General Convention is…..

Today things really started to feel like General Convention. Registration opened at 9:00 this morning and I was helped by a smiling woman named Margaret Watson. Her husband, Joel, served as a priest in the southern part of our diocese. As I understand it, Margaret is now a priest in Virginia. She handed me my nametag and the big 4” deputy binder that this year is appropriately environmental rather than the usual vinyl. Margaret said it is guaranteed to withstand two cups of coffee being spilled on it, but might self-destruct in the rain or the shower. Fortunately, it doesn’t sound like we are going to get any rain in the next ten days and I will refrain from reading resolutions in the shower!

Many volunteers and exhibitors are already here and bishops and deputies are starting to arrive. By the end of our time together, approximately 8000 people will have been a part of this convention. I have been told that makes us the third largest convention regularly held in the United States, the larger two being the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention. Sometimes I hear grumblings that General Convention is too big, too long, and too expensive; but to me, General Convention is central to what it means to be an Episcopalian because it means that we the people have a voice in how our church is governed. I wish every Episcopalian had the opportunity to attend at least one General Convention.

As I walked into the Exhibit Hall this morning, I was greeted by a giant mural featuring the many faces of the Episcopal Church with the following words: “We follow Christ, We Create, We Think, We Debate, We Do Unto Others, We Worship Together.” Each of those statements describes General Convention and The Episcopal Church. Today I am going to focus on the “We Debate” part and say a few words about the legislative work of General Convention.

Since The Episcopal Church came into being at the same time as the United States of America, and some of the same people were involved in the birth of both, it is no surprise that we are organized in a similar fashion. The House of Bishops is somewhat analogous to the senate. It is the smaller of the two houses and people tend to serve on it for a long time. The House of Bishops is also affectionately referred to as the “junior house” because it came into being later than the House of Deputies. Two of the bishops that we think of as “our bishops” will be a part of the House of Bishops this year – our retired bishop, The Rt. Rev. Robert Ladehoff and our current Assisting Bishop, The Rt. Rev. Sanford Hampton. However, because of the somewhat unique circumstance the Diocese of Oregon is in right now, neither Bishop Ladehoff nor Bishop Hampton will be officially recognized as Bishop of Oregon. As retired bishops, they will have both voice and vote - although that may change after this convention. Also seated in the House of Bishops will be close to a dozen men and women who served as priests in the Diocese of Oregon at various times. I said hello to one of them this morning, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, who was an assisting priest at Church of the Good Samaritan in Corvallis before she was elected Bishop of Nevada. And Robert Morrison and I had lunch today with another, Neff Powell, who served as priest at St. Bede’s Forest Grove and Canon to the Ordinary for the Diocese of Oregon before moving to North Carolina and being called as Bishop of Southwestern Virginia. We were joined for lunch by Neff’s wife Dorothy, and their son Bingham who currently serves as an assisting priest at St. Mary’s, Eugene.

So much for the House of Bishops……..The House of Deputies is the larger and older of the two houses and it is what sets The Episcopal Church apart from many parts of the Anglican Communion. It is the House of Deputies that gives laity and clergy equal voice with bishops in determining policy in The Episcopal Church. Each diocese elects and sends four clergy and four laypeople to be seated on the floor of the House of Deputies. Because 100 domestic dioceses and close to a dozen international dioceses and convocations belong to The Episcopal Church, there will be over 800 people sitting on floor of the House of Deputies.

This year our clergy deputies are:
Anne Bartlett – Trinity, Ashland
Wes Sedlacek – St. Martin’s, Lebanon and chaplain at Good Samaritan, Albany
Sara Fischer – St. David of Wales, Portland
Robert Morrison – St. James, Lincoln City
Alternates: JoAnn Leach – Christ Church, Lake Oswego; Caroline Litzenberger – St. Michael and All Angels, Portland; Robert Bryant – St. John the Baptist, Portland; and Jim Boston – recently retired from St. Luke’s, Grants Pass.

The elected lay deputies are:
1. Barbara Ross – Prince of Peace, Salem
2. Anne McCollom – Trinity, Ashland
3. Sharon Rodgers – St. Mary’s, Eugene
4. Adam Holdorph – St. Mark’s, Medford and a student at Portland State University
Alternates: Mike Penfield – St. John the Baptist, Portland; Ann Hargraves – St. Michael and All Angels, Portland; Melaia McKinley Kilduff – St. Luke’s by the Sea, Waldport; and Ellen Nesbitt, whose husband recently retired as priest at St. David of Wales, Portland.

The word deputy is crucial. Each diocese elects deputies, not delegates. As deputies, we are not elected to serve as representatives of our diocese, but instead to read, study, pray and be open to the work of the Holy Spirit so that can honor God, follow Christ, and make decisions that are in the best long-term interest of our beloved church. We are required to vote on every issue. We cannot abstain on any vote.

Much of the work of General Convention is done in committees. Every resolution that is submitted to convention is assigned to a committee where testimony is taken; resolutions are reworked and/or combined with other resolutions, or tabled. The resolutions that are approved by committees will move forward and then must be passed by both the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. This year, four of our deputies will be serving on committees: Anne Bartlett – Urban and Social Affairs; Robert Morrison – Communications; Barbara Ross – Education; and Anne McCollom – World Mission.

The deputies of the Diocese of Oregon take our roles seriously. We have been gathering as a group every few months for the past two years to build community, study the issues, and pray together. Tonight we will be gathering as a group for the first time in Anaheim. I ask for your prayers in the days and nights to come as we do our best to honor God, follow Christ, and make decisions that our in the best long-term interest of our beloved church.