Thursday
This is really grueling. We've been at this barely 48 hours and I already feel tired at a cellular level. The day began with a legislative session at 0800. Nothing substantive, just organizing formalities. It included a roll call of all living bishops, the majority of whom were not there, being long retired and of advanced age. Still, I found it moving to here their names. It brought to mind an interesting array of memory detritus from my 45 years in the Episcopal Church.
We broke at 0900 for a 0930 Eucharist. In keeping with my established practice, and as a matter of self-care, I absented myself and repaired to my hotel room to process emails and bank out this reflection on one of the big issues at this convention.
At 11:15, until 1:15, it was back to committee rooms. Committee 12 heard testimony on resolutions to ...
2:15-4:00, back to committee. Most of this segment was spent in subcommittees. In my group, we made good, though difficult, progress toward a response to the SCLM's draft of a revised Lesser Feasts & Fasts.
After a 30 minute "travel" break, we were back in legislative session. Of course, at the front end of convention, the emphasis is on committee time, because every resolution has to get through committee before going to the floor of either house, and this requires hearings before the committee can deliberate and vote. A week from now, committee meetings will be in the rear view mirror and legislative sessions will be marathons. Today, we actually did pass (and, therefore, send to the Deputies) a handful of pro forma and no-brainer resolutions. But we began our session with a substantial debrief on last night's #MeToo listening session, which is, of course, the sort of thing that could be done at any meeting of the HOB, quite apart from General Convention.
We ran out of stuff to do about 30 minutes of the scheduled 6:30 recess. So there was time for a less rushed dinner. Brenda and I did Mexican again, though in a different place. She complained of "menu fatigue."
But wait, there's more. Committees again from 7:00-9:00. I made a decision to bail on my own committee in order to testify at the hearing on B012, the resolution that would keep Prayer Book revision at bay by requiring bishops like me to allow for same-sex marriage by offering to transfer a parish requesting it to the oversight of another bishop (DEPO). I was allotted my two minutes toward the end of that time frame.
We broke at 0900 for a 0930 Eucharist. In keeping with my established practice, and as a matter of self-care, I absented myself and repaired to my hotel room to process emails and bank out this reflection on one of the big issues at this convention.
At 11:15, until 1:15, it was back to committee rooms. Committee 12 heard testimony on resolutions to ...
- add "care of creation" to the Baptismal Covenant (my take: bad idea)
- allow access to and use of liturgical forms authorized by any province of the Anglican Communion, with the permission of the Ordinary. (my take: maybe, but not for the reasons enunciated by its proponents)
- adopt an official policy that liturgical forms should be composed in expansive (aka inclusive, aka balanced) language. (my take: see reflection linked above)
2:15-4:00, back to committee. Most of this segment was spent in subcommittees. In my group, we made good, though difficult, progress toward a response to the SCLM's draft of a revised Lesser Feasts & Fasts.
After a 30 minute "travel" break, we were back in legislative session. Of course, at the front end of convention, the emphasis is on committee time, because every resolution has to get through committee before going to the floor of either house, and this requires hearings before the committee can deliberate and vote. A week from now, committee meetings will be in the rear view mirror and legislative sessions will be marathons. Today, we actually did pass (and, therefore, send to the Deputies) a handful of pro forma and no-brainer resolutions. But we began our session with a substantial debrief on last night's #MeToo listening session, which is, of course, the sort of thing that could be done at any meeting of the HOB, quite apart from General Convention.
We ran out of stuff to do about 30 minutes of the scheduled 6:30 recess. So there was time for a less rushed dinner. Brenda and I did Mexican again, though in a different place. She complained of "menu fatigue."
But wait, there's more. Committees again from 7:00-9:00. I made a decision to bail on my own committee in order to testify at the hearing on B012, the resolution that would keep Prayer Book revision at bay by requiring bishops like me to allow for same-sex marriage by offering to transfer a parish requesting it to the oversight of another bishop (DEPO). I was allotted my two minutes toward the end of that time frame.
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