Bonny Anderson, President of the House of Deputies, began today’s orientation for Convention Committee chairpersons and others with a sermon. It began with a not-to-subtle reference to the auto race for which Indianapolis is well known. She opined on the appropriateness of the phrase: Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines. It is an apt observation. To Bonny’s thought, I would raise another.
If you have ever ridden on a train, you will recall the slowness with which the train pulls out of the station. For General Convention’s start up, it is not a bad analogy. Those of us who serve as chairs of various committees, our work began its slow process of forward motion. For me, it is fairly straightforward. In fact, I have the only committee at General Convention to which I am the only one assigned to the task. I am in charge of the Certification of Minutes. At the end of every day, I take my notes and compare them to the Secretary of the House of Bishops and of the remarkable woman who runs the Secretariat for the House of Bishops. I am charged with the responsibility to review the day’s decisions and to confirm them so that they become part of the official record of General Convention. The short-term effect: I have to pay attention.
I also have responsibility as a member of the Dispatch of Business committee to which I serve as the vice-chairman. We are charged with setting up the daily business of the Convention in a manner that will allow us to get through as many of the resolutions and other Convention business as is possible in an effective and efficient manner. Given the fact that this is my eleventh General Convention as either a deputy in the House of Deputies or in the House of Bishops, it has been an engaging opportunity to serve in this capacity in both Houses.
Tonight Jeannie and I went out to dinner at St. Elmo’s Restaurant. I did not know the restaurant, but Jeannie had gone to school not too far away from Indianapolis in the town of Greencastle, Indiana. She had a date with another student at DePauw who took her to eat at St. Elmo’s. She remembered the experience as a wonderful evening, and she suggested that we go back with our deputation for our Diocesan Dinner. Rather than making plans for the evening (next Sunday) without checking out what the restaurant was doing a few years post-graduation for Jeannie, we went to dinner at St. Elmo’s tonight. It was a delight, and I anticipate our deputation will enjoy the evening when we reconvene there on Sunday.
Tomorrow we begin our business in earnest. We do not officially start the Convention business until the next day, but all the Committees will begin to do all they can to organize to do the work they have been given thus far. After registering today for the Convention, I was struck not only with the resolutions I anticipated. There are a number of other ‘surprise’ resolutions to which we will be asked to address our minds, hearts and spirits. Over the next few days, I look forward to sharing these with you. One example for tonight is the request that we will support efforts to make the District of Columbia (a.k.a. Washington D.C.) the 51st state in the Union. It would be called the state of New Columbia. O.K. I didn’t see that one coming.
So as you see, it is not only about pension coverage, insurance equality, blessing of same-gender relationships, and the Anglican Covenant. There will undoubtedly be surprises. Stay tuned to see how this Church deals with each one as they come before both Houses of the Convention. Until then, I wish you a good night. Jeannie and I have had a full day, and we look forward to staying in touch tomorrow.
+Don
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