Out Of Steam

Beginning Tuesday afternoon of last week, (I arrived about noon on Tuesday) we have been in legislative sessions, committee meetings, worship services or unofficial meetings almost without stop.

My day usually begins at 6:00. (I have gradually been able to adjust my body clock so I can stay asleep that long - beginning my time here by waking up around 4:30!) I have coffee in my room while catching up on some emails, making phone calls, and writing fewer of these blogs than I'd hoped. (I also brought a hand blender and get to enjoy a delicious powdered, diet shake for breakfast!)

Legislative committees begin at 7:30. Fortunately, first-time deputies were not appointed to committees this convention and, though I've sat in on some of the committee meetings, I honestly don't know how the deputies who are on committees find time to eat. The first legislative session begins at 9:30 but because of the volumes of new paperwork that have to be sorted and reviewed each morning, it is almost necessary to arrive by 9:00.

Yesterday as I was walking over to the convention hall, large Starbucks in hand, another deputy and I struck up a conversation as we walked. He had a purple name tag (bishop) and looked familiar to me so I was sure I'd been introduced to him at one point this past week. I have finally admitted to myself - and readily admit to others - that I am horrible with names and faces and so, rather than stumble and fumble trying to guess, have just learned to ask. "You look familiar to me," I said through my as-yet-fully-uncoffeed haze. "I'm Frank Grizwold," he told me (the previous Presiding Bishop) "and it's good to know I haven't been completely forgotten." He smiling and me red-faced, we had a very nice chat during the remainder of our walk.

The first session lasts until 11:00 (although usually until 11:15 or 11:20) and though still heavy with parlimentary procedure, we are actually discussing, amending, and passing resolutions. Each resolution we pass then goes to the House of Bishops (and their resolutions come to us) for approval. All resolutions at General Convention must be approved by BOTH Houses in order to become official resolutions of General Convention.

(Something that has caused some confusion in the Anglican Communion is that our General Convention is the final legislative authority of the Episcopal Church. Other churches in the Anglican Communion have different forms of governement in which a bishop or group of bishops holds final authority. Some of them had difficulty understanding why our Presiding Bishop didn't just make decisions for our Church, not understanding that the Presiding Bishop has little authority to make binding decisions for the Episcopal Church. Instead, very similar to the Houses of Congress in the U.S. government, the Episcopal Church is governed by General Convention which is composed of two "Houses." The House of Bishops is composed entirely of bishops, and the House of Deputies is composed equally of lay and ordained people.)

From the morning legislative session I race to the great hall where the Eucharist is to begin at 11:30. Members of the Umbuntu Choir are supposed to be there at 11:15 but we are rarely on time. My experience with the choir has been a wonderful surprise. I joined on a whim and it has been one of the most enjoyable parts of General Convention for me. The time commitment has been small but we have sung with a wonderful choir of Hispanic children, an amazing Gospel choir, the youth choir from Trinity, Wall Street, and Elizabeth Von Trapp, granddauther of the Von Trapp family from the Sound of Music. And, on Sunday, we totally blew ourselves away with an Ave Maria that the Holy Spirit somehow got hold of and sang through us. The choir has created for me a small community of people (although I don't know anyone's name) who I recognize in the hall or wave at on the street, a chance to participate more fully in our daily worship, and it will be a cherished memory for me from my time here.

I typically grab a sandwich or salad and head for one of several "lunch events" held every day to discuss various topics. These forums have been tremendously helpful and informative, but leave little down time before the legislative sessions resume at 2:00. The bulk of the legislation is taken up in the afternoon sessions from 2:00 until 6:00 (or 6:15 or 6:30 or . . .) by which time we are definitely tired, frustrated, and ready not to be there any more!

In the middle of all this is the Exhibition Hall. I have yet to make it all the way through this monstrous Episcopal shopping mall. Vendors from far and wide have booths set up in rows and rows and rows of brochures, electronics, vestments, and other exotic wares. So far, I have quite a cache. I managed to obtain the business card of the developer of the Rite Stuff software (the software we use for our service booklets) who finally gave in because there were "paying customers" around and agreed he would give us a "start-up church" discount on their new on-line software version.

I have brochures and website information from the Anglican Church Musician organization for lots of free (or almost free) choir and service music resources. Daughters of the King have advised me about beginning our chapter. A very nice woman at a booth for advocates for disabled Episcopalians provided some suggestions for building our ramp and other ideas for making our church more accessible.

Singing bowl vendors from Napal, chalice sellers from the Holy Land, people selling baskets and bags from Honduras are next to people who want to handle our trusts and those who would help us set up our endowments. It is truly a mind-boggeling sea of vendors and everyone - EVERYONE - wants to give me candy. So far, I've managed to resist.

Bookstores are virtually irrisistible to me but so far, I have been able to only do quick walk-throughs without buying anything at the massive Church Publishing display, ONLY because my luggage is already bulging. There is a Fed-Ex store right in the convention center, though, and things could be shipped home . . .

Dinner arrangements are made, usually with our deputation, on the fly and we have either eaten quickly at the hotel or walked to a nearby restaurant. I attended the Sewanee Dinner at which Bishop Parsley spoke on Friday night but otherwise, my evening meals have been with the Alabama deputation as we tried to digest all that had gone on during the day. Following dinner, there are always more committee meetings or events and our deputation has a nightly meeting at 9:30 to recap the day. I'm usually back in my room by about 10:30 for some Charlene time on the phone, another email check and catch up on the news of the day, and an attempt to organize all the materials of the day, and try to make it to bed by midnight.

Yesterday morning, my body cried "uncle." I managed to make it through the day but it became clear to me that I needed to take a break. So I asked that one of the alternate deputies take my place at the convention this morning and I am taking the morning off. I still woke up at 6:00 but I have remainded in my room and don't plan to be anywhere until the Eucharist at 11:30. Only three full days after today and I think this little time off may make the difference for me before we get to the really hard work of all the legislation that is coming our way in the final days of the convention. (Mark Smith, deputy from St. Marks, Birmingham, and I agreed last night that we have both been to many conventions and they should rename this event. This is NOT a convention! This is a work-vention!)

Please keep me and all of us here in your prayers. This work is stressful and difficult. At times it is gut-wrenching; at times it is awe-inspiring and Spirit-filled. I look forward to telling you about it and to answering any questions you might have.

I am honored to be here, but I am thinking fondly of home.