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
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
