The Day Before…
Los Angeles was buzzing with activity today as Michael Jackson’s funeral unfolded at the Staples Center. Local news was filled with reports. But in Anaheim there was a lot of activity, too. A lot of work going on in the background as we worked our way toward the start of the 76th General Convention tomorrow. For me it was a full day that began at 8 a.m. with a 4-hour committee meeting and went pretty much non-stop until 9 p.m. The is the day BEFORE convention begins. One must wonder about the pace of things once the convention is actually in session.
Legislative committees are busy these days holding hearings and cranking out resolutions that will eventually come before the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. My committee (The Church in Small Communities) has some real relevance to the Diocese of Spokane with many its small churches and small communities in Eastern Washington and north Idaho.
Our committee is looking at ways to get the concerns of vital small congregations in front of a larger audience and assuring that the resources of the Episcopal Church will be used to strengthen these many churches. Recent statistics show that slightly more than half of the Episcopal churches in the US qualify as small congregations with an average Sunday attendance of 70 or fewer. We are also considering a resolution that would increase funding for Native American ministries. Representatives of those ministries remind us of how they impact Native American young people by strengthening both their ties with the Episcopal Church and with their culture.
This busy day also included opening addresses by Presiding Bishop the Most Rev. Catharine Jefferts Schori and House of Deputies President Dr. Bonnie Anderson. Both stressed the convention theme of ‘Ubuntu,’ a word from the Bantu family of languages that means “I in you and you in me.” It also can mean ” I am because you are,” and “there is no ‘I’ without ‘you.”Clearly a sense of community and interdependence will mark the emphasis of this convention.
The last two afternoon events were an introduction to the practice of public narrative an intentional form of story-telling that we will practice three times in upcoming days, and an orientation for deputies. Normally the orientation is about as interesting as watching paint dry, but this year’s crew was clever and funny. A normally dull task was actually fun.
Our deputation got together in the early evening to coordinate our work and try to find time in the upcoming days to meet again. It is a challenge with the number of meetings, hearings and legislative sessions. It looks like we’ll be staying up a little later on our meeting nights!
One more committee meeting began for me at 7 and concluded by 9. Tomorrow the official work of General Convention begins. I am glad to be here, but feeling the effects of a long day. You’ll hear from other deputies in the coming days as each of us takes a turn.
