Convention - Day 3

I keep a daily schedule that fits in my name badge holder. It starts out as one sheet of paper:

And is still one sheet of paper when I'm finished with it:

Go to http://www.pocketmod.com/ if you want to see how this works.

Two more views of the Discovery Center, so you can see what it looks like up and running:



This morning's legislative committee meetings began at 7:00 a.m. The Education Committee held hearings on D014, B013, C014, and A068. The resolution we thought might bring in a crowd was C014, which asks for a committee to develop a theology of Christian marriage. Only one persons testified, the deputy from the Diocese of El Camino Real who wrote the resolution. I think the committee may "kill" it. The rest of the meeting was spent deliberating on D014, a resolution on Environmental Justice.

During today's Eucharist, the Archbishop of Canterbury offered a meditation. I literally almost fell off my chair because I dozed off during the meditation. I was not the only one. Most of the people I spoke with were not impressed by the Archbishop.

This afternoon, since I was not needed in the Education Committee, I attended the Prayer Book and Liturgy Committee meeting where they were holding hearings on C019, C025, C041, C042, C004, C009, Co17, C028, C031, Co56, and D043, all of which dealt with same sex marriage or blessings. Testimony was less rancorous than in the past, fewer people than in the past signed up to testify, and everyone who signed up was able to testify. What really surprised me was that there were fewer con witnesses than pro. Most likely, these 11 resolutions will be merged into two--one addressing the Canons and one the issue of marriage.

Ruth-Ann attended the Education hearing where they deliberated on the Charter for Lifelong Formation. In the end, the committee changed four words before passing it and sending it on to the House of Deputies.

The final hearing of the day was this evening's Program, Budget, and Finance committee hearing on spending. I was disappointed in the way the chair handled the people who signed up to testify. To begin with, witnesses were not called in the order in which they signed up. She claimed she was trying to get a variety of issues in each group of 10 called. That was clearly not the case, as speakers for the Four Supported Dioceses (Native dioceses) outnumbered those on any other topic. Only two deputies who signed up to speak on formation issues were called. No visitors or guests were called.

My major disappointment so far is that children were dropped for the priorities. The priority where they should have been included states "youth and young adults." People you talk to say that "youth" includes all age groups under adults in their thinking. However, the way the Church Center offices are structured, "youth" does not include people under the age of 12.

Here are today's buttons. There are two batches. The second group is a set of buttons with faces of LBGTQ folks from around the world. Each button comes attached to a card with the person's story on it.



Peace,
Jeff