General Convention Day 11

It’s so close to being over I can’t stand it.

The quote of the day comes from the House of Bishops – provided by The Rev’d Elizabeth Kaeton: 

What we need to do in this resolution is to give a sense of movement without actually doing something.

And that about sums up the state of Episcopal leadership in The Episcopal Church.

I thought there would be some fireworks today, alas, we postponed them until tomorrow, wanting to go out with a bang, apparently.   Why was I expecting fireworks?  Yesterday, the House of Bishop approved a resolution commending the Episcopal Church to develop liturgical resources for the blessing of same-sex unions.  Do I need to say it wasn’t close?  This resolution was to hit the floor of the House of Deputies today.  However, it was rescheduled for 9.30 am tomorrow morning.  A minority report of sorts was read by Bishop Gary Lillibridge on behalf of the group.  This is the statement:

 

The Anaheim Statement, General Convention, 2009

At this convention, the House of Bishops has heard repeated calls for honesty and clarity. As the conversation has proceeded within the HOB, repeated attempts to modify wording which would have been preferable to the minority in the vote were respectfully heard and discussed, but in the end most of these amendments were found unacceptable to the majority in the House. Many in the majority believed the amendments would make the stated position of this House less honest about where they believe we are as The Episcopal Church.

It is apparent that a substantial majority of this Convention believes that The Episcopal Church should move forward on matters of human sexuality. We recognize this reality and understand the clarity with which the majority has expressed itself. We are grateful for those who have reached out to the minority, affirming our place in the Church.

We seek to provide the same honesty and clarity. We invite all bishops who share the following commitments to join us in this statement as we seek to find a place in the Church we continue to serve.

* We reaffirm our constituent membership in the Anglican Communion, our communion with the See of Canterbury and our commitment to preserving these relationships.

* We reaffirm our commitment to the doctrine, discipline, and worship of Christ as this church has received them (BCP 526, 538)

* We reaffirm our commitment to the three moratoria requested of us by the instruments of Communion.

* We reaffirm our commitment to the Anglican Communion Covenant process currently underway, with the hope of working toward its implementation across the Communion once a Covenant is completed.

* We reaffirm our commitment to “continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship” which is foundational to our baptismal covenant, and to be one with the apostles in “interpreting the Gospel” which is essential to our work as bishops of the Church of God.

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz……..

Seriously, Bishop Tom Wright, not a member of this body, thousands of miles away, twenty-four hours earlier issued a better statement this.  In all honesty, every bishop in the House of Bishops would be able to sign this – “I promise to be Episcopalian” – woo, come off the ledge boys.  Ten bucks says 25+ bishops sign on in short order; demonstrating the worthlessness of the statement.  Sigh.

The House of Deputies did pass a few other items of interest.  In a vote by orders we passed this resolution opposing the “Defense of Marriage” act(s):

Resolved, That the Convention call on all Episcopalians to work against the passage of so-called “Defense of Marriage” state statues and state constitutional amendments, and, in states where such statues or constitutional amendments already exist, to work for their repeal.

Here are the vote totals:

Laity
Yes – 70
No – 28
Divided (which counts as a “no” vote) – 11

Clergy
Yes – 60
No – 35
Divided – 14 

Get it straight (no pun intended) now, pro-gay/anti-heterosexual marriage. Hmmm.

Here were a few other highlights:

We spent about 3 1/2 hours discussing/debating the budget.  Not surprisingly, the National Church budget is hurting (of course, if they ended the litigation there would be literally millions of dollars available for ministry).  Many staff people are being terminated.  The PB, herself, referred to this budget as a death.  How appropriate.

Resolution B031 which was but one of a plethora of resolutions submitted with the intention to repeal Resolution B033 (the moratorium on Episcopal elections of homosexual/lesbian persons passed at the 75th General Convention) was discharged by committee with the rationale, “already addressed in other legislation.”  For my conservative colleagues who will assert that Resolution D025 did not change anything: sorry, nice try, but the Archbishop of Canterbury, Integrity, Bishop Tom Wright and Convention itself, understands exactly what was done this week.

We passed legislation saying that we will be “anti-racist” – but only until 2018 (not kidding).

A good piece of legislation (really) was passed addressing the issue of human trafficking.  A poorly written litany attached to the resolution was eliminated which helped greatly.  I was particularly pleased with this passage.  As you know, we’ve talked a bit about human trafficking at St. Andrew’s. Here’s a great website to learn more: Stop The Traffik.

Finally, in one beautifully ironic moment, the House passed legislation calling on the United States government to exercise complete transparency and accountability with regard to funds expended on both Israeli and Palestinian concerns.  My dear U.S. Senators and Congressmen, you might want to suggest that when this hypocritical body acquiesces to the same transparency and accountability with regard to how much money is spent by the national church in litigation against parishes and clergy you might take their opinion seriously.

As I wrap this up, here are a few photos to give you a visual sense of the time here:

Winnie Varghese, the Voting Secretary was wickedly funny.  Every time she stepped to the microphone she brightened our day:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Secretary of Convention, Gregory Straub.  His droll, witty, commentary and snappy blazers were always welcome:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a number of youth here as both observers and deputies.  Some offered the kind of commentary you’d expect from a kid.  Some, like this Youth Deputy (this young man spoke well to several issues facing the House) speaking against D025, were surprisingly articulate and moving:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Episcopal Church is an international church.  18 national flags fly on the dais.  Here, a deputy from the European churches speaks:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our own, Wade Logan, Chancellor for the Diocese of South Carolina, was sharp and accurate, catching the House in a few missteps:  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everytime I looked up this woman was at the podium – and always with the ears:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

KJS leading a joint session of the Convention addressing the budget shortfall and presenting the new budget:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brooks Keith, very articulate deputy – and good guy – from Colorado, and seminary classmate:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a Liberian deputation in the House of Deputies this week.  Here is their Chair, greeting the House.  By-the-way, I went over to their table and introduced myself.  They wondered if I’d had any success in restraining Anthony – to whom they sent their love:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Highlight of my day: saw a childhood friend, The Rev’d Ben Jones, now in the Diocese of Northern Indiana.  Ben, it was fantastic to see you after all these years!

One more day! – and it looks like I’ll be the only deputy from SC in the House as everyone else flies out tomorrow and I’m here till the bitter end as I depart Sunday.

Good night from Anaheim.