Ubuntu and You: A Young Adult Perspective on General Convention

Posted By: Jake Melnyk

I am not a person who sleeps before trips.  The excitement of travel, especially to a new destination always captivates me and leaves me too fueled with energy to even consider the idea.  Reading my status updates on Facebook in the early morning on Sunday July 5, anyone could clearly see I was more than excited for my upcoming adventure to California, a mission to learn more about the inner-workings of our church and to manifest Ubuntu theology by living, learning, and worshiping together in a community of more than 15,000 Episcopal clergy, youth, young adults, and lay deputies.

Why Wait?

Posted By: Mrs. Joan Geiszler-Ludlum

The next time I become worried about the future of The Episcopal Church, I need only recall General Convention 2009.  In addition to two young Clergy Deputies, and my own  Lay Alternate daughter, part of the two percent of Deputies and Alternates under 35, and a first time 23 year old Deputy who served on the Legislative Committee on Structure, I have had the further privilege of working with several representatives of the Official Youth Presence.  These bright, energetic young adults are sufficient to sustain my hope for The Episcopal Church of the future.

Three Stages of GC

a word from neighboring Bishop and friend to East Carolina, The Rt Rev’d Porter Taylor, Bishop of Western North Carolina

I have found that the General Convention has three stages: the greeting, the great bewilderment, and the convergence. These happen over the ten days, but they also happen within one day or even one meeting. First is about meeting. We see old friends; we meet new friends. It’s like going to college as a freshman. You find your dorm and your classes, and figure out who all these other people are and who you are in relation to them. This part has been wonderful. Being on a Legislative Committee means you work very hard with strangers and you become a community over the Convention.

Telling Stories

Posted By: The Rev. Canon Matthew Stockard

This Thursday morning offered all present for The General Convention a time of mission conversation prior to the celebration of The Holy Eucharist, at which The Most Rev’d The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury preached. The conversation was a moment of hearing one another. All deputies, visitors, exhibitors, and bishops are invited to participate in this work, which is one aspect of an extensive ‘Public Narrative’ experience in which ultimately all Episcopalians are invited to participate and to share.

So what is this grand thing? It’s a short time for the disciplined practice of what may be a long lost art. Telling personal stories which provide clear articulation of personal motivations, so that others are invited more deeply into an understanding and potential participation of God’s call to ‘love one another’ and the ways that call is lived out in mission and ministry. That’s a mighty big sentence. Let me try a smaller one. When we share stories that have inspired us to action, we invite others to join us in this work.

L.A. Like the Movies

Posted By: Ms. Keri Dixon

Sitting in the LAX airport always reminds me of the movies. Sitting in any airport, taking any flight reminds me of the movies. But today it is especially true. Today we have landed in the land of dreams. “Everyone who comes to Hollywood has a dream.”