By Torey Lightcap
I once read some of the proceedings of a dialogue between Methodists of northern and southern influence during the period of Reconstruction. Much of the dialogue was verbatim. They began on the first day in high style, praising one another and thanking one another for gracing their meeting with each other’s presence. By the seventh day all decorum had been dispensed with and they were practically hurling bricks across the room.
I mention that only because this particular meeting has most decidedly been a different experience. It’s generally a cheery crowd, if appropriately somber at times. By God’s grace the Spirit has led us out of the worst of the recent fighting and down a trail of friendship. The governance of the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement is amicable and on the move.
Yet the wear on people is beginning to show. The mind can absorb no more than what the body can take; and many here are perhaps unused to heat, humidity, crowds, 24/7 church-nerdery, being constantly asked for money by the same strangers in our downtown complex, or catching the cadences of snappy Texas twang.
My wife and I were residents of Austin for the three years that I was in seminary, and so this is perhaps a more comfortable place for me than it might be for some. But even my mind can only absorb what my body can take. So we rest; we eat a piece of fruit; we drink more water and coffee; we call and text those at home to stay connected; and we knuckle under and commit to being even more kind, even more forbearing and present than we have been.
Here, then, is the “too long, didn’t read” version of my report, and then if you want you can keep reading: this is all good and important work, with many key decisions coming forth. Most of the decisions won’t be usefully debatable beyond the scope of this meeting, but much will remain for those in our diocese to implement. So we are all as dialed in as we can be at this point.
This morning, July 11 (or, if you prefer, the more dramatic “Seventh Day”) of General Convention, we in the House of Deputies concurred with the House of Bishops on a resolution to readmit La Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba as a diocese in union with our General Convention (undoing a painful actions dating to 1966). A historic vote was taken. The standard for the Cuba deputation was brought forward and the deputation entered the convention hall to shouts and hoots and claps. I could almost see Larry Bingham silently smiling on everything.
Bishop Griselda Delgado de Carpio, speaking through an interpreter, said, “Right now I know that the Holy Spirit is blowing upon this entire convention ... to make sure that we fulfill the needs of this world. We meet like this in convention to put the family in order, and this is done ... so we can welcome each other. We are a family that keeps growing .... The Spirit is moving everywhere ... I want to thank the Lord and the Trinity for this prophetic moment that we’re experiencing. You have opened the doors ... we have done all of this in the spirit of this moment, when two churches are becoming one.”
We briefly stood to remember those who had gone before. There was sustained applause. Gifts were given. The President of the House of Deputies, The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, asked that the new deputation members from Cuba be seated “inmediatamente.” So now we can say that The Episcopal Church has 111 dioceses, which has a nice ring to it. God is really doing a new thing!
And then...
We unanimously (!!!) approved a resolution on second reading to amend the Constitution to clean up language and clear up understanding around how new dioceses are formed or divided.
We allocated $5 million to fund the work of an effort to “[organize] our efforts to respond to racial injustice and grow a Beloved Community of healers, justice makers and reconcilers.”
We approved and funded a resolution to “research sexism in The Episcopal Church, and the role it plays in pay equity, status, and gender-based harassment” and to report back to the next General Convention.
We approved a change to the House of Deputies Rules of Order concerning parents nursing or bottle-feeding their children. The changes were proposed by Kansas deputy Michael Funston (!) in response to a mother/deputy from Colorado being very unfortunately denied the ability to enter the House of Deputies with her nursing baby, Trixie. I testified to it a few days ago in committee and, with my wife’s helpful input, reminded the committee that here in Texas, according to state law, “the baby can be fed wherever the mother has the right to be.” We should have kept up with this faster than the state, but here we are, and it’s done!
We clarified the process for oversight of electing a Bishop Suffragan for the Armed Forces.
We approved two rounds of Privilege and Courtesy resolutions celebrating the work of The Widows Corporation and the various assisting personnel who helped at General Convention. This was the committee I was assigned to as vice-chair and chaplain, and it was fun to help produce this legislation and watch it come to the floor. The commendations, memorials and acclamations of a General Convention aren’t fluff; they’re an important part of the function of the whole body in what they convey to the wider world.
We adopted a resolution that would help collect data concerning Title IV proceedings and benefit trainers.
We celebrated the work of the Rev. Floberg of Cannonball, North Dakota, who has stood with the water protectors at Standing Rock.
And all of that, and a lot more, happened in just two-and-a-half hours.
Since I’ve been working straight through for the past eight days, and I’m overdue, a duly elected and appointed alternate will sit in my chair this afternoon and tomorrow, and I’m quite sure he’ll work with great care and diligence.
It seems that every day we are putting our hands to something significant, historic, fundamental. It is a privilege to serve the Episcopal Church as a deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of Kansas, and I look forward to the next three years’ worth of work taking us to Baltimore for the 2021 General Convention.
See you back at home!
