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Monday, June 1, 2015

#GC78 - An Alternate View: 'Twas the Night Before Synod

'Twas the night before Synod and all through the house....
Was an air of excitement and actually some Strauss (Richard, not kidding)
As I laid out my jammies in my carry-on bag
I thought to myself, it's starting to sag...

Would there be room? I hoped it'd be so
For to Synod without it, I could not dare go
My GC ring binder, yes that big ole thing
It has to come with me, this new kind of bling.

So I made room and stuffed it, thank goodness it fits
And now, all checked in, on my sofa I sits.
Pondering GC, psyched for all things new
I plan on sharing An Alternate View :-) 

(and a-plenty of deplorably-written poetry)
It is indeed the evening before I head to my very first Province IV Synod meeting as I type this. I'm excited! Being from South Carolina and familiar with the North Carolina mountains and areas such as, Hendersonville, Asheville, Highlands, Cashiers, etc. it is amazing to be that I've never been to Kanuga. I decided to go up a day before the Province IV Synod meeting begins and have a look around, take some photos, and just chill out in the rainy mountain air. I'm very honored and excited to have the wonderful opportunity to be a first alternate for the Diocese of Louisiana (EDOLA) for the Episcopal General Convention 2015 ( #GC78 ) For the past three years, I've been involved at the diocesan level, representing St. Paul's Episcopal, New Orleans as a delegate for our diocesan convention. For two of those years, I've helped with the music and have been a member of the convention planning committee. I also had the great fortune to help out with photography and enjoyed tweeting the conventions. I have LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT! 
This year, we had an ordination at the opening convention Eucharist - wonderful!
Photo by Caroline Carson
Here's a link to a few of my EDOLA 2015 photos on Flickr
Here are some from EDOLA 2014

So how am I going to #GC78? Last year, at the last minute, my name was put in for an election of lay alternates to GC78. I wasn't elected, but I did get something like 16 votes, which was AMAZING. Rock on. The following day, there was some sort of run-off and I was not present, but my name ended up in the mix and I was elected to be a second alternate! This past January, a change in deputation allowed for me to move up to first alternate so I am ELATED to be able to go and work, officially! The money I had saved up last year to "go no matter what" is now being used to return to India on mission in Mungeli so I am truly TRULY blessed beyond belief in many ways!
The areas I chose to examine are Liturgy & Music and Communications. Because our diocesan communications officer is not able to go in person, she has media credentials off site and will be doing the bulk of the work from New Orleans. I am honored to help in anyway that I can, gathering "human interest" stories, tweeting, and taking tons of photographs. I'll also be blogging some of my photographs and moments from GC here.
I made sure to attend the Episcopal Communicators conference at The Claggett Center this April. It was truly fabulous and everyone I met has been both helpful and super friendly! I have a few interviews set up and will be interviewing our Bishop Morris K. Thompson while in NC at the Synod meeting! See? IT'S ALL EXCITING!!!!!!!!!!
Stay tuned...

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