st-stephens-episcopal-church

GC81's Last Day! 6/28/24

dennis@ststephensboise.com (Dennis Reid) — Sat, 29 Jun 2024 11:06:53 GMT

“May we also speak with joy and boldness to banish hatred from your creation”

From the Collect for the Feast of James Weldon Johnson

Dear friends,

Good morning on our last full day in Louisville! It’s been a remarkable week here; God’s people are energized for ministry, and we’re going to do our best to finish strong in our final moments of business. We’re back to timestamps and highlights from Friday at GC81.

8:30am

We begin our day in worship and prayer with the last service of Holy Eucharist together. We’re treated to the voices of our current and future Presiding Bishops, as Michael Curry celebrates and Sean Rowe preaches.

I often have a hard time remembering the details of sermons – even my own. But I do remember what I felt, if I was inspired, if I leave worship with a greater fullness and awareness of God’s Spirit in the midst of God’s people. Sean Rowe’s sermon today was one I will remember, or at least I will remember the clarity of the truth he offered us, a stirring and faithful Word to the Church. I can’t do it justice by recapping it – I’d encourage you to watch it here .

Scenes from Holy Eucharist

11:02am

We rise in prayer to start our session – “Alleluia,” we sing!

President Julia Ayala Harris offered us a considerate word on the difficult nature of our conversations and gathering. She also offered an apology to the House for the transition the other night between a hard series of conversations on Israel and Palestine and a lighter moment of levity with dance and music. Without a script, she displayed a gracious vulnerability in admitting that that moment may not have been how all of us had hoped. We’re doing heavy things here. We’re having holy disagreements. And we’re trying our best. I’m reminded that as baptized people, we do not vow to be perfect but to do all that we do with God’s help, turning back to God when we come up short. I admired the grace Julia demonstrated for all of us in her speech.

We then recognized our chaplain, the Rev. Lester Mackenzie for his continual work and inspiration as the House of Deputies Chaplain. The man is practically joy incarnate, and his delight in prayer and giving thanks is ever present in his abundant personality. We are a better House because of his efforts and leadership!

We recognized Russ Randall of Virginia for his integrity of leadership. He’s an eight-time deputy and was commended for his unwavering commitment to serving the Church here and with ministry with South Sudan with honesty, fairness, and a deep sense of responsibility.

We also recognized Scott Gunn of Southern Ohio. Scott is the Executive Director of Forward Movement and has been “instrumental” in forming disciples in this Church. He has served over many years at General Convention, and his blog and considerations of our resolutions are an invaluable service to our Church and people. Not many speak of the resurrection better than Scott, and his exceptional service to this Church was recognized with joy by the House.

11:31am

The Consent Calendar passes with lots of resolutions. It’s certainly worth our time after this General Convention to take a good look at the many things we’ve passed through this kind of action. Our deputation is committed to bringing presentations back to Idaho to keep everyone updated.

11:34am

We’re now hearing a presentation from the Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice. This coalition is now its own 501C3 registered in New York. Its bylaws stipulate that 70% of its board shall be from historically underrepresented communities in the Episcopal Church. We look forward to the fruits of their labors and how our whole Church might be empowered by them to tell the truth about the history of white supremacy, our Church’s complicity in it, and how to bring deep healing that can only occur as a result of building community and justice. Learn more at episcopalcoalition.org .

11:40am

We have a celebratory special of order of business to attend to before lunch. These “happy” resolutions help honor the wishes of dioceses which have expressed the desire to merge and/or reunite, and General Convention has the responsibility of approving such junctures. These dioceses are the latest in the Episcopal Church to reimagine how to be the Church – quoting Presiding Bishop-Elect Rowe, deputies from the now-Diocese of the Great Lakes (formerly Eastern and Western Michigan) offered hope for other dioceses in the Church, saying that they learned how “to put certain things down” while coming to see more commonalities than differences between their now-united people.

These newly formed dioceses are a vision of hope for this Church – the future of God’s people is most certainly collaborative, perhaps more so than it has ever been. GC81 rejoiced with our friends from across the Church at their new reality.

12:06pm

We’re in recess – back at 2pm!

Lunch with some of the deputation from the Navajoland Missionary Diocese

2:00pm

As Frodo once said to Sam, “I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.”

A little dramatic for our purposes, maybe, but I’ll never miss a chance to give my beloved Lord of the Rings a slight nod. Moving on!

We’re in the final stretch now! We’ll see how much we get to – we do run the risk of making no comment on certain resolutions purely because of the time restraints.

We recognized the Committee on Credentials, including our own Sue Bolen! They’ve registered deputies all week. Well done all week, Sue! We also recognized the hard work of committees that we haven’t yet seen on the floor: World Mission, Evangelism and Future Church, Stewardship and Socially Responsible Investing (with Nancy Koonce!), Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations, Environmental Stewardship and Care of Creation, and Title III Ministry (yay Tammy Jones!).

2:22pm

Lunch got in the way of our special order of business from the morning, which included another diocesan union. Joining our friends from the Great Lakes in forming a new diocese were three in Wisconsin: the dioceses previously known as Milwaukee, Fond du Lac, and Eau Claire will be reunited as the Diocese of Wisconsin. Congrats, friends!

2:51pm

We now turn to B008 around the clarification of how liturgies are authorized for our prayer book. The key terms are “supplemental,” “alternative,” and “trial” use for liturgies. Trial use must be specifically defined in regard to time, and it must precede the first reading for any alteration or addition to The Book of Common Prayer. It appears that six years and two concurrent General Conventions would still be necessary to add liturgy officially to The Book of Common Prayer. Supplemental Liturgical Resources will not require the permission of one’s bishop; Alternative Liturgical Resources will not. This resolution is “about good order,” one deputy remarked, and helps clarify the changes we made a couple days ago with Article X of our Constitution. The resolution passed easily.

3:11pm

We’re now adding more clarification to this whole prayer book process – or at least trying to. In updating some of the sections of Article X, which were approved already at this General Convention, we’re realizing that the idea of “memorializing” a version of The Book of Common Prayer continues to be confusing – but, in B008, which also passed, we have outlined it to mean “authorized for regular use at any service in all dioceses of this Church. The content of any memorialized Book is understood to be the version in use at the time of memorialization.” The concern on the floor is that we as a body are still unsure as to what any of this all means. An argument is that it might be creating two different definitions of The Book of Common Prayer if it is both something to do with the memorialized text of the 1979 and the compilation of texts as authorized by General Convention. I’m not sure I share their concern, and it might be worth our time to live into what we have passed thus far to see what it looks like on the ground level of our local contexts of ministry over the next three years. The House voted against an opportunity to refer this matter to an interim committee; in the end, we concurred with the House of Bishops on the text amended. It’ll be very interesting see how we live into this new reality of how to create and use what we now know as T he Book of Common Prayer.

3:42pm

We’re doing our best to move faster! Debate ends on a resolution if three deputies speak in favor and no one is in the queue to speak against. Three deputies spoke for far less than their allotted two minutes – some for as short as five seconds – to move our procedure along. In this case, it was to approve an amendment to the Constitution that allows us to change the date of future General Conventions in case of extraordinary circumstances (like a pandemic, for example). This is a no-brainer vote that passed unanimously.

3:50pm

Quick recess! Back in 15 minutes.

4:10pm

Let’s go!

We’re once more considering D013 Affirm the Imperative of a Palestinian State. For all that our two houses have said regarding this conflict, we still have differing opinions on the word apartheid to describe the conflict. The House of Bishops has sent the House of Deputies a substitute resolution that writes “General Convention acknowledges that the language it uses to name and describe this horrific conflict divides the Church and many of God’s people even where we have strived otherwise, for all of which we pray for forgiveness and guidance to find language that unites us in the effort to bring peace and justice to Palestine.”

The chair of the responsible committee described the changes in this substitute – moved to the top was this phrase: “That the 81 ^st General Convention of The Episcopal Church affirm our hope for all the people of Israel and Palestine to enjoy freedom, peace, justice, and national self-determination, and affirm our hope for the creation of a Palestinian State, coexisting with the Jewish State of Israel.”

In taking out the word apartheid , the following phrase is included: “that the current government of Israel continues to commit acts and pass laws that result in fragmentation, segregation, and dispossession against the Palestinian people and the Occupied Territories.”

The chair called our vote “a decision of conscience” and that we must do what we each believe to be right. Led by our own Al Borg-Borm, the dioceses of Idaho, Bethlehem, and South Dakota requested a vote by orders on this resolution.

Though this resolution passed easily, I must say there is a sense of sadness in the House. After a week of work in which many decisive and conclusive resolutions have been passed, there is little satisfaction to be found at the moment. For many who have visited the Holy Land, no resolution is strong enough to witness to the horrors they have seen. For many who would like to say something as a response to this great and ongoing tragedy, our words may be too weak.

And I am reminded of the best Good Friday sermon I have ever heard (thank you, Fr. Bill Wood from St. David’s, Radnor) and an image I to which I have returned many times in my own life – that when we do not know what to do with the great cares of this world, the great weights upon our hearts, and the great unknown that we try to face even with hope, we are called to follow Jesus’ way to the foot of the cross and place all of these things before his glorious, broken, scourged, and crucified body given for the life of the world. Satisfaction may still not be found there – death has done its worst.

