Day 10 … And God saw that it was good!

Our final day at General Convention began, as always, with a meditation and prayer by our Chaplain. We were reminded that Day 1-6 of creation was all about God’s actions … and God saw that it was good!

After the Sabbath Day, the world began to run on a hybrid engery where God’s actions and human actions worked together in co-creation. The struggle from the beginning of time, and for all time, will be about making them compatible.

During these ten days of General Convention we have struggled to allow God’s energy to work through us. We have danced with the Spirit in our struggle to follow God’s will and we have generously practiced Ubuntu (I in you and You in Me).

We have struggled to be inclusive to all of baptized Christians and yet remain in communion with our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion.

We have struggled with the triennial budget and how to reach out to the poor and needy and continue to do the abundant mission work of the church with the scarcity of funds available.

We have struggled with how to share our own personal story of mission with each other and challenge others to join us in our mission through public narrative.

We have struggled with revisions to our constitution and canons and passed resolutions on literally hundreds and theological, social and environmental issues.

We have struggled with same sex blessings and approved new liturgies and beautiful prayers for “Enriching our Worship” for losses related to childbearing, unwanted pregnancies, infertility and adoption.

We have struggled with a Denominational Health Plan for the health and well being of our clergy and lay employees here at home and we have struggled with how to encourage peace and the well being of people far away in the Sudan, Honduras and Israel.

We have worked together for ten days at General Convention to combine God’s energy with our own human energy. We have prayed and passionately debated. We have sang hymns and graciously listened to one another. We have danced with the Spirit. And we hope and pray that … God will say that it was good!

Now we are headed home to share with you the good news of Ubuntu that we experienced at GC. We have been strengtened and lifted up by your prayers; truly honored to represent the people of Nebraska; and so blessed to be a part of the Episcopal Church where all are welcome.

Last Day

It is easy to see the convention is ending. The exhibit hall is closed, purchases made, and displays packed up and sent home. The last resolutions that need to go to the House of Bishops are in the consent calendar and have been adopted. Anything new adopted by either house will be unlikely to make it to the other house.
After adopting the consent calendar we moved on to a resolution about developing liturgies for same sex relationships. The Bishops passed this resolution by a wide margin. The Debate in the House of Deputies included a great diversity of views, but came down to fear that by passing this resolution we will further alienate our conservative members and the conservative parts of the Anglican Communion. Those on the other side pointed to the years we have worked on the issue and the need for a pastoral response to our Gay and Lesbian members. The time of debate allows us to hear all views and all perspectives, but then it is time to vote. Before the vote, we prayed. Now we wait to hear if it passed or failed.

Closing Eucharist of General Convention

The Ven. James Visger, Archdeacon, Diocese of Nebraska, is the Deacon of the Table at the Closing Eucharist of General Convention 2009.

One More Day…

It almost seems surreal. We are almost caught up with the daily calendar of resolutions. At this time last year we were still days behind. It would become clear that we would not be able to finish by the close of the Convention. Many things were left undone. But it looks like it might be different this time.

You have read notes from other deputies about the budget. Many have lost their jobs. I was struck however that in spite of the cut backs the church went bold to take care of the poor.

Not only did we restore .7% to help with global poverty, but also .7% to help with domestic poverty. Tend to the poor IS was Jesus told us to do. The church makes a bold statement of faith in this action.

I was given the opportunity to address the Convention the other evening. If you use this link you will be able to see a piece of that presentation.

(the video is of me on the big screen…. you’ll get the idea)

We are all thankful for your prayers.

Blessings!

A leaner more evangelical church

Its back to the basics of feeding the poor, sheltering the homeless and protecting the environment. There will be $23M cut from the 3 year budget resulting in the cut back of many initiatives in favor of help for the least of us. We are headed in the right direction with a road map for all of us to follow. As the Archbishop of Canterbury told us we need to “stop lying to ourselves” about the condition of the planet and the consequences of the gap between the rich and the poor. As Bishop Steven Charleston preached, our acts to better the condition of our brothers will be wasted if the world has reached a point that it is fighting over water to survive. All in all it has been a good Convention. The media issues of the impediments to ordination were in reality dealt with in quiet rhetoric quided by a system called Public Narrative developed by the Kennedy School at Harvard. It produced a resolution which avoided the rescinding of a previous resolution (B033) calling for a moritorium on the consecretion of guy and lesbian bishops and the blessing of same sex unions and resolved that ordination is available to anyone (including gays, lesbians, bi-sexuals and transgendered persons) through the discernment process as outlined in the Constitution and Canons of the Church. Simply put all baptized persons may go through the discernment process leading to ordination. (D025) At this writing there seems to be a willingness in both the House of Bishops and Deputies to further study the blessing of same sex unions. Those in favor of a blessing hope that a study could ultimately lead to a favorable review of the marriage canon to include same sex unions and those on the otherside while acknowledging the likelyhood of some sort of blessing, hope that a study will lead to the preservation of the sacrament in its present form. On the important business side there was some excitement; first there will be new mandatory health plan available to the clergy and staff and employees of the Church which seems to have broad approval. Title IV was passed giving the proper protections needed. Finally, the President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson and her staff deserve a standing ovation for the way the business of this Convention was handled and the selection of the theme of Ubuntu (I in You and You in Me) and the initiative of Public Narative. What I was taught was that my life stories are important but only if told to and heard by others who realize a comminalty of purpose that can result in positive action. All the best. Woody

Day 9

Day 9 July 16, 2009

The House is in recess until 2 p.m. and I am eating lunch with one hand while blogging with the other. First of all thank you for all your prayers and support. At times of difficult decisions on the House floor, I can feel the Spirit’s presence move closer and your considerable prayer strength. Thank you for that blessing.

