no more bedhead

Ellen and the kids arrived at General Convention on Thursday. Jim was able to make the drive with them, so the driving and kid-wrangling wasn't so overwhelming. I talked to Ellen when they were about an hour out, and she said she would call me when they got to the hotel. I got the call right at 2:00, just as Bonnie Anderson was announcing that the House of Deputies would come to order in one minute.

After our session I went back to the hotel room and saw everyone. Was mobbed by the kids, actually. The idea was to come into town in time to go to the U2charist, so that was the next thing on our agenda. We got to the ballroom, the service started, and three of the four kids fell asleep. We decided to take them back to the room, and Jim offered to stay with them while Ellen and I went back to the U2charist. In the elevator on the way back we decided to skip the rest of the service, and hit the hotel bar. Good move.

Friday, while I was in the final sessions, everyone else wandered around the neighborhood (heading toward Disney), then they discovered the hotel pool, and hung out there the rest of the day. Dinner was at the New Orleans style restaurant in Downtown Disney, then some browsing on our way back. But the kids did get to see the fireworks from just outside the park.

Jim really wanted to see the Pacific Ocean, and Ellen and the kids had never been there either, so today we piled into the car and drove to Newport Beach. The beach was very different from the one we are used to (Nantucket Sound at Cape Cod). It went on for miles in either direction, and the walk from the boardwalk/sidewalk to the ocean must have been 400 feet (instead of the 4 feet at high tide in Cape Cod! - I exaggerate, but not by much.). The waves were pretty big, and the kids had a fun time playing in the surf. And getting their clothes wet even though we tried to minimize that. But the most amazing thing to me was that there was hardly anyone there. It was a beautiful Saturday morning and there couldn't have been more than two or three dozen people as far as the eye could see. I guess that's what happens when you have these enormous stretches of beach.

On the way to Newport Beach we passed the former Tower Records store in Costa Mesa. It's just sitting empty and falling apart. Sad.

Jim's flight is this evening – he is taking the red-eye back to Tallahassee – so we got him on the shuttle to the airport, then we decided to go visit Disneyland. We got these 5 day passes (for the price of a 3 day pass – what a deal!! Thanks, Mom!) so we figured we'd better get hopping as we are supposed to leave LA on Tuesday (although I'm thinking an extra day might not be so bad).

Our first evening at Disney was spent getting a feel for the park layout, what rides there were, and trying some things. We did some things like the Matterhorn, and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, both of which were met with mixed results, to say the least. I had promised Keke that I would take her on the Matterhorn as that was the first roller coaster I had ever been on. I thought it was great, but she was not a big fan. As a matter of fact she hid her head, and tried to duck down during the whole ride. Stewie wasn't a fan either, but I think that was because it shook you back and forth too much. Ellen didn't enjoy it because she spent the whole time keeping Munchkin from sliding down onto the floor of the car.

Speaking of Munchkin and rides, she got off Mr. Toad's Wild Ride and announced that she was never going on it again. What we were able to determine is that it wasn't the intensity of the ride so much as it was that she thought she was actually driving the car, and she wasn't doing a good job of it. Hmmm...better ride prep next time.

At the end of the evening we left Disneyland and went over to Disney's California Adventure. We went specifically for, and got there just in time for, the Main Street Electrical Parade. Of course, since it's now not on Main Street, USA, it's just the Disney Electrical Parade. Still, the magic is there - floats that are lit up and sparkly, and the characters are in lighted-up costumes. I think the music is the same as it was when I was little. The most fascinating thing in the parade was Elliot, the dragon from Pete's Dragon. Amazing, since the movie is not available (AFAIK), but the kids were mesmerized by the disappearing dragon. We'll have to see if we can rent it somewhere when we get home.

Once the parade ended, we left the park, watched the fireworks from the plaza in between the two parks, and then headed home (to the hotel).

I had a luncheon today that was sponsored by the Chicago Consultation. The theme was “Doing Justice, Building Communion.” As I walked into the room, Bishop Robinson gave me a nod and said “hello” from across the room. Once he had finished his conversation, he came over and greeted me and we chatted for a few minutes. I thought that was pretty neat, although I was aware that he was acting as greeter for the event. Still, he remembered me, and I'd only met him twice.

