.

The Presiding Bishop's sermon was wonderful, and you can read it in its entirety on line at Episcopal Life On line. Sorry to spoil the ending, but her repetition of the word Mission and then silence, spoke so loudly to me, even though she had spoken very softly.

PS. I was remiss in not posting this picture of the ECW attendees arriving at Convention. Take a bow ladies.

Public Narratives

Last night, I discovered two types of public narrative.

The second, not the first discovered, was realizing that there is no public discourse between a Yankee Fan from Delaware and Texas Ranger Fans from Dallas, TX. Try as I may, there was not going to be civilized discourse over a shared beer.

The first, was spoken about yesterday afternoon Introduction to Mission conversation through Public Narrative.

The Rev. Lauren Stanley quoted the Rev. Michael Pipkin in today's Center Aisle :

Public narrative is a discernment process. I tell you my story, I connect it to the wider community story, and I tell you what I think we're called to do about it right now. I call you to action....We talk about values, choice points and what values underlie that choice. Those values connect with the wider community values>

Dr. Marshall Ganz, from Harvard University's Kennedy School, told his story and what led him to be involved in this form of discussion and action.

What I heard was that through Conflict could come Reconciliation and therefore, Hope.

On Thursday Convention will receive training on how to formulate the Story of Us/Self, Sunday the Story of US, and then on Monday, the Story of Now. The training will assist us in learning how to link these three stories in two minutes.

YIKES.

Day Two Across the Street from Disney Land

I took theday off and went to the Michael Jackson Memorial Service.

Not.

No, today started with a Committee meeting at 7:30 AM. My committee is the Consecration of Bishops. The two currently before the Committee are South Dakota and Long Island. Tomorrow, they might take up another.

The orientation for new deputies, scheduled for 8 AM was canceled. This was considered odd, since 40% of those attending are newbies.

The co-chairs assisted me in walking by sending me looking for tables, flip charts, more copies. I ran into the Revs. Wade and Hinton, as I ran back and forth.

The meeting ended at 10:15 though my training continued until noon.

Then I headed to the Budget and Finance. Needed a whole floor for this meeting. Lots of voices for continuing support for the Millenium Development Goals, Youth, Native Ministries. If it were up to me, sell the furniture for mission. (I am biased.) In attendance were Walt Cheatham, Debby Layton, (they are standing along the back wall) AnnWade, Cecily Sawyer-Harmon, and Mark Harris.

I learned, listening to our Youth, that 80% of those attending this Convention are over the age of 65. Yikes. I am a youngster. Here are some of them sitting across the way from me.









Then I set off to the Convention Center.


I am collecting buttons to show support for some ministries. I currently wear Support ERD, Love Your Earth, GIVE to the Episcopal Church, Older Adult Ministries, and Vote Yes for A138. And, I stopped for some Bishop's Blend coffee at the ERD booth.







To say nothing of the Convention Hall. Think of a ministry the TEC does, or associated with the church, priests or laity. They are there.

Part of the fun about gatherings like these is meeting people that you haven't seen in a while. That is what I witness as I move around. People hugging and reconnecting in lobbies, the loooooooooooong line at Starbucks, in elevators, hallways and escalators.

Tonight, back to the Committee meeting at 6:30 and working until 9 PM.

Peace, Shalom, Salam

1. 
   

Day One as a Legislative Aide

It is 5:29PM here in Anaheim. I have been awake since 4 AM EST and running now on coffee. The weather is beautiful, but the landscape reminds me of Florida.

The Hilton is awash in Episcopalians. All sorts, all sizes, ages, nationalities. The Super Shuttle was filled to the brim, with Judy ( in the middle of this picture)from Western MO, Brian from MO, someone from MA and TN. Still it is amazing how small the world really is.

Entering the hotel, pulling along luggage, I literally ran into Walt and LaVerne Cheatham. They arrived yesterday and are getting their bearings regarding time changes.

