Friday, July 6 -- A Significant Day in the Life of a Resolution (well, almost)

My day started with a Legislative Committee hearing from 7:30 to 10:00 this morning. (And thanks again to my friend the Rev. Brian Winter for today's photo!) We discussed two overlapping / competing resolutions on how to make marriage rites available to all in the church. In a display of unselfish initiative, a small group from our committee (which didn't conclude our work until 9:30 pm on Thursday) stayed up and worked until 12:43 to craft an amended resolution that married (if you will) elements of both original resolutions.

This provided us a great start in our legislative work of attempting to perfect a resolution to propose to General Convention. After careful conversation and debate we completed an amended version of B012, Marriage Rites for the Whole Church, which will be taken up by the House of Deputies tomorrow morning. If adopted, marriage rites will be made more widely available to all in The Episcopal Church, regardless of gender.

Later in the morning the Bishops joined us Deputies for a Joint Session on Racial Reconciliation which included four powerful speakers and a time for our own conversation in pairs and in small groups on this important and timely topic. We didn't leave with any concrete ideas for healing the racial divide in our time, but I feel a renewed sense of both the problems we face and the promise of healing we have in God.

In the afternoon my legislative committee heard testimony on a variety of resolutions, including two that call for good translations of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP). While there are Spanish and French versions available, they are (according to our witnesses) cringeworthy and even an impediment to good worship.

We also drafted a resolution acknowledging the problems experienced on Thursday during my legislative committee hearing when materials weren't translated into Spanish in a timely manner and on-site interpretation wasn't available when needed. The resolution we've proposed offers both a mea culpa as well as a call for specific steps to avoid these issues in the future. The upshot is that all should feel welcomed and valued, and that was not true for our Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters who came to testify to our committee.

Mid-afternoon the House of Deputies met for our one Legislative Session of the day. The most significant legislation considered was the first resolution that came from the committee on which I serve, a resolution calling for a process of Prayer Book revision to begin. This does not presume any particular result, just that the Church begins a clearly-defined process that, we hope, will lead to a Prayer Book better suited for the 21st century than the one we've been using for nearly 40 years.

Having said that, the resolution proposed also identifies the importance of our liturgical history and traditions in any Prayer Book considerations. I include this because there has been anxiety expressed that a revised BCP would abandon all traditional language and understanding. My expectation is that the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music (charged with implementing any possible Prayer Book revision) will remember the call to stay true to our Anglican heritage. I firmly believe that any new BCP needs to offer a sacred spiritual home for as many as possible, reflecting and even expanding on the diversity of our great Church. It need not do so, however, at the cost of alienating those whose life-long love for The Episcopal Church is so firmly rooted in our beloved Prayer Book.

Debate on the Floor of the House of Deputies was impassioned on both sides. I thought we'd have a final vote before our session concluded this afternoon, but no. We will instead have another half hour for debate (and possible amendments) tomorrow morning. So, we almost had a conclusion regarding what is arguably the resolution with the most significant long-term impact. Of course, even if passed in the House of Deputies it must also be passed in the same exact form in the House of Bishops before it is binding. If the House of Bishops amends the resolution, well then we're back to work in the House of Deputies.

Turns out legislation is a careful and sometimes even tedious business!

The day concluded with evening worship, a quick dinner, and drafting a resolution for discussion at tomorrow's legislative committee meeting. And we're meeting at 7:30 am. Again.

Yet, though the days be long, they are filled with holy work and sacred moments, not least of which is connecting again with friends and colleagues from throughout the Episcopal Church. I'm also blessed to make some new friends along the way. Mostly, I'm blessed to share in the amazing environment, possibilities, and work of General Convention.

Thursday, July 5 -- 13 1/2 hours of fun...

Whew! Now that was a long day! We started with a Legislative Session at 8 am (and I was busy until 9:30 at night). Before all that, I visited for a few minutes with old friend Lewis Powell (above). We knew each other in New Mexico, before I headed east to Tennessee and he went west to California.

