June 18, 2006 - Day 6 of the Convention

A blessed Sunday to you!  Syl brought some Fathers Day goodies with her and blessed me this morning. Got a call from my older daughter on my voice mail. Don’t know where I was when the phone rang! She was on her way to 9:00 Church, and she wished me a Happy Fathers Day. That was so sweet. By the way, it was 9:08 when she called…

Do you see a cross? I do.

It’s a bit hazy this morning – not as beautifully clear as it has been every day so far. It's supposed to be hot today, by Columbus standards – high of 88. It should also get pretty hot on the floor of the house beginning sometime today!

We walk with Kempton Baldridge to breakfast. Already there are Bob and Irene and Rick and Annie.

10:37 – President Werner gaveled us into our 10:30 session. 

Today is the day that the House of Bishops elects a Presiding Bishop. Here's how the day will look:

While we are here in legislative session, the bishops have been bussed to Trinity Cathedral in Downtown Columbus and sequestered. They will cast ballots for a Presiding Bishop, and keep casting till someone gets it. Once they have an election, two of them will drive back to us, and hand us a sealed envelope containing the name. A committee of us will then go off in private and open up the envelope. After they have read the name, they will come back to us and announce that the bishops have made a choice. We will then vote to consent to the bishops choice. After our consent, the bishops will be notified, and then the bishop who won the election will be brought to us to say hello. Then all the bishops get to leave Trinity and come back to us.

That's the game plan. I think it's going to be Neil Alexander, because he has publicly stated that he's 100% behind the gay agenda, and will move it foreword. I believe they will choose him because they've been testy already. My thought is that the bishops are in a fighting mood, and they want to say in a loud message that they don’t want Windsor. I think the majority want someone who voted for VGR and supports the gay agenda. Seems to me it’s Alexander, since he’s been the clearest.  Here's how Kendall is picking the ponies:

I am hearing the strongest initial support for Bishops Parsley, Alexander, and Jenkins on the first ballot. Not one of them will get enough support then to get elected, however. The question then becomes can one of the three of them garner enough support to win election by say ballot three or four or so. If that does not happen, which is entirely possible, then I can come up with scenarios where any of the others can win except Bp Duque. Bishop Schori is a very interesting wild card–I think she is the person least beholden to the Episcopal Church “system.” We shall just have to wait and see.

Back to work. After all the messages, pleasantries, etc.  They led with A163!  

That’s DEPO – Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight, and it is a mess. We don't want it. Kendall asked for a vote by orders.  

An amendment was offered to remove “in good faith” from line 12. It failed. Another amendment was presented to remove the last resolve with a substitution to remove the autonomous language. It failed. 

Kendall got up and said DEPO doesn’t work. DEPO only works when bishops trust each other. They don’t. 

A delegate from Pittsburgh proposed dividing the last "resolve" from the rest of the resolution. We in South Carolina and Pittsburg were about the only ones who voted to do it. Talk about a minority.

DEPO passed - Big time. More clarity from the House about where they are.

We then heard from Kenneth Kearon, the Secretary General of the Anglican Communion. He told us to celebrate the richness of the tapestry of this Communion, of which we are all a part...

Please - don't ask. I don't even think he knew what he wanted to say.

NoonDay prayers at came upon us at 12:15.  We were shown a 5 minute video clip about Col. Chamberlain in the Civil War – I didn’t get the connection that the chaplain tried to make.

Oh well - At least the AAC was there for us. Great lunch, good, albeit brief briefing.

2:04 – President Werner gaveled us in for our 2:00 Meeting. If you're keeping score, that’s the closest yet to actually starting on time.

After consents – went back to A136 which we were debating a few millennia ago. Oh, was it only yesterday? 

Here’s what A136 says: Resolved, that our 75^th General Convention encourage use of the liturgical resources in “Enriching Our worship” series as appropriate for Sunday worship.”  This is, of course, not what our prayer book says we can do, and our national canons specifically state that our worship is to come only from the Book of Common Prayer. But hey - chill!

We defeated an amendment to remove the word “Sunday” then we passed the resolution by a huge majority.

Prepare to get enriched. Mercy.

At fairly close to 3:00, the committee to elect a PB came back to the house with an envelope. This means we have an election in the House of Bishops. The Question is whom?

We are going over minor resolution after minor resolution as we wait. Will we ever hear anything?

On and on it goes. 

Great line: The President calls upon someone at one of the microphones. The person doesn't answer. The President says, "Will the delegate at Microphone 5 please explain the purpose for which he stands?  And the guy at the microphone sheepishly says, “I’m not sure any more why I’m here…”   Neither are a lot of us.

3:23 - There are a bunch of folks coming in. The gallery in back of us and on the sides are overflowing.

We keep on discussing A134 – (creating a curriculum for HIV training)

3:28 – Byron Rushing of New York finally called for a suspension of the debate until after we hear from the election.

