Sorry about the typos in my last post. For some reason my iPad refused to let me edit the first paragraph. Oh well.
Headed home today immediately after worship. See you all soon!
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
My last full day at Convention ....
Another wonderful worship morning, with an incredible drumming core. I took a video and will share when I get home. And then an inspiring sermon by a woman who now runs the Magadelene Project and Thistle Farms, all for aiding in the recovery of abused women. Since the worship bulletins do not tell us who is providing the music, or who is the Celebrant, or who is preaching, I cannot tell you her name. but she shared a dramatic personal story about her priest father moving his wife and five hung children to a ne assignment in Tennessee, and then dying at age 35 in an accident caused by a drunk driver. this left his family in a strange ten and eventually the preacher was the vidtim of sexual abjure by the church's warden. A sad story but one from which she built a wonderful ministry!
The rest of the day was spent in the House of Bishops.
At the opening of the morning session, the clerk read the numbers and titles of the resolutions before the bishops today. There was a good laugh when she listed a resolution entitled "Leveraging Social Media for Jesus"! Would like to know that the resolution actually said but he HoB did not discuss it today.
They did extensively discuss several resolutions about alcohol abuse. One passed resolution affects the work I do on the Commission on Ministry to the Diaconate. Beginning in 2016 all people in either ordination process ( priest or deacon) must be evaluated for alcohol and drug abuse and questioned abut this. They also passed a resolution significantly strengthening the church policy on alcohol, undoubtedly in response to Bishop Cook of Maryland's killing a biker while she was intoxicated.
Then the afternoon was spent with discussions about the changes proposed by the TREK committee.
This all involves the governance and structure of the church. Great discussions but if you do not know about the current structure of the national church and the proposed changes, this discussion would not make sense to the average lay person. But suffice it to say that the changes adopted are significant and will greatly improve Bishop Curry's life as the Preaiding Bishop.
tomorrow I come hje at last! Many stories to share with you all in Ron.
Blessings,
Miriam's
The rest of the day was spent in the House of Bishops.
At the opening of the morning session, the clerk read the numbers and titles of the resolutions before the bishops today. There was a good laugh when she listed a resolution entitled "Leveraging Social Media for Jesus"! Would like to know that the resolution actually said but he HoB did not discuss it today.
They did extensively discuss several resolutions about alcohol abuse. One passed resolution affects the work I do on the Commission on Ministry to the Diaconate. Beginning in 2016 all people in either ordination process ( priest or deacon) must be evaluated for alcohol and drug abuse and questioned abut this. They also passed a resolution significantly strengthening the church policy on alcohol, undoubtedly in response to Bishop Cook of Maryland's killing a biker while she was intoxicated.
Then the afternoon was spent with discussions about the changes proposed by the TREK committee.
This all involves the governance and structure of the church. Great discussions but if you do not know about the current structure of the national church and the proposed changes, this discussion would not make sense to the average lay person. But suffice it to say that the changes adopted are significant and will greatly improve Bishop Curry's life as the Preaiding Bishop.
tomorrow I come hje at last! Many stories to share with you all in Ron.
Blessings,
Miriam's
More Clarity about Passed Resolutions
In case you are not following the passage of legislation via the media or the General Convention website, I want to clarify what was passed regarding marriage equality. There were two significant resolutions. The first was Resolution A036 which amends the marriage canon (Canon 18) to refer to marriage as opposed to Holy Matrimony that refers to the joining of a man and a woman. Resolution A054 adopted resources and rites from "Liturgical Resources 1: I Will Bless You and You Will Be a Blessing." These include a liturgy for blessing a covenant relationship and three liturgies of marriage. These were adopted for trial use, which sets in motion the process of amending the BCP. That passed, by a roll call vote, of 129 to 26, with 5 abstentions. To me it seems sort of uncourageous to vote "abstain" but five bishops did so. Almost all the "no" votes were from Province IX, which includes dioceses in Central America. I think that shows the continuing divide between the dioceses in the U.S. and those in the wider Anglican Communion, especially in the global South. It is my hope that Bishop Curry will do much to heal that rift over the next nine years.
More news of the day later.
More news of the day later.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Day 6
The day began with a Eucharist enlivened by wonderful, uplifting music by the St. Augustine's choir. Made all of us North Carolinians so proud.
I spent the afternoon back in the House of Bishops. Much of their work time was on elections to many boards like the Trustees of General Seminary. But they did Have an extensive debate about a resolution to establish a task force to study more in depth the issue of "open Communion"," or the issue of whether Communion can only be given to those who are baptized, which is what the Canons and the rubrics say are the standard. I would have loved to have had this study group established so we might continue the debate, even though I am fairly confident of where I stand on this issue. However, the bishops, by only a two vote margin, defeated this resolution that had already been passed by the House of Deputies.
Much legislative work still to be completed by this General Convention!
I did have a lovely evening with colleagues from Virginia Seminary. I was seated at a table with three bishops, including the retired bishop of Western NC, Bob Johnson. A lovely evening although I had worn heels for what turned out to be a LONG four block walk back to my hotel. About hallway back to my hotel I had to take off those heels and walk back barefooted, Alabama style. The warm sidewalk felt wonderful.
More adventures tomorrow!
Miriam+
I spent the afternoon back in the House of Bishops. Much of their work time was on elections to many boards like the Trustees of General Seminary. But they did Have an extensive debate about a resolution to establish a task force to study more in depth the issue of "open Communion"," or the issue of whether Communion can only be given to those who are baptized, which is what the Canons and the rubrics say are the standard. I would have loved to have had this study group established so we might continue the debate, even though I am fairly confident of where I stand on this issue. However, the bishops, by only a two vote margin, defeated this resolution that had already been passed by the House of Deputies.