I looked down at the name card that I had been given to find that I had been assigned to table number seven. Since part of this event was designed to have us discuss the topic with our table mates, the Chicago Consultation, in their wisdom, sat those of us from the same diocese at different tables. I set off to find table seven. As I found it, I had to pass by Dr. Jenny Te Paa, the "ahorangi" or dean of Te Rau Kahikatea (College of St. John the Evangelist) in Auckland, New Zealand. She is one of the smartest people I have ever heard talk. I saw her speak at the General Convention in Columbus, and she addressed the House of Deputies yesterday, in a speech that can only be described as “transformational”. However, I digress...

So, as I'm passing by Dr. Te Paa, I realize that she, too, is assigned to table seven. Not only that, there is an empty seat next to her. So, I casually meander over to it and place my name card on the table, all the while thinking “Oh. My. God. I'm going to sit next to Jenny Te Paa for this lunchtime discussion.” It turns out that she was one of the speakers for the luncheon, and she delivered another brilliant speech about the Anglican Communion, justice, and the Episcopal Church.

Our discussion was really very good, with all of us at the table sharing our stories of how we came to be interested in the call of justice, or the work of the Chicago Consultation, or the issues facing the Anglican Communion. It was great, if not a little nerve-wracking, to have to tell my story to Jenny (she said I could call her Jenny – how cool), but she was very gracious and as I said, it was a good discussion.

I should mention that also at the table were Bishop Henry Parsley from Alabama, Bishop John Chane from Washington DC, Esther Mombo from Kenya, who also addressed the convention yesterday, and three other deputies.

The other thing that happened today was that we (the House of Deputies) passed Resolution D025, which is our response to Resolution B033. It is a very pastoral response that I believe spells out how we intend to remain in relationship with the rest of the Anglican Communion, while still stating/embracing who we are as an inclusive church. Gay Jennings (the chair of our deputation) is the chair of the World Mission committee, whose members listened to testimony about and debated all of the resolutions that had been presented about this. After the session ended for the day I told her that I thought the resolution that she had presented was a good one and that I had come to Anaheim with the belief that B033 should be overturned. Through the conversations that I had during the week, I came to realize that doing so could cause more pain, and potentially push people out, and the last thing I want to do is exclude anyone. I told Gay that, to me, D025 spoke to exactly where I was with the issue.

Now, will the bishops concur?

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, visited General Convention this week. He didn't address the House of Deputies, sadly, but he did participate in a panel discussion about the Global Economic Crisis, and met with various groups during his time with us. He also presented the meditation at our worship service on Thursday. By sheer happenstance, we had an event in the same space right before the service, in which we had assigned seats. The deputation from Ohio was seated two tables away from the main stage. This is a picture I took of the archbishop.

The House of Deputies meets in a large hall in the convention center. The deputations from all across the church gather together in part of the room that is cordoned off from the rest. At the gaps in the cordons, there are volunteers whose job is to make sure that only properly credentialed deputies are allowed in that area. They do their job really well. Sitting outside the area are provisional (alternate) deputies, guests, other volunteers, visitors, the press, and anyone else who has an interest in what the HoD is doing.

There is quite the "hustle and bustle" of convention with people who are running for office trying to hand you flyers, people rushing to committee meetings or looking at the schedule to see where their committee meetings are being held, vendors, convention center staff, etc. It's quite busy.

The one thing I have found is that once I am approved by the volunteers and enter that cordoned off area, I feel safe. It almost feels like I am in a cocoon. I know that there will be no outside influences or distractions, and that I can concentrate on the business at hand. All of the deputies are there for the same purpose, and while I may not agree with come of them, I know that all the discussion will be civil. It's a pretty neat feeling.

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Our worship services are bilingual. I was expecting that, as I had experienced that in Columbus in 2006. However, this year I made the conscious decision NOT to look at the English translation when we were praying in Spanish. I decided to let the beauty of the language cascade over me. I discovered that it allowed me to focus not on the words themselves, but the cadence and rhythm, and in doing so it provided me with a whole different level of spirituality. I don't know what I'm saying when I'm speaking the Spanish words (other than I know what part of the service we are at so I kind of have an idea), but I speak them to the best of my ability. It's a very transformational experience.

