GC77 – Day 4 – July 8, 2012: Working breakfast this morning – w/ Bp,
Canon, & seminary classmate. Happy
to facilitate the face-to-face networking, since we’re all in the same place
& everything. Then off to church.
Yes, we have Eucharist every
day at 9:30. But today, 4,000+ showed up
for the sacrament. It included, as the
Sunday General Convention service always does, the UTO (United Thank Offering)
ingathering. The Episcopal Church Women,
who are meeting concurrently, have raised funds for ministry for decades, and
this is a fitting acknowledgement of the tremendous good work they do. You may remember saving coins in “Mite Boxes”
if you grew up in the Episcopal Church, as did I. That was the UTO. And they’re still at it.
The music was exquisite today – 120-voice choir, with brass
& percussion. 4-part harmony from
the congregation, often from memory.
Music from Taizé recognized and sung by the worshippers, without printed words
or music. And service music from Missa Guadalupe in Spanish, Latin and
English. Delicious!
The scriptures were read in Spanish, Hmong and English, and
our celebrant, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, led the Eucharist
prayer by alternating the paragraph sections in Prayer C between English and
Spanish. Her sermon was stirring and
engaging – you can listen to it here: http://bit.ly/L35e44
You can read the text here: http://bit.ly/L34ZWH Her
best line was drawn from Star Trek: “Let us go where Jesus has gone
before.” I concur – make it so. If you’re bemused by her reference to
Nunzilla, this will help: http://bit.ly/L35fFa
After worship the Diocese of Indianapolis invited Convention
across the street to Victory Field, where they threw a great party. Free lunch, 3 stages with live music, more
than 75 activities, souvenirs, and more.
They collected gifts throughout, 100% going to ministries in the Diocese
of Bor (South Sudan), Brasilia, and Haiti.
I met Bp Waynick, who quickly rushed off to participate in the attempt
to break the Guinness World Record for the most salsa dancers at the same time.
And I continued to see friends and
acquaintances from near and far, recent and ancient.
A bit of a rush to get back into session at 2:15p. Today I’m subbing in for Karla Woggon. Among the big decisions we made was our concurrence
with the House of Bishops, on the second reading (the first was 3 years ago),
to change our canons on how bishops are approved by other dioceses. Because every bishop represents the Church’s
ministry, 2/3 of all dioceses and
bishops must approve of every episcopal election. And today we approved a change in the way bishops elected within 120 days of the beginning
of General Convention receive approval (or not) by the lay and clergy of each
diocese. Yeah, really. This is why I don’t go into too much detail
here. The nuts and bolts will be told in
the news releases. Watching the sausage
being made is most of what we’re doing so far.
This is the C-SPAN stuff. Anyhoo…
We got done ahead of schedule in the House of Deputies, so
we got an unanticipated hour off! Upon
returning we heard a well done & informative report from Episcopal Relief
& Development (ERD – you may have noticed that we love our initials). Soon after,
we went to our Provincial caucuses, in order to select nominees for election by
the entire House. To ensure that each of
the 10 Provinces is equally represented, we each nominate 2 for each seat, and the House will elect one tomorrow from each
geographical Province. May sound
confusing, but it works.
Then – dinner with the Bishop! Yes, our WNC deputation and guests were
treated to a meal at the St Elmo’s Steak House (founded in 1902). Very nice meal, lots of laughter and more
in-depth conversations. I taught Gene
Willard how to Tweet before the main course (you can find him at @hewillard). Bp Johnson was with us, as well as Jim Abbot
and Robbin Whittington.
As we left dinner I was able to catch the tail end of
another event, as I was invited to “Virginia Night” at Harry & Izzy’s, virtually next door. My former camper Henry Burt, who is now a
lawyer and the Secretary of the Diocese of Virginia, was regaling several with
the story of a first aid emergency of his at the age of 15, with which I
assisted. I renewed my acquaintances
with Bps Peter Lee & Ted Gulick, and met now-Diocesan Bp Shannon Johnston
for the first time. I grew up in the
Diocese, and my father & 2 brothers still live there. Despite the changes and time, there’s still a
feeling of familiarity with the people.
A good close to the evening.
So we’re halfway through with GenCon77, now that Day 4 of 8
has passed. I’ll be subbing for Jim
Pritchett tomorrow. We’ve got 6 hours of
Legislative Sessions scheduled after Eucharist in the morning. The heat has broken outdoors – we even got a
few minutes of rain this afternoon – but I think it’ll be heating up in the
respective Houses of General Convention.
Please continue to pray: for our church, for your bishop and
deputies, for everyone gathered here to do God’s work. An Archbishop of Canterbury once noted that
the Church is the only organization that exists for the sake of those who are
not members. God’s mission has a church,
lest we lose our focus on what’s really important. The temptation is to do what’s most
comfortable for us, because we’ve
already got our membership cards. Pray
for the Spirit to firmly and consistently pull our gaze back to the ones who
most need the church – the peacemakers,
the poor in spirit, and those thirsty for righteousness. The hungry, the naked, the thirsty, the sick,
and those in prison.
Yours in Christ,
The Rev Robert Lundquist
Clergy Deputy (through Tuesday)
