One of the glorious aspects of General Convention is to witness the wideness of the Church. At worship yesterday 3,000 people gathered to say the prayers, sing God's praises and be fed from the bread and wine made holy. In addition, I attended a reception for bishops from overseas dioceses. Once again I was reminded that we belong to a worldwide communion with all the richness and complexity that offers.
I am assigned to the Education Committee. In the afternoon we had a hearing on resolutions to change Confirmation from a rite necessary for a leadership position to one that marks the movement of the Holy Spirit in a person's life (which is why it's in the Pastoral Offices in the Prayer Book). The many wonderful speakers quickly reminded us that as Episcopalians we agree on a few non-negotiable essentials (Sacraments, BCP, Holy Scripture, and, thank God, Bishops), but we don't agree on much else. I have worked on these resolutions for three years as part of the Standing Commission for Lifelong Christian Formation. As a result, I forgot how startling they can be. Many questions and reservations. We begin our committee deliberations today.
I was also surprised by the whimsy of legislative process. We sent to the House of Deputies an innocuous bill to support Lifelong Christian Formation for older adults and it was defeated. I am thinking that it's easier to be more critical at the beginning. That may lessen when one realizes that we have 400 resolutions to go (or not).
Last night I went to the hearings on Structural Change. Clearly change is coming. The only question is the vehicle. Most of the voices I heard said that the committees who have brought us to this place can't be the ones to get us out. The most frequently suggested options are a special commission, a special General Convention, or a constitutional convention in 2015 connected to the General Convention already scheduled.
The cloud that hangs over everything is the budget. It's hard to see how we can recommend wonderful programs requiring funding when we barely have a balanced budget without them. In addition, there are resolutions to reconsider the diocese assessment (currently 19%).
The schedule is intense. Today we go from 7:30 am to 9:00 pm--which would be doable except you are in windowless rooms sitting all day with little time to eat food that reminds me of the food I buy at the airport. The joy is making new friends and the real privilege of talking about our common love of our common Church and our dedication to carry out God's mission.