The other part of our worship services that I am struck by is the size of the service. Everyone is invited, so there are deputies, bishops, spouses/partners, friends, guests, volunteers, and more. I would estimate that there are about 3,000 people at worship together. When we pray, but especially when we sing, the sound fills the room. Being in a convention center it echoes off the walls and the ceiling, but it's not in a distracting way. My favorite part so far was yesterday morning, the first Eucharist, when we sang the Sanctus and Benedictus (Hymnal 1982 - S125). Hearing that many people singing "Hosanna in the highest" and having it bounce around from all directions before fading away was awesome.

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.

On my flight to ATL we had the whole French National Football Team from the Jr. World Championships in Canton this past week. French Jocks, or French Jacques?

Arrived at ATL (a little late). A couple of collars, and a purple shirt waiting too.

So, I've got everything ready to go for convention. I've been cramming the Blue Book so that I'll have at least a passing familiarity with the legislation as it goes zipping by my mind in the next two weeks. I've gone through as many website things as I could in the time I had left. Everything is going just fine. And then I installed a Broadband Card.

You see, the hotel where I will be staying (*cough* Hilton *cough*) wants $12.95 per day for wireless internet connection in my room. Since I'll be there for almost two weeks, that's quite a chunk of change. Being nice, they offer a package where I can buy three days worth for $30. Better, but still... And then the Convention Center wants $12.95 per day for wireless. This convention could end up costing me my life savings just in wireless fees!

So, I found out that Virgin Mobile has a deal where you can buy the broadband usb card, and purchase a certain number of Megabytes of transfer without having a contract, obligation, or commitment. And the cost of the card plus the transfer is a little less than I would end up paying for just the hotel wireless. Sign me up!

I installed the card and everything was great. Until it came time to reboot the machine. Then all hell broke loose. The Dell Control Point Manager, which I'm not even using to manage my wireless connection seems to have an issue with the Virgin Broadband2Go software. Or vice-versa. Either way, my computer will not shut down without pressing the button, and it won't restore to a previous time because of that. So I cannot fix the problem. The closest I've gotten to a fix is to take the auto start off of the DCP Manager, and physically turn off my wireless connection. Then I can use the Virgin card. I'm not looking forward to the fix to make the entire system right.

But the real problem is that this happened yesterday morning. The day before I left for convention. I was faced all day yesterday with the prospect of not having any internet connection at all. Right now, things are working. But I know that could change at any moment. So, if you don't see blog postings over the next two weeks, that might be why.

Considering how many people live on less than $1/day, the Hot Dog Eating Contest just makes me sick. "Competitive Eating" morally should not be a sport.

Although I had my nose buried in the Blue Book, and my head swimming in resolutions and reports, for most of the day today, I did “come up for air” a couple of times. Two things came across my radar during those times.

The first was a prayer. On Twitter, someone tweeted that they were having difficulty figuring out how to pray for General Convention, but that they had finally hit upon something. The prayer is this:

Jesus, protect delegates from spiritual darkness which they are about to enter. Surround them with your glory. In His name I pray. Amen.

Now, as I read this, it struck me that I didn't consider General Convention to be a “spiritual darkness”, and I started to reflect on that. I considered the possibility that it might be.

When we gather together next week, there will be lots of discussion about some issues that are pretty fundamental theologically. It is possible that some of the discussion could be heated. It is also possible that the discussions will be very polarized/polarizing. In that sense I suppose one could interpret us as descending into the “darkness”.

I believe differently, though. I believe that we will be in exactly the opposite of “spiritual darkness”. I believe that we will be living in the midst of the Holy Spirit, who will be guiding our actions and leading us toward where we are to supposed to go. I am not a Biblical scholar, but I think this passage says it best:

I still have many things to tell you, but you can't handle them now. But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. (John 16:12-13)

In the time of Jesus, we (humans) were not ready to hear the “whole truth”. (Think of that scene in Dogma, where anyone who hears the voice of God will explode.) I believe that the truth is constantly being revealed to us, and perhaps that is what we are experiencing with the debates that the Episcopal Church is going through right now.

I won't say much about the person who tweeted this, except that he is a priest. Based on his other tweets, and a quick overview of his blog, I think that “spiritual darkness” at convention is not the only thing on which he and I disagree.

