John Andren at General Convention

Day Fourteen

Time to leave Anaheim and come home, home to Emily, the one I’ve missed so much these past two weeks, and to whom I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude for supporting me in this adventure. Home also to my Parish and to the Diocese, both of whom are entitled to know how I exercised my responsibility as a Deputy. In due time the other Deputies and I will prepare a full report to the Diocese and through the Diocese to the Parishes and Diocesan bodies.

As weary as I am, from sitting day after day in meetings and hearings, I am exhilarated by the experience. The new friendships begun, the old friendships renewed and strengthened and the joy of the shared daily Eucharist will stay with me for a long time.

It was obvious that none of the decisions made at this conference were ill-considered or precipitous, as momentous and far-reaching as they may have been. No one who participated in the deliberations, who attended the hearings and who read the reports of committees could say otherwise, even if unhappy or distressed by the outcomes. It’s worth remembering that in the 2,000 plus years of Christianity, we are but a blip in time, as important to us as that time may be. Our responsibility is maintaining as best we can the vitality of the church so that it may continue its responsibility for proclaiming the Gospel.

Our responsibilities as Deputies did not end with the Convention, but continue through the triennium. I look forward to working with the other Deputies and with all the members of the Diocese to do all that we can to revitalize and strengthen God’s church here on Long Island. With a new leader in Bishop Provenzano a wonderful opportunity is before us. Let us pray that, with God’s help, we make the most of it.

Day Thirteen

Well here we are, on the last legislative day of the convention, still striving to complete the legislative calendar. In this morning’s session the proposed resolution governing blessing of same-sex unions was THE topic. It was obvious that the House could have spent the entire day, and into the evening, hearing debate on the topic. Because the need for restraint was obvious debate was limited to about one hour, and each speaker to one minute. President Anderson was diligent in seeing to it that equal time was given to speakers for and against the proposal. Before the debate even opened there were 75 people lined up to speak. Obviously not all of them reached the microphone, but after 25speakers on either side, the positions of those on either side of the issue became pretty clear. The vote, which was by orders, was preceded by prayer, an act that was taken before all the votes on controversial issues. Because a vote by orders requires paper balloting, it was not tallied by the time for the Eucharist arrived.

Today’s Eucharist, the closing Eucharist of the Covent ion, was celebrated by Bishop Schori. Every service bulletin, up to the bulletin for this Eucharist, was printed in side-by-side columns of English and Spanish. This one was printed in side-by-side columns of French and Spanish. Except for the sermon and one or two small parts, Bishop Schori conducted the service fluently in French.

After the lunch break work resumed on the legislation still before the House. A sigh of relief greeted each committee’s statement that their report was complete. I don’t have the complete statistics, but I do know that we passed, jointly with the House of Bishops, over three hundred pieces of legislation. Every action, even those that only dealt with procedural  matters, had been prepared and presented by a committee, many of which had spent long hours in advance of the Convention in research, study and prayer. It falls to the Deputies to report back to their respective dioceses on the convention’s actions, and to begin implementing the legislated changes and preparing for the next convention.

A final note: A clear winner at this event was Federal Express. FedEx had offices in the Convention Center and in the hotels. Delegates accumulated so much material during the convention that they shipped it home, rather than deal with baggage and weight limits on the airlines. FedEx kept its office in my hotel open until 10 p.m. to handle the rush.

Day Twelve

The regular pattern was in place. During the session there was a palpable sense of wanting to get on with the business. There was little tolerance for points of personal privilege, unless they spoke to concerns of the entire house, such as thanking President Anderson for her efforts. Her position as President is voluntary; she has a travel budget and staff support, but her sole compensation is her personal joy and satisfaction in serving the Church. It takes a very special person to do what she does. Speakers were strictly limited as to the amount of time given them, total time for debate was limited, and efforts were made to move the proceedings along as expeditiously as possible. People who enjoyed the sound of their own voice didn’t get much satisfaction!

Most of the time in the legislative session was devoted to consideration of the budget. As this is a three-year budget, what happens during those three years becomes the province of the Executive Council. That’s not a position I would want to hold. Details of the budget will be forthcoming, as soon as the approved budget can be printed and distributed. Interestingly, a proposal to study moving the Episcopal Center out of New York City was defeated, notwithstanding that there were cogent arguments in favor.

