An Alternate View: Being #GC78 Tired

I'm not just tired.....I'm #GC78 tired (but in a great way!)
Today began at 6:50, running to swap credentials at the Salt Palace, followed by delicious quiche at Eva's Boulangerie with lay deputy Edgar Stearns and the chair of our EDOLA deputation Rev'd Sharon Alexander. I was able to meet up again with Brother Jim Woodrum from SSJE for some coffee and conversation and then I made my way to the Media Room. I will probably step into worship a little later, but for now, I can hear the music in the Media area so am content. I'm also not quite ready to throw out my coffee. Today, I'll be an alternate so have a very full day. In fact, I hear from many that we will probably go until 9:00 PM. YIKES!
I had an involved twitter conversation this morning about the decision to leave out the names of performing ensembles and groups in the convention worship bulletins. The music at each service has been excellent and quite varied so that there has been something for everyone, but no names of performers have been given. Each bulletin is a PDF so looks easy to update/alter. Some comments that I received included that
- It is not the Standing Committee on Liturgy & Music's job and that they have no connections with the music planning for worship (I did not know that!)
- Sometimes you can catch the info on the Media Hub
- The SCLM only does work tasked to them by GC resolutions (ok, that makes sense) and their scope is limited
- Some arrangers have been thanked and some copyright info on pieces listed, so there is some info.
Ah, anyway, I can simply point it out and discuss it. I am quite sure that the info is somewhere, but I cannot find it.
I ran into Bishop Michael Curry, our newly-elected presiding bishop, in the hallway and managed to snag a big hug! :-)

                                

I spent the day on the House of Deputies Floor and it was super interesting, but VERY lengthy. Some of the highlights include:
- Heated debate in favor of church planting
- Legislature does tend to run in circles sometimes. There was this issue which took almost 30-45 minutes to solve with several cues from the Parliamentarian.

- Passing the proposed budget for The Episcopal Church (!!!)
See my twitter stream for more! @Conductor222
This evening, I went to a fun restaurant called Wasatch and tomorrow is the final day of convention. I'm trying to steer my thoughts a little bit back to the rest of what's been going on in the world and also look ahead to next Tuesday when I leave for India!!!
Thanks for reading!
Caroline :-)

An Alternate View: Fantastic History Made in The Episcopal Church Today at #GC78

WOW!

That word describes today the best! Hope, happiness, excitement, friendship, history, persistence, LOVE, and WOW!

Bishop Michael Curry has been elected as our 27th Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church! Excellent ENS (Episcopal News Service) articles HERE

Today was INCREDIBLY exciting! I found myself giving a play-by-play of the activity in the House of Deputies as we went back and forth from resolutions, consent calendar, and presiding bishop election procedures. 

To see the tweets I sent out today, click HERE. It gets pretty exciting in the middle! :-)

Here is some video from when Bishop Curry and his family arrived at the House of Deputies after the election. Full video can be found on the General Convention website.

A little more video from the singing that spontaneously broke out when he was announced at the podium by Katharine Jefferts Schori.

My day:
- Legislative hearing on Prayer Book, Liturgy, and Music Commission resolutions A169, C010, and C023. Some very heated debate on both sides of the "Open Table" resolution and its amendments.

- Here's my view as the lovely Native American (Ute Indian I think) music is being played as a meditation. It is so lovely, I hope you've gotten a chance to hear the service.

- The bishops were assembled into St. Mark's Cathedral after worship and began the election process with prayer around 11:30

- I moved to the House of Deputies into the Alternate section and began in legislative session

- I answered questions from blog, Facebook, and Twitter followers about the election process. It's been super nice to know that I can actually provide useful information and that the world of Episcopal social media was also paying attention! I have been a veritable "tweetstorm" here and it has been appreciated by several dioceses, priests, inquirers, Episcopal staff, and organizations, and many more. I can say that it feels really great to be able to speak in this language! :-) I'm blessed and quite grateful for the opportunity!