One of the first orders of business was for us in the House of Deputies to send folks to the House of Bishops to inform them we were organized and ready to begin our work. House of Deputies President Gay Jennings sent to Presiding Bishop Michael Curry every deputy named "Michael," all wearing hats bearing that name. Protocol was observed yet in a fun even whimsical way. How would the bishops respond? They sent one of the newer bishops and one of their, um, more experienced bishops, our own Don Johnson. Both bishops brought greetings and told us the Bishops were organized and ready to work. And, in a nod to Bishop Curry's sermon at the royal wedding, they did so wearing tiaras. Wish I had taken a better photo than one off the big screen!

The morning continued with the Opening Eucharist which featured a fiery and inspiring sermon from Bishop Curry urging us, among other things, to keep our focus and attention on Jesus to know and find our way through sometimes perilous waters.

The committee I'm on finalized a resolution to begin a process to revise the Book of Common Prayer. (The photo above, by Brian Winter, is actually from yesterday). Working from materials drafted by the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music we also considered other resolutions and testimony we received yesterday in crafting our resolution. In a weird wrinkle, deputies in the committee approved a slightly different version of the resolution than did the bishops' committee. The deputies' version will be discussed on Friday at the House of Deputies. If passed, it will then go to the House of Bishops, where it will likely be amended. Anyway, there's lots of steps yet to take; I'll keep you posted.

The committee also heard almost four hours of testimony on resolutions regarding marriage. One resolution (A086) provides a liturgy to recognize committed relationships between two people who cannot marry for financial or other reasons. For example, senior citizens who marry may face an impossible reduction in Social Security benefits. That resolution drew little comment.

Two others, however, drew extended and often passionate testimony from numerous witnesses. At issues are two resolutions (A085 and B012, if you're interested) that attempt to clarify how same-sex couples may marry in The Episcopal Church. That such couples may marry was decided three years ago, but there have been some challenges in its implementation. For example, as I understand it, eight bishops do not allow such marriages nor do they allow provisions for those in their care to either receive as communicants nor offer as clergy the already-approved liturgies. (And, yes, that is a very simplistic explanation.)

A085 would allow various liturgies to be used on a trial basis with the expectation that such new rites would appear in the Book of Common Prayer. It also commends a few changes to certain sections of the Prayer Book including changing "a man and a woman" to "two people" in the Prayer Book introduction to the marriage rite. Of the witnesses who testified in favor, many noted that this would finally allow all baptized Episcopalians equal access and status with regard to marriage regardless of gender identity or sexuality. Others opposed the resolution on a variety of grounds, some noting this represents a fundamental change that, in their view, reflects more of man's wisdom than of God's.

We heard from many who preferred B012, titled "Marriage Rites for the Whole Church." While quite similar to A085 in many respects, including making available marriage rites for nontraditional couples, it would not have the expectation that new liturgies and definitions would be included in the Prayer Book. It also calls for the creation of a task force to continue mutual conversation and care with and for those with divergent views on marriage issues.

This has been offered as a reasonable compromise that has the best chance of keeping people with quite different views in conversation and relationship as the church continues to grow in understanding. Meanwhile, all couples would have the promise of easier access to marriage rites. Not all favor this approach, noting that "justice delayed is justice denied," or "separate but equal is not equal." Most who oppose the compromise see it as continuing to relegate LGBTQ+ folks to lesser status.

Tomorrow's conversation in the committee should be quite interesting!

Above, a special guest and visitor from Africa (whose name I should have written down, but didn't) spoke to our committee regarding his work as a scholar on sexuality and marriage issues in Africa.

Anyway, after 13 1/2 hours of meetings, worship, and hearings I'm beat. Hope this posting makes some sense! Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, July 4 -- First Hearings and Getting Organized

While the first legislative day isn't until tomorrow, today was still a full day here at General Convention. The legislative committee I'm on heard testimony on issues related to possible revisions of the Book of Common Prayer. We had a large room to accommodate loads of people. We had strategized about how to manage potentially huge numbers of witnesses wishing to speak to the various resolutions under consideration.

We had 14. Yep, only 14 people spoke, and the vast majority spoke in favor of a process to lead to a significant revision to address issues such as inclusive language and a greater acknowledgement of our need to be good stewards of God's creation.