The highlight of the day: Father Provenzano called the deputation together for dinner. He thanked all of us, and by extension our families and parishes for giving up such a large amount of time and effort in support of the work of the church. He also reminded us that we were elected Deputies not just for the Convention but for the triennium, and so we have a continuing responsibility to represent the Diocese and report to the Diocese the actions of the Executive council and the other bodies of the Church. This will require both diligence and circumspection, and no small amount of prayer!

Day Eleven

Once again the daily pattern: Committee meetings, legislative sessions, the daily Eucharist, lunch and legislative sessions.

Worship infuses the convention in many ways. We open each legislative session with a meditation and prayer. We interrupt the conduct of business to sing a hymn, we close each session with intercessory prayer. At the close of the morning session on day ten, the ecumenical visitors were introduced. The group of more than twenty people represented Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buhhdists, Hindus, Sikhs and Baha’is from Southern California. A Christian Priest, a Muslim and a Jewish Cantor joined their voices in singing an Abrahamic blessing on the House. An extraordinary moment! Today I had the opportunity to act as a communion assistant at the Eucharist, serving wine.

A portion of the afternoon legislative session was held jointly with the House of Bishops, with Bishop Schori presiding. This joint session’s purpose was to receive a presentation of and conduct a hearing on the proposed budget for the next triennium. Reflecting the economic times, the budget is some $20 million lower than the current budget, and will produce across the board cuts in staff and programs. This is not a happy time in the life of the Church!

Following the joint session the House took a brief recess to give Deputations an opportunity to take group pictures that included the Deputies and the Bishops. Bishop Provenzano and Bishop Ottley joined us. During the recess I sought out the Colorado

deputation in an attempt to say hello to Father Eaton, Dean of the Denver Cathedral, who was a candidate for Bishop of Long Island. Unfortunately he was not attending the Convention. However, in further confirmation that the Episcopal Church is really a small world, one of the Deputies has a father-in-law living in Bayside. I have met many people here with connections to Long Island, either from prior service in the Diocese, having grown up in the Diocese, or having relatives and friends living in Long Island.

We are at a point in the Convention where the resolutions already passed have become to numerous to count, no less keep in our heads. In due course a journal of the convention will be produced that will contain all of the resolutions in an organized manner. We are also at a point where the pressure to get things done has become urgent. There are only three more legislative sessions left.

Day Ten

Looking ahead at the Convention Schedule I see large blocks of time set aside for legislative sessions, and a slot reserved for (Horrors!) an evening session. The restaurants and bars won’t be happy if that comes about.

If you’ve been following my blog you’ll have noticed an absence of photographs. I’ve taken many, but I’ll have to wait until I return home to post them properly.

Reflecting on the past 10 days, I recall periods of intense focus, periods of boredom, and periods of elation compressed into two weeks. Seems like daily life on a high dose of steroids!

The legislative sessions seem to be getting more intense, perhaps reflecting some sense of weariness(we’ve been at this for quite a while), a sense of urgency (we’ve haven’t much time left) and because we are, for the most part, past all the procedural and housekeeping matters, so most everything we are considering is substantive and worthy of debate. For a newcomer it is somewhat bewildering. There are constitutional and canonical issues that are on second reading, meaning they were approved at the last convention but must be approved at two consecutive sessions in order to take effect. Without having background experience sometimes I wonder what the fuss is about. The offline conversations at the evening events can and do go a long way toward filling in the blanks. Long-time deputies have learned how to make their way through the thicket of material, and their perspectives and practical advice are very helpful.

In the evening of the 10^th day Province II held a caucus and then a social event. Province II consists of New York and New Jersey. The Province includes the Dioceses of Western New York, Central New York, Rochester, Albany, New York, Long Island, Newark and New Jersey. (I think I have them all!)The deputations from all the dioceses in the province and most of the Bishops attended, as the purpose of the caucus was nominating two lay and two clerical deputies for election to the Committee to Nominate a Presiding Bishop. As Katherine Jefferts Schori, the current Presiding Bishop has six more years left in her term, it is unlikely this committee will meet between now and the next convention. Nevertheless this committee must be constituted, should the need arise. Valerie Crosdale, who heads the Long Island deputation, was nominated.

