Joel Hafer's view from the 78th General Convention

It is now the fourth day of the 78th General Convention, Sunday, June 28.  Our first meeting of the Episcopal Church was 230 years ago, and yesterday, we celebrated that anniversary with great joy.

Two things stand out as highlights for me at this point.  Yesterday, the House of Bishops elected the Right Reverend Michael Bruce Curry, Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina, as our next Presiding Bishop (PB).  With our new rules on the election of the PB, the House of Deputies had to give consent to his election.  According to the agenda, we were to take our lunch break at 1:00 p.m., but at about 12:35, we were told that the bishops, who were sequestered off-site, had elected the new PB.  Now get this, we were not given the name of the bishop who had been elected until certain rules were followed.  For about 20 minutes, we were all in limbo impatiently awaiting the announcement.   Finally, sometime after 1:00 p.m., we were told who was elected, but the House of Deputies committee on the nomination of the Presiding Bishop was required to meet first, follow a certain set rules, and then report back to the House of Deputies with a recommendation.  About an hour later, the report of that committee came back to us.

Of course, they recommended that we approve Bishop Curry as our next PB.  In order to do so, we had to vote using our voting “gizmos.”  I use that term because the machines look like a Blackberry phone with a card slot on the top.  Every deputy has his or her own personal identification card that slides into the slot, then we press 1 to concur or 2 to deny.  The vote to approve Bishop Curry was overwhelming:  830 “yes” votes to 12 “no votes.”  At that point, the Secretary of the House of Deputies suggested that we break for lunch, as it was nearly 2:00 p.m.  In one voice, we all said, quite loudly, “NO!” because we wanted to wait for the new PB’s arrival.

A contingency of three House members went to get Bishop Curry from the location where the bishops were sequestered.  He was then escorted to the floor of the House of Deputies.  Finally, after waiting on pins and needles, Bishop Curry was introduced and welcomed with great fanfare.  It was one of the most wonderful moments ever.  We’re on the right track, the Holy Spirit is leading us into new and exciting avenues for the furtherance of Christ’s ministry, and Bishop Curry will be a great voice and face of how we Episcopalians love God and want to live out the Gospel.

This morning, roughly 3,000 people gathered together for a grand celebration of the Eucharist.  Our current Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, preached a wonderful sermon calling for us to rise up and move out into the world with the love of Christ.  She began the sermon with Jesus' words to the daughter of Jairus: “Talitha cum!” or as the PB said, “Get up, Girl, you’re not dead yet!"  Perhaps that’s what we, in this “old girl” of the Episcopal Church need to hear:  “Get up, Church, you’re not dead yet.”  It was a stirring sermon and service.

During the offertory, the United Thank Offering (UTO) from all nine Provinces of the Episcopal Church was presented.  The total for 2012-2014 was $4.38 million, and we, in Province IV, gave over $800,000 dollars of that amount (which was the most of any province, I might add).  That UTO money will be given out in grants for the mission and ministry of Christ.

There are still five more days to go, so please keep all of us in your daily prayers.

Blessings,

Joel Hafer

Kristi Neal on Day 5

Today was Day 5 of General Convention.  This week more time is spent in session as the House of Deputies and less time in our legislative committees. Legislation has been crafted and debated and fine tuned by the various legislative committees and  is now being considered by the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops.  Many resolutions are on the consent calendar, so can be passed as a group without debate. However, many other resolutions come to the floor individually and are therefor subject to debate and being amended before the vote is taken. Today we considered resolutions about gun violence, removal of the confederate flag from religious and governmental buildings, living wage, and marriage (among others).  Even as some resolutions resulted in debate, there is a sense of the presence of the Holy Spirit and a knowledge that we are all covered in prayer. The House of Deputies did a lot of work today. We are blessed to have outstanding leadership in The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the HoD, The Rev. Dr. Michael Barlowe, secretary of the Convention, and our enthusiastic chaplain, The Rev. Lester Mackenzie.

Last evening the deputation from Western North Carolina along with others from the diocese who are here at convention had dinner together. It was a delightful evening together. It was so good to have former Bishop Bob Johnson and his wife, Julie, join us.

Most evenings, organizations related to the church have receptions. Several of our deputation attended the 75th birthday party for Episcopal Relief and Development. Tonight Kathy Atkinson and I attended the 40th birthday celebration of Education for Ministry.

One of the highlights of the convention for me has been to serve in a liturgical function at the worship services. The first four days of worship, I vested and served as an oblation bearer and assistant at one of the 12 "satellite" tables scattered around the worship space. It takes a lot of bread and wine to serve 2000+ people. On Sunday our attendance was over 5000. Today I was not assigned to vest, but I did volunteer to serve bread at one of the stations. I have to admit I have been moved to tears more than once. The sermons have been uplifting and filled with hope and promise, and the music makes my heart soar.

I am filled with gratitude to the people of the Diocese of WNC for allowing me to serve you here.

