5:00am – wake up (thank you jet lag)
6:45am – Coffee.
7:00am – Registration in the convention center
Saw Helen from Cape Cod on the way in. She had to drop off cd's at a marketplace booth, so we went over to registration together. Turns out they wouldn't let her in to drop them off, so we wandered off the the Marriott for New Deputy Orientation.
8:00am – New Deputy Orientation
Problem is, no one at the Marriott seemed to be aware that there was orientation scheduled. So, we were shepherded into a ballroom, only to be told a few minutes later that it was canceled. Oh well.
That just means more time to kill.
8:45-12:00 – wander back and forth through the convention center, doing my own orientation. I'm thinking the observation deck would be a nice place to have convention. Warm, sunny, you get the picture. End up sitting around and looking at all the legislation that I was given with my ginormous binder at registration.
12:00 – Marketplace opens.
A cadre of drum-playing dancing kids led the procession into the marketplace hall. I spent some time wandering around just to get familiar with what is there. As I'm walking by one booth, I hear someone call my name. It was Keith Owen, the rector in Lakewood. I was surprised to see him there! He is working a booth for St. George's College, Jerusalem. He did the same thing in Columbus, where it wasn't unusual to see a Diocese of Ohio person, but he totally threw me off guard in Anaheim. Ran into Brian Wilbert, who not only had a hellish flight out, but left his camera battery charger in Ohio. (Later Stephen ordered one for him from Amazon and it will be here tomorrow. Love technology!) Also ran into Lynette and Art Williams, who are very excited that Ellen and the kids are going to come out next week. Lynette says, “your family is so neat!”
12:30 – Program, Budget, and Finance Hearing on Budget Priorities
People would come to the podium and speak for three minutes on what they felt should be the priorities with regard to the budget for the next triennium. At first I thought it must be pretty boring for the committee members as there is a lot of people just saying the same basic thing. Then I realized that it's not so much what was being said, or how it was being said, it was the fact that it was being said. My takeaway from the 45 minutes I was there was that people want the 0.7% Millennium Development Goal line item added back into the budget, and they believe that youth, indigenous ministry, and leadership resources/formation should be priorities.
2:00 – Address by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson. Our deputation has pretty good seats for this. We're assigned to tables and we are right in front of the stage, in the second and third rows.
2:45 – Shift right into the beginning of this “public narrative” project we are supposed to be learning. Hmm. We'll see.
4:00 – Orientation.
For real. For all the deputies. We learned how to use the little voting keypad, and Gay Jennings had us all (the whole House of Deputies) watch a role play about how resolutions come to the floor, get debated, and get acted upon. It was really good. Included a resolution proposed by Deputy Hannah from the Diocese of Montana, and debate featured Deputy Eeyore from the Diocese of Pooh Corner, and Deputy Cinderella from the Diocese of Bippity-boppity-boo.
5:30 – Reception sponsored by the Chicago Consultation.
Free drink ticket (traded it for a $9.00 glass of Chardonnay), and lots of hors d'ouvres. Dinner. Met the Presiding Bishop. Met Susan Russell, the president of Integrity USA, and spoke with Bishop Gene Robinson for a few minutes. (Reminded him that we met at Bishop Hollingsworth's consecration, and that he knows my cousin.)
7:00 – Committee Meetings
Started in Communications, because that's the committee I would like to follow, except Stephen is on that committee so I should probably follow another one. I won't figure that out until tomorrow morning, so I went there anyway. After that one let out early, I went to Prayer Book, Liturgy, and Music, where I watched them discuss additions to the calendar of “saints”.
9:00 – Back to my room. Shoes off, feet up, and hitting the hay soon.
Tomorrow starts at 6:30 with a deputation and bishops caucus in “the suite”. Alan says that if I want to stay on his wife's good side, I'll knock on the suite door at 6:30, and not his room. Important safety tip.
6:45am – Coffee.
7:00am – Registration in the convention center
Saw Helen from Cape Cod on the way in. She had to drop off cd's at a marketplace booth, so we went over to registration together. Turns out they wouldn't let her in to drop them off, so we wandered off the the Marriott for New Deputy Orientation.
8:00am – New Deputy Orientation
Problem is, no one at the Marriott seemed to be aware that there was orientation scheduled. So, we were shepherded into a ballroom, only to be told a few minutes later that it was canceled. Oh well.
That just means more time to kill.
8:45-12:00 – wander back and forth through the convention center, doing my own orientation. I'm thinking the observation deck would be a nice place to have convention. Warm, sunny, you get the picture. End up sitting around and looking at all the legislation that I was given with my ginormous binder at registration.
12:00 – Marketplace opens.
A cadre of drum-playing dancing kids led the procession into the marketplace hall. I spent some time wandering around just to get familiar with what is there. As I'm walking by one booth, I hear someone call my name. It was Keith Owen, the rector in Lakewood. I was surprised to see him there! He is working a booth for St. George's College, Jerusalem. He did the same thing in Columbus, where it wasn't unusual to see a Diocese of Ohio person, but he totally threw me off guard in Anaheim. Ran into Brian Wilbert, who not only had a hellish flight out, but left his camera battery charger in Ohio. (Later Stephen ordered one for him from Amazon and it will be here tomorrow. Love technology!) Also ran into Lynette and Art Williams, who are very excited that Ellen and the kids are going to come out next week. Lynette says, “your family is so neat!”
12:30 – Program, Budget, and Finance Hearing on Budget Priorities
People would come to the podium and speak for three minutes on what they felt should be the priorities with regard to the budget for the next triennium. At first I thought it must be pretty boring for the committee members as there is a lot of people just saying the same basic thing. Then I realized that it's not so much what was being said, or how it was being said, it was the fact that it was being said. My takeaway from the 45 minutes I was there was that people want the 0.7% Millennium Development Goal line item added back into the budget, and they believe that youth, indigenous ministry, and leadership resources/formation should be priorities.
2:00 – Address by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson. Our deputation has pretty good seats for this. We're assigned to tables and we are right in front of the stage, in the second and third rows.
2:45 – Shift right into the beginning of this “public narrative” project we are supposed to be learning. Hmm. We'll see.
4:00 – Orientation.
For real. For all the deputies. We learned how to use the little voting keypad, and Gay Jennings had us all (the whole House of Deputies) watch a role play about how resolutions come to the floor, get debated, and get acted upon. It was really good. Included a resolution proposed by Deputy Hannah from the Diocese of Montana, and debate featured Deputy Eeyore from the Diocese of Pooh Corner, and Deputy Cinderella from the Diocese of Bippity-boppity-boo.
5:30 – Reception sponsored by the Chicago Consultation.
Free drink ticket (traded it for a $9.00 glass of Chardonnay), and lots of hors d'ouvres. Dinner. Met the Presiding Bishop. Met Susan Russell, the president of Integrity USA, and spoke with Bishop Gene Robinson for a few minutes. (Reminded him that we met at Bishop Hollingsworth's consecration, and that he knows my cousin.)
7:00 – Committee Meetings
Started in Communications, because that's the committee I would like to follow, except Stephen is on that committee so I should probably follow another one. I won't figure that out until tomorrow morning, so I went there anyway. After that one let out early, I went to Prayer Book, Liturgy, and Music, where I watched them discuss additions to the calendar of “saints”.
9:00 – Back to my room. Shoes off, feet up, and hitting the hay soon.
Tomorrow starts at 6:30 with a deputation and bishops caucus in “the suite”. Alan says that if I want to stay on his wife's good side, I'll knock on the suite door at 6:30, and not his room. Important safety tip.
July 8, 2009 at 10:08 AM
This is terrific - I feel like I'm there. Mom