After the caucus we all gathered for food, fellowship and libations. Appropriately, everyone paid their own way. Bar Louie, where we gathered, is definitely not a church, unless of course you worship the fruit of the vine.

Day Nine

It’s Monday. I’ve heard it said that the only thing wrong with Sunday is that it’s only one day until Monday. We are back to the pattern of hearings, legislative session, Community Eucharist, light luncheon, and legislative session. The difference is that the legislative sessions are longer, as there is much work still to be done, and only five days left in which to accomplish all of it.

 

At the start of each legislative session we receive material related to resolutions to be dealt with that day. Normally all of the day’s material is received at the morning session, but some is received during the session and some at the start of the afternoon session. I would like to have had the paper concession for this convention: 850 copies of everything just for the Deputies, copies for the alternates, copies for the officers of the House, and copies for the Bishops. The print shop for the convention must be running 24 hours a day! That also means that the composing and editing staff must also be working long hours.

 

The material falls into four categories: items that only require consent, items that constitute the “Daily Calendar”, items that supplement the Daily Calendar, and Special Orders. Processing all of this material can be easy or difficult, depending on the resolution’s complexity or any controversy surrounding it.  But at a minimum the resolution must be presented, moved and seconded, opened for discussion (there may be none) and voted up or down. As we move up the scale of complexity and controversy, we can easy face a scenario like this:

 

The Resolution is presented.

The responsible committee gives a background report.

Delegates seek clarification of one or more points.

Debate begins

An amendment is proposed, moved and seconded.

The amendment is debated.

An amendment to the amendment is proposed, moved and seconded.

The amendment to the amendment is debated.

The amendment to the amendment is voted up or down.

Debate resumes on the original amendment.

The original amendment is voted up or down, assuming there are no more amendments to the amendment.

Debate resumes on the resolution.

At this point some Deputy will step up and mercifully “Call the Question”. This is an action that the Deputies vote up or down, and if voted up, stops all debate on the Resolution and requires that the Resolution itself be voted up or down.

 

Thus you can see why, as we enter the seventh legislative day on July 14^th , we are still struggling to finish the material from the fourth legislative day.  I should note, however that there are resolutions from the fifth and sixth legislative days that have already been passed. This is accomplished by the use of “Special Orders”. These special orders must be voted on. What they accomplish is a suspension of the Rules of Order to allow items to be taken up out of sequence. One reason for doing so is enabling consideration of a resolution that has funding implications, and there is a deadline for submitting funding requests to the Budget committee.

 

Keeping all this straight and orderly requires a chair of the meeting who sticks to the rules and either has Robert’s Rules of Order memorized, or has a professional parliamentarian at her side. Preferably both, as we have here in

Anaheim

.

 

The Long Island Deputation hosted a reception Monday night. Our special guests were the Deputation from the Diocese of Western Massachusetts. They are happy for the Provenzanos, but not happy about having to replace them. During the reception Father Provenzano pointed out that there are a total of 54 people from the Diocese of Long Island serving in various capacities, making the L.I. presence the second largest, surpassed only by that of the Diocese of Los Angeles, and that Diocese is the host Diocese for the convention. What a testament to the vitality of the Diocese of Long Island!

 

I’ll leave this convention with a flood of memories. One that keeps coming back to me is the consent of the Deputies to the election of the Bishop of Central Ecuador, an election that was contested by a dissident group. The Bishop-elect and his wife were called to the podium to be welcomed by the President of the House. As they approached, tears of joy and relief streamed down the face of the Bishop’s wife. You could not help but be moved!

 

Day Eight

Sunday Morning! We’re able to sleep a little later, as there isn’t an

8 a.m.

service. Reflecting that it is Sunday, however, Deputies changed from the casual wear to more formal Sunday attire, such as suits or at least (for the men) jacket and tie. And the dress was appropriate, for the Eucharist was impressive. A band of drummers led the procession of the Bishops (virtually all of the Bishops who are in attendance) followed by Presiding Bishop Schori and her two predecessors, Edmund Browning and Frank Griswold. A group of young dancers, carrying silken flags, celebrated in dance to music from the volunteer choir. A music feast permeated the service. Traditional hymns (Holy, Holy Holy, Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation, Let us Break Bread Together), a Gospel processional based on a Ghanian work song, music from the pen of Hildegarde von Bingen (1179 a.d.) and contemporary music written and sung by Elisabeth von Trapp. At the Communion the choir sang my favorite Mozart piece, Ave Verum Corpus. This service was also the United Thank Offering ingathering. In all a two-hour service that flew by!