And yet somehow, our hope reigns and endures in that we believe and trust that Easter will come.

We know that the way of the cross is indeed the way of life.

Christ is risen.

O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.

4:39pm

Resolution A116, authorizing our rite for same-sex marriage as part of our new definition of The Book of Common Prayer , passed happily and expediently. We’ve come a long way in the last decade.

And, in similar fashion, we have amended for trial use in The Book of Common Prayer the language of the prayer book’s Catechism to now read “Holy Matrimony is Christian marriage, in which two people enter into a life-long union, make their vows before God and the Church, and receive grace and blessing of God to help them fulfill their vows.” Once again, this too passed easily and with joy.

5:03pm

The end is near, and we’re trying to go quickly!

We’re fixing some dates in Lesser Feasts and Fasts , some of which help us observe feasts when the rest of the wider Church in other denominations observe them. Additionally, we gave our final authorization to add Harriet Tubman to the Calendar of the Church Year on March 10 ^th , the final authorization of Barbara Clementine Harris on February 11 ^th , the final authorization of Simeon Bachos, the Ethiopian Eunuch, on August 26 ^th , and the final authorization of Frederick Howden, Jr. on December 11 ^th . Fun fact: a deputy currently in the House was the body model for statues of Harriet Tubman!

5:26pm

Last piece of legislation that isn’t courtesy! And it’s a good one. We concurred with the House of Bishops to add a trial use commemoration of the Ordination of the Philadelphia Eleven for July 29 ^th . Also included in the resolution for trial use were lesser feasts for Elie Naud on September 7 ^th , George of Lydda on May 6 ^th , Lili’uokalani of Hawaii on January 29 ^th , and Adeline Blanchard Tyler and her Companions on November 4 ^th .

Cool moment: all ordained women in the House of Deputies stood to great applause as this resolution was passed. We’re ever so grateful for them!

5:35pm

Another cool moment – a “secret” resolution commending The Rev. Canon Michael Barlowe for his good work as the Secretary of General Convention and, among other things, for helping create the Virtual Binder as we know it today. Longtime deputies have appreciated Michael’s ministry for years and years, and we congratulate him upon his retirement!

5:42pm

We’re so close, so let’s get courteous! A whole batch of courtesy resolutions offered our thanks and joy for the following:

The Rt. Rev. Terry Allen White and the Diocese of Kentucky

Amy Spicer and all the Volunteers at GC81

The Very Rev. Matthew Bradley, his staff, and all parishioners at Christ Church Cathedral, Louisville

The children’s Waves of Gratitude Day Camp at GC81 and Sarah Petersen, its leader

All of the executive staff who “ran” GC81

The Rev. Lester Mackenzie as our chaplain!

The Hon. Bryan Krislock, our parliamentarian

The offices of the Secretariat and those who staffed our voting process and legislative work

The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton for her service as the Vice President of the House of Deputies

The Rev. Steve Pankey at his election as the next Vice President of the House of Deputies

The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry for his faithful service as the 27 ^th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church

The Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe at his election as the next Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church

Julia Ayala Harris for her service to the Episcopal Church and this House of Deputies

5:54pm

President Ayala Harris offered her closing remarks, we sang the doxology, and the deputation from Kentucky handed over the baton to the deputation from Arizona as a nod to GC82 in Phoenix. And just like that, the 81 ^st General Convention of the Episcopal Church is finished. I’m grateful for the good and holy work we’ve accomplished this week – and I’m glad we get to go home. Thanks for reading, everyone. Our whole deputation looks forward to seeing you on our return and bringing this good ministry back home to the Diocese of Idaho.

Grace to you and peace,

Dennis

Day 5 from Louisville! 6/27/24

dennis@ststephensboise.com (Dennis Reid) — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 11:36:25 GMT

“I lift up this prayer in the name of Jesus because I know and believe that you love it when we pray!”

Chaplain Lester Mackenzie

Dear friends,

It was a little easier keeping track of items and events yesterday in real time, so we’ll try it again today! We’re beginning to feel the length of this week – even our beloved coffee isn’t quite kicking in with the same effect. But we power through and continue our work!

7:00am

The early risers of our deputation arrived at the House of Deputies to hear a forum of the nominees for the Vice President of the House of Deputies.

9:00am

Morning Prayer was offered in House this morning with prayers of special intention for the victims of mass shootings. Christ Church Cathedral in Louisville has been praying especially for the victims of gun violence and has created placards of names of those killed and wounded in the places within our dioceses and handed them out today. I couldn’t help but notice the reactions of our friends from North Carolina sitting to our left – a great sadness came upon their faces upon receiving the stack of placards containing the names of many who had died. Idaho had none to receive – what to say?

The Official Youth Presence!

9:52am

It’s announced we’re likely to have another evening session. We’ll see how fast business can go today.

The morning session begins with a presentation by the Official Youth Presence entitled “A Living Testament and Architects of the Future.” We were encouraged by their fervor for and love of this Church as they described their two pillars of opportunity: openness and resurrection! These impressive teenagers spoke on their hope for the future and one in which our youth are both our present and future. They implored us to create accessible liturgies for children and families, to seek more youth involvement in leadership, and to make “all are welcome” a reality. This was great to see; I am where I am now because this Church and its leaders believed in me, encouraged me, valued me, and loved me as a child, teenager, and adult. Let’s commend that same work now and always.

10:05am

Business continues with the election of the Vice President of the House of Deputies. Four are standing for this office, which assists the work of the President throughout the coming triennium:

John Floberg

Charles Graves

Ruth Meyers

Steve Pankey

The Rev. Steve Pankey from the Diocese of Kentucky was elected on the second ballot. Pankey said he was looking forward to serving God, this House, and our President and that the Church is in “exceedingly good hands” with Julia Ayala Harris, Michael Curry, and Sean Rowe. “I can’t believe I get the chance to work with them.”

10:21am

Consent Calendar #1 of the day was passed, and we then moved on to rules of order and how legislative committees work so that we might set the standard by which we operate and allow room for how the Holy Spirit might work in our midst.

All of this is being considered because of how General Convention changed during the pandemic. Instead of meeting in 2021, it met in 2022. GC80 was only four in person days, and a vast majority of its work was done virtually for safety. We have since found that some of these same virtual practices might be a good idea for the future seeing as many more members of the wider Church could participate in Zoom calls and online hearings. The committee also supported allowing for written testimony on resolutions because not all can attend in person or virtual hearings. It is the hope that we are adapting our rules for the House of Deputies to provide “unprecedented access” to the materials to be considered at General Convention to the wider church before the in person gathering of General Convention.

We also voted for some earlier deadlines, keeping legislative committees mostly online for the sake of their initial reports which will be due a week before the next General Convention. Committee work will continue on site at future General Conventions, but the hope of keeping meetings virtual is to allow for more thorough work to be done pre-convention and allowing for more time for translation of reports for the sake of our international members (which has been a challenge at times at this General Convention).

Three resolutions passed.

11:34am

A resolution requesting that future General Conventions last “not fewer than ten days” in accordance with the Guidelines set forth in Resolution 1988-A150. It was the custom of our Church to have long General Conventions – in an era without the internet, it was much more necessary to meet as long as possible in person. However, there was also a resolution in 2015 saying that General Conventions should not last more than ten days.

Friends, I’m a first-time deputy for these six days of legislation. I cannot imagine a productive scenario in which this house meets for ten straight days – this work is a great privilege on behalf of the Church, but it can be tiresome and lengthy. With the capabilities we have with online resources, it seems imprudent to gather considerably longer than we need to. The House of Deputies agreed with the committee’s recommendation to take no further action, thereby paving the way for future General Conventions shorter than ten days.

The proposed Collect for the Philadelphia Eleven

11:48am

We heard two courtesy resolutions before lunch. The first expressed gratitude for the life and ministry of the Very Rev. George L.W. Werner, the 31 ^st President of the House of Deputies, who died on February 6 ^th 2023. The second was to celebrate the 50 ^th Anniversary of the Philadelphia Eleven, the first women ordained as priests in the Episcopal Church. George was a great champion of the role of women in leadership and ordained positions, and it was a joy to celebrate these two resolutions together. GC81 celebrated greatly by singing the doxology in affirmation! Additionally, we prayed the collect for the proposed feast commemorating the event of the ordination of the Philadelphia Eleven, and we were invited to remember joyfully the names of those women whose ordained ministry we particularly celebrate in our own lives.

12:05pm

We’re in recess til 2pm. Some of deputation will bear witness with many of our bishops and youth representatives in a march and demonstration against gun violence. I’m grateful for their witness and stand with them in spirit, but I’m going to run back to the hotel to sleep for a bit. Like I said, it’s a long week.

Editorial Note : Here’s an Episcopal News Service story on the event.

A Prayer to Remember the Innoc ents

2:03pm

We’re back with a word of prayer from our chaplain: “May our words continue to be seasoned with grace and truth, soaked in the soothing aromas and fragrances of love, patience, kindness, compassion, respect, and justice.”

