Report from Columbus: Monday, June 12

Monday, June 12
Columbus, OH

Hi friends,

This is my first real report from Columbus! General Convention officially begins tomorrow, but today there was a joint session of the Deputies and Bishops. Martyn has a great way of describing what he heard in that room - but I will wait and let him publish it first. But it is stellar. As soon as he gets it out, I will pass it on. It really does sum it all up.

Today was basically spent getting my press credentials, staking out a spot in the press room (there are several of the Network and Friends who are sitting together in a corner in the press room), attending the first AAC Lunch Briefing where we heard from Bishop Peter Beckwith, Ellis Brust, David Anderson, Martyn Minns, Richard Crocker, and Cynthia Brust give overviews of what to expect over the next few days. I met up with Eric, Heather, and Faith from IRD, as well as Peter from the Diocese of Pittsburgh and Mike from somewhere north in Canada (but he does say "house" properly - he's been practicing). Finding old friends and making new friends among the Network and its partners is so important in being able to last through this marathon called General Convention. I left my camera in my hotel room, but I will make it a point tomorrow to have it with me and put up some photos of those who are here up at babyblueonline.org.

We had a Truro Team meeting this afternoon and all ready those who have arrived a plugged in and working hard, especially with the monitoring of committees and reporting back what each committee is doing (or not doing as the case may be!). Even though General Convention officially begins tomorrow, the committees started meeting today.

Tonight I went to my first committee meeting. The "Special" Committee (which will be handling the majority of the Windsor Report resolutions) met tonight. They will be meeting every day and holding several hearings. The big hearing is Wednesday night where a room that seats over 1,500 people has been reserved. They expect seating to be competitive and reserved seating is being made available to bishops and deputies. Another change from years past is that only registered bishops, deputies, alternates and guests who have name tags will be permitted to testify at the hearing. That will be a major event.

Another major at this General Convention is the election of a new Presiding Bishop (many say that the leading candidate is the Bishop of Atlanta, with Bishop Sauls also a strong contender). In addition, the House of Bishops will be concurring the election of four new diocesan bishops, including the Bishop of Northern California. Questions are being raised here about whether it is appropriate for the Episcopal Church to endorse a twice-divorced, three-times married man to be a bishop in the Church. That will be another event to watch to see where the moral compass of the Episcopal Church truly resides.

Tomorrow morning I return to the Special Committee to listen to their discussions over the first of the Windsor Report Resolutions. Bishop Peter Lee, the bishop of my diocese, as well as Russ Palmore, Chancellor of the Diocese of Virginia, both serve on the committee and I saw them tonight. At 9:30 a.m. I have my first press briefing and then the AAC briefing at lunch. Tomorrow afternoon there is another Special Committee meeting (I believe it will be a hearing) and so we begin!

Thank you so much for your prayers. I plan to also be hosting some podcasting (you can subscribe to the podcast through iTunes or at BabyBlueCafe.org). The podcast at iTunes is called BabyBlueOnline.

Let me know if you have any questions! I thank God for each of you and feel like you are not so far away. May it be so!

Blessings,
Mary