 

The afternoon’s three-hour legislative session focused on Resolution D025 presented by the Committee on World Missions. The debate took place under a “Special Order”, a parliamentary term for a process different from the normal conduct of business, that spelled out the amount of time to be spent on the debate, insured that those for or against the Resolution had equal time to speak and placed restraints on maneuvering. The vote was by orders (lay and clerical deputies voted separately) and was passed overwhelmingly. The measure now goes to the House of Bishops. I was somewhat surprised that this measure did not generate the strident, heated debate that was expected, and that neither cheers nor groans greeted the results of the voting. I suspect that there was a sense that this Resolution, if passed by the House of Bishops, may well lead to a deepening of the divide between the Episcopal Church and the rest of the Anglican Communion.

 

By the way, you may have noticed that I include very little of the actual texts of resolutions and speeches. For those of you who are interested there are a number of web sites you can go to for the full texts.

 

www.episcopalchurch.org/elife

http://gchub.episcopalchurch.org

www.episcopal church.org/107145 ENG HTM.htm

 

One final note: if you were to guess that the average member (demographically) of the Anglican Communion was an African woman, you’d be correct.

 

 

Day Seven

One advantage to being a “Newbie”, the term applied to first-time Deputies, is that once you get over the disorientation you experience in the first day or two, you learn that you can attend any legislative hearing. Deputies who have been to previous conventions are assigned to committees, and must attend the meetings of those committees, even if the would prefer to attend hearings on the hot-button issues. As a result I have been able to attend the hearings of the World Mission Committee. This is the committee that deals with issues concerning the Episcopal Church’s relationship with the rest of the Anglican Communion. I sat in on the hearing relating to Resolution D025. The language of Resolution D025 could be interpreted as a unilateral lifting of the moratorium on gay bishops. The Deputies on the committee voted 24 to 2 in favor of the resolution while the Bishops on the committee voted 3 to 2 against. Thus when the resolution is presented at the legislative session of the full House of Deputies and the House of Bishops (which could happen either Sunday or Monday) the votes in the committee will be reported. How the Resolution will fare in those houses remains a topic of extended (and heated) discussion. Some analysts of the politics of the Convention believe there are two factors at work that produce the disparity between the Houses. The first is that the membership of the House of Deputies is getter younger, is more disparate and, with 850 members, much more difficult to unify, thus producing a shift in attitude toward the gay community. The second is that Deputies only meet as a body every three years, and unless involved in standing committees or commissions, rarely see each other between Conventions. Bishops, on the other hand meet regularly, and thus forge bonds with one another, a much easier task as there are only about 100 Bishops who can vote. These closer bonds among Bishops, both domestically and internationally, tend to make the Bishops more sensitive to the possibility of a fracture in the Anglican Communion.

 

Because every day’s agenda is similar, I sometimes have to look at the newspaper to remind myself of what day it is. Day seven followed the pattern: legislative committee hearing starting at 7:30 a.m., a legislative session, the daily community Eucharist, a bite of lunch, a session on the Public Narrative project and the another legislative session ending at 6:15 p.m. A respite came in the form of a dinner for the alumni, trustees and staff representatives of The General Theological Seminary. GTS is a creature of the General Convention: trustees of GTS will be elected at one of the forthcoming legislative sessions. I was amazed at how many of the priests attending the dinner had either roots in or strong connections to

Long Island

.

 

The daily Eucharist keeps me going: it is a reminder of the gift of life we celebrate in the Eucharist. I come away feeling refreshed and renewed from every celebration. At each Eucharist a speaker addresses issues important to that speaker and the Convention from a different perspective. Ray Suarez, a senior correspondent for The Nightly News with Jim Lehrer and an Episcopalian, urged us to make ourselves know in the world, to not let the old stereotypes define us, stereotypes such as “Episcopalians are people for whom summer is a verb".

Day Six

The big news for the Diocese of Long Island is the consent of the House of Bishops to the election of Father Provenzano as Bishop Coadjutor. Thanks be to God!