- Play-by-play coverage of the election of the 27th Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church. It was beyond words. What an historic session and whole day! The collective tension was incredible and the HOD reached a point of defiance. NO ONE wanted to leave the room to wait on the delegation from the House of Bishops to arrive. A while later, when Committee 19 was still deliberating, we were told to break for lunch, and then to break, and then recess, and then to stand at ease. The voice of the people spoke over and the chair of the House wasn't too excited about it, but it was handled well, everyone stayed, and we were in it all together. 

- I attended the first Press conference with PB-elect, Michael Curry in the Canyon Room at the Hilton. It lasted about 35 minutes and can be found at the Media Hub

- Had coffee with Barry, the runner of @iamepiscopalian and many other elements of TEC social media. SUCH a nice person!

                     

- FABULOUS reception for Episcopal Relief and Development for their 75th anniversary! They gave us a gigantic party with wine, delicious foods, a stellar band, happiness, free pins and ---> CHOCOLATE <---

                                           

I'm exhausted after all of this, but as I was walking home.....wait I mean THE SHERATON. As I was walking back to the Sheraton, I thought about all that transpired today, Day # 3 of the General Convention. The first African-American presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church was elected in vast majority on first ballot by both the HOB and the HOD following the first woman presiding bishop. It's the first time two consecutive bishops were elected from the same bishop's class. 

That's simply pure awesomeness. 

I'm so honored to be a part of this historic day in our church!!!

I was so moved by the applause when presiding bishop-elect Curry and his family walked into the House with his family. I was tearing up when the room broke out singing and again when the bishops cheered to show their supportive presence in the back of the House. As I wrote yesterday, there is such love here among this gathering. As Bishop Curry said in his press conference "The truth is: we all come from the same source. We are all brothers and sisters". He spoke a great deal about relationships and emerging connections. He said that when Katharine Jefferts Schori was elected, he said that he (and many) had felt "a movement of the Holy Spirit". He said the he felt that today. I also felt that and I think that most people here today did as well. 

Plenty has been said in the past several days at #GC78 about being a people of love and being connected and supportive, both of humanity and being stewards of God's creation. Today, Bishop Curry said "we are in the business of true love". I believe this and that a part of our job is to reach our neighbor, to be a proactive presence in forming relationships of peace. 

I looked up from my walk and saw this gorgeous view. I had almost forgotten we are surrounded by beautiful mountains, the Wasatch Range. When we're mostly inside buildings and solving the world's issues while walking between said buildings, we sometimes lose site of the actual world around our world. People here are right, we need a shot in the arm of evangelism, of proactiveness (I'm making that a new word), and of ZEST. I have great hope for the coming years in TEC. I hope the Anglican Communion itself will also see this as a movement of hope! I hope we stop to look up and decide to join the beauty of risk, of relationship, and of the movement of the Holy Spirit!

So I made it to my home-away-from-home and am about to happily take a cold shower and eat chocolate! The bar I got is organic, fairly-traded milk chocolate with a hint of hazelnut. I tweeted so much today that I daresay I deserve it :-)

Rest well ye people!

Thank you for reading! Stay tuned,

Caroline

PS - This evening's moon over Salt Lake City!

An Alternate View: A Day of Hospitality, Love, and Legislature #GC78

Today began with passion fruit tea as it was early and HOT. I don't know what I was expecting today, but I headed out to try and catch the shuttle from our hotel to the Salt Palace and....success!

LOVE WINS!

The biggest news of the day for many was the Supreme Court Ruling that Same-Sex Marriage is now legal in all 50 states! I'm so glad for sooooooooo many people!! It has affected things here today as there are many people on either side of the ruling. We must be sensitive to that fact as we move forward in conversation here, especially because of legislative motions on marriage within the church and also rites within Liturgy & Music. Still, here is my favorite picture of the day, from Hilary Clinton's FB page:



The first item on my agenda was the daily Media briefing. Neva Rae Fox is amazing! I'm super grateful to have media credentials and to have a place to go to either catch up on various social media fronts (like the Instagram and Pinterest accounts been ignoring fo a few days!), type up my reports and blog, and it's also a room where I can chill between things if I need to or if I don't see anyone I know between sessions. Here is friendliness!

