A Feeling of Unease

This will be my first time to attend a General Convention. I am not going in any official capacity. The question comes quickly to mind as to why go if I do not have to go? After all it was not cheap and is a long time away from home.

There are basically two reasons. The first is that I am truly curious. Every three years people give up nearly two weeks of their free time to gather as the national church and chart a course for the future. If you really think about it, it is a remarkable and awesome event.

The second reason is that I am in love. I can say without a doubt or reservation that I love the Episcopal Church. The communities that I have experienced have been places of warmth, compassion, challenge, and integrity. I experience Jesus. And that is saying something coming from a rather cynical Gen-Xer.

So, on Tuesday morning I will board a plane to Columbus, OH. I am not sure what will happen. Who I will meet. Or whether I will be bored silly. One thing is for sure. I am excited and uneasy.

This is supposed to be the make or break year for The Episcopal Church (TEC). We have been called to task for recognizing God's call to all orders of ministry of people that some consider unfit. (I might as well own my own stand-point and admit that I am both a progressive Christian and partnered gay man) I do not believe anyone knows for sure how all of this will play out. But what I am sure will happen is that on this issue everyone will be unhappy. Conservatives will dislike the compromise and continue to threaten and complain. Liberals (such as myself) will quietly suck up another rejection of the full equality of all God's people and promise to play nice for another three years. The middle (whoever these folks are) will be unhappy that we are still talking about this and desperately search for a way to make it all stop. Everyone will be unhappy. Maybe that is how folks will know the compromise will have worked. God only knows.

Thankfully, the debate about sex is not the only show in town. There are literally hundreds of pieces of legislation that will be acted upon and a little matter of electing a new Presiding Bishop. I cannot possibly absorb all the resolutions and follow what happens. Instead, I will be focusing on three areas.

The first, and one that I am most excited about, has to do with the UN millennium Development Goals. On the sidebar you will find a link to the Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation. This group is led by a dynamic and truly gifted priest Mike Kinman. The site lists the MDG's and very practical steps all of us can take to further development in parts of the world struggling to survive. It is a powerful message and calling for the Church and one I feel should be at the fore of all of our work. I have volunteered some of my time at Convention to help out. I am excited about the work.

The second area has to do with youth. Like in most Episcopal parishes at 36 I represent the younger age range of my home parish. I find that quite sad. I will be looking with a great deal of interests at the discussion about the new rites for life transitions coming from the Standing Committee of Liturgy and Music (and whatever else its name is). There are also resolutions for studying alternative liturgical resources and the use of audio-visual resources in the context of Episcopal worship. There is also a standing committee charged with looking at Christian Formation, which as an educator, I am naturally interested in.

The third area is the discussion (read fight) over the inclusion of GLBT (add initial if I left one out) persons. It will get the most press out of anything we do. It will get me mad. But I will try and remember that it is only a tiny part of the work being done in Columbus. A special commission has been formed to come up with a response to folks overseas. I am sure it will be interesting to watch.

OK. I have gone on for far too long. Here is my plan for this blog. I am not going to be one of those people dragging around my laptop looking for a 'hotspot'. Instead, I will process what I have experienced that day, take a few notes and a few pictures and post from the quiet of my hotel room. Hopefully this will happen every evening and one big wrapup when I get home.

And for those of you reading this I want to say thank you for indulging me and my bad writing style. It may be clear but it will not be pretty.

Until Tuesday night.

God Bless!