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