The second thing I came across was a blog posting by Kristy Harding. In it she talks about Ubuntu (I am because We are) which is the theme of General Convention. It is also a flavor of Linux, the open source operating system. And that is where she starts drawing the comparison of General Convention being open source. She suggests that if the church were open source, the church would be accessible:

• Anyone who wants to can get at the church
  
• Access to theology and spirituality
  
• New work would be acessible
  
• Education would be accessible
  

and, the one that struck a chord in me:

• we would have more bazaars and fewer cathedrals
  

It is that image that I see when I look at the upcoming convention. It is truly a bazaar in the “marketplace”, but figuratively I think the House of Deputies (and to a lesser extent the House of Bishops) is a bazaar. When I think of a bazaar, I see in my minds eye wall to wall fabric topped booths that are explosions of color. Different colors and patterns, different state of repair, some things faded, some brand new, all contributing to the tapestry of the marketplace. That to me is the Episcopal Church. We are made up of individuals from different locations, with different experiences, different expectations, and at different places on our spiritual journey. All are welcome. ALL are welcome. Each one of us a different color or pattern, each in a different state of repair, some faded, some brand new.

Jesus sent the apostles out in pairs. Together. Each had a different viewpoint. Did they walk into a “spiritual darkness” or into a “bazaar”?

Once every three years The Episcopal Church gathers together to discuss things that are of importance to the whole church. This in one of those years. In fact, GC09 is due to start next Wednesday. What that means for me is that I am to climb on a plane bound for Anaheim on Monday so I can take my place as a member of the deputation of the Diocese of Ohio.

Each diocese elects 4 lay persons, and 4 clergy to represent them at General Convention. These people are deputies (as opposed to delegates), as they ...(and let me switch tenses here)... we are not sent there to vote as directed by the diocese, but rather we are supposed to vote our conscience. That vote, of course, is supposed to come after prayer, conversation, meditation, and taking into account what we believe will be in the best interests of the Church, the diocese, and our parishes.

I usually get on my high horse at Diocesan Convention time, arguing that the delegates to that convention should do the same thing, rather than vote the way their parish wants them to. I always advocate for “the big picture”. Now, I'm charged with doing just that and I find that prospect a little frightening. The people of the Diocese of Ohio have entrusted me to vote “in the best interest” and there is a lot of responsibility packed in there. I'm sure I will be/do just fine. There are 110 dioceses, so there will be almost 900 deputies in the House of Deputies (plus however many bishops make up the House of Bishops). Not that that means my voice won't count, but the chances of me messing things up by myself are pretty slim.

So, aside from the frightening aspect, the other emotion I am experiencing in higher than normal quantities is excitement. I am very excited to be an active participant in this process (which some might say makes me clinically insane for just stating that), and I look forward to meeting all kinds of new and interesting people. I am actually looking forward to the discussion around resolution B033 and what this convention should do about it. (B033 is the resolution that was passed at the end of GC06 that directed the church to “exercise restraint” in selecting a bishop “whose manner of life may present significant challenges to the wider church” .) I have my own ideas, but I am very interested to hear from people on the other side of the issue. Those who have chosen to remain part of the church, and engage in discussion. I really do want to understand their point of view.

I plan to write on this blog to keep people up to date on what is going on. I know, how can this putz say he's going to do this – he hasn't posted anything in almost two months, and then it was only embedded videos. Nothing written since January. Okay, lay off, will ya. I said I was “planning” on it. I am actually going to try hard to get something posted here every day or two. It should be easier (in a peer-pressure sort of way) because the deputation has agreed to blog on the OhioDeputiesBlog. I can practice writing because I don't want to look like an idiot over there. You – you already know I'm an idiot, so no surprises here!

I am also excited because my family will be coming out to join me at the end of convention. We'll be able to spend a few days in the Los Angeles area (Disneyland!!), and then we are going to drive back home. This part of the journey represents a big leap for me. We don't have a plan. I like plans. We know we will be spending time in Arizona – at the Grand Canyon, and the Navajo Nation We are going to try to stop in to see Ellen's cousin in Fort Worth (and hopefully my friend Eric in Austin). The plan then is to drive along the Gulf Coast and end up in Georgia to see Ellen's brother Jim (who is going to help drive them all to Anaheim, then fly back to GA). From there, home. Now that may sound like a plan to some (and apparently to my wife), but to me not knowing where we will be staying, when we will get somewhere, what route we're going to take – that's not a plan.

Maybe it's an adventure.