Much legislative work still to be completed by this General Convention!
I did have a lovely evening with colleagues from Virginia Seminary. I was seated at a table with three bishops, including the retired bishop of Western NC, Bob Johnson. A lovely evening although I had worn heels for what turned out to be a LONG four block walk back to my hotel. About hallway back to my hotel I had to take off those heels and walk back barefooted, Alabama style. The warm sidewalk felt wonderful.
More adventures tomorrow!
Miriam+
Monday, June 29, 2015
Day 5
The worship this morning was again wonderful. I went to the service with two of our clergy Deputies, Sarah Ball-Damberg and Kevin Matthews, and we met up with Bishop Hodges-Copple. We somehow ended up taking empty seats on the front middle row where we could see eveything so easily. It was great to sing next to our Bishop Suffragan as she has a wonderful voice! We shared the peace with Presiding Bishop Katherine, who was sitting behind us. And Sarah, Bishop Anne and I got pulled at the last moment to serve the bread and wine at the station in front of us because the Deacon realized she did not have enough servers for her station. An unexpected series of fun things. And the preacher, although not dynamic, was a bishop from the Armenian Church who added comments about how wonderful our new Presiding Bishop Elect is and how he looks forward to working with him. Every where we NC folks turn, we hear people praising our bishop!
I was to be in the House of Bishops all afternoon but was not needed until 3:30 because the bishops were totally alone to have a private discussion about some matter. But when I was eventually in the HoB they discussed the resolutions about marriage equality and I was so impressed with how amazingly civil they are to each other. They all have strong, and often conflicting, views on this issue but they listen to each other and are respectful and loving in their intense debates. How I wish more of us could act that way when we talk about controversial topics that we take sides on!
Blessings,
Miriam+
I was to be in the House of Bishops all afternoon but was not needed until 3:30 because the bishops were totally alone to have a private discussion about some matter. But when I was eventually in the HoB they discussed the resolutions about marriage equality and I was so impressed with how amazingly civil they are to each other. They all have strong, and often conflicting, views on this issue but they listen to each other and are respectful and loving in their intense debates. How I wish more of us could act that way when we talk about controversial topics that we take sides on!
Blessings,
Miriam+
Sunday, June 28, 2015
A long day without too much of interest to share except for an amazing event this morning called the bishops' walk against gun violence. At 7:15 this morning about 80 bishops dressed in rockets and chimeras lead a walk down the streets of Salt Lake City, joined by many clergy and lay people. It was so impressive and a great visual statement about wanting to end gun violence. There were also some moving testimonials about suffering from gun violence, including the Bishop of Utah's story about when he was 19 and was shot in a store robbery and spent the next two months in the hospital struggling to survive. There was also a horrid story from a woman who was shot in a random gun shooting in a mall and her two year old daughter was killed. And of course our bishop gave a rousing speech about violence in our midst, which you can see on You Tube.
Miss you all. I am really tired but experiencing many moments and stories of God's grace and am amazed by the power of our Episcopal church as a witness to God's love and redeeming grace.
Miss you all. I am really tired but experiencing many moments and stories of God's grace and am amazed by the power of our Episcopal church as a witness to God's love and redeeming grace.
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Election Day!
This has been an emotional, grace-filled day! My heart is filled with both joy and grief that our bishop has been elected the next Presiding Bishop. He will be a gift to our national church and will lead us more fully into living out the Gospel and teaching others about God's abiding love and God's dream for us all. Everyone here at General Convention is so happy.
The vote was historic. The House of Bishops elected him on the first ballot, with a vote of 121. The other three nominees got 19, 13, and 21 votes each. Then the House of Deputies confirmed the election by a vote of 800 to 12. The applause was deafening and long when the election was confirmed. And then even louder when Bishop Curry and his family and our NC delegation came into the hall where the House of Deputies sits.
But I already felt that this would be a grace-filled day because the worship service this morning was full of grace and power. Episcopalian members of the Navaho nation led the music. I was a volunteer for this service and just by chance I got placed as an usher at the very front of the hall so I was right beside the musicians. About 8 men were seated around a very large drum and the drumming was wonderful. Then during Communion there was a beautiful flute solo. Deeply spiritual music, even at the end when the drummers also sang Amazing Grave in Navaho. At the end of the service everyone was instructed to remain in place while the bishops filed out to go to St. Mark's Cathedral for the vote. The Holy Spirit was in that place as the bishops filed out in silenced.
Truly a day to remember. Thanks be to God.
The vote was historic. The House of Bishops elected him on the first ballot, with a vote of 121. The other three nominees got 19, 13, and 21 votes each. Then the House of Deputies confirmed the election by a vote of 800 to 12. The applause was deafening and long when the election was confirmed. And then even louder when Bishop Curry and his family and our NC delegation came into the hall where the House of Deputies sits.
But I already felt that this would be a grace-filled day because the worship service this morning was full of grace and power. Episcopalian members of the Navaho nation led the music. I was a volunteer for this service and just by chance I got placed as an usher at the very front of the hall so I was right beside the musicians. About 8 men were seated around a very large drum and the drumming was wonderful. Then during Communion there was a beautiful flute solo. Deeply spiritual music, even at the end when the drummers also sang Amazing Grave in Navaho. At the end of the service everyone was instructed to remain in place while the bishops filed out to go to St. Mark's Cathedral for the vote. The Holy Spirit was in that place as the bishops filed out in silenced.
Truly a day to remember. Thanks be to God.
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