I checked into my room. Since I arrived first, I got my pick of the beds. Took a shower and headed to Starbucks. No surprise there, but I was dragging. Traveling to the coast these days does not feature a movie and food.

My first meeting began at 2 PM for Committee Chairs, Committee Secretaries and Legislative Aides. The Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies were present for the installation of these positions. An overflowing meeting room with lots of chatter.

An old acquaintance of mine, Linda Curtis, is also an Aide (her husband is a Deputy) and we had a few minutes to re-connect prior to the meeting. The picture is of Cecily Sawyer-Harmon and Del Glover, also an Aide. I ran into his wife The Rev. Linda Grenz in the elevator.

Bishop Wright was also in attendance at the meeting. It was amazing that there were four Episcopalians in that room.I learned alot at this first meeting. There are two co-chairs, one from the House of Deputies and one from the House of Bishops. They meet together, discuss together and vote together, but separately. All business starts in the Committees. And, I learned that I will be moving around a lot. My pedometer is attached and in good working order.

The meeting ended at 4 PM and my first assignment was to discover where the Committee would be meeting at 8 AM tomorrow and call Lynn, the Co-Chair, with the information.

That led me to the Convention Center, first and second floors. WOW. HUGE

These are pictures of the area between the Hilton and the Center. Disney Land is the other side.

At the "Special Visitors" registration, I ran into The Rev. Tom and Janet Kerr and The Rev. Anna Waid. They informed me that Mrs. Chris Brennan Lee, my roommate, had arrived safely.


To determine the meeting room, up to the second floor of the Center to Room 204B. The Secretariate for the House of Bishops and Legislative Aides. And Copiers, and Archives. I retrived the information, we are back to the Hilton, called the Chair, and returned to the room to write.

Then dinner with the Bishop, the deputation and volunteers at McCormicks and Schmicks.

This was arranged by The Rev. Ruth Kirk, first clergy alternate, with help from Mary Ann Brillhart. Good time and a special dedication toast to Mrs. Peggy Ann Delaplane, longtime deputy and alternate for the Diocese of Delaware.


Peace, Shalom, Salam

So Noisy, So American

Oh what a difference a year makes.

We, the USA, is so noisy and beautiful.

Last year, I sat in silence trying to imagine the 4th celebrations.

Oh, how glorious they would be.

Stirring patriotic music. Full orchestras and vocalists.

Baseball, Yankees especially, where people put their right hands over the hearts, men romove baseball caps and all sing the Star Spangled Banner.

Fireworks splashing loudly and beautifully across the sky.

Neighbors barbecuing, swimming in pools. Laughter.

When I was growing up we all headed to the Tarrytown County Club, sat on the golf course and watched the display. We always went in pajamas so that we could fall asleep on the way home.

But, what I had in Sudan was quiet.

Tonight it is so different.

What a great and glorious 4th.

The Boston Pops, the NY Philharmonic and the Macy's barges in the Hudson, Philly and the lighting of the bridge. And, Wilmington.

I used to drive down Route 13 and sit on the side of the road and watch.

Tonight, I sit and type and watch and listen.

Listen, with a big grin across my face.

OOH, AHHHHHHH, OHHHHHHHHHH

My Three Legged Stool

Today is the second day of my vacation and soon I will be participating in the General Convention of The Episcopal Church (TEC) as a volunteer to the Committee on the Consecration of Bishops.

On this July 4th and the celebration of our independence from England, I deviate to provide a brief history of TEC, a province of the Anglican Communion Much of what you read here was taken from FAQ's provided at the Episcopal Church website.

At a conference of three clergy and 24 lay delegates that met at Chestertown, Kent County, Maryland, on November 9, 1780, and resolved that "the Church formerly known in the Province as the Church of England should now be called the Protestant Episcopal Church." On August 13, 1783, the Maryland clergy met at Annapolis and adopted the name "Protestant Episcopal Church." At the second session of the 1789 General Convention, September 29-October 16, 1789, a Constitution of nine articles was adopted. The new church was called the "Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America" (PECUSA).

