All in a [few] days' work....

The pace has both slowed and quickened here at General Convention. We have accomplished a lot and have mountains of legislation still to get through, with only two legislative days remaining. It has been difficult to find time to do the kind of reflecting and processing necessary to write a coherent blog post or much of anything else. A couple of points to share this morning:

• Please read D025, now passed in both houses, including the Bishops' amended version. The press, both within the Episcopal Church and around the world, have taken a carefully, beautifully crafted piece of work that expresses our Anglican identity and our longing for right relationship within and beyond our Episcopal Church, and distilled it into a headline, "Episcopal Church Will Ordain Gay Bishops." You can find the actual resolution, at http://gc2009.org/ViewLegislation/view_leg_detail.aspx?id=986&type=Final


• Yes, both houses have been doing much work in many other areas! A few days ago we approved new canons related to clergy disciplinary processes. While these are very detailed and legalistic, a significant piece, new to the Episcopal Church, is that priests and laity are part of a process of reviewing misconduct of a bishop. Of course one hopes such things will never happen, but if they do, the actions of this convention ensure a more open process.


• We passed a resolution acknowleding the evils of human trafficking and urging congregations to work to end sexual slavery and develop liturgical resources to support such work.


• We heard a presentation from the Program, Budget, and Finance Committee presenting the triennial budget, which we will vote upon today. This presentation was done in joint session, which means that the bishops come down from the House of Bishops and sit with their deputation. We were joined by Bishops Ladehoff and Hampton. Because our deputation sits next to the deputation from Southern Ohio, we also had the pleasure of welcoming the Rt. Rev. Tom Breidenthal, who is enjoying his very first General Convention as a bishop. The budget is not a pretty sight; the Episcopal Church Center is dealing with the same dramatic changes to revenue as churches everywhere--we are indeed all connected! It is our understanding that just prior to the presentation of the budget to the Convention, significant staff reductions were announced to the Church Center staff here at convention. Many specific jobs have been eliminated, and others have been put on notice that their department must cut a percentage of its expenses. Presiding Bishop Katherine spoke to use about the budget and the upcoming changes, stressing the tension between "our scarcity and God's abundance." She also spoke of a new reality of the structure for the Episcopal Church, which is of a "network of service organizations" which will carry out the real work of the Episcopal Church, which is mission. (In her sermon for the opening Eucharist for convention over a week ago, she spoke of heartbeat of our Church: mission, mission, mission, mission....So in her introduction to the budget presentation she said that there will be some death in this budget, but that the heart of our Church will continue to beat.) For more about the budget from Episcopal Life, read http://www.episcopalchurch.org/78650_112611_ENG_HTM.htm.


• Both houses approved the Denominational Health Plan, or DHP. This means, in brief, that by the end of 2012, all dioceses will participate in a national denominational health plan providing a variety of health insurance plans for clergy and for lay staff working 30 hours/week or more.


• Both houses approved mandatory pension for lay employees working 20 hours/week or more. Note that this practice has been in place in our diocese for some time.

It has been a great privilege to be here with the Oregon Deputation in Anaheim, and I look forward to participating in the life of our Church in the future! (I am leaving Friday morning and hoping that some of my fellow bloggers will have a few more things to share in the last days of convention.)