Day Five - The Wait Continues

Saturday, June 17
Columbus, OH

Dear Friends,

The wait continues. This is the fifth legislative day of General Convention and still no Windsor Report-related resolutions have been passed by either the House of Deputies or the House of Bishops. Resolution A159 on Communion Interdependence passed the House of Deputies, but then when it got to the House of Bishops they changed it and so it has go back to the House of Deputies. At the press briefing this morning doubt was expressed on whether the new version from the Bishops will pass the Deputies.

A166 on the Anglican Covenant reported out of the Special Committee (#26) this morning. Both of these resolutions were considered to be the least controversial, but it took a week just to get A166 out of Committee. The big ones have yet to come out of Committee. It does seem rather amusing (in a sad sort of way) that there was serious talk that all of Windsor would be done by today. I think that was what the ECUSA leadership wanted so that full attention would then move to the election of a new Presiding Bishop on Sunday. We still have four and half more days to go.

It is interesting to note the amount of international press present - as well as international guests. I just ran into Andrew Carey who I've known since Denver 2000 who has arrived to report on the events. Basically we are trying to remain alert and ready as we wait for something to happen.

I arrived this morning at the Special Committee hearing and was immediately drafted to testify on D017 which seeks to remove "man and woman" from the Episcopal marriage ceremony and replace the phrase with "persons." A large contingent from the Diocese of Vermont spoke in favor of the resolution while a deputy from Ft. Worth, David Roseberry from Christ Church, Plano (Diocese of Dallas) and I spoke against it. I spoke to the fact that in the beginning God created men and women and for some reason thought it was a good idea. I spoke briefly (didn't want to get "carded" - and we were only allotted two minutes!) of the powerful imagery of marriage used to describe the relationship between Christ and His Church - the bridegroom and the bride. Not the bride and bride or groom and groom, but the bride and the groom. "Gender matters," I said and sat down.

Martyn and Richard also spoke on other resolutions before the Committee as did Kendall Harmon. There was a large contingent present of "those with whom we disagree." The "Youth Presence" has also arrived and many - if not most - seem to be in the revisionist realm. That's a bit tough, especially since one of members of the youth contingent spoke this morning at the hearing and it was heart breaking. One can understand why parents are concerned for their children if they remain in a denomination bent on teaching a gospel of the age.

Bishop Lee sits on the committee. So does Russ Palmore, the chancellor of the Diocese of Virginia. I wondered how they felt seeing laity and clergy from their own diocese. I nodded to Bishop Lee and he smiled, perhaps somewhat sadly. I felt sad.

Apparently this morning at the GC Eucharist, the speaker was Jenny Te Paa spoke (she has said some highly inflammatory things in the past) and it was so hurtful that several bishops (at least) walked out. We're trying to get a copy of the text. One of the elves is looking for the transcript and as soon as it's available, I'll put it up at BabyBlueOnline.org.

As some of you may have heard, BabyBlueOnline was mentioned in a story on bloggers at General Convention in the Washington Times this week, along with the many other bloggers who are here. This is a new phenomenon at GC. We've had people covering GC with mailing lists that got out in near real-time, we've never had this sort of information getting out to people at home so fast. This will become important as we come down to the wire as the resolutions come through.

There is discussion going around about a "do-nothing" scenario - where the committees and the Houses get so bogged down that they are not able to make a decision. But no decision is a decision. Today during the Special Committee Ian Douglas of the Episcopal Divinity School, Douglas spoke about the work on the resolutions so far. "We tried to find some clarity," he said, "while living in ambiguity."

I've updated BabyBlueOnline.org with the first BabyBlueOnline Podcast as well as a short VideoCast of what life is like after a press briefing at General Convention. Look carefully and you will see some well known Anglican bloggers, as well as other press folks that you may read online. You can subscribe to the BabyBlueOnline podcast directly through iTunes by going to the iTunes Store and search for BabyBlueOnline podcast (it's free!). Or you can go to BabyBlueCafe.org and listen online. The direct link is: http://web.mac.com/maryailes/iWeb/BabyBlueCafe/BabyBlueOnline/078EC07E-6089-4A5E-9DFE-173D20D2D1D0.html .

You can see the link to the VideoCast (Saturday in the Press Room) at BabyBlueOnline.org or go directly to: http://homepage.mac.com/maryailes/BabyBlueOnline/iMovieTheater10.html .

You will need QuickTime to hear or view both casts.

LATE BREAKING NEWS: This is just coming in as I write this. A160 (Expression of "Regret") has just been sent to the House of Deputies. This will be the first of the major Windsor Report resolutions, though the ones on Moratorium and Same Sex Unions are still in committee. Stay tuned for more info at BabyBlueOnline.org. Another terrific website is: http://gencon06.classicalanglican.net/ . You will be able to see the WebMeister for this site in the VideoCast.

Again, thank you for your prayers! It's a bit of a roller-coaster emotionally and spiritually here and staying steady is key. When one person hits a particularly rocky moment, another one steps in to offer kindness and support. It truly is a team effort here - and the "home team" is perhaps even more important in the long run than anything we are doing. Thank you!

Blessings to you!
Mary

PS Let me know if you have any questions. If I don't know the answer, I will do all I can to find out for you!