Another Consent Calendar passed, and we’re on to our next resolutions for business.

GC81 supported the committee recommendation to take no further action on A094 Communion Across Difference . A task force comprised of members of the Church who hold differing theologies and opinions across the breadth of belief regarding traditional marriage and marriage equality has existed since 2018 to help the Church hold this important conversation on a Church-wide level. While many in the House believe in the spirit of the conversation, the committee’s argument was well-heard. And, not all do agree with the spirit of the conversation – I commiserate with the notion that one’s belovedness and marriage which this Church has already affirmed need not be continually reexamined by those who hold a minority opinion. At the same time, I do value bringing voices and experiences together under the wide banner of Christ’s Church – we are better when we are together, but the Church’s support for marriage equality is clear.

2:31pm

Some highlights from the afternoon session:

We voted to create a comprehensive report, share resources, and build collaboration across the Church to encourage the formation of our youth members through global service and mission trips. Many testified in favor, on deputy remarking that everyone he knew who had gone on such a trip as a teenager was still active in the Church. Anecdotally, this is mostly true for me, too.

We voted to commend and extend the work of the Task Force on Imagining a Church Grounded in Social Justice as Ministry, with particular care to emphasize language which grounds this important work in the Gospel. Their work will continue through this triennium with funding already passed in the budget.

D074 Renouncing the Theology of Slavery held by the Rev. James Craik, 11 ^th President of the House of Deputies. With the entire deputation of Kentucky gathered at the microphone, the House learned that Craik was unanimously elected as the President of the House of Deputies and was the dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Louisville. He published a “reprehensible” pamphlet regarding slavery. Kentucky’s deputation implored the House to remember that truth-telling matters in context, and seeing that Craik’s ministry happened blocks from where our current business session is taking place, it was important for this renunciation not simply to pass on the Consent Calendar but to make time for it on the floor. Before our voice vote, our chaplain led us in prayer, becoming emotional with his tender words:

“We invoke the Holy Spirit’s breath on this day. Move your Spirit among us, filling us with your grace and clarity. Envelop our hearts and minds. May our words always continue to be open to grace and truth and stay steadfast in your love. May we always remember that we are the human family and emphasize our interconnectedness. Help us in this journey with compassion knowing that your love sustains us. We lift up this prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.”

D034 was passed with the hopes of supporting advocacy for restorative justice, reducing the number of people incarcerated, and to commit to works as a Church that affirm “that Jesus proclaimed freedom for prisoners (4:18) and promised the possibility of justice aimed at restoration even for those who murdered him (Luke 23:24).” There was some debate as to whether this and other resolutions did anything, as much of its language is in the realm of “urging” and “encouraging.” In response, a deputy spoke energetically in favor: “We need to continue to keep these things in front of people” lest we forget what we have promised as people of God, he remarked. This is always an important conversation at General Convention. For the most part, our resolutions should be clear with the action they can or hope to accomplish. But, General Convention also serves as a sort of time capsule that shows what we care about and what we use our voices to support or decry over the generations. Sometimes, taking a vocal stand is the beginning of action, and in this case, many were moved by this last deputy’s strong words.

As the afternoon continued, we voted to take no further action on a resolution about recognizing the full place of all people – especially including those with neurodivergent and intellectual/developmental disabilities – in the Church. However, the wording of the resolution was unclear in several of its statements, and while many in the House supported the spirit of its inclusivity, we took no further action.

Then, we approved a resolution to continue the Task Force on Indigenous Liturgy for the next triennium. There will be culturally-appropriate translations that will hopefully come from this work, as there are hundreds of recognized indigenous peoples who have no translations of our current prayer book to use in liturgy. Convention celebrated the long history of our indigenous friends, that they have been part of the traditions and history of the Episcopal Church since at least 1607 in Jamestown, VA.

Time for a quick recess!

4:12pm

We’re back. We’ve got coffee. And Jesus. Let’s go!

And Gay Jennings is here! Our former House President was warmly greeted as she playfully made a grab for the gavel – old habits die hard, huh? Current President Julia Ayala Harris presented Jennings with the Presidential Service Award to a round of great applause. “It was one of the greatest privileges of my life to serve as your President, and we did great work together,” Jennings fondly recalled.

We’ve been told we have a 50/50 chance of not coming back tonight (woo!), but only if we get through a lot of business. Onward we go:

Vote passes on A092 Access to ordination and deployment . Allows that no person shall be denied access to discernment process or any process for employment, licensing, calling, or deployment for any ministry, lay or ordained, in this Church because of their conscientiously-held theological belief that marriage is a covenant between a man and a woman, or that marriage is a covenant between two people. This was not an easy vote, and our deputation voted to concur only with hesitancy.

D091 on the definition of “doctrine” was another challenge – this time, we voted against. The question we struggled with as a deputation was “can the doctrinal position of a memorialized prayer book exist together with a directly opposing doctrinal position and still remain the doctrine of this Church,” especially in regard to how this Church views marriage. The word “memorialized” was introduced in 2018 to protect the status and use of the 1979 edition of The Book of Common Prayer , but in practice, we as a whole Church have yet to fully understand the ramifications of its meaning. We were concerned that this resolution could define as permanent doctrine that marriage is only between one man and one woman even though we have affirmed same-sex marriage for nearly a decade. We as a deputation hope to continue to encourage the breadth of diversity in theological belief, practice, understanding, and difference, but not if it comes at the risk of anyone’s justice, equity, and belovedness.

5:21pm

Oh look! A unanimous vote on A071 making it easier for dioceses to merge and/or reunite!

And D049 was passed to allow dioceses to elect not more than three Bishops Suffragan instead of just two. This is especially important as dioceses merge or reunite. For example, when Texas and North Texas reunited, the region of North Texas was left without the presence of a bishop, and it has not been an easy search. This resolution will allow dioceses to elect Bishops Suffragan with greater ease to adapt to new structures and realities in some of the dioceses of our Church.

5:36pm

A044 passed to develop sustainable congregational revitalization ministries especially focusing on data-driven conclusions and resources to build on best practices for congregational development and vitality.

C032 passed with overwhelming and solemn support in expressing our remorse for the role the Episcopal Church played in the “irreparable harm suffered by Indigenous children who attended Indigenous boarding and residential schools in the 1800s and 1900s.” I would encourage your prayers for this moment with the prayer written for the resolution:

Ohiŋni wičhauŋkiksuyapi kte.  "We will always remember them."

Dear Lord, Almighty God, we pray for all Indigenous children who were in residential and boarding schools in Canada and the United States.  Some died there; we ask that you give assurance to   their descendants that their souls are with you and their ancestors. Some survived there; we ask that you give your healing grace to all who endured hardship while there and are still struggling with those memories. Lastly, we ask you to help us guard our children against harm in this world. All this we ask in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.  Amen.

6:17pm

We’re off for an hour. Looks like we’ll return to finish our work after dinner!

7:15pm

We’re brought back into session to consider several more resolutions:

Consent Calendar III is adopted, and we move along.

We approved the trial use of the “Expanded Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings.” It’s an ecumenical, three-year cycle of Daily Office-style readings that follows the Sunday Revised Common Lectionary readings closely.

The House of Deputies then considered an expansive language version of Eucharistic Prayer C and approved it heartily to join the expansive language versions of Eucharistic Prayers A, B, and D that are already approved for use.

We concurred with the House of Bishops on A115 nearly unanimously to authorize alternative texts for the Good Friday liturgy which aim to offer a sensitive and pastoral lens to the story of the Passion as told in John’s Gospel. This resolution gives parishes revised choices for readings, edited collects, and a new translation of John’s Passion used in the liturgy in hopes to avoid an antisemitic theology that many have experienced with the current prayer book liturgy.

Next, we approved a resolution to remove William Porcher DuBose from the Calendar of the Church. To be on this calendar, we have agreed that people should have been, in their lifetime, extraordinary or even heroic for the sake of God’s people and the Gospel of Jesus. However, DuBose was a “committed and unrepentant” white supremacist who regularly spoke, taught, and preached about these views. He described the Ku Klux Klan “an inspiration of genius.” The committee wrote that “The Episcopal Church should not be honoring a man who saw no conflict in teaching Jesus, but believing that Jesus would somehow condone the enslaving, killing, torturing and destroying of the families of a people, slaves or free.”

And lastly, we authorized the latest update to the lectionary for Lesser Feasts and Fasts , the larger calendar used for the veneration of the saints in our Church. The revision made sure each commemoration has four readings consistently and offered a greater variety of scripture readings to correct moments in the previous edition in which the same readings were occasionally repeated within the same week.

8:40pm

We’ll finish up our night approving two courtesy resolutions – first, expressing our gratitude to Paul Neuhauser for his 50 plus years of service on the Episcopal Church’s ethical investment committee. Neuhauser wrote the first faith-based shareholder resolution in 1971 asking General Motors to leave South Africa and convinced JP Morgan Bank to make no more loans to South Africa, “dealing a critical blow to the apartheid regime.” And second, we offered our gratitude to Steve Hutchinson upon his retirement as Canon Chancellor. Hutchinson is also a 14-time deputy to General Convention.

