Tag Archives: General Convention

This was the sixth legislative session day of the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church “GC79” (in Austin, Texas).  I am with the Deputation of the Diocese of El Camino Real (Central California).

Today very early, I switched badges back with Celeste Ventura (so I became an Alternate again and she has her Delegate badge) and then in the afternoon switched badges with Tim Gee (so he became an Alternate and I became a Delegate).  Tim and I will switch back early tomorrow. There are only two short windows of time each day when such switches can be made.

The morning joint session between the House of Deputies and House of Bishops was a TEConversation on the care of creation, with interesting speakers and music and discussion. The El Camino Real Deputation met again on the Alternates side of the curtain so that all could participate. Particularly notable among the presenters was Bernadette Demientieff of the Gwich’in Nation, Fort Yukon, Alaska, who said: “Our children deserve to see creation as it was in the beginning, not just when we are done with it.”

After several failed attempts to make progress, a whole set of elections had to be postponed to tomorrow so that the Virtual Binder could be updated.  This was apparently not because of iPad software or hardware problems (of which there have been few) but because the candidate biographies were not submitted in time.  The Virtual Binder system has drastically reduced the amount of paper used by GC79 – a very welcome change!

While the House of Deputies was passing important resolutions on inclusive language and support for transgender/non-binary church members, the House of Bishops made history by approving reunification with the Church of Cuba and seating Bishop Griselda Delgado Del Carpio of Cuba.  She was welcomed by our Bishop Mary (and became the 8th diocesan female Bishop).

For dinner, I attended the University of the South barbecue and had a very interesting discussion with the most senior Education for Ministry online mentor.   She and I plan to keep in touch about our work with EfM!

These blog posts and other GC79 news are posted on the Diocese of El Camino Real website.

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right). Images Copyright 2018 by Katy Dickinson.

This was the fourth legislative session day of the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church “GC79” (in Austin, Texas).  I am with the Deputation of the Diocese of El Camino Real (Central California).

This morning started with witness and protest against gun violence (at Brush Square Park in downtown Austin) and for immigration reform (outside the Hutto Detention Facility in rural Texas). More than 1,000 Episcopalians were transported for 40 minutes in 19 buses to the town of Taylor outside of Austin.  We stood in the hot sun to sing to and pray for hundreds of detained women immigrants.  We sang “Here I am, Lord” and “We Shall Overcome” and “Amazing Grace” and other hymns in English and Spanish, followed by inspiring preaching and prayers.  Most of the Diocese of El Camino Real Deputation participated.

Some in the crowd could hear the women inside the detention center pounding the walls to communicate.  After we returned to Austin, a Tweet was posted by @Grassroots_News:

“A woman called from Hutto after today’s prayer and told us they were glued to the windows until the last bus left the detention center. Women inside were crying, saying they knew they weren’t alone after seeing so many people there. Thank you”

In the afternoon GC79 legislative session of the House of Deputies, we voted for candidates for a variety of GC offices, then started the discussion of B012 – Marriage Rites for the Whole Church. The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings (who was re-elected today as President of the House of Deputies for the third and final time) told the clergy and lay Deputies from 110 diocese that although there were 443 resolutions, 417 of them are incomplete. So, the work load ahead is not as dire as we feared.  A regular source of comments and entertainment has been provided by the House of Deputies pigeons who have their own Twitter site: @gc79pigeon

We ended a long day with dinner for the Diocese of El Camino Real Deputation and friends at the Moonshine Grill.  The GC79 discussion on Marriage Rites continues tomorrow morning.

These blog posts and other GC79 news are posted on the Diocese of El Camino Real website.

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right). Images Copyright 2018 by Katy Dickinson.

This was the first legislative session day of the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church “GC79” (in Austin, Texas).  I am with the Deputation of the Diocese of El Camino Real (Central California).  After a brief meeting of the House of Deputies, today opened with an inspiring worship service, featuring a rousing sermon by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry on The Way of Love.  I was able to get a picture of Bishop Michael dancing with the moms and little kids in the Children’s Area up front.

There was some fun at the start of the day when the House of Deputies sent its opening greetings to the House of Bishops – and to Bishop Michael – by way of about twenty Delegates named Michael, wearing caps that said “Michael”. The greeting committee spontaneously serenaded the bishops with the song “Michael Row Your Boat Ashore.”  The House of Bishops sent their own greetings to the House of Deputies through a male and a female bishop solemnly wearing sparkly plastic tiaras above their purple shirts and white collars.

I made several tours of the GC79 Exhibit Area, to talk with University of the South – Education for Ministry staff at their booth, visit the Episcopal Shoppe bookstore (where I purchased the book Living Into God’s Dream for signing by author Professor Catherine Meeks), and shop with several of the vendors selling African and other crafts.

Before the late afternoon legislative session, I was able to attend a fascinating panel featuring the Rev. Ruth Casipit Paguio and the Rev. Robin Denney on “Race in the Communion: Formation and Intentional Discipleship” – and got to sit in the audience with Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves.  The most important resolution considered (and approved) today by the House of Deputies was B014 Director’s Fees for the President of the House of Deputies.

These blog posts and other GC79 news are posted on the Diocese of El Camino Real website.

If you want to receive Katysblog posts by email, please sign up using the Sign Me Up! button (upper right). Images Copyright 2018 by Katy Dickinson.