3:31 – The announcement is made. Katherine Jefferts Schori.

I don't know what to say.  

Woman after woman after woman after woman got up to speak in support of consenting to her election. Probably 15 women in a row.  Finally, one man speaks, and he, too, in in favor.  I am aware that this probably sounds sexist.  I just wish you could be here. The women in the house are going wild, crying, hugging each other, gathering in groups. Many are calling attention to the fact that it is the 30^th anniversary of the year when the 12 women were made deacons in what is now called an “irregular” ordination.

This choice by the bishops (and soon by us) will have amazing repercussions worldwide. Bishop Schori not only allows full gay access in her diocese, she left the 2003 convention and instituted same-sex rites for her parishes and missions. Not exactly what we might call orthodox in her faith.

The bishops have spoken – not only do they not want Windsor, they also want to force a woman primate on the Anglican church, at a time when the matter of women priests is still being resolved in 90% of the Worldwide Communion.

We had a vote by orders. There are 108 delegations. The choices were for, against, or divided. Divided means that two of the four delegates voted yes, the other two voted no. A divided vote counts as a “no” vote. 

Laity - For: 93. Against: 8.  Delegations divided – 7.  Total against, 15 
Clergy - for: 94, Against: 10, divided 4, total against, 14

The house was ecstatic! The president called for order.

We ended up taking a break. You simply had to be here to understand what i mean when  I use the word "jubilation" to describe the general feeling. Mark, an AAC helper,  put it this way: “We’ve been praying for clarity, and this certainly is.”

This certainly is.

I know you're going to ask. The entire SC delegation voted no.

At the break, I saw Martyn Minns

and Sarah Hey. They will soon be speaking at an AAC press conference.

When we came back from break, Bishop Schori was let into the house. Want to hear what it sounded like? I used the movie module on my camera. Take the time. let it download. You simply have to see and hear THIS.

Bishop Schori thanked the bishops and the deputies, and introduced her family, and then headed out.

The women’s caucus was called forward – thunderous applause as the head of the women’s caucus – Katherine Waynack - got the folks fired up with one of those good old fashioned, “It’s time for a woman!” speeches.

When things finally settled down a tad, we went back to work and passed a dozen pieces of minor legislation, and then quit for the evening.

As I left the Convention Center, I looked up, and the sky had gone from sunny to overcast.

And wind!  Wow, talk about wind!  Look and Listen to THIS!

To recap, we went from brilliantly beautiful yesterday to hazy this morning to overcast wildness this evening. Hmmmm. So what was that that Jesus told the crowds?

“You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” (Matthew 16:3)

Or the Parallel in Luke:
“Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time? Why don't you judge for yourselves what is right?” (Luke 12:56-57) 

This evening, Sylvia and I attended the Trinity Seminary Dinner, which was held at a private home, on the 18th floor of the Waterfront Towers. Here's a few of the folks we saw:

Best 10 minutes of the day
On the way back from the Trinity Dinner, and heading to our next meeting (which we left at 10:30 because I had to come back and get started with this post), We took a cab. The taxi driver was from Ethiopia, and he asked us if we were part of the Church Convention in town. I admitted that we were.

In the best English he could muster, he said, "Tell me this - why do you not understand what the Bible says? You should not be doing the things you are doing."

I was so proud of him! His inner convictions would not allow him to be silent. My thoughts ran to 1 Kings 19:18....
Friends, this is the Church. And the gates of hell will not prevail.

Now - what do we do with the events of the day, and what we know will be heading our way tomorrow?

Let me just say this. Let’s let the Lord Jesus Christ handle this.

Three days ago the word came to me to from Exodus 14:14 - "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." And from  2 Corinthians 12:9  “But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

Bishop Duncan is right when he says this:

Many of us had prayed for clarity to come out of this 75th General Convention as regards the true intentions of the Episcopal Church vis a vis the Anglican Communion and the orthodox in North America. Sometimes, in God’s permissive will, our prayers are answered in ways we had not anticipated.

My point is this – Don’t panic! The progressives came here with the full intent of not backing down from their revisionist agenda. The Integrity slogan for GC2006 is “No Turning back.” They mean it, and they have the power to see that it happens. Let them!  It is clear that the revisionists do not want to honor any part of the Windsor report. It is clear that those who hold power in the Episcopal Church want autonomy, not Communion. By choosing autonomy, they are choosing to walk apart from the rest of the Anglican Communion. Let them!

To those of us who hold a more respectful view of Scripture, I would say this:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) 

Tomorrow we delegates of yours will continue to shine the light of Jesus, clarify when we see muddiness - and lose gracefully. God knows what He’s doing. Say your prayers. Petition for us.  Thank God that He already has our future mapped out.  Let the peace of God guard your heart.  

We are going to be just fine.

We delegates really do thank you for your prayers and support. I know you are there, and that's what keeps me going.

It's far too late - 1:55 a.m. Goodnight from Columbus!