Name tag holders that we all wear are color-coded, signfying status. Until this morning Father Provenzano's badge was yellow, indicating Visitor. Now it is purple, signifying that he has seat and voice in the House of Bishops. He does not have vote as he is not yet a Bishop with jurisdiction. The next step is his consecration, which will take place in September.

The day was taken up for the most part with legislative matters: from 7:30 to 9 a.m with legislative committees, from 9:30 to 11:15 a legislative session where resolutions were acted upon and in the afternoon another legislative session from 2 to 6 p.m. After the morning legislative session we joined in a celebration of the Eucharist. The daily Eucharist has quickly become important to me, not just because it is a moving experience; it helps a great deal to keep me focused on why we have all gathered here.

We are blessed as a group with a President of the House of Deputies who knows how to run a meeting. Bonnie anderson, who has been re-elected as President, runs the meetings with humor and grace, but with a firm grasp of the rules of order. Electronic developments help: if speakers are allocated three minutes to state their case, the microphones cease working at three minutes and one second, and only if there are extraordinary circumstances is a dispensation granted for more time. This is a blessing to those of us sitting through the process as, despite President Anderson's strict rule over the convention, speakers ranble on.

In the afternoon session we elected six persons to fill seats on the Board of Trustees of the Church Pension Group. However there are twelve seats to be filled, so another election will be held tomorrow. Also in the afternoon session we again went into session as a committee of the whole to discuss Resolution B033 from the 2006 Convention. Again, this was a listening session where a series of speakers, drawn by lottery,gave their views for or against resolution B003. When this issue will come up for a vote has not been determined, but in the meantime all sides of the issue have had a chance to air their views. From the standpoint of the organization's well being, that is healthy.

Notwithstanding the moments of relaxation and fellowship, this is a real working convention. I suspect that when I return to Long Island after two weeks of this I will be ready for a vacation. And yet when I was talking with a colleague back in New York he asked me how things were going, and my almost reflexive response was that it is a spiritual experience. To gather together with thousands of Episcopalians, to pray together, to worship together, to share the Eucharist , to sit at table and share a glass (or two) of wine is a remarkable experience, one that I'm blessed to be part of.

Day Five

As we move along, it's obvious we have much work ahead of ourselves. The hearings are longer, the legislative sessions are longer, and we've only begun to edge into the controversial issues. But more on that later. The day began with legislative committee meetings. These were followed by the second session of the Public Narrative project. In this session we shared our experiences of faith; what events were "change points" in our lives, how did they affect us, and what followed. People were candid. I found the experience very moving and thought provoking. This session was "The Story of Me' in the parlance of the project . The next session, scheduled for Day 7, will be "The Story of Us".

Next on the agenda was a community Eucharist at which Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, gave the meditation. Being part of two thousand or more voices raised in worship and praise is an experience that I find difficult to describe. It is deeply moving and at one and the same time humbling and uplifting.

Lunch, visits to the Exhibition Hall, and committee meetings followed. The final legislative session of the day addressed a number of issues, mostly of adminstrative importance, but then took the unusual step of suspending the normal rules of order and meeting as a committee of the whole to discuss Resolution B033 from the 2006 convention. The resolution is widely seen as a moratorium on consecrating gay bishops. The chair of the committee recited the history that led up to the resolution and the steps taken since. The vice chair presented five options for the Deputies to consider: 1.Take no action, leaving B033 in place. 2. Reaffirm the action of the previous convention. 3.Specifically disavow B033. 4. Affirm the existing canonical structure for elections of bishops and disavow any extra-canonical restraints, thus negating the effect of B033. 5. Draft a new statementaffirming the full participation of partnered gay and lesbian members in all orders of ministry, including ordinations as deacons, priests and bishops. We were the asked to find someone we did not know from another diocese, and for one-half hour discuss three questions: What is your story with respect to B033? 2. What is our story as a church with respect to B033? 3. What is God calling us to do now? The House then stood in recess until the next day, when again we would meet as a committee of the whole to hear delegates speak on the issue.

After that we all needed downtime, and for Long Island that came in the form of a wonderful dinner with Father and Mrs. Provenzano. In addition to the deputation there were staff officers, ECW delegates and others, in all 30 people from Long Island there to rejoice with the Provenzanos and look forward to the consent of the House of Bishops to his election.