Week One plus My Debut on the Floor

Posted By: Casey Ludlum

This is a chronological composite of ideas from Casey written over the last few days.

Saturday, July 11, 2009: Hello all in wonderful East Carolina!  Well, I have been here for exactly one week, and I apologize for not writing y’all sooner.  It has been a tremendous week of worship, fellowship, dedication, and hard work, with a little bit of fun wrapped right in.  I wanted to take this opportunity to give thanks to all of for giving me the wonderful chance to come and be a part of this fantastic experience with our international church.  Without your votes at Diocesan Convention 2008, I would not be here, so I just wanted to say Thank You for trusting me to help make decisions on your behalf, and believing that I would make a good deputy.

Working and Praying

Posted By: The Ven. Sonny Browne

Deputy Tess Judge serves on the Standing Committee on Program, Budget, and Finance.  She does an excellent job and has gained respect of the committee members and others throughout The Episcopal Church.  We are very proud of her and her work.  She has labored long into the night and risen very early to do this work on a daily basis here in Anaheim.  She and the other committee members will present a budget for The Episcopal Church for the next three years.  Thank you Deputy Judge for your work and diligence!

An Honest Orthodoxy

Posted By: The Rev. Canon Matthew Stockard

Members of the House of Deputies took a good bit of time this week for intentional discussion about the B033 resolution which was carried at General Convention 2006. That now historic resolution indicated that the 75th General Convention would receive and embrace The Windsor Report’s invitation to engage in a process of healing and reconciliation; and called upon Standing Committees and bishops with jurisdiction to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion.

Lots to Do and So Little Time!

Posted By: The Ven. Sonny Browne

Hi East Carolina!  I am enjoying my time at the General Convention (the good, the bad, and the ugly!).  We are behind on the calendar now, meaning that we have resolutions to hear today that should have been heard days ago.  I understand that this lagging is typical.  East Carolina has a mind now to pick up the tempo, so we will be calling the question after a bit of debate or testimony has occurred.  ”Calling the question,” means that the House of Deputies would then vote to immediately end debate and return to the main motion.  You can also “call the question on the amendment and on the original motion.”  That’s very useful, too!

A Bench of Bishops

Posted By: The Rev. Canon Matthew Stockard

Sitting with Nancy Broadwell as we both visited the House of Bishops on Friday morning, I was struck by a strange sight on the platform. The Presiding Bishop sat in the middle of a table of folks, presiding over this House of The General Convention. This PB is a she and that was different, but she’s someone we choose as a church in 2006 and she’s a friend as well – I knew where she’d be…so that wasn’t my surprise. My surprise was a couple of faces seated just behind the PB…two former PB’s….Bishops Griswold and Browning. I have a great deal of respect and admiration for these two gentle men, who each provided decisive and faithful leadership for this church during some difficult times. The norm at General Conventions is to sort of let such leaders fade into the distance. But these folks weren’t fading. Both looked great, healthy and happy.

A Rather Intense Schedule

Posted By: The Ven. Sonny Browne

Hello East Carolina!!!  I have enjoyed seeing the Los Angeles area.  We went to Disneyland (on our own time, on our own dime), and we closed the park… staying until midnight.  I do love roller coasters!  So there has been time for some fun.

However, we have now begun a rather intense schedule.  There are many committee/commission/ministry hearings, which may run from 7:00am-9:30am; 2:00pm-4:00pm; or even 7:00pm-10:00pm.  Your deputation has Tess Judge, Larry Overton, Tom Holt, and the Rev’ds John Pollock and Peter Stube serving on various committees for The Episcopal Church.  This means that they serve with a large group of laity, bishops, priests, and deacons to hear proposals for resolutions; to review resolutions; and to prepare them for presentation to the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops.  Each of the other deputies and alternate deputies who are here are following a particular ministry’s hearings.  I’m covering Evangelism.

I can feel the excitement and anticipation building.

Posted By: Mrs. Joan Geiszler-Ludlum

I have several lists going in my head as I prepare to travel to General Convention.  The personal list:  stop the newspaper, arrange for cat/house sitter, pick up the dry cleaning, where is my favorite dress, what else do I need to remember to pack?  Then there is the work list:  how do I anticipate every possibility of what may come up while I am gone for two weeks so that I can instruct the staff on how to respond?  Or maybe, what is most likely to arise, and we’ll leave the rest for e-mail and voice mail.  And then there is the General Convention list:  read Bluebook, review Rules of Order, review legislation scheduled for the Cognate Committees on Structure and Church Pension.  I learned this week that I am Legislative Liaison for the Chancellor to the President of the House of Deputies to these two Committees, so I have some proposed legislation to review.