8:51pm

We’re outta here for the day!

Tomorrow is our last full day in Louisville. We still have a lot of work to get to, and I give thanks for your prayers for this General Convention, especially that we might have the energy to finish strong! Miss you all back home, and we’re praying for you, too!

Grace to you and peace,

Dennis

We have a new Presiding Bishop-Elect! 6/26/24

dennis@ststephensboise.com (Dennis Reid) — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 12:16:49 GMT

The five nominees for the 28th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church

“Courage is the authentic form taken by love.”

Sean Rowe quoting Thomas Merton

Dear friends,

We’re gonna do this with timestamps today because there’s a lot to get to – Presiding Bishop election, Prayer Book considerations, Israel/Palestine, and our first evening legislative session incoming. It might be prudent (and easier) to do this in real time!

11:07am

There’s a buzz in the air in the House of Deputies this morning – after months of curiosity, speculation, and prayers, the Presiding Bishop election is today! The bishops of our Church have processed through town to Louisville’s cathedral to begin their election process – the bishops elect the Presiding Bishop, and the deputies confirm the choice after. The first ballot won’t be known until after lunch, so the House of Deputies is now awaiting some news in the early to mid afternoon.

Friends, we only do this election every nine years. The tenure of any Presiding Bishop is like its own time capsule, a season for the Church and God’s people that often will have its own priorities and flavor, if you will. It is a demanding position that requires an incredible personal faith, a willingness to work with many leaders across the breadth of the Church, and a humility to lead and collaborate in discernment to hear God’s will for this Church and the world for the next decade.

Idaho's deputation voting on the floor of the House of Deputies

11:15am

We’ve now jumped into a myriad of elections for Church-wide positions and House of Deputies positions. We’re electing trustees for the Church Pension Group, lay and clergy members of the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council (sort of like the Church’s Vestry…kinda), members of the next Joint Nominating Committee for a Presiding Bishop, and some disciplinary committees related to the Title IV processes mentioned yesterday.

The Church Pension Group vote took a while; with 12 spots available and over 20 folks running, getting a majority of the vote for those elected took four ballots over the span of about 40 minutes.

12:08pm

Whoa! As we were almost ready to break for lunch, it was announced that a committee from the House of Bishops had arrived with a message. We weren’t expecting news on a potential election for a few more hours. The chaplain led the house in prayer: “Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me,” we sang!

Aaaaaand false alarm. There has indeed been an election, but Committee 20, on the confirmation of the election, has to do… something with the result before we see it. They will meet and then announce to the House of Deputies this afternoon. We wait in hope – the Church holds its breath in prayer and anticipation.

1:43pm

Tacos have been had for lunch! We’re now back in the House of Deputies looking at tomorrow’s consent calendar to stay ahead of the game. And we’re still waiting for the PB election. We come back in session in 15 minutes – news soon!

2:04pm

Committee 20 is back, and so is the House of Deputies! Great expectation is in the air. President Julia Ayala Harris brings us back into session, and the chaplain prayed over the House. Thank God for prayer: “May everything we do be for your honor and glory.” Amen, friends.

2:10pm

The Committee on Dispatch moves to suspend the rules of the House that we may hear the report of the election of the Presiding Bishop. Here we go!

The House of Bishops have elected the Rt. Rev. Sean W. Rowe as the next Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church!

Presiding Bishop-Elect Sean Rowe. Photo credit Randall Gornowich.

Presiding Bishop-Elect Rowe was elected on the first ballot. 82 votes were needed to elect of the 158 ballots cast. Results as follows:

The Rt. Rev Scott Barker 24

The Rt. Rev DeDe Duncan-Probe 9

The Rt. Rev. Daniel Guttierrez 17

The Rt. Rev. Sean W. Rowe 89

The Rt. Rev. Robert Wright 19

The House of Deputies affirmed the election via electronic vote by a count of 778 to 43. We have a new Presiding Bishop-Elect! A loud and boisterous standing ovation was celebrated, and a small envoy from the House of Deputies was sent to the cathedral to announce the confirmation to the bishops.

The Church was blessed to have five exemplary bishops stand for this election. Each have gifts for ministry, leadership, and vision, and for the remaining four nominees, their deep faith will continue to be a blessing to their dioceses. I trust our Church would have been in good hands with any outcome.

A point of personal privilege: Sean Rowe was my bishop for a season in the Diocese of Bethlehem, and I delight for our Church at his election. Sean has a gregarious, warm personality, a particular gift for liturgy and proclaiming the Word, and is well-versed in the adaptive leadership and vision that will serve the Church well for the next nine years. Congratulations, Presiding Bishop-Elect Rowe!

2:23pm

After all the excitement, we still have work to do! We now continue our elections into the afternoon.

3:08pm

The Presiding Bishop-Elect is in the House! After a raucous ovation, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry joyfully introduced Sean Rowe who took the stage surrounded by the deputations from Northwestern PA and Western New York.

“I’m grateful to all of who have participated in this long discernment process,” Rowe began. He offered his gratitude for the “companionship and council” from the other four nominees and gave thanks that the five of them “made this journey in solidarity with the love of this Church in mind.”

Rowe described the next nine years as “critical” and that it wasn’t too strong to describe the state of the Church as an “existential crisis.” However, it was not because of despair or because the Church was dying but rather because “the world around us has changed and is changing.” “God is calling us ever more deeply into the unknown,” Rowe remarked.

Rowe described his upbringing near Erie, Pennsylvania as a time in which he saw the things he loved go away: “I watched everything I had known evaporate” due to economic instability and unraveling steel industries. And yet, with a hopeful tone, he described the recent history of his dioceses as “bucking the trend of downturn for the sake of the Gospel,” and that the Church there has been called into experimentation through an imperative to change and walk into God’s faithful future.

Looking ahead, he asked the House and the Church to consider that it’s time to reorient churchwide resources and staff to support dioceses and congregations on the ground level of ministry and to build on what is already being done better at that level than could be done at the highest level of the Episcopal Church.

He also asked us to remember that we are the beloved community in Christ, that we can disagree without tearing each other apart. He encouraged us strongly to use the anger we feel at injustice “not to turn against one another but to bring God’s realm here,” a reorientation of our hearts and minds that only matters “if we do it for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Rowe thanked the House of Deputies for rejecting the lowering of the assessment for the triennium, saying they’re worth maintaining “for now;” “let’s see what we can do together and then reevaluate.”

And he asked the House to consider this interim time before he begins his work officially in November as a time of “relational jubilee”: to let go of anger, resentment, and grudges seen in the Church from the last several years and the time of the pandemic. Sometimes, he remarked, “our behavior hasn’t been a witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” But he was very hopeful that we can move forward together in hope, seeking forgiveness, and living into a fresh start together. Quoting Thomas Merton at the end of his address, Rowe reminded us that we will need courage, faith, and hope to make this walk together: “Courage is the authentic form taken by love.” The floor of the House of Deputies, with our bishops visiting with permission, interrupted Rowe’s speech on a handful of occasions to rejoice with applause and affirmation of his strong words – there is a great hope on the floor of this House, and I’m encouraged by this stirring of the Holy Spirit in our midst!

3:54pm

After a lengthy recess (and naturally, more coffee!), it’s time for a presentation from Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers! The Hero of Camping Ministry Award was presented to Bronwyn Skov for her remarkable support and leadership amongst camping ministries in Minnesota.

And now, we’re back to elections, this time for the Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop – yes, we already have to do that for nine years from now!

4:33pm

Elections have been finished, and we now move onto the Consent Calendar – if you’re not familiar, each legislative session has a batch of resolutions that are expected either to pass or fail according to the proposing committee’s recommendation with little disagreement, discussion, or fanfare. Resolutions may be pulled off the Consent Calendar to be considered on the floor of the House at the request of at least three individual deputies, but there’s virtually no way we’d get through hundreds of resolutions in six days of legislative sessions without it. Our deputation has met each day to review the next session’s Consent Calendar to make sure we don’t want to pull anything onto the floor – so far, we haven’t felt the need.

4:38pm and into Early Evening

We’re about to consider resolutions concerning the conflict between Israel and Palestine. The chaplain started us with prayer: “Grant us strength and peace and hope, Holy Spirit. Surround us with compassion.”

To say these are challenging and complex topics is a massive understatement. The committee in charge of forming these resolutions had the unenviable job of crafting the Episcopal Church’s potential stances, responses, and even theological reflections upon this crisis. The committee chair described the nature of their work as a concerted effort to look for concrete ways for our Church to act upon this crisis, to spark a new urgency to use our voices lest our silence leave us complicit in ongoing violence, to lament and pray for the hope of a ceasefire and peace, and to carefully navigate our response as a Church.

It's a laudable but extremely difficult goal.

The most pointed debate of the day revolved around some of the vocabulary of the three resolutions. Are the words apartheid and genocide accurate to the conflict, or are they purposefully incendiary? The House of Bishops voted to remove direct labeling of this crisis as such; the House of Deputies and the legislative committee had to respond to the change. Given the testimony we heard for hours today, I was persuaded that perhaps the exact answer, in a way, doesn’t matter as much as a statement from a united Church , both its Deputies and Bishops, matters. This is especially true because time is a factor – it takes time in parliamentary procedure to recraft language and submit amended resolutions to our parallel house. Were the two houses continually committed only to their own versions of these resolutions, we would run the risk of not saying anything at all by the end of GC81 on Saturday.