The word "Protest ant" noted that this was a church in the reformation tradition, and the word "Episcopal" noted a characteristic of catholicity, the historic episcopate.

The church has grown from 13 dioceses to more than 100 dioceses. It is divided into nine geographical provinces. It is governed by a bicameral General Convention, which meets every three years, and by an Executive Council during interim years.

Ok, a little time here for an important definition. What the heck is bicameral? Since I did not study Latin, my first thoughts are two camera's but what does that have to do with goverance. Therefore, the online dictionary comes in handy.

1. Composed of or based on two legislative chambers or branches: a bicameral legislature.
2. Medicine. Composed of or having two chambers, as an abscess divided by a septum.

I pick #1.

Is that your final answer?

Yes.

The work at Convention is carried out by deputies and bishops representing each diocese and consists of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. During its triennial meeting deputies and bishops consider a wide range of important matters facing the Church.

I was once corrected when I used the word delegates instead of deputy. What is the difference?

A Delegate is a person authorized to act as representative for another or is representative to a conference or convention.

A Deputy is a person appointed or empowered to act for another.

Apparently there is a huge difference between acting as and acting for another.

The difference, according to a former deputy, is that a delegate is required to vote as the group intends, whereas the deputy can vote as his or her conscience dictates.

This aptly sets the stage for much melodrama.

(If this is not the case, please write in and let's correct this posting.)

The House of Bishops is composed of every bishop with jurisdiction, every bishop coadjutor, every suffragan bishop, every retired bishop, every bishop elected to an office created by General Convention, and every bishop who has resigned because of missionary strategy. All members of the House of Bishops have seat and voice in the House of Bishops.

The House of Deputies is composed of up to four lay and four clerical deputies from each of the dioceses.

The two top leaders of the church are the Presiding Bishop, who is also called Primate and Chief Pastor, and the president of the House of Deputies.

Ok. that is how we govern. How do we practice our faith?

Most Episcopalians, along with most Anglicans, practice a faith that is liturgically and theologically a bridge between Catholicism and Protestant traditions. We value a balance of scripture, reason, and tradition as set forth by 16th-century English theologian Richard Hooker.

Richard Hooker (March 1554 – 3 November 1600) was an Anglican priest and an influential theologian.^[1] Hooker's emphases on reason, tolerance and inclusiveness considerably influenced the development of Anglicanism. He was the co-founder (with Thomas Cranmer and Matthew Parker) of Anglican theological thought.

My three legged stool. Scripture, reason. and tradition. That said, I also like the words tolerance and inclusiveness.

And that is why I am an Episcopalian, sitting on a stool and not a chair.

General Convention and Missions

As I begin to shed responsibilities as the Diocesan Business Manager in anticipation of my volunteering at General Convention, I am reading up on anything that has to do with Mission Work or Missionaries or Mission Partners.

I have copied a great article from Episcopal Life Online about this subject. This is my passion and my favorite deployer, The Rev. David Copley, is mentioned and quoted.

Convention to consider increased funding, name change for missionaries

By Matthew Davies, June 30, 2009

[Episcopal Life] For centuries, sending forth missionaries has been central to the Episcopal Church's engagement throughout the world, but a fresh look at appropriate terminology and current levels of financial support is in the cards.

General Convention will be asked to increase funding and to switch to the term "mission partner" instead of "missionary" to help to reinvigorate this work and define more accurately its emphasis on relationship building and interdependence.

More than 70 Episcopal missionaries serve in congregations and dioceses throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and South America. They usually are placed for three years and play a variety of roles, often in education, health care and local support for orphans and immigrants.

The mission personnel budget -- which provides missionaries with a $500 monthly stipend and covers airfare, visa, pension-contribution and health-insurance costs -- has taken a hit in recent months. This led to a temporary hiatus in deploying new adult missionaries in 2009, a situation the Standing Commission on World Mission hopes General Convention will address.

