Day T-1 – July 4, 2012: The day before the opening session of the 77th
triennial General Convention of the Episcopal Church, meeting in
Indianapolis.
Upon arriving around noon today at the Indianapolis airport,
I realized, like Dorothy, that I wasn’t in Asheville any more.
It’s flat here – no mountains to give the visual clues I count on to
orient myself, being a true fan of topography.
It’s hot too. Except for the
fairly plenteous green trees, the landscape is Colorado brown. Looks parched. I reflected on the gift of rain we’ve enjoyed
in WNC of late.
So, the center of town is the convention center. It’s huge, HUGE. And connected by skyways to several hotels…
and the largest mall in the city. On the
other side of the Westin (which hosts the Bishop and deputation of the Diocese
of Western North Carolina) is the city courthouse and seat of government. The baseball stadium is just across the
street from the convention center in one direction, and the Colts’ football
arena is one block away in another.
There’s a freedom thus far to being an alternate – I don’t
have a committee assignment. So I
started wandering. Ran into the
Missioner for Congregational Vitality of the Episcopal Church, with whom I went
to seminary. Set up a coffee date for
tomorrow – since I’m the chair of our Diocesan Congregational Vitality
Ministry, I’m thinking Bob might know some stuff that I should learn…
I officially registered, spotting a deacon acquaintance from
Colorado behind the desk. Then I spent
some time in the Exhibit Hall, where nearly 150 ministries, vendors,
committees, parishes, etc., have set up displays and booths. Kinda overwhelming. To make sense of it I’ll have to revisit over
the next few days. The swirl of people
is hard for my brain to process. Someone
I went to college with called my name
when I passed by. The embarrassing part –
I still don’t remember her. Apparently she was a sophomore vocal student
while I was completing my piano performance degree in ’78… But she married a priest, which brought her
to this grand gathering of the clan. I
also ran into a faculty member from the Clergy Leadership Project I took part
in from 2008-2010 – his work with the Kaleidoscope Institute (www.kscopeinstitute.org) has recently
been on developing a program of Congregational Development & Stewardship
called “Holy Currencies.” I’ll be
following up with Eric during my time here.
Bp Taylor treated our deputation to an evening at the
baseball game, where the Indy Indians bested the Louisville Bats 6-1. Beer, hotdogs and pizza were consumed as the
sun set. Afterward – fireworks! The National Guard put on the ballpark show, and
the citywide display began on its heels.
By 10:30 pm the temperature had dropped.
To 96°.
I thought I was turning in for the night. But I noticed on my Twitter feed that there
was a gathering in the lobby, so I put the flip-flops back on and headed down 9
floors. (By the way, you can follow the
General Convention live on Twitter at #GC77)
I found about a dozen folks, mostly under 30, engaged in conversation about how the
Episcopal Church must adapt.
With the election of a new President of the House of Deputies, the
question was “Who will be most likely to include the next generation in the
restructuring of the Church?” And given
that it was a Tweet-up, simultaneous to the face-to-face conversation was the
tweeting, which brought other voices not physically present into the lobby of the Westin. I met in person some people I’d previously
only met online. Which is always pretty
cool.
Because the point is relationships, connections. So far, GenCon2012 is not what I expected,
which is good. I’m interested to see
what will grow in this flat, dry land in which I find myself.
In Christ,
Rob Lundquist, 1st alternate clergy deputy
PS. Here’s a link to
the addresses made by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and House of
Deputies President Bonnie Anderson today.
And if you can spot the tension, you’re doing fine. http://centeraisle.net/2012/07/04/presiding-bishop-and-president-of-the-house-of-deputies-give-opening-addresses/
If you want to follow things as they
develop, check in here: http://www.generalconvention.org/ And here’s another site that will tell you as
much as, or more than, you want to know:
http://centeraisle.net/
If you see something you’d like me to pick up while I’m here,
or learn more about and convey to you, please let me know.
