Day 10, General Convention 2009, July 16th

Dear Ones,

Thursday was a harried day laden with the anticipation that this convention is coming to an end.  We held legislative sessions in both houses for a large part of the day.  In the beginning of the day, it was reported that the House of Deputies may have to meet into the night, but alas they were adjourned at the usual hour.  I want to say here that Suffragan Bishop Nedi Rivera who chairs the Social and Urban Affairs Committee has performed superbly!  No surprise there.  She has represented you and the people of the Diocese of Eastern Oregon here with much energy and inspiration. 

My day started with a breakfast with my good friend Greg Garrett who has just finished both a novel, "Shame" and "The Gospel according to U2"   He lives in Austin, and was presenting workshops to the ECW meeting.  It was very good to see him.

Ramifications of the budget have rippled through the convention as that becomes more clear.  Some 30 plus folks will lose their positions at the national office.  I am not totally sure as of yet who all of those are.  I was elected by the House of Bishops as the Province VIII representative to the Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop.  This is a committee we hope never has to meet for it exists in the unlikely event that something happens to the Presiding Bishop. 

I have been truly inspired by the demeanor of the House of Bishops, just how people have cared for one another over differences.  It is a new day for the Church, it will not, as our Presiding Bishop said when she opened it, be business as usual.  We will be living into a new reality in the Episcopal Church and in the Diocese of Olympia.  I think these can be good times, but they will be different.  Either way, we have always with us our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I plan to post tomorrow and then take a break.  We will be adjourning this convention some time this afternoon.  Keep us and the Church in your prayers.

Blessings,

+Greg

Comments

[Peter Lane]

Dear Bishop Greg, first, thank you for your faithful blogging - what a gift it has been to stay abreast with GC through your thoughts (as well as Stephen and Katrina's). I was very taken by your thoughts on the 3rd way to find a solution. The phrase "lead, follow or get out of the way" came to mind as a summary of the way, even in the church, we usually find solutions, and how disconnected that approach is from the Gospel. With two major undertakings before us in Monroe (moving the church to a new location, and the free medical clinic) how we discern a way forward in community has been on my mind a lot. I'm hoping you'll have more to say on your sense of what this 3rd way might look like. Thank you again for your thoughts, and welcome home!! Peter Lane

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