I once read some of the proceedings of a dialogue between Methodists of northern and southern influence during the period of Reconstruction. Much of the dialogue was verbatim. They began on the first day in high style, praising one another and thanking one another for gracing their meeting with each other’s presence. By the seventh day all decorum had been dispensed with and they were practically hurling bricks across the room.
I mention that only because this particular meeting has most decidedly been a different experience. It’s generally a cheery crowd, if appropriately somber at times. By God’s grace the Spirit has led us out of the worst of the recent fighting and down a trail of friendship. The governance of the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement is amicable and on the move.
Yet the wear on people is beginning to show. The mind can absorb no more than what the body can take; and many here are perhaps unused to heat, humidity, crowds, 24/7 church-nerdery, being constantly asked for money by the same strangers in our downtown complex, or catching the cadences of snappy Texas twang.
My wife and I were residents of Austin for the three years that I was in seminary, and so this is perhaps a more comfortable place for me than it might be for some. But even my mind can only absorb what my body can take. So we rest; we eat a piece of fruit; we drink more water and coffee; we call and text those at home to stay connected; and we knuckle under and commit to being even more kind, even more forbearing and present than we have been.
Here, then, is the “too long, didn’t read” version of my report, and then if you want you can keep reading: this is all good and important work, with many key decisions coming forth. Most of the decisions won’t be usefully debatable beyond the scope of this meeting, but much will remain for those in our diocese to implement. So we are all as dialed in as we can be at this point.
This morning, July 11 (or, if you prefer, the more dramatic “Seventh Day”) of General Convention, we in the House of Deputies concurred with the House of Bishops on a resolution to readmit La Iglesia Episcopal de Cuba as a diocese in union with our General Convention (undoing a painful actions dating to 1966). A historic vote was taken. The standard for the Cuba deputation was brought forward and the deputation entered the convention hall to shouts and hoots and claps. I could almost see Larry Bingham silently smiling on everything.
Bishop Griselda Delgado de Carpio, speaking through an interpreter, said, “Right now I know that the Holy Spirit is blowing upon this entire convention ... to make sure that we fulfill the needs of this world. We meet like this in convention to put the family in order, and this is done ... so we can welcome each other. We are a family that keeps growing .... The Spirit is moving everywhere ... I want to thank the Lord and the Trinity for this prophetic moment that we’re experiencing. You have opened the doors ... we have done all of this in the spirit of this moment, when two churches are becoming one.”
We briefly stood to remember those who had gone before. There was sustained applause. Gifts were given. The President of the House of Deputies, The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, asked that the new deputation members from Cuba be seated “inmediatamente.” So now we can say that The Episcopal Church has 111 dioceses, which has a nice ring to it. God is really doing a new thing!
And then...
We unanimously (!!!) approved a resolution on second reading to amend the Constitution to clean up language and clear up understanding around how new dioceses are formed or divided.
We allocated $5 million to fund the work of an effort to “[organize] our efforts to respond to racial injustice and grow a Beloved Community of healers, justice makers and reconcilers.”
We approved and funded a resolution to “research sexism in The Episcopal Church, and the role it plays in pay equity, status, and gender-based harassment” and to report back to the next General Convention.
We approved a change to the House of Deputies Rules of Order concerning parents nursing or bottle-feeding their children. The changes were proposed by Kansas deputy Michael Funston (!) in response to a mother/deputy from Colorado being very unfortunately denied the ability to enter the House of Deputies with her nursing baby, Trixie. I testified to it a few days ago in committee and, with my wife’s helpful input, reminded the committee that here in Texas, according to state law, “the baby can be fed wherever the mother has the right to be.” We should have kept up with this faster than the state, but here we are, and it’s done!
We clarified the process for oversight of electing a Bishop Suffragan for the Armed Forces.
We approved two rounds of Privilege and Courtesy resolutions celebrating the work of The Widows Corporation and the various assisting personnel who helped at General Convention. This was the committee I was assigned to as vice-chair and chaplain, and it was fun to help produce this legislation and watch it come to the floor. The commendations, memorials and acclamations of a General Convention aren’t fluff; they’re an important part of the function of the whole body in what they convey to the wider world.
We adopted a resolution that would help collect data concerning Title IV proceedings and benefit trainers.
We celebrated the work of the Rev. Floberg of Cannonball, North Dakota, who has stood with the water protectors at Standing Rock.
And all of that, and a lot more, happened in just two-and-a-half hours.
Since I’ve been working straight through for the past eight days, and I’m overdue, a duly elected and appointed alternate will sit in my chair this afternoon and tomorrow, and I’m quite sure he’ll work with great care and diligence.
It seems that every day we are putting our hands to something significant, historic, fundamental. It is a privilege to serve the Episcopal Church as a deputy to General Convention from the Diocese of Kansas, and I look forward to the next three years’ worth of work taking us to Baltimore for the 2021 General Convention.
See you back at home!