Kristi Neal
Archdeacon, Diocese of WNC

Matilda Kistler on the election of Bishop Curry

By now you have probably read Bishop Taylor's blog regarding the House of Bishops' election of Bishop Michael Curry, Diocese of North Carolina, as our Presiding Bishop Elect. During our Deputation Meeting tonight, he emotionally recounted the process of the election of the Presiding Bishop.

All of us experienced a profound day regarding this election. However, my experience was from a different perspective. I was blessed to have been appointed to the House of Deputies Committee for the Confirmation of the Presiding Bishop. Our committee did our homework prior to this momentous confirmation. We met with the co-chairs of the Joint Nominating Committee for the Presiding Bishop regarding the nominating process and also with Bishops Todd Ousley and Wayne Wright regarding the election process.

The election of our current Presiding Bishop nine years ago was one of shock, happiness and acceptance. Today's election of Bishop Curry was not of shock but of hope, jubilation and faith.

Our committee meeting today to confirm the election of the Presiding Bishop was surreal for me and difficult to put into words for a blog. Should you wish to hear more, please do not hesitate to ask. Needless to say, the Holy Spirit was among us all and prevailed as usual.

Blessings upon Presiding Bishop Elect Michael Curry and his family, the House of Bishops, the three nominated bishops and their families who allowed their names to be placed in nomination, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and her family, the House of Deputies and all of God's people.

Peace,

Matilda Kistler
Lay Deputy, WNC

The final tally

Confirmation of the Presiding Bishop Confirmation receiving Prayer from the House Chaplain prior to meeting to receive and confirm the name of the Presiding Bishop Elect.

Update from Karla Woggon

Thomas is also doing a blog today.  But I wanted to share this because it was on my heart, "Shield the Joyous".

I was at a meeting of the marriage committee this morning when we heard the Supreme Court ruling. Several of us got the word on our phones and the news began to spread around the room.

Finally it was announced to all and we paused for a moment of silence to pray for those who were upset by the news as well as those who were joyous. The compline prayer rose up in my heart and head: "Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep...give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous"; but mostly I was thinking shield the joyous...let those who have waited so long for this moment rest fully in their joy for now. After the prayer the chairs of the committee ended our session to give everyone time to process what had just happened.

My hope for this church of ours is that we step beyond the provisional blessing liturgies that we have been using and revise the book of common prayer (authorize the revisions to be used now)..and then reaffirm them at our next General Convention to make it clear to all that marriage is marriage for all in the church as well as in our nation.

The Rev Karla Woggon
The Episcopal Church of The Ascension

Update from Kathy Atkinson

What a privilege it is to be part of this delegation from our diocese. I cast my first electronic vote today in the House of Deputies. We are using a "virtual binder" which means an iPad. This makes finding resolutions, amendments, reports and on and on a hundred times easier than in the past where there was a gigantic binder full of paper. I was expecting there to be lots of problems because many of the 840 deputies had never used an iPad. It has been very, very smooth!

But most important for me to express is the joy and deeper appreciation I have for our Episcopal Church. Worshiping today with thousands from not only all over the U. S. but the world. Saying the familiar prayers and singing together in one huge congregation gave me chills. It was a joyful experience. 

These are long days and we are already tired but I wouldn't exchange this time of work and fellowship for anything. Thanks be to God. 

Our Presiding Bishop (on the right)

General Convention has begun!

The 78th General Convention of The Episcopal Church is well underway, even though the official first day of convention is tomorrow, Thursday, June 25. The deputation from WNC arrived on Monday and Tuesday and has had full days of activities. Tuesday most of us went through the process of being credentialed as deputies and picking up our iPads. This convention is paper-free or as close to paper-free as possible. The iPads are very user friendly and it is so easy to find resolutions and calendars and daily schedules. After picking up our credentials, many of us had time to go through the exhibit hall. Anybody who has an organization affiliated with The Episcopal Church, or sells supplies that may be used by the Church has a booth. It is amazing and I think I may complete my Christmas shopping while I am here! I had many interesting and informative conversations with exhibitors. The day ended with legislative committee meetings from 7 - 9 PM.

Today began with presentations to both houses meeting together by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and House of Deputies President Gay Clark Jennings.  The ECW meets concurrently with the church, so the national president of the ECW also addressed the joint houses. The houses then separated for orientation to how the business of convention works. The 78th Convention has 46% of the deputies attending for the first time and another 23% who have attended only one other convention. This afternoon the houses met jointly to hear presentations and a formal question and answer period with the four nominees for presiding bishop. It was very informative. AT 7 PM  The legislative committees met for more consideration of resolutions. We capped off today with a  meeting of the WNC deputation at 9:15 PM.

As a first time deputy to convention, I am overwhelmed with the organization it must take. I am encouraged and energized by the sincere desire to be a presence in the world that is a common theme in all the meetings I have attended. This convention is about work--about the serious work of figuring out where we are and where we need to do to speed the word about Jesus and his love. It is an honor to be here.

Kristi Neal