There is no debate that this Church cries out in lament and anger like the prophets of old against the needless loss of life in this crisis. There is no debate that this Church is seeking a way to act and speak in motivation from the baptismal vows we have made to respect the dignity of every human being, especially in this moment for the people who are suffering and dying. There is no debate that this Church is trying to do what it is called to do at this General Convention, and the difficulty in coming together across conflicted opinions is both a blessing and constraint of our democratic process. In the end, the House of Deputies voted this night to agree with the House of Bishop’s wording on D056 Calling for a Ceasefire in Gaza , which while stopping short of labeling this crisis as an act of genocide, still strongly decries the October 7 ^th 2023 terrorist attack by Hamas, laments the United States’ complicity in the crisis, calls on the Church to offer days of fasting, prayer, and mourning for the lives lost in Israel and Palestine, and urges the members of this Church to contact their elected government officials in Congress to ask for “a comprehensive, equitable, and immediate ceasefire in Gaza.”

I did make a brief statement on the floor before one of the votes. As we’ve seen in many resolutions, committees can request an amount of money for the work they’re proposing – in some instances, it’s a big number, like $750k for the proposed hymnal supplement. None of the resolutions regarding aid and help to Palestinians committed dollars from the Episcopal Church’s budget. I rose to speak against one of the resolutions “not because of the substance of our debate but because of the measure of our response.” For as strong as our language is in outcry against injustice, I was very disappointed that our only financial reality was a mere “invitation to philanthropy.”

5:49

We’re in recess til 7pm. Deputies are scattering out of the House to find dinner and return. It’s turning into a long day.

6:56pm

As we’re slowly getting back into the House, each deputation has been met with what can only be described as “materials for a light and dance party” at their tables. Interestingly, the first Presiding Bishop in 1785, William White, was a noted dubstep and underground dance music enthusiast.

Also, that last sentence is false. Just checking if you’re still paying attention.

What’s not false is the “Episco Disco” vibe that we’re enjoying at the moment that just might help us power through two night hours of complex resolutions. Glow sticks, light up glasses, and even glowing bunny ears are scattered throughout the House – who says parliamentary procedure can’t be fun and spicy?

7:14pm

After the next batch of Consent Calendar resolutions were approved, the House moved along to continue with the last resolution concerning Israel and Palestine. Editorial Note: I’ve written slightly out of order in my recap and combined some of the action in the earlier paragraphs. This vote was the one affirming the bishops’ choice to remove the word genocide from the last resolution. It was not an easy choice, but in the end, the House of Deputies did indeed vote to concur so that we could make sure we had some sort of unified statement.

8:06pm

The last big event of the day is here. We’re now considering A072 which would completely rewrite Article X of our Constitution and redefine the identity of The Book of Common Prayer.

The call for prayer book revision has been heard for probably more than a decade now. Our 1979 book has served the Church well, I believe – and, we have a plethora of liturgical resources that have been approved by General Convention and/or published for use in congregations that have either been for trial use, temporary use, or permanent use. Some examples of this reality would be the Enriching Our Worship series, resources like The Book of Occasional Services , and of recent importance, the rites approved for marriage equality and same-sex marriage. There is a lot of Episcopal liturgy that cannot be found in the current prayer book, and whether we redefine what it means for the book to be the book or start an intentional process of writing the next book seems to be the choice before us as a Church.

For a long time, I resisted the idea of redefining the definition of the prayer book. It seems odd to be able to hand someone a copy of The Book of Common Prayer with the caveat of also needing to say “this actually isn’t really everything, there’s more.” But, that’s kind of already the reality of our Church. We have approved rites for the 1979 Eucharistic Prayers with updated language that aren’t in any printed book. At least at St. Stephen’s, we print the liturgy in bulletins and can be adaptive to other approved liturgies from outside resources that also won’t be found in our beloved red book. And the truth of the matter is, we haven’t looked forward to prayer book revision – we’ve already begun. Perhaps it’s just a little different now than the way it was done in the 1970s, and that’s ok.

And so we debated. Once again, the debate was around the idea of holding fast to a single book which contains the primary liturgy and theology of this Church or allowing our common prayer to be carefully considered and broadened to include every authorized text as approved by the Church through the vehicle of successive General Conventions. There was impassioned testimony to reject this resolution on what I would describe as the somewhat disingenuous belief that we could no longer hand people the 1979 BCP for use – that just isn’t true. The 1979 isn’t going anywhere. It will still be cherished and used in the overwhelming majority of Episcopal congregations. Instead, we’re expanding our possibilities while still taking a “measured approach” to careful revision. Ever since I was in seminary, we’ve talked about the possibility of the 2035 prayer book (or some year in the 2030s). It might be that there will never be a 2035 BCP nor any future BCP with a particular year attached to it; however, there may be texts that would have been in a future BCP that will be authorized as individual texts that are then folded into what we consider the entirety of the BCP.

We voted by orders and it passed very easily, about 90% to 10%. This is quite the change for our Church. It will take some time for us to live into the reality we’ve just created and perhaps even more time to fully understand it. But I’m reminded that the Spirit does not always nudge us towards comfortable, well-known places. It’s a new era for Episcopal liturgy.

Mercifully, this day is over. We’ve adjourned until 9am Morning Prayer in the House of Deputies. It’s been a marvelous day for the Church with the election of our 28 ^th Presiding Bishop! Time for some rest – see you in the morning!

Grace to you and peace,

Dennis

Nancy Koonce with a point of order!

Rejoicing with Navajoland 6/25/24

dennis@ststephensboise.com (Dennis Reid) — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 11:53:45 GMT

Betsy Wiesmore, Jonah Kendall, and Sue Bolen getting ready for the morning session.

“We want to participate in the vision of The Episcopal Church as you do, as equals while holding onto our cultural traditions.”

Deputy GJ Gordy from the Navajoland Missionary Diocese

Dear friends,

Greetings from Louisville! The days are staying full around here, as many of our deputation members once more had meetings at 7am for their respective committees. Morning Prayer was said in the Convention Center – still a delightful way to begin the day for many of us!

At 10:30am, the House of Deputies welcomed in our bishops again to sit for a joint session on the work of the nominating committee for the selection of the next Presiding Bishop. Following a long and intentional process of understanding the canons of the Church, the hopes, dreams, and even biases that the committee might have coming in to the process, and receiving over 6,000 responses from across the Church to a survey about the next Presiding Bishop, the committee published the profile for the position. Strong leadership, adaptive thinking, deep personal faith, and a love of preaching were highlights of what the committee sought in potential candidates. The House of Bishops will vote tomorrow on their choice, and the House of Deputies will have to confirm the choice.

We broke early for lunch and were greeted by the chaplain at the resumption of business at 2pm, who prayed to our “Creator Spirit” – sounds like a certain rector’s recent sermon, praying to the Holy Spirit!

Chaplain of the House of Deputies, the Rev. Lester Mackenzie, leading the House in prayer and singing!

We then moved to the election of the House of Deputies. For a long time, this was a practically ceremonial in nature, as there hasn’t been a contested election for this office in recent memory. The incumbent, Julia Ayala Harris, won reelection after besting two worthy challengers in Zena Link and the Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton.

Then, after a short batch of testimony mostly in favor of it, the budget for the next triennium passed easily in the House of Deputies.

The House also considered numerous resolutions on Title IV of our canons both in the consent calendar and on the floor. This is a moment in which our structure has served us well in the last year or so. In surprisingly quick fashion for this Church, after a considerable amount of displeasure has been voiced regarding the fairness and results of the process for bringing complaints against clergy for the sake of misconduct, sweeping changes have been approved already at this Convention to add more clarity and accountability to the process, more expedited timelines for the completion of tasks throughout the process, more protections for the rights of those bringing complaints to the Church, and more responses at the end of the process potentially to include a “restorative covenant” between parties when the hopes of healing, repentance, forgiveness, restitution, amendment of life, and reconciliation are possible.

Mmmmmm coffee!

After a brief recess (read: more coffee!), we enjoyed hearing from the Episcopal Church Women who celebrated their 150 ^th anniversary this year! To use their phrase, “Serving women and girls from 1871”! Then, we voted to expand the boundaries of the Diocese of Hawaii to include Guam and Saipan, which previously had comprised the Episcopal Church in Micronesia – yes, we have Episcopal Churches in many places! At Hawaii’s last diocesan convention, they affirmed their unanimous support for the resolution and the desires of those Episcopalians in Guam and Saipan. There are close historical and economic relations between these places, and the union of our friends was warmly confirmed with applause in the House.

We then heard testimony on a topic familiar to many in Idaho – condemning the banning of books in D039 Condemning Censorship. This resolution aims to encourage dioceses and local parishes to work broadly to support the reading of and access to books affirming the experiences of the LGBTQ+, racial minority, and other marginalized communities. D039 passed easily in the House.

