GC77 – Day 2 – July 6, 2012: Our opening worship at 9:30 this morning was
celebrated in English and Hmong. Hmmm,
interesting! I’ve grown familiar with
the side-by-side English/Spanish text, like we had yesterday. But this
was different. It was noted that the
Holy Apostles Episcopal Church in St Paul MN has about 700 Hmong members. The second lesson – Revelation 3:1-6 – was read
in the language, which I don’t believe I’ve ever heard before. The moment of grace and beauty, though, came
at the Lord’s Prayer – we were invited, as yesterday, to pray in our own
language. When we finished, a sweet song
continued – it was the Hmong community singing the Our Father. The room fell silent, as if straining to hear
the melody of perhaps 20 voices, praying in music. Delicate and filled with joy. Wow.
I lunched with the Rev Karla Woggon, the chair of our
deputation. Since Karla has already
served the Sr High group at Camp Henry this summer, and I’m scheduled to be
with the Middle School group later this month, I was grateful to learn about
how she presented the worship and program on the theme this summer – David &
Goliath. Looking to the scriptural story
of David’s call and selection, his facing Goliath and prevailing over the giant
is great stuff, touching on some powerful themes of adolescence. I’ve done camp stuff for many years, and it
was most helpful to learn about the rhythms and customs of our own summer
ministry up at Lake Logan. Thanks,
Karla! Funny how we had to come to
Indianapolis to have the conversation, but I had a great time.
I seem to be the one western North Carolinian here paying
the most attention to social media. That’s
how I learned about Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori’s scheduled time
at the Youth Hospitality Room this afternoon.
There is an official Youth
Presence here, consisting of 2 teen representatives from each of our Church’s
10 Regions. And there are Diocesan and
parish groups that come in for a day or three, to get a feel for the Church all
scrunched together like we are for these 8 days. One parish group described their presence as
a pilgrimage. Cool.
+Katharine was quite comfortable before the group of about 30, which
grew toward 50 during her time. Starting
out like your favorite teacher, she quizzed the room about the nearly-20
nations represented in the Episcopal Church, expanding each answer into fun
facts and interesting history. For
example, did you know that the
Episcopal Church founded the church in Liberia?
They were part of us until they joined the Province of West Africa a few
years back – but the Diocese of Liberia continues to have seat and voice at our
GenCon, and their Bishop and delegation is present with us this week. I
didn’t know that. As the room warmed up to her, she started asking questions. "What is your passion? What's important to you?" I was especially
pleased, after my comments here last night, to note +Katharine listening to much more than speaking to
the group gathered. Her encouragement
and affirmation drew out some marvelous interactions. “You are our prophets,” she told them. “We’re counting on you to point us toward
God.” It’s abundantly clear that she
savors this time with young people. She
comes across as both respectful and inviting in a way that’s both gentle and solid.
I had dinner with a couple of Colorado friends. We actually left the AC and walked, for about
200 yards, to a sports bar. The
temperature had eased down to 96°, so we made it without
casualties. Nice place - they even had
New Belgium Fat Tire on tap, so we toasted the present Colorado home and the upcoming second location in
Asheville of the brewery. Ahhh…
More familiar faces are popping up at our evening gathering
at the WNC Hospitality Suite. Don,
Alice, Osondu, Tom – great to see you here!
So tomorrow I start doing what I came to do – subbing in for
our clergy deputies, one at a time. It’s
actually a change in status for me. As
of 7:30a tomorrow I’ll no longer be an alternate – we make a formal and
official change, and the one taking time off becomes the “alternate.” So I’m booked – Saturday thru Tuesday, albeit
for a different person each day. Gone
are my carefree days; I wake up to a schedule tomorrow. Time to prepare to gird my loins for a day of…
sitting.
In Christ,
The Rev Robert
Lundquist
1st alternate
(for now!) clergy deputy
