The Rev. Anna Waid’s Comments from General Convention
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Saturday, July 18
Dear People of Grace,
Ubuntu!
Well, it is over. 13 days ago we all arrived here excited and ready to go. Today, we are haggard, tired, and ready to go home. Resolutions have been amended, discussed, amended again, concurred, defeated, passed, and sent back to committee. Some were more difficult than others. Those concerning gay and lesbian issues were of course the hardest on everyone, but the House of Deputies handled them with respect and dignity.
My favorite resolution was from the committee on Prayer Book, Liturgy and Church Music. We voted to ask that the committee develop liturgical resources to observe the loss of a companion animal and to report its work at the next General Convention. We animal lovers will have to wait awhile on this, but it's in the works!
There were several resolutions that enriched our liturgy, there was a resolution that improved the disciplinary process for clergy, and one that provided for a strong denominational health plan that hopefully will keep costs in check.
On Wednesday, the House of Bishops joined the House of Deputies to discuss the national church budget. The Presiding Bishop presented us with the reality of how the economy has affected the church and the huge number of cuts that will be made in funding. These budgetary cuts involve monetary support for mission and ministry as well as cuts in national staff positions.
What this means is that dioceses and parishes will be more responsible for the mission and ministry of the church as a whole. I don't think this is a bad thing. We should be doing more of this ourselves and not depend so much on the national church to do our work for us.
Of course the hot issue that you probably read about in the papers is the resolution concerning the response of the General Convention three years ago to the Windsor Report and the concern of many in the wider Anglican Church concerning the ordination and consecration of gay and lesbian priests and bishops in committed relationships.
If you read the resolution carefully, you will see that it doesn't say what we will or will not do, but rather it talks about who we are and what is important to us. It says that we value our relationship with the world Anglican Communion and respect their feelings on these issues. It says that all baptized people have a right to participate in and to receive all of the sacraments. It says that we agree to disagree in love and respect. It says praying individually and together, bishops and their dioceses will make decisions that are best for them on these issues. It may not be the best way to some people's thinking, but it is our way.
I have not seen any newspaper articles about this, and I hope they have not sensationalized this. However, newspapers being what they are, I'm sure there is a great deal of misunderstanding being written.
For those of us in the pew, our job is to remember our baptismal covenant, who we are, and whose we are. We are called to mission and ministry, to respect the dignity of every human being, and live in love and respect for each other, agreeing to disagree in love and charity. That is God's wish.
I don't want you to think that this was an easy resolution to pass. It took several hours of discussion, amending, amending the amendment, praying and singing. It didn't pass until the second day.
On a lighter note, on my day off Cecily Sawyer Harmon and I went to Disneyland!! We spent most of our time in Fantasy Land, which I think was very appropriate!!! It was fun to just have fun and to feel like a kid again, at least mentally!
I will be glad to get back home and be back with my family and community at Grace.
God's peace,
Pastor Anna
Sunday Evening, July 12
Dear People of Grace,
Ubuntu!
Do you know that there are 847 certified deputies at General Convention? That doesn't include the alternates, the visitors, the volunteers, the vendors, and support people. Someone said there were about 10,000 people here. I don't know about that, but there are at least 4,000. It makes worship very remarkable. All those voices singing and praying. It is very moving.
The variety of people here is also remarkable. There are Navajo, Lakota Sioux, Latino Americans, African Americans, Chinese, Japanese, people from New Zealand, the Philippines, Central America, Latin America, Great Britain, and of course just plain ole Anglo-Saxon types. It gives you a perspective of the church that underlines how global we are, a perspective we don't ever get when viewed from our singular location.
What all of this adds up to is not only how global we are, but how powerful we are as a denomination. How powerful and influential we are can be seen in the exhibit hall where there are vendors selling things from all over the world and displays showing mission and ministry on every continent and on every subject you can think of. Some of the vendors are selling their on creative things from jewelry to liturgical hangings, banners, and other creations. Many of them are selling artifacts from South American and African countries as a way to raise money for special projects. I have quite a collection of cards and information on organizations that supply crafts for fair trade fairs! They are really interested in being a part of efforts to raise money to help these crafts people.
All of this diversity is reflected in our worship -- music and prayers in various languages, prayers written by a Navajo or Pilipino, banners, drums, cymbals. It isn't what we are used to on a Sunday!
Sunday was not a day of rest. We were back at it after lunch working from 3:00 to 6:30. Resolutions were proposed, amended, voted for and voted down. When we finish with a piece of legislation in the House of Deputies, it is sent to the House of Bishops for them to amend and send back or to vote up or down.
While we are doing this, there is a program for children going on. Part of their program is to prepare something for worship so that they can participate, but a good part of their program focuses on ubuntu, teaching them to listen to one another and to share stories.
One resolution that passed the House of Deputies today was one that focused on developing Latino ministries. The Latino presence is a reality, and many are Episcopalians. Last night we were invited to St. Michaels, a Latino Episcopal Church here in Anaheim. They wanted to show us their church and talk about their ministries. It was fun to be with them, eating and dancing, and seeing what they do. The surprising thing for me was that they had a chapel built around the time of our chapel and a church built around the same time as our church, and both looked just like our chapel and church! Same architectural plans. They have three services and around 400 in attendance every Sunday! They also share their church with a Korean congregation. There are many Latino congregations developing across the U.S. and many are in partnership with other established Episcopal churches doing mission and ministry together.
