GC77 – Day 7 – July 11, 2012: Breakfast
at 8a for me, with other Diocesan Canons for Congregational Vitality. Actually, the other 9 are canons – I’m just the chair of the Committee
of the same name in our Diocese. Sat
between the Canon from Indianapolis (SWTS 85) and the Episcopal Church’s
Missioner (SWTS 84), and everybody exchanged business cards. This networking thing begins with meeting
each other IRL (in real life), and I imagine we’ll end up on a listserv together,
where the real exchange of ideas and opportunities can take place.
At the 9:30a
Eucharist today we observed the feast of Benedict, the sixth-century monk who
is now known as the father of western monasticism. Fittingly, the music was largely Plainsong
and Anglican Chant, led by the Christ Church Cathedral Choir of
Indianapolis. But it was the music
during communion that I found most exquisite: Seek him that maketh the seven stars, by composer Jonathan
Dove. The text is from Amos 5:8. But take a listen - www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg6ZVtcmgIc
I’ve never heard the piece, or of the
composer, but I was completely transported.
Wow.
The other “Wow!” was the preacher – the Rev Stephanie Spellers. She rocked the socks of everyone there, as
you can see in the video: http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/07/11/the-rev-stephanie-spellers-preaches-at-convention-eucharist/
I was off today – back to being the Clergy Alternate – which gave me
some wonderful time to read and to sleep.
The best part was having lunch with my 2 first seminary friends, Sylvia
& Ruth. Within the first week or two
of our 3-year experience, the entire incoming class went up to the DeKoven
Center in Wisconsin for a retreat. A
silent retreat. The wisdom of taking a
group of 3 dozen eager new seminarians on a silent weekend together never made
sense to me. I remember early on taking
what I now know is called a “walking meditation.” I slipped out to the park across the road, and
discovered two others who, like me, were more interested in getting to know the
folks we’d be spending the next 3 years with instead of not
getting to know
them. We ended up talking for hours,
sharing our journeys to date and hopes/dreams for the future. Ruth is a Liturgics Professor and author;
Sylvia is a seminary dean. We only had
20 minutes as a trio, as Ruth was late & had to leave early. But it is cherished time. And we two remaining finally had to leave the
restaurant so it could be set up for dinner…
In the House of Deputies today, business moved forward. Our diocesan group dined together,
celebrating Jim’s birthday and vowing not to talk about Convention. We are all brain-weary, and talk turned to
exit strategies – who’s leaving when, who’s driving & can take stuff back to
WNC, and the timing of details. I’ll be
taking Mike’s place tomorrow afternoon – the last of GenCon77 – as his flight
departs before the House is scheduled to adjourn. I’m here until my Friday morning flight. I’m told there are some 60 resolutions for
the Deputies to deal with tomorrow – some will be put on the “consent”
calendar, deemed noncontroversial and passed in a block. And the others? May God be merciful to us all.
Thank you for your prayers! I
hope our blogging has grown you sense of the Church a bit. The ENS (Episcopal News Service) and other
sources are the best place to get official news and facts, like who has been
elected to what. It feels difficult to
keep up with that stuff here on the ground, and it’s easy to get facts wrong
when there’s such a barrage of them.
Twitter (#GC77) has shown itself to be immensely significant this week –
news is fast, and usually correct. The worship services and deliberations in both houses (I believe) have been
live-streamed on the Episcopal Church’s site: http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/gc2012/ The Closing Eucharist is at 11:30a, and the
Legislative Sessions run from 8-11a and 2:15-6:30p. The Church has made an honest effort to be as
communicative and transparent as possible.
Some of this can be seen in the general accuracy found in the reports in
the secular media – the NPR article today was excellent: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=156584940
I’m asked, “What’s next? Where
is the Church heading?” I’m more
interested in your answers. And it’s not
the kind of thing that requires a lot of extra talking. It’s time to live it. What difference does this all make to
you? What has thrilled you about the
Church this week? What are you moved to
do? What Church do you dream of? I don’t have those answers. But I love the conversation. The Presiding Bishop’s succinct observation
stays with me: Christians,
we are called to boldly go where Jesus has gone before.
Yours in Christ,
The Rev Robert Lundquist
Clergy Deputy (tomorrow afternoon)
