GC77 – Day 8 – July 12, 2012: Last day!
What a ride. I take the morning
off… because I can. Brain-weary is the
term I keep using, but I can’t think of another. But I take it easy, planning to get to
worship a little early. Eucharist on
this last day is at 11:30a, and I sit with Joel. It is a typical Sunday morning type of
service – Rite II, Prayer A. Feast of
Nathan Søderblom, Lutheran ecumenist of the early
20th century. A Swede,
Søderblom worked to bring Lutherans, Anglicans, and Roman Catholics together in
a number of areas, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1930, the year
before he died. Presiding Bishop
Katharine Jefferts Schori drew out lessons for us now in her sermon. http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/07/12/presiding-bishop-katharine-jefferts-schoris-closing-sermon/
I served as a deputy
for the last legislative session, as Mike’s flight left earlier than the
scheduled end of GC. It was indeed a
flurry of activity in our final four hours.
I didn’t count them, but someone said that we dealt with some 80 resolutions
in that time frame. We changed the rules
again: limiting debate to 1 minute,
prohibiting motions to refer on concurring resolutions (since we had run out of
time to send anything back to the
House of Bishops, who were also in their last session), and “batching”
resolutions. All Courtesy Resolutions
were dispensed with in a single vote, as were certain uncontroversial
concurrences. Still, parliamentary
procedure can be an odd duck to work with, so it continued to be a rather
excruciating process. But we wrapped it
up, and devoted the final 45 minutes or so to honoring Canon Dr Bonnie
Anderson, the President of the House of Deputies since 2006. Bonnie has
worked diligently to strengthen the ministry of all baptized, traveling widely
on behalf of our Church. You can catch
something of the tribute here: http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/07/12/general-convention-digest-2/
I was surprised to
learn that this is 4th
General Convention that has offered child care to participants! I poked my head in early in the week, just to
take a peek. And it was so much more
than I saw - http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/07/11/at-convention-children-live-their-faith-with-song-and-enthusiasm/
Another great aspect
was the attention to taking environmentally-aware steps to help mitigate the
stress that such a gathering can cause.
For example, the badgeholders you
see in some pictures (red for HoD, purple for HoB, green for GC staff, blue for
ECW [Episcopal Church Women], etc) have biodegradable vinyl windows and are
otherwise constructed of 95% recycled plastic.
The badges themselves were printed on recycled paper using soy-based
inks. The disposable cutlery used at
GenCon77 was made from cornstarch rather than petrochemicals; the clear cups
were of a corn-based construction; plates and bowls were made of sugarcane
fiber, and the hot cups were lined with a plant-based plastic. We were all encouraged to bring our own mugs,
of course, and the Church partnered with NativeEnergy
in Wewoka, OK, to offset a portion of the CO2 generated by our
event. Second Helpings of Indianapolis
reclaimed uneaten food from official events to feed folks in our host
city. And the Indiana Convention Center
itself recycles more than 60 tons of aluminum, plastic, cardboard and glass
each year. At the Westin (where our
deputation and bishop stayed), we got a $5 coupon for every day we bypassed
housekeeping, which was a nice incentive to reuse our towels and such. I’m gratified to see such steps being taken
on a scale like General Convention, both for the immediate result and for the consciousness-raising. Because it makes a difference. And that itself is a lesson.
The ending of an 8-day
marathon of, well, anything is a bit
disorienting. Our Bishop and Canon
hopped in a car directly after we adjourned sine
die. Two other cars would leave
Friday morning, and the rest of us had flights out at various times. For dinner I caught up with my friend from
Vail, CO, and the dean of the cathedral in South Bend, IN. Time to let the hair down a little – but an
early morning for me kept it well within the bounds of decorum.
The WNC deputation will
hold a debriefing meeting for the Diocese in the next couple of weeks – time
and place yet to be determined. A lot
happened in Indianapolis, and how that will affect us in our congregations is
not fully understood at this point. We
all stand ready to answer questions, provide details, or respond in whatever
way we can in the weeks and months ahead.
Bishop Taylor will be commenting as well on the 77th General
Convention of the Episcopal Church. The
trick will be to translate the resolutions, conversations, intentions and
dreams into the Good News of God in Christ Jesus. That’s what it’s all about, after all.
It was a Bishop
Geoffrey Paul who opined that the Church is a “glorious ragbag of saints and
fat-heads…” I find I cannot improve upon
that description. But it puts me in mind
of a fairly recent group that calls itself “Unapologetically
Episcopalian.” We are who we are. Let’s live it large. Walk in the Way, widen the walls, and wake up
the world!
Yours in Christ,
The Rev Robert Lundquist
