General Convention Day Three

GENERAL CONVENTION OBSERVATIONS, DAY THREE
HAVING A GREAT TIME—WISH YOU WERE HERE

We’re at a brief moment right now of proceeding quickly through a multitude of little resolutions that have to do with rules and order, but nothing yet of any real substance. Maybe this is a good day to reflect upon some of the things I’m liking about the way this General Convention is going.

• Anaheim is an excellent place to have a General Convention, even in the shadow of Disneyland. The Marriott is bright and comfortable. The Hilton, where committees are meeting, it just across the street. The Convention Center, where sessions, worship, and exhibitors are located, is next door, or at the end of the street.
• We’re actually using our hospitality room this year, because it is comfortably arranged as a gathering place. From our perch on the 17th floor of the Marriott, we can watch the nightly fireworks show at Disney and wind down after busy days.
• Our exercises on personal story-telling are better than expected. Phyllis, our “coach” from Southwest Virginia, is a nice younger priest doing a good job. We did actually use the practice with strangers yesterday in session, and I think it was positive.
• Worship is a high point, as expected. More on that separately later.
• Having the Archbishop of Canterbury present for a couple of days has been a treat.
• We are suspending our rules of order to have some periods of open dialogue on some of the more contentious issues we face, instead of formal debate. That is going to be much less tense, and I hope, more helpful to us.
• A group of us rode out to a Thai restaurant last night and had a non-hotel meal, for a nice break. We now have our own taxi driver (with van, no less) to call directly whenever we want to go someplace.

One of the things I enjoy about Convention is the Exhibitors’ Hall. It is open only when I cannot go there. Go figure.

I was complaining earlier about the removal of my Committee’s resolution from the Deputies’ calendar. I found out later it was just due to an error—it was supposed to have been sent to the Bishops first, not to Deputies; it will be back to us if approved by the Bishops. Fine. But why couldn’t that have been said out loud? Also, no announcement was ever made about the Archbishop of Canterbury’s appearance, causing frustration and consternation that was totally avoidable with a 30-second announcement from the dais. So communication issues continue to plague us, completely unnecessarily.

My Committee (Church is Small Communities) is now finished with its assigned business, having dealt with two resolutions and produced one of our own, unless the Bishops amend one of ours and it gets sent back to us, or someone refers something new to us. Maybe that will leave some gaps in schedule for me to shop at Exhibitions—a very important part of General Convention. Otherwise, how will I get a new Episcopal Church belt and matching collar and lead for Oscar?