Yesterday the budget was presented and as I write, the House in is the midst of budget discussions. Because of the economy and lack of funds, we have had to cut programs and positions within the church. That is excrutiatingly difficult. The Program, Budget, and Finance Committee listened to days of testimony and crafted a budget for our consideration. They have put over 60 hours of time into it while attending convention. I keep reminding myself that our God is one who makes creation out of chaos and that times of challenge such as this one can also be opportunities for the Spirit to lead.

Worship continues to be outstanding. I am saving all the worship bulletins. They contain Eucharistic prayers from Enriching Our Worship and music from many sources as well as the hymnal. Yesterday we experienced an incredible sermon by Bishop Steven Charleston who is the provost of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco on the necessity of the Episcopal Church claiming leadership in saving our environment. I believe that if you go on-line to the Episcopal News Service, you can hear the sermon. His opening line was “I have ten minutes to save the environment.”

Tomorrow is the last day of Convention. In some ways it seems as if we have been in Anaheim for months. In other ways it seems like we arrived only yesterday. It is an incredible honor to serve with other leaders of the church. I can assure you that despite the fact that we are not of one mind on all the decisions, our time together has been full of listening and debate. And at least for myself and the other deputies from Nebraska, we have done our best to listen to what God would have us do. Blessings! Ruth Tomlinson

Knitting at Convention

As many of you know I never go anywhere without my current knitting project. General Convention, with its travel, waiting, and long legislative sessions is certainly no exception. I came to convention with 5 or 6 projects, and discovered many more knitters than at any previous convention.
The Seaman’s Institute booth in the exhibit hall has yarn and needles for those who came unprepared. Their long running Christmas at Sea program accepts back hats, scarves, vests, and socks for gifts to mariners during the Christmas season. They had a meeting of knitters last week and many of us gathered for lunch, knitting in hand to hear about the Christmas at Sea program. Since then I have seen countless Deputies, volunteers, and visitors with a project for the Christmas at Sea program. The table in their booth overflows with items knitted at this General Convention.
Others have afghans, sweaters, prayer shawls, and other projects in their bags. The hours of sitting are well filled as items are made, stitch by stitch, with love and prayer.

So many resolutions

With only three days left, it is time to really move through the resolutions.  Many procedural rules have been passed to speed things up and keep us moving.  Debate is limited for each speaker and each resolution.  Sometimes there are many people still waiting to speak when time is called.

So many committes worked hard during the time between conventions, and so many committees are working hard here at convention.  Their work comes to nothing if the resolution doesn’t make it to the floor of both houses.  Any amendments on resolutions the Bishops have already considered will probably kill the resolution, as there isn’t much time for the resolution to go back to the Bishops.

So we move as fast as possible, trying to hear a balanced debate, make appropriate decisions without getting bogged down in procedure and details.  It is a hard balance for a house of over 830 people.

On a journey

The celebration of Holy Eucharist was a wonderful statement on mission guided by the traditional words of Rite I.

In the midst of politics and process it is a blessing to see the arms of mission actually moving strongly through the actions of both houses.

I am very tired. My convention day begins at 7:30 am and now ending at 10:00 pm. At the same time there is a focus to do the work. I do believe there will be a good night sleep come Friday after the end of convention.

On a personal note I am aware that I am having more culture shock coming back to California after being gone for two years than when our family moved to Nebraska. But it is good to see some old friends that have been formational to my ministry.

I am in the middle of the discussion of the development of rites of blessing for same sex couples. I can assure you that the conversation is balanced and all sides are being heard and honored. The resolution that came out of our committee was one that (considering the extremes) included the pastoral realities of this church. I will be in a position to share that with you in a day or two. At this time the issue is in the hands of the House of Bishops and they have taken it to an informal group for consideration. I must admit it is a bit frustrating to the more open process in the House of Deputies.

The tone of this convention is much different than the other two times I have served as a deputy. There is more concern for listening first. At the same time I am also hearing more talk and seeing more in the areas of feeding the hungry and caring for the poor.

Please continue our prayers for us.

Tri-Faith Initiative Day

Today your deputies will be wearing their Tri-Faith shirts on the floor of the House of Deputies and as we meet this afternoon for a Joint Session of both Houses for the discussion on the Triennial Budget (2010-12).

Yesterday the morning session ended with the presentation of a delegation of visitors from the ecumenical community who are attending GC. They were introduced by Bishop Chris Epting (from the Omaha Regional Office), who is deputy to the PB for Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations.

At the end of the introductions, a representative from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith traditions each sang a prayer and then ended by combining their voices into a sung Abrahamic blessing. It was beautiful and inspiring.