C009 Petition of the Episcopal Church in Navajoland to become a Missionary Diocese was the highlight of the day, as the resolution was passed with affection, joy, and multiple roaring standing ovations in the House of Deputies. This resolution is a long time coming and allows for our friends in the Navajoland Area Mission to become a missionary diocese – a hope that the deputation from Navajoland said “our ancestors had prayed for,” and was a “longing” of so many, especially the hope for an indigenous bishop. Navajoland has congregations in Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico and will now have the ability to elect their own bishop, have more autonomy over the formation and calling of their clergy, and enjoy the privileges that all dioceses have across the Church. Our own Ron Braman reminded our deputation and others that this resolution is a great moment of social justice in the Church, and we rejoice with our Navajo friends in Christ – in Navajo, the Diné – at the formation of their own missionary diocese!

Also heard on the floor today and passed with great majority were the following:

D031 Addressing the Ongoing Harm of Coercive and Abusive Christian Ministries

D011 The Prohibition of Assault Weapons

And several courtesy resolutions recognizing the work of GC81’s language interpreters in ASL, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Mandarin, offering gratitude for the Join Nominating Committee for the next Presiding Bishop, offering gratitude for the candidates for the next Presiding Bishop, giving thanks for the ministry of Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers and the importance of the 95+ camps and conference centers of the Church (we had our Paradise Points shirts on!), expressing appreciation for the Episcopal Church Women, recognizing the generous contributions to the United Thank Offering (over $1 million awarded for 2024 projects), commending the work of Episcopal Communicators, and giving thanks for the life and witness of Krisita Jackson.

Overall, it was a much more productive day in the House of Deputies. The House of Bishops has been busy, and soon, the deputies will have many resolutions coming that require a response – some of the more notable ones being about the Book of Common Prayer as well as the resolutions regarding Israel and Palestine. Much more coming!

Grace to you and peace,

Dennis

Lots of Updates! 6/24/24

dennis@ststephensboise.com (Dennis Reid) — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 12:12:10 GMT

Sue Bolen helps Tammy Jones check in as a deputy.

“See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.”

Malachi 3:1

Dear friends,

Monday at General Convention began with our last deputation member, the Rev. Tammy Jones, arriving in town! As you may know, Tammy is not just a deacon in the Church but also the mayor of Rupert, and there are times when both duties overlap. We’re grateful to have Tammy here with us now!

Some of our deputies had responsibilities in the morning (7am!) with committee sessions and checking in deputies. General Convention is a long week, and there are some early mornings and late nights! But like any day, we began officially and joyfully in worship with a lovely service of Morning Prayer observing the feast day of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. The GC choir instructed the congregation in our singing, describing the multi-layered chanting of the final hymn as our “incense” to fill the air – it was the perfect complement to the themes of the feast, that our actions affect the spaces we inhabit, the lives we live, and the witness we offer into the world. And, as we prayed in the Collect of the Day, we are indeed called to “constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth’s sake.” As we prepared for a day of lengthy considerations about the Church’s budget and other considerations for our common life, John the Baptist’s continual pointing to Christ as our Truth and Love – the One who has indeed come to this temple of his own Body here gathered – was a beautiful image with which to start our day and to inform our decisions.

In the morning session, we met jointly with our bishops to hear a thorough presentation on the 2025-2027 budget. Imagine your parish’s annual meeting and multiply it by, well, a big number – that’s the scope of a three year budget cycle with income and expenses north of $140 million. This is always a challenging topic and task, and I commend the good people who have done great work preparing such a complex budget. There are a myriad of things to consider, including concerns about the overall structure of the Episcopal Church remaining top-heavy, a growing frustration that there may not be enough in the budget for climate care initiatives and international mission and support, and the expense of having our denominational headquarters on 2 ^nd Avenue in New York City. The budget does do a lot of good, though, and as Bishop Fisher, who introduced the budget, remarked, “Budgets tell a story – and the Episcopal Church has a great story to tell, that everyone is loved equally by God through Jesus Christ.” The draft budget was described as “lean” for this triennium, active in ministry while still preserving resources for the future. My biggest takeaway is the reality of all the money we’re trying to pass at this General Convention within approved resolutions. The next budget has $2 million allocated for priorities of the next Presiding Bishop and resolutions passed by General Convention. Unfortunately, if every dollar requested was passed in resolutions, it would add up to $13 million. “Some of us are going to be disappointed,” a member of the budget committee remarked. Difficult choices lie ahead for our denominational leaders. Please remember them in your prayers.

After lunch, we took up Resolution A101, Revise DHP Pricing Structures for Equitable Access. The previous General Convention requested a report on the feasibility of the Denominational Health Plan (DHP) regarding rising costs as well as the equitable realities of a system in which smaller dioceses and congregations not only struggle to afford large health care costs but also end up subsidizing costs spread across the rest of the Church. Because of our current setup of healthcare costs across our denominational plan, and given the large variety of costs depending on geographical location, “Money is flowing out of regions of low cost to regions of high cost…which also tend to be areas of high resources,” said the Rev. David Sibley, chair of the task force assigned to this topic. The resolution as written was designed to increase equity in areas like West Virginia or Maine in which healthcare costs are high but financial resources are lower than elsewhere in the Church. Idaho tends to be a lower cost, lower resourced area; family healthcare in Idaho’s plan for clergy costs above $37,000. It’s even higher in places like the Dakotas and Alaska, and it is a very, very difficult proposition for congregations in lower resourced dioceses to pay these kinds of costs especially when part of their cost is to subsidize other members of the Church. Though it’s not so simple to project exactly how costs would change, General Convention heard this resolution as a call to justice and equity for lower-resourced friends across the Church regarding our mandated health care costs – the resolution passed heartily.

Next, the House of Deputies considered Resolution C008, Review Diocesan Assessments . As part of the canons of our Church, all dioceses are assessed by The Episcopal Church at a rate of 15% of their income which goes to the overall budget of the broader Church. Similarly, each diocese assesses congregations at variable rates – the Diocese of Idaho assesses its congregations at a rate of 21%. Several dioceses wrote similar resolutions that would lower the assessment to the Church to 10% by 2033 in hopes that financial burdens, especially those felt by smaller congregations and congregations which are historically non-white and/or non-endowed, might be lessened over time. For both parishes and dioceses, the assessment is a large percentage of a yearly budget, and it can be a hindrance to funding new and local ministry. It’s a difficult conversation – we are dedicated to one another in a broader sense, and assessment costs do help fund wider Episcopal ministries, staff, and much of our denominational budget. The same is true at the diocesan level. Our own Al Borg-Borm spoke passionately on the floor of the House in opposition to the resolution, saying “the Episcopal Church does more with our 15% together in the world than any one diocese could with the extra %5,” and also lamented that the Official Youth Presence did not have a vote on this (or any) resolution seeing that GC81 would be setting them up with a “significantly lighter offering plate.” Elsewhere, deputies also spoke in favor of the resolution, urging convention to recognize that many congregations of all sizes are struggling and passing deficit budgets, and that the overall structure of the Episcopal Church’s financial realities have become a burden that prevents us from fully living into our mission to make disciples. After a long and balanced series of deputy testimony, and after a vote by orders in which a simple majority of both lay and clergy orders was required for the resolution to pass, the resolution failed 70% to 19% in the clergy order, 74% to 14% in the lay order, with the small remainder being divided votes.

Following a brief recess, in which we gave thanks for one of the blessings of our lives – that is, coffee! – we heard a moving presentation from Mr. Rob Radtke, President of Episcopal Relief and Development, about the millions of dollars raised to benefit communities and individuals in need and in crisis. Their mission is to help the most vulnerable across the world – they do incredible work in the midst of disaster and disease while seeking actively the dignity of every human being. If you’re so moved, you can donate to their work here .

Additionally, the House considered a few more resolutions near the end of the day. We approved a shortlist of sites for the 83 ^rd General Convention in 2030: Kansas City, MO, Pittsburgh, PA, Portland, OR, Minneapolis, MN, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. There was a clause added to this resolution asking the Joint Standing Committee on Planning and Arrangements to consider the safety of the LGBTQ+ community when selecting a site. Lastly, we approved the creation of culturally appropriate anti-racism formational materials in Spanish as well as voted to designate the Sunday closest to October 10 ^th “Mental Health Sunday.”

Our deputation finished up the day around 7:30pm after discussing Tuesday’s legislative agenda. As a first time deputy, I’m both thrilled to be part of the great team that we have here with Idaho’s deputation while concerned at the overall pace of this General Convention. Parliamentary procedure is not for the faint of heart, and while it is important to get through our business in an orderly fashion with opportunities for many voices to be heard, we are on pace for several additional night legislative sessions if we are expecting to get through all the business ahead of us. Amendments to amendments are being considered, resolutions are being split into multiple new ones for reasons hard to understand, and dozens of speakers are joining the queue to speak with what are often very similar statements to offer. Tammy and I had a little sidebar on all of this: "Episcopalians think too much," she reflected. I'm beginning to agree.