Having the morning briefings also helps greatly to plan the day. The overall GC schedule is clear, but as a first time alternate, I'm not exactly always connected to the main deputation and their schedule. This is also true because as Media, I have a separate bunch of things to be doing and that I can attend.

I had the great fortune to sit with my bishop this morning during the worship service. The music was a jazz combo and soprano and they were FABULOUS. I must say that I enjoyed ot very much. Not too far away from the written melodies and they even alternated the Widor toccata postlude with jazzy Widor interpretations! The sermon was by The Rev'd Gay Clark Jennings, the president of the House of Deputies and it was terrific! She has a great sense of humor too!

Here's my Bishop Morris K. Thompson singing the first hymn :-) I love my bishop! LOVE!
                                    
After the service, the Young Adult Service Corps missionaries and their Bishop Pierre Whalon. These folks have spent lengthy amounts of time aboard in extremely tough situations. They truly help make the world a better place and have been in front lines providing on-the-ground help and relief to refugees, the homeless, and the marginalized. I was only able to spend 25 minutes there, but it was packed with hope and refreshing willingness to make a difference.

                                 

Now to the joint legislative session! Today, it was about Governance and Structure (GAS, rather than SAG)...there was MUCH discussion regarding what shoud be kept and what should be changed. Alternates were watching people discuss and some of us were indeed discussing the same items amongst ourselves, but....there was verily a great need for snacking.
                                   
There was a nice and thorough introduction to the historical structure and current structure of the Episcopal Church. I was impressed and actually, as an aspirant for the priesthood, and smack dab in the middle of discernment, it was awesome for me to hear it all. I tweeted this out and this was the result!
                                        

Indeed, EVERY coin has two sides :-)
Deputies to tweet lists of what they thought were essential programs, structures, etc, in GC to keep and what to change. Not seeing any tweets from EDOLA, of course I tweeted my opinions.

I left the session a wee bit eatly to return to the cathedral with the media for a special tour and to take photos with my "good camera". I again ran into one of mah best frrrrrrrriends, Chuck Robertson, who asked me if I wanted to do lunch. He was thinking of dropping by the CEEP (Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes) lunch and I had the media session. We realized both events were at St. Mark's Cathedral and we decided to drive over there. This was a most excellent free ride as it was officially --- one million degrees ---

Once at the cathedral, the hospitality was again amazing. Yesterday, I blogged a bit about the exhibits and the church, but here are some more cathedral facts and pictures:

- It's the oldest continuously worshipping house of worship in Utah
- gathered 1860, cornerstone laid 1870
- St. Mark's was the first church in Utah with a bell.
- There are at several Tiffany windows in the sanctuary and they are each worth $1.2 million!

- History of the cathedral
- This is probably THE most hospitable church I've visited. Seriously, they've got it right! :-)
- There's a retreat center at the cathedral and if you're ever in Salt Lake City, go visit!

Afternoon held a legislative session and re-electing Gay Clark Jennings as president of the House of Deputies.There is such appreciation and love in that room and Gay Jennings' re-election without opposition is an example of the bond that has formed over the years with her and the HOD. It was great to see. There were several resolutions and amendments discussed including those from Stewardship & Development. One, A089 (Approve Donor Bill of Rights) is very interesting. Lots of good testimony for and against amending the resolution regarding the rules and situations when donors giving funds for specific gifts and the particular body (church, diocese etc.) cannot fulfill the desired use. "To be assured that their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given" was left without the amendment "to the extent possible". It's really quite eye-opening for me, rarely having witnessed debate and testimony on amendments to resolutions, to see the depths to which each side can interpret the *possible* future repercussions of each line of text!

  
Today, with the Supreme Court ruling, singing alongside my fantastic bishop in morning worship, seeing dearest friends, laughing at #GC78 tweets, sharing food at St. Mark's with new Media friends, and stopping by the calm & quiet prayer chapel in the Salt Palace has shown me greatness, reminded me of the strength of lifelong friendships, and the power of hospitality  :-)
Thank you for reading!
Stay tuned,
Caroline
Previous posts:
1. #GC78 - An Alternate View: 'Twas the Night Before Synod
2. An Alternate View: Heading to #GC78
3. An Alternate View: Arrival Day - IT'S ALL GOOD
4. An Alternate View: Orientation and Presentations, June 24 at #GC78

5. An Alternate View: #GC78 The First Official Day of Convention

An Alternate View: Orientation and Presentations, June 24 at #GC78

Hello everyone!