The Women's Caucus, a watch dog organization for women's issues, hosted a breakfast this morning where Barbara Harris, the first female bishop, was in attendance. She was consecrated about 20 years ago. I attended her consecration in Boston. How time flies! The work the Women's Caucus is involved in travels the world from Africa to South America, China to New Zealand, focusing on equality for women in all aspects of life. They have had an impact especially in underdeveloped countries where women have few if any rights.
We are indeed a church that impacts the world. We have wonderful people who care for our friends across the borders and share in spectacular ways. God is truly alive in the Episcopal Church and it is good to be a part of this wonderful effort to reach out and touch others.
Until tomorrow. God's peace.
Pastor Anna
Tuesday Morning, July 7
Ubuntu!
Convention has begun and already I'm tired! There are so many Episcopalians here, and the energy and excitement is contagious. I was up and ready to get started this morning in spite of the jet lag, and attended my first choir rehearsal. I decided to join the convention volunteer choir which will sing at each service. We are singing in three languages -- English, Spanish, and an African language. We will have our first service tomorrow (Wednesday, July 8) and I expect it to be spectacular. There is nothing like worshiping with over a thousand people and hearing all of those voices singing in four-part harmony. I expect the atmosphere to be electric.
The theme of this convention is "Ubuntu", an African word that translates "I am because you are". We will be exploring what this means and how to use it through a process called "Public Narrative". This is a process through which each person tells a snippit from their life story which establishes a shared identity. These stories help to articulate the values we have in common and to establish an understanding of one another that will enable us to overcome challenges to forming community. Story telling has always been a powerful way for people to connect, and what we will practice here is a method to do this in an intentional way. This is how the early church grew. People shared their encounters with Jesus -- what he said, what he did -- and through those shared experiences they began to see themselves as a new community. I can see how we at Grace can use story telling to establish a common bond with the people of St. Albans as we continue our conversations with them. So simple, and so powerful.
Tomorrow morning we have our first legislative session at 8:00 a.m. It will be 11:00 your time. Between legislative sessions there are many public hearings on proposed resolutions. There are too many to attend them all, so I will have to select what I will attend. My interest is in those resolutions concerning small churches and mission and ministry.
--Pastor Anna
Thursday Night, July 9
Ubuntu!
We are finally getting down to business. The first two days are spent passing all of the resolutions that establish rules and regulations for convention. Meanwhile, committees are meeting drafting and redrafting resolutions for us to vote on. We begin tomorrow, Friday, July 10.
Today we were to elect people to various positions, but as usual, since we were doing it electronically, there were glitches. So we begin tomorrow with elections.
I sat in on the committee concerned with small churches. It was interesting but not what I expected. They were talking about dioceses that were so large that bishops couldn't get to places very easily. Mountains and deserts get in the way. There are also dioceses that don't have enough resources to be very active.
The first Navaho female priest was there and talked about the problems encountered with the Navajoland Area of Mission. This is a diocese that bridges New Mexico and Arizona and maybe parts of Utah. Until this diocese was made, they were part of the diocese of Rio Grande, which is New Mexico, and of Arizona. Taking them out of those dioceses has made other problems that are difficult to remedy. New ideas are not always better!
We are so fortunate to be in the Diocese of Delaware. We are small enough to be accessible to our bishop and each other. It does make a difference.
One resolution this committee proposed was to request that the missionary society include in their programs those domestic U.S. dioceses and churches that need help. What I am hearing is that business as usual will no longer work because so much has changed in our culture. We can't continue as we were, and everything is affected, including the church.
We spent some time today learning about and how to practice the art of Public Narrative. I think I mentioned this in my last blog.
Today we gathered into small groups and each of us shared a story about ourselves that showed when we had to make a choice. We will continue to work with these narratives to investigate how the choices we made informed our lives and how we saw God's presence in the story. It is a way of practicing ubuntu. We all see ourselves through the eyes of others, and the way someone else sees us impacts how we see ourselves. Think about it. If we understand this about ourselves and others, we will have better understanding of why you or I do what we do or react the way we do in a given situation.
When we are in session we spend a lot of time shuffling papers, at least we new deputies do. Every day we get a pile of new papers with resolutions, information, or news that we have to put into our notebooks and hopefully will be able to pull out later when needed. It is a real learning process, but I think I am catching on.
There is a sense of humor present by those who are leading this convention --i.e., the president, secretary, chaplains, etc., -- as well as the delegates. There is a real interest in agreeing to disagreeing. Hopefully this will last as we begin to process the resolutions. Most delegations have put up something to represent their state or delegation, and of course we have a chicken, I mean, the blue hen. I wonder what others think it is.
The convention choir has been a lot of fun to participate in. I think our choir master would be appalled at our practice sessions, but most people read music and are experienced with singing. There are some really beautiful voices. We sing a variety of music -- traditional, gospel, modern, sappy. Something for everyone. It is just fun to sing!
I think about you every day and pray for you just as I hope you are praying for me. You are part of my ubuntu.
God's peace,
--Pastor Anna
P.S. - You shoppers would die for the exhibit hall. I call it the market. There are booths for everything. I even found a booth for animal lovers. The altar guild would go crazy over the liturgical garb. Some is very traditional and a lot is very creative. Beautiful textiles, exquisite silver, lovely crosses. You can spend a lot of money here. To see pictures, go on line to the diocesan web site. Judi Gregory has posted a lot.
The Rev. Anna Waid is rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Wilmington.