Since arriving, I’ve been fortunate to meet up with old friends from seminary and across the Church, and we are all asking the same difficult questions: what is the purpose of General Convention? Is it to govern the Church? Is it to address as many societal questions as possible? Or, and as was mentioned on the floor of the House and our own deputation meetings as well, is part of this process simply to make ourselves feel better as a denomination about addressing an issue without much action to follow? Like many Anglican realities, the truth is probably found somewhere in the middle, but either way, it’s a hard pill to swallow if we’re being honest with ourselves. Sometimes, the reality of General Convention is a lot of debate and back and forth on a topic that leads to little impact on a parochial level. The biblical equivalent might be as if Jesus had passionately but emptily said “The roads to Jericho are terrible and violent!” without actually having the Good Samaritan help the nearly dead man. It’s hard to imagine General Convention being all things to all people – it can’t do everything . And, as was also mentioned on the floor yesterday, there are plenty of things that individual dioceses, congregations, and people can already accomplish without the permission or recognition of our largest governing body. I believe the Spirit is here; we are trying to do good work. And I also believe the Spirit is stirring us in moments of parliamentary frustration to inspire us to action in a variety of ways when we all return to our local contexts.

Lots more to come!

Grace to you and peace,

Dennis

And we're off! 6/23/24

dennis@ststephensboise.com (Dennis Reid) — Sun, 23 Jun 2024 22:16:59 GMT

Idaho's Deputies hard at work!

"Genuine love lifts you up when life's gravity takes you down."

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry

Dear friends,

Greetings from a soggy and humid Louisville! We’re off and running at the 81 ^st General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Last night, we were treated to a Revival event at the KFC Yum! Center across from our hotel. It was a marvelous occasion full of singing, clapping, prayers, and testimonies, and our own Ron Braman sang beautifully in the praise band!

And we were delighted to hear our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, and it turns out that a few things are true:

A good preacher has a great script.

A great preacher has a tremendous script and abandons it altogether.

Michael Curry is a great preacher.

When Michael really gets going, no podium can contain him or the Spirit that moves through him! It was an incredible sight to behold, and it had a unique twist: the whole message was live-interpreted in Spanish! Presiding Bishop Curry spoke to how important that it was in scripture that Aaron invoked words for Moses – interpreted words to God and God’s people, if you will – and to see it happen in real time on a stage, back and forth in English and Spanish, in front of a thousand people was like a 21 ^st century Pentecost moment. It was a joy that all could hear and interpret, and it led to some hilarious moments of delighting in some of the fun moments in which idioms in both languages left the crowd in uproarious laughter. For some of us, witnessing this kind of translation was a novelty, and for others, it was essential to hearing the word of God proclaimed. When God’s Church gathers, the needs of all must be remembered!

Presiding Bishop Curry spoke as he always does – with great vigor and fire of Spirit – and in good form, quickly abandoned his iPad script in favor of strutting across the stage to preach spontaneously and with great courage! He spoke about immersing people in the love of God and celebrated all four gospels by remember before the Revival Matthew’s beatitudes, John’s words of service at the Last Supper, and a host of other images of what Jesus taught. “This love has power in its source, because God is love,” he proclaimed! Amen, Presiding Bishop.

This morning (Sunday), we enjoyed a rousing service of Holy Eucharist at our home for the week, the Kentucky International Convention Center. We sang hymns in English and Spanish, we heard the word proclaimed by Julia Ayala Harris, President of the House of Deputies, and we celebrated the sacrament together – with a lovely nod to those who require them, all the communion wafers were gluten-free.

Many of us had a quick stroll through the marketplace, and we gathered for two legislative sessions to begin our official time in the House of Deputies (HoD).

The HoD finds its home in an enormous convention hall with over 800 deputies representing 108 dioceses. It’s full of all kinds of folks from the Episcopal Church, including lots of first-time deputies (like me!) and even one deputy who has represented his diocese sixteen times. Idaho’s deputation sits behind West Missouri (our bishop’s previous diocese), in front of Bethlehem (Dennis and Megan’s previous diocese) and next to Upper South Carolina. We’ve met old friends and made new ones, and our deputation’s stanchion is decked out in Idaho-themed goodies!

Legislation today began with a number of procedural resolutions for the rules of the House. While important work, it takes time. As our deputy chair, the Rev. Nancy Koonce, reminded us, this is standard operating procedure for this kind of event – the rules must be established! We expect things will speed up in the days to come.

We did get to a few notable topics of resolutions today. We heard stirring testimony from members of the Diocese of Hawaii regarding a fuel spill on O’ahu at the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility which has endangered safe drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people. The resolution that passed calls on our Office of Government Relations to address the matter before our elected representatives.

We approved a resolution urging our Congress to declare gun violence a public health epidemic and a national health crisis, especially solemnly remembering a shooting at an Episcopal congregation in Alabama in 2022. Again, we heard testimony lamenting the violence that members of this House have experienced in their schools and workplaces. Before calling the vote, the President of the House of Deputies called first for prayer. “Consider well the sounds of our longing souls,” sang the Chaplain of the House, the Rev. Lester Mackenzie. I was reminded that we never make these decisions in the vacuum and emptiness of our own desires but rather by the movement and beckoning of the Holy Spirit. Prayer at GC81 has already been an inspiration, and I give thanks to God for so great a gift as prayer.

Our day is finished now, and our deputation will gather with Bishop Jos to break bread together at dinner. We're excited for the work ahead of us, and we're grateful for your prayers for us and for the work of GC81.

Grace and peace,

Dennis

Getting Closer! 6/21/24

dennis@ststephensboise.com (Dennis Reid) — Sat, 22 Jun 2024 02:24:57 GMT

The Diocese of Idaho's Deputation to the 81st General Convention of the Episcopal Church

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.."

Matthew 18:20

Dear friends,

More and more folks are getting into Louisville! Most of our deputation will be in town by Saturday evening, and we'll head over to the YUM Center for the Revival event -- you can watch the live stream here starting at 7pm Eastern time. Following the Revival, our deputation will have our first meeting to consider the business of the following day.

There's already been some interesting highlights today in anticipation of important moments this week. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry held an opening press conference alongside President of the House of Deputies Julia Ayala Harris and Executive Officer of General Convention Michael Barlowe. Candidates for the next Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies also had events as both introduction and forum for stances on certain positions.

So far, our deputation is checking into hotels, finding places to eat, helping deputies find their credentials, and sitting in committee meetings. But soon, it all really begins! We'll start Sunday with Holy Eucharist at the Convention Center. Worship at General Convention is always a marvelous experience, with a wide variety of traditions, languages, and experiences represented from all across our denomination. You can find links for livestreaming and bulletins for all of our worship services here.

After worship, we'll have two legislative sessions: a short one in the morning, and our first long one in the afternoon. We only have six days together for legislation, so every moment counts! Following the second legislative session, our deputation will gather for dinner with Bishop Jos. Pictures to come!

With all of the action still ahead of us, let's start introducing our deputation! As we mentioned yesterday, we have four lay deputies, four clergy deputies, and one clergy alternate. We'll be back tomorrow with more from GC81, but let's first introduce five of our deputies today:

An Introduction to General Convention

dennis@ststephensboise.com (Dennis Reid) — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 23:08:50 GMT

"There shall be a General Convention of this Church, consisting of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies, which Houses shall sit and deliberate separately; and in all deliberations freedom of debate shall be allowed."

The Constitution of the Episcopal Church; Article I, Sec. 1.

Dear friends,

The deputation from the Diocese of Idaho heads to Louisville, Kentucky this week for the 81st General Convention of the Episcopal Church! Each day, I will be writing updates from the House of Deputies and highlighting members of the deputation. I'll get to some of the interesting topics of this year's General Convention in a bit -- but first, what is General Convention?!

The 79th General Convention in Austin, TX

What is General Convention?!

General Convention is the body of the Episcopal Church which gathers every three years to conduct the business of the Church. It first met in Philadelphia in 1785, and its founding principles were modeled after the same kind of democratic process and shared authority envisioned in the young and burgeoning American democracy. The first General Convention established the House of Deputies, made up of both lay and clergy representatives from across the early Church; the House of Bishops was established in 1789. The founding principles of General Convention remain in place today, as authority is shared between the houses, and each house must work in agreement with the other to pass resolutions.

The work of General Convention is vast. It's responsible for addressing matters regarding the Episcopal Church's Constitution and Canons, our worship and The Book of Common Prayer, how we understand our theology and practice regarding societal issues and current events, and the finances and budget of the Episcopal Church. This is by no means an exhaustive list, as General Convention regularly considers hundreds of resolutions over a wide variety of topics at each meeting. In addition, General Convention has interim bodies and Standing Committees that meet in between meetings of General Convention to continue the work that General Convention has approved. For example, the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music meets throughout the three years between General Conventions to fulfill the work given them -- this can range from creating new liturgies to writing in depth reports about the theology of our prayer book.

Looking back at our history of resolutions, General Convention serves as a record of where we've come from as a church and where we're going. Some notable moments in "recent" history:

1952 : Voted to "consistently oppose and combat discrimination based on color or race in every form, both within the church and without.” For General Convention in 1955, the Episcopal Church changed venues from Texas to Hawaii in protest of segregation laws.