This morning, (the day before #GC78 officially begins), legislative committee sessions were held at 7:00 AM until 8:30. THIS "having to be awake AND functionally intelligent" thing - whoa....

Let us pray.

Let's just also say the word espresso.

I attended the committee meeting on Prayer Book & Liturgy. Here are the resolutions and amendments that committee is handling. As an alternate, my job is to step in as needed on the House of Deputies floor when one of our deputation needs a break or is sick or needs a whole day away. In addition, I studied three areas of interest:

1. Liturgy & Music

2. Mission

3. Communications & Evangelism (this is the one that led to my using some communications talents and social media to help get the word out about our diocese's experience here at General Convention.)

(media badge)

We opened the Prayer Book, Liturgy & Music Committee meeting with song (Hymn # 362 "Holy, Holy, Holy") and it was evident in verse one that few of us were "morning people", 

By the fourth verse, harmonies were fully present and it actually sounded good. This video is from verse #1. :-)
video (Won't upload from my phone, but will work on it)
Several amendments were presented, discussed, and a few passed.

After this, I headed downstairs to the House of Deputies. Excuse me, but WHAT A GIGANTIC ROOM! easily 800-900 people in here, slightly reminiscent of C-span, yet LOTS more interesting (in my opinion).

SO MANY PEOPLE! I took my place in the section for alternates and plugged in. 

The morning session was a presentation to GC from the Presiding bishop and Gay Clark Jennings (pres. of the HOD - House of Deputies). Presentations were a little bit of orientation and a little bit of procedure about what we have to work on during the convention, officially beginning tomorrow! (June 25-July 3). 

                     

I actually cannot imagine NOT being here a couple of days ahead to hear committees and hearings and to prep on matters at hand. Last night, I got to go to the airport with a friend and pick up a visitor from Korea. My friend has been here for several days and appeared already thoroughly exhausted.
It's certainly eye-opening to see the amount of work that the governing bodies must review, present, discuss, and vote upon.

After a break, an orientation to General Convention was held from 10-12. Alternates were asked to come and sit with their delegations. I found mind hard at work!

                   

                   

So began an introduction to GC followed by a "how-to" session on using the virtual binder. I can handle it. The GC could not pay for wifi for non-committee members in the legislative sessions so THAT was why I couldn't get to the resolutions and access my virtual binder this morning. I did use my phone to look up resolutions and amendments. Wifi is available in all hotels and throughout most of the Convention Center. That is a pretty amazing feat in itself so I am not complaining!

                    

After all the instructions, the parliamentarian showed us examples of secondary amendments. This got hilarious very quickly! It also included a description of what is considered to be "germane" when discussing amendments or secondary amendments. Things can indeed get bogged down when amending amendments, especially in a room of the sleep-deprived and dehydrated deputies :-)

                    

They also showed us how to use the voting devices. I'm glad they plan on reviewing it before every voting session.

                                 

At noon, I went over to the exhibits area in search of food since my breakfast was espresso and being an alternate is a hungry business!
Instead, I ended up watching a discussion by the fellows in mission, led by Canon Mark Stevenson who is the Domestic Poverty Missioner. The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, The Episcopal Church, featured four fellows discussing the inclusion of environmental responsibility and stewardship and care of creation in Christian formation. They also discussed issues such as homelessness and poverty, and what is being done to work towards solving these situations. As I am involved with mission work and lots of you are too, both locally and internationally, I was intensely interested in the conversation. I brought up a point about people who have been displaced and become homeless over a long decline after a natural disaster. A riveting discussion ensued. These fellows and heads of mission programming around the country are doing amazing work and from what I understand, doing it without a very big budget.

After this engaging presentation, I picked up an apple and a bagel and headed back into the HOD for a presentation by each of the four nominees for presiding bishops. 

