VIEWPOINT – The best thing about California, hands down, is the weather. Get this: you can walk, outside, in the middle of the day, and it’s maybe 80 degrees. So I have been.

I know walking is good for my heart, but it’s better for my soul. Gives me time to think, to ponder, to pray, to wrestle with decisions. Where I have been walking out here is up and down the sidewalks outside the hotels. Great venue – wide streets, ample sidewalks lined with big, beautiful, blooming hydrangeas (it’s the weather thing). But eventually all the streets end up at corners which must be crossed. And that’s where this whole Garden of Eden scenario comes to a screeching halt (somewhat literally).

In an effort to be kind to pedestrians, I suppose, there is at every traffic light at every corner a button on a post that says “Push to walk.” And on the opposite corner is the walk/don’t walk signal in the form of a big red hand. DON’T WALK. For WALK the hand turns to white. But then it starts – the counting down. 20, 19, 18 seconds until this signal turns back to DON’T WALK. Oh, my God, what if I don’t make it? 17, 16, 15. Will the street open up and swallow me? 14, 13, 12. Will I get run over by a big truck? 11, 10, 9. Now I’m running and glancing over my right shoulder, then my left. 8, 7, 6. Whew, I’m back on the sidewalk. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

And on the rest of the walk I ponder that crossing signal. Feels like The Episcopal Church these days. I have been in this job a long time, and I didn’t use to have to filter every word I said or wrote. It’s different today. There are moments of sheer panic as you navigate the crowds at General Convention. Think fast, very fast, and keep glancing over your shoulder.

Getting on the elevator, you scan the name tags of the other passengers. Where is he from? New Hampshire. What do I know about New Hampshire? Oh, yes, Bishop Robinson’s diocese. Ground zero of the conflict. Be careful about what you say. Very careful. “So, how about this weather?”

Marjorie George
Communications Officer
Diocese of West Texas

Day 1, Bishop Lillibridge  Click here to listen to Bishop Lillibridge’s first  audio reviewing Day 1, July 8, 2009.

Summary:  Day one, July 8, Bishop Lillibridge gives an overview of some of the General