Our sample was likely not entirely representative of the various perspectives of communicants in The Episcopal Church. That being said, we did have plenty of time to move back to our smaller room for committee discussion and deliberation (see above). We haven't concluded our discussion on Prayer Book revisions, and I'll keep you posted on what develops.

After lunch we had a joint session with both Deputies and Bishops gathered for opening remarks from Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, President of the House of Deputies Gay Jennings, and others. Above you can see Bishop Johnson and some of our deputation.

Above Presiding Bishop Michael Curry is shown offering what he said wasn't a sermon. Well, no matter what he called it, he preached up a storm, urging and encouraging us. "We must reclaim a Christianity that actually looks like Jesus of Nazareth," he said.

Gay Jennings also had a compelling message to share, calling us to speak as one against racism, poverty, and injustice. "We are embarking on hard and holy work," she told us.

Following a break, the House of Deputies met for a couple of hours of orientation on procedures on deliberation, voting, and more. I could say more, but you're probably not that interested. Right?

The day ended with a liturgy offered by the Bishops in response to #MeToo concerns. In the context of a service of penitence and reconciliation, they shared stories they had gathered from people who had been subjected to sexual harassment and abuse in churches and at the hands of those whom they should have been able to trust. After each somber reading, we observed an extended period of silence, then we sang "Kyrie eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison" ("Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy, Lord have mercy").

This was a sobering, humbling, touching event. It was tough to be confronted by such sins and deep harm experienced in church, harm which has damaged too many and in so many profound ways. It was tough to be reminded that our own church leaders have been authors of such pain. It was necessary to be reminded not only of our corporate guilt in these matters but also of our shared responsibility to listen, to understand, to respect the dignity of all, to strive for justice and peace, and to call all to healing and reconciliation.

Tuesday, July 3 -- Hello from Austin!

Today included traveling from Memphis to Dallas to Austin, where the afternoon high rang in at about 102 (that's about 39° for those measuring in Celsius). Whew!

The afternoon was pretty quiet: register for Convention, a bite of lunch, check out the Exhibit Hall. One of the great things about coming to General Convention is getting reacquainted with old friends; glad to see a few already.

I also stopped in to check out the worship space for our time here. Every Convention the worship team, lead as before by Sandy Webb from Church of the Holy Communion in Memphis, does a great job of transforming -- even sanctifying -- secular space for holy use. Here's a view of how they are using light to decorate and transform the otherwise bland space.

I am serving this Convention on the Legislative Committee that will be considering resolutions related to the use and possible revision of the Book of Common Prayer. Should we immediately embark on a multi-year project of revising, rewriting, re-imagining the second most document in our shared life? (I think we're smart enough to leave the first most important document as-is!)

Or should we instead begin an intentional process of engaging more fully and more deeply with the Prayer Book as it currently exists? Such an approach would allow time (and, one assumes, financial resources) to prepare modern translations of the Prayer Book into Spanish, French, and Haitian Creole. Other issues our committee will be considering include requests either to modify language in the current Prayer Book (for example, to make the text more gender-neutral) or to add to the text (for example to include language regarding our call to care for God's creation into the baptismal rite).

And then we have various resolutions regarding marriage and related rites. I think we're in for a few engaging and likely challenging days.

Finally, the day ended as the deputation from West Tennessee met to touch base and organize ourselves for the work ahead. As we concluded our time, I noted that our West TN gang includes a Jeanne, a Jeannie, and a Jean, picture below:

Please keep The Episcopal Church in your prayers as undertake our work now through July 13 that we may be guided by Holy Spirit in love, grace, and wisdom.

Thanks for reading. I welcome any comments you may wish to add below.

Reports from General Convention

Friends, I will be leaving soon for Austin, Texas to attend the 79th General Convention of The Episcopal Church. I plan to post occasional notes, comments, photos, and observations from my experience at GC here on this blog, and I welcome your comments and questions.

May God bless all who are headed to Austin with safe travel, and may God grant us all wisdom, patience, discernment, and grace for the days ahead.