                       

The nominees are:
The Rt. Rev. Thomas E. Breidenthal, Bishop of the Diocese of Southern Ohio
The Rt. Rev. Michael B. Curry, Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina
The Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas, Bishop of the Diocese of Connecticut
The Rt. Rev. Dabney T. Smith, Bishop of the Diocese of Southwest Florida
We then listened to what the spirit was telling the church...

                             

Here is more info on the nominees
After opening videos, each gave his own personal statement to the joint session. Then, we waited a few moments and a big bowl was brought out. Inside the bowl were colorful pieces of paper with the categories pictured below. Each nominee chose a paper and called out the color and number which led to a question being read from someone on the floor. This session lasted a loooooooong time, BUT was extremely worth it with the diversity of the questions and the unique and fantastic answers from each nominee. It felt a wee bit like a game show, but I think some levity is good. Keep it light y'all.

We took another standing/stretching break and all said the Lord's Prayer Together. That was an especially moving moment. It's also what it's all about. It's about us being in community together without division even though we may have distinctions and varying opinions.
I was impressed with each candidate and his eloquence in answering each question given. All were impressive and each had his own moments of truly sharing his own style and way of speaking. If you'd like to know who I think the new PB will be, email me for my prediction or comment below!
After a few breaks and lots more questions, each nominee had two minutes to either return to a question they had been asked or to answer a question they had not been asked. Then, they each had time to give formal, final statements. The two-minute statements were a combination of thanks, gratitude, and love to the nominating committee, their families, to each other, and their dioceses. Such love! All four did well today.

When the session was over, I came back to the hotel for a little rest before this evening's legislative session from 7-8:30 PM. I am already wiped out. Not sure if I'll try to go to dinner, but since I still had delicious leftovers from last night's Beef Stroganoff (YUM), I'll eat some now to tide me over :-) I think the arid environment is also getting to me - I had a small nosebleed earlier today. I've been drinking water almost constantly, but I am simply not used to it being so dry! 

Thank you very much for reading and I hope you'll stay tuned :-)

Caroline

#GC77 and Social Media

I'm sending this in from New Orleans in hopes that it will be helpful in the testimony for Resolution DO69 regarding the Social Media Challenge to the Episcopal Church.

I believe it to be 100% necessary that we in the Episcopal church as staff, clergy, and congregants, engage ourselves and our communities by using social media. It's usually free, it's usually rapid, and it can be fun and informative. Can many of you fathom doing business without using email? Often, social media is checked more frequently than email.

Yes, we must take the good with the bad, we must also discern how often to use social media and when to put down phones and "Be still". It is a challenge, but I accept it!

Just from this #GC77 Twitter stream and Media Hub, I have learned more about the inner workings and procedures of the Episcopal Church in four days than in my entire life. I've been able to participate in conversations with people of all ages, genders, opinions, and in many levels of church life. Relationships are being formed that are affecting me positively in my faith and theological development. I am inspired by witnessing this convention and its activity.

I have watched both the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops and worship services. What has it done? It has inspired me, made me more proud than ever to be an Episcopalian - we're the ones who are willing to discuss, to argue, to challenge. Social media provides another language with which to communicate.

It has been only through Twitter and the Steaming media that I have learned:
- Our youth are aware and articulate in their spiritual growth - perhaps more than anyone gave them credit before and that we now realize that they are the future - right now.
- I'm learning that our church is NOT dying.
- I saw that Bonnie Anderson is a gracefully eloquent speaker who radiates friendliness - "Madam"....er....Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts-Schori has a stellar sense of humor and is completely amazing
- Whoever runs @iamepiscopalian is kind, quick-witted
- Lent Madness is superb and educational
- Church Publishing is approachable, responsive and has swag (just ask them about #totebagenvy)

The aforementioned items may seem silly, BUT I truly feel as if I have gotten to know a tiny bit about the bigger picture....the interactive picture of our church that I have not seen or felt in a long while. As a musician, I often get bogged down in my own conducting / singing  world and colleagues. Through social media, I now have a much wider view of the functioning Episcopal Church to which I belong....all in four days. For me, at this time in my life, this is exactly what I needed at this moment.

Caroline in NOLA