1976 : Voted to approve women's ordination

1979 : Approved most recent update of The Book of Common Prayer

2003 : Approved the ordination of Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church

2015 : First approval of trial rite for same-sex marriage

Who goes to General Convention?

The House of Deputies is composed of representatives from each diocese. Dioceses hold elections for up to four lay deputies and four clergy deputies as well as alternates for each order. The House of Bishops is composed of all active and retired bishops of the Church. The Diocese of Idaho will be represented by the Rt. Rev. Jos Tharakan in the House of Bishops and the following deputies and alternates in the House of Deputies:

What does a typical day look like at General Convention?

General Convention lasts for six days this year, with the majority of the time dedicated to legislative sessions, worship, and committee hearings. Many deputies and bishops will be in Louisville a few days longer, though, because the committees they serve may require additional attention before the first legislative day on Sunday the 23rd. General Convention kicks off on the evening of Saturday the 22nd with a Revival event at the YUM Center (home of the University of Louisville's home basketball games).

In between legislative sessions, worship, and other official events, guests at General Convention look forward to strolling through the marketplace area which is full of every Episcopal thing you can imagine. There are places to buy books, vestments, and souvenirs, larger organizations like seminaries and Forward Movement will have their own booths, and there are lots of places to learn about ministry and the latest happenings across the Episcopal Church.

Here's the unofficial schedule for GC81, with pink legislative sessions, green worship blocks, and blue legislative hearings.

What are the big topics at this year's General Convention?

There are always a number of resolutions that stir up convention and get a lot of attention. That's definitely still true this year, but the headline topic is the election of a new Presiding Bishop. Presiding Bishops are only elected once every nine years, and Michael Curry's term is set to expire. Presiding Bishop Curry has been a revelation for the Church; his preaching prowess, his deep and robust faith, and his leadership in matters of racial reconciliation and justice have been a breath of fresh air during his tenure, and his successor will have large shoes to fill!

There are five nominees for the 28th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church:

The Rt. Rev. J. Scott Barker, Diocese of Nebraska

The Rt. Rev. Daniel G. P. Gutierrez, Diocese of Pennsylvania

The Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe, Dioceses of Northwestern Pennsylvania and Western New York

The Rt. Rev. Robert Wright, Diocese of Atlanta

The Rt. Rev. DeDe Duncan-Probe, Diocese of Central New York

The Nominees for the 28th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church

You may visit this website for more information about each of the candidates and their visions for the Church for the next decade.

Elsewhere, there are many other pressing matters before the 81st General Convention. We have big questions to answer about clarity and processes of Title IV of our canons, which dictate how the Church responds to matters of clergy misconduct. There are over a dozen resolutions concerning the Church's position and response to the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine. We'll be looking at new additions to the Episcopal Church's calendar of saints and if we need to reconsider how new feasts are added to that calendar. And we'll consider how we interpret or even change our constitution to redefine what "The Book of Common Prayer" means: is it just the book we have come to know from 1979 onwards? Does it include rites that have been approved by General Convention (like same-sex marriage) but aren't printed in current copies? Do any and all approved or supplemental liturgies carry the same weight as the liturgies printed on the pages? We hope to find out!

You can follow along with what convention looks at each day and even read every resolution if you'd like! Click here to access the Virtual Binder of resolutions.

I'll look forward to writing more each day with updates from votes on important resolutions as well as pictures, videos, and thoughts from each of our deputies! Thank you for your prayers for our deputation, for safe travel for all of those heading to Louisville, and for God' Church, that we might faithfully discern God's will through our common life and gatherings.

Grace to you and peace,

Dennis

A Lenten Primer

dennis@ststephensboise.com (Dennis Reid) — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 13:04:54 GMT

“I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.”

The Book of Common Prayer, p. 265

Welcome, dear friends, to the season of Lent. For many Christians, Lent is a particularly meaningful time. More than other seasons of the church year, Lent offers a sense of active participation through unique liturgies, personal practices and disciplines, and a deep engagement in sacred and holy time – what we do in each of these forty days draws us closer to God by entering into the final moments of Jesus’ earthly life, his Passion and crucifixion.

Though Lent is marked by a reverent solemnity, it is not a time without joy! Each Sunday in Lent is still a celebration of the resurrection of Christ our Lord, and even when we recognize our need for repentance – to turn back to God – we do so in the full knowledge that our God is full of mercy and compassion for each of us. So yes, Lent does take on a more serious tone, and living a life of devotion as a disciple of our Lord is a serious journey, but this season is not one of misery, though it is often maligned as such. Instead, let’s consider once again our time in these forty days, that each day is an opportunity and invitation from God to go deeper, to enter into prayer and self discipline as a way of identifying with Christ’s sufferings and redemptive love, and to prepare joyfully for God’s great promise of life that comes with Easter’s dawn.

How does Lent start?

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, a special fast of the Church featuring prayers of penitence and acknowledging our need for God’s forgiveness. It is a solemn and moving liturgy, and those who so choose are marked with the sign of the cross with ashes on our foreheads while recalling God’s words from Genesis: “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Four days later, on the First Sunday in Lent, we will pray the Great Litany together as our entrance rite. It is a marvelous set of prayers covering the entire human condition, and it sets the tone for the rest of the season that we might continually recall that God is indeed delivering us from evil and temptation, is hearing the cry of God’s people, and has mercy upon those who draw close to God in faith.

How do I “do” Lent?

It is a popular notion to “give up something” for Lent – this idea has roots in the long and faithful tradition of fasting, of refraining from food or a particular behavior or practice that, through a continued sense of self-denial, we might draw closer to God and depend more fully upon God. For some, it’s a yearly tradition to give something up – soda, sugar, alcohol, swearing! But this comes with a word of caution: the point is not to give something up for the sake of giving something up. Instead, if you’d like to give something up for Lent, the question that might serve us best is, “what is something in my life that is taking me further from God?” or “what is something in my life that I would benefit from doing without?”

Similarly, it has also become popular to “take something on” for Lent – to introduce a new spiritual practice, or a series of good deeds, or anything that might draw us closer to God in a daily routine. For example, you could try praying Morning Prayer from the prayer book’s Daily Office each day, or read a chapter from the Bible each day. Again, the questions that might help us are “what could I introduce to my life that makes me more mindful of God’s presence in my life?” or “what is something that God could be calling me to start that brings me joy?”

How are the liturgies different from other seasons?

From the colors to the hymns and everything in between, there are some subtle differences in the liturgy that help us as a community observe Lent faithfully. The vestments for the season are purple, traditionally both a solemn and royal color. By putting away bright vestments and colors (and burying the Alleluia as we did on the Last Sunday after the Epiphany), we are reminded of the tone of the season, that just as in seasons of our lives, this particular time is marked by our need of repentance as well as a profound gratitude for God’s great mercy. Additionally, as a royal color, purple keeps us mindful that Jesus is a king unlike any other, who enters Jerusalem not as a conquering warlord but as a humble servant, showing us how life in his kingdom is not understood through power but through sacrifice, humility, and love.

Elsewhere, the music plays an important role in our understanding of the season. In favor of bold, boisterous anthems, we instead turn to penitent service music and hymns. We will often process in silence, foregoing music for a solemn and thoughtful entry. Then, the Gloria is replaced by either a Kyrie Eleison (Lord, have mercy) or a Trisagion (Thrice Holy). The Fraction Anthem at the Eucharist is typically an Agnus Dei (Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world). And some of the best hymns in the entirety of our hymnal come from the section from Holy Week, the last week of Lent that culminates in the Triduum, the three days consisting of the evening of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday into Easter Day. All of Holy Week has special prayers and liturgies, with the Triduum taking center stage: footwashing on Maundy Thursday, Stations of the Cross and an incredible liturgy of the day on Good Friday, and what is perhaps the most important moment of the entire church year, the Great Vigil of Easter on the evening of Holy Saturday.

Holy Week is the most important week of our year together – I can’t recommend your participation more highly. And it truly is participation : the liturgies are particularly embodied with unique processions, retelling the Passion story in parts, washing one another’s feet, and taking our place in Jesus’ final moments, the Via Dolorosa, the Way of Suffering at the Stations of the Cross.

This is my first Lent – any advice?

Enjoy it. Take it all in. And, be generous with yourself. Lent often produces a desire in us to do as much as we can – to fast, to give something up, to be particularly faithful. As great as these thoughts are, it can be easy to disappoint, to miss the mark. But that’s really what this season is all about. We all miss the mark before our God, and Lent is the Church’s opportunity to right the ship, to consider faithfully the ways in which we have failed to live into the life God has called us to live and amend our ways. And all of this is done in joy! All of this is done in remembrance that Christ died for us that we might be reconciled to God. God’s invitation to us is always to life, an abundant life that has been shared with us in Christ’s resurrection. So whether this is your first Lent – full of new experiences, prayers, liturgies, and moments – or you’ve been doing this a long time, know of God’s unending love for you – a love so strong that it has defeated the powers of sin and death – and let that love be the light upon your path in this sacred and holy time.

Grace to you and peace,

Dennis