Recapping: Thursday, June 25

Morning arrived before I knew it! After a tasty breakfast at my hotel (I always love hotels that offer fresh waffles!), I headed to the convention center for the first legislative session.  The House of Deputies was called to order, and at the direction of President Jennings, we sent our youngest deputies (those born in the 1990's!) to convey our greetings to the House of Bishops.  They sent back 2 bishops who noted that they were born in the 1950's.

This barely does justice to the size of our worship space!

Then we all headed to the worship area (big giant hall!) for the opening Eucharist, where the Presiding Bishop both celebrated and preached.  The structure of the worship is very interesting.  It's presented in our service bulletins in both English and Spanish in parallel, and the celebrants switch back and forth between both languages.  It is my usual custom that when the lessons are read, that I refrain from reading along, and instead, actively listen to the words of the reading.  I find I can't do that here if I want to know what I'm hearing!  But it's been a helpful "check" for me, reminding me that I'm somewhat spoiled that so much of what goes on here is automatically presented in my native language. 

After worship was concluded, there was more legislative committee time, and so I headed over to see what committee 20 was up to.  They discussed and then approved some amendments to the language of A037, and then split into two subcommittees (Canons and Liturgy) for further discussion during the morning session, and continuing in the afternoon.  When they split, they moved into separate areas across the room, speaking in low tones, and those of us in the gallery left.  

I then grabbed some lunch, took a longer wander through the exhibit hall, and located a Starbucks! (It's the little things. :-) )

Deputy Earle King, of WNY,
doing something other than calling the question!

When the House of Deputies reconvened, late in the afternoon, it was to debate, discuss, and vote on, our revised Rules of Order.  Two observations about the House of Deputies: our chaplain is awesome, and President Jennings sets an energetic and fun tone in our House.  More on both points as Convention progresses, but I highly doubt the Bishops are enjoying themselves anywhere near as much!  Anyway, the process of passing our revised Rules was a nice introduction to the nuts and bolts of debate, the electronic queuing system, and voting, both by voice, and electronically.  Following the passage of our Rules, we also passed a resolution expressing our grief at the recent shooting at Emanuel AME church in Charleston.

Following adjournment, I joined two of my fellow deputies for a quick bite to eat, before heading to the next hearing of committee 20, which had been moved to a larger space at the Radisson.  Up for testimony at this hearing were resolutions A036, and C017/C022/C024/C026.  There was a great deal more testimony at this hearing than Wednesday's hearing, and several people spoke very movingly, including Bishop Gene Robinson, retired bishop of New Hampshire.  Once all those who had signed up to testify had done so, the committee recessed for the evening, with the intention of meeting early the next morning.

Once again, I joined some folks across the street for some tasty food and drinks, before heading back to my hotel for the night.

Best Exhibit Hall Swag of the Day: Golden Halo flying disc, from Forward Movement