"The rising cost of mission support and the decreases in the General Convention budget call for a fresh look at the mission-funding process," the standing commission says in its report to convention, which proposes increasing the budget to support missionaries by $1 million during the next triennium.

The Young Adult Service Corps program, which appoints missionaries aged 18-30 to serve one year, is continuing to recruit in 2009, "as this does not significantly increase our expenses," said the Rev. David Copley, mission personnel director for the Episcopal Church and staff liaison to the standing commission.

The current fiscal challenges are partly due to recent increases in health-insurance premiums and pension contributions, said Copley, who spent seven years as a missionary in Liberia and Bolivia. "It's a basic issue of economics. Our budget is finite, we need to live within a balanced budget, and we have found that our budget is fully committed with currently serving missionaries."

The proposed funding increase would help maintain the current level of serving approximately 75 missionaries and ensure that each could receive adequate health insurance, participation in pension plans, outgoing orientation, in-field pastoral care and reentry briefing.

A missionary church
The official legal identity of the Episcopal Church, a historically missionary church, is the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, often referred to as DFMS. Thus, "focus on missionary engagement [is] central to the DFMS mandate," the standing commission's report says.

"World mission is at the core of the work of the Episcopal Church," said Martha Alexander, a lay deputy from North Carolina and chair of the commission. "The more we are able to relate to our brothers and sisters around the world, the more we will understand the richness of others in God's world."

The report cites concerns that reduced funding at the national level led to more dioceses and congregations acting as the sending agent for missionaries, often in conjunction with independent mission organizations.

While some congregations have chosen to redirect a portion of their diocesan assessments toward missionary support, the standing commission concluded that missionaries should be "sent from and funded through the Episcopal Church. This also points to a need to reconsider the level of financial support provided for missionaries."

The standing commission's proposed budget for mission personnel during the 2010-2012 triennium includes increases "that will make it possible to continue the current level of mission sending," the report says. Those suggested increases amount to $250,000 in 2010 and $100,000 each following year. "The substantial increase the first year and the additional increases in the second two years of the triennium are mandatory if we are to provide necessary health insurance, pension and other benefits."

Additional funding is being recommended to support mission education in dioceses and to raise awareness of missionaries in the church.

There is "a significant conversation in the works related to mission and the role of mission in the church and of where the Episcopal Church Center fits into that," said the Rev. Margaret Rose, director of the Episcopal Church's mission leadership center.

Building relationships
In another proposed resolution, the standing commission recommends changing all references from "missionary" to "mission partner" in recognition of "the reality that when we engage in work overseas, we are learning just as much from those we encounter as we are able to teach."

Emphasizing "the reciprocal nature of mission work in the Anglican Communion today," the report notes that the historical understanding of the term "missionaries" has caused tensions "with our brothers and sisters around the globe."

Mission partner, Copley said, is "a more accurate description of the role of mission personnel in the 21st century, with an emphasis on relationship building and the acknowledgement that we all mutually grow in our understanding of one another and of God when we nurture relationships with other parts of the body of Christ. The hope is that the change will help us all think about mission as being mutual and interdependent."

The suggested name change, Alexander said, reflects the primary focus of the church's work as being one of relationships. "As mission partners one is engaged in prayer, study, issues and projects together," she said. "This is the crux of our ministry to one another."

By being in partnership with others, Alexander added, "we are able to witness God's love as we realize that our differences are minute compared to the numerous ways in which we are similar."

Also throughout the last triennium, the standing commission continued its mandate to monitor the Episcopal Church's covenant relationships with the Anglican provinces of Brazil, Central America, Mexico and the Philippines, as well as the Episcopal Church of Liberia.

In one resolution, the standing commission calls on General Convention to endorse a "Commitment to be Companions in Christ" between the Igreja Episcopal Anglicana do Brasil and the Episcopal Church, which would commit the two churches to mutual support and encouragement for ministry and mission development.

-- Matthew Davies is editor of Episcopal Life Online and international correspondent of Episcopal News Service.