Meeting New People

Posted By: Mrs. Ann Bustard

As a deputy to General Convention 2009, we have had wonderful opportunities to meet other deputies in legislative committees, legislation sessions, and chance meetings!  For me, it is very important that I am intentional about meeting others whom I have never met before.  As I have listened to the stories of others, and heard their prayers and concerns, my life has been enriched to the point that I shall remember these stories in the days ahead with thanksgiving.

Dear friends,

Posted By: The Rev. Canon Peter Stube

I greet you from the 76th General Convention in Anaheim.  To be with so many diverse people from every part of the country and 17 other countries is an amazing experience.  There are several languages that are the heart language of deputations: English, Spanish, French, Dakota to name a few. Worship together is diverse, joyful, creative and delightful.  I find myself dreaming about what you all might find meaningful as well.

WYS ain’t WYG

Posted By: The Rev. Canon Matthew Stockard

Newspaper coverage is interesting to those of us who are actually in the rooms while legislation is being debated. This week, Episcopalians in both Houses of this body took up some pretty interesting stuff. There is an amazing evangelism project which will provide support to developing and supporting Latino churches. We’ve updated disciplinary procedures and rules. Yesterday, we dealt with a serious budget crisis which will bring about drastic and dramatic changes in the ways in which ministry is undertaken in this church. We also watched and sought to care for shocked people in our midst as some church center staffers realized their jobs are coming to an end. In the midst of such pain, our church recommitted itself to mission in numerous ways, and yesterday the House of Deputies carried a provincial acceptance of the recent Anglican Covenant.

D025 – what it is and what it isn’t.

[View resolution D025 in its final form here]

D025 reaffirms resolution A159 of the 2006 General Convention – it affirms our commitment to the Anglican Communion, of which we are a constituent member, and which is a rich tapestry of ministries and networks as well as personal relationships. It isn’t a huge Church, like the Roman Catholic Church, but is an aggregation of independent national Churches.

Some early reflections from Bishop Daniel on Resolution D025

Yesterday afternoon (July 13) the House of Bishops took up Resolution D025, a multilayered resolution which I hope you will read in its entirety before you continue reading these reflections. [View the final version of the resolution here] The resolution reaffirms our Church’s continuing and deep commitment – spiritual, financial and missional – to life and relationships in the Anglican Communion. It goes on to reaffirm that we continue to be governed by the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church as our Anglican polity requires. The resolution also points to and gives thanks for the ministry of lay and ordained gay and lesbian people in this Church as well as this Church’s understanding that the call to ordained ministry comes from God and in the mystery of that reality, notes that the call to ordained ministry may come to any baptized person.

The Infinity of Welcome

From Deacon David Crabtree of the Diocese of North Carolina and longtime friend of East Carolina Episcopalians (not to mention his work in broadcasting):

Across the front of the gigantic Anaheim Convention Center is a gigantic banner.
I’ve seen the message hundreds of times before yet this time the words lept toward me.
The leaping came because of the size of the words. The size of the words. Not the size of the lettering.
“The Episcopal Church welcomes You.” Only five words. Five words with profound meaning.

We, as Episcopalians have struggled, are struggling and will continue to struggle with exactly who and what we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going and more importantly what are we called to do and how are we answering. These questions and their ultimate diverse answers are welcomed into our magnificent, if sometimes quirky spiritual sanctuary known as the Episcopal Church.

All About the Relationship

Posted By: Ms. Keri Dixon

I have had a chance by now to sit in on and see some of the different types of interactions that happen at General Convention.  I have seen the Exhibition Hall which is large and a bit overwhelming with all that it offers.  I have seen the Communions and daily Eucharists in all of their multi-cultural glory. I have seen the House of Deputies during some intense conversations.  And I have seen, in every one of these audiences, many different forms of communication. It all feels thought out and every aspect well considered.

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.

The ABC and the MDG’s

Posted By: The Rev. John Pollock

The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Rowan Williams has been with us for a part of convention.  On Wednesday evening he spoke as part of a panel on Christian Faithfulness and the global economic crisis.  The ABC is a remarkably deep thinker and clear speaker.  His basic message was that the current economic crisis has been a crisis in “truth telling.”   He said that there has been breakdown in trustworthiness, that we have not been truthful to ourselves as to our relationship to creation and our relationship with one another in the human family.

The text of the Archbishop’s comments to Convention on July 9th

The Most Rev’d Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

The 76th General Convention of The Episcopal Church

July 9, 2009

Meditation at the Eucharist

One thing you learn very quickly as Archbishop of Canterbury is that everything you say is scrutinised and interpreted and picked over for hidden meanings and agendas. Something tells me today will be no exception…

But because I don’t actually like coded messages or hidden agendas, and because I believe they’re an aspect of a whole rather unhealthy culture of suspicion – not to mention conspiracy theories – I’m going to begin by saying two things as simply and directly as I can, so that we can get on to the more important matter of reflecting together on the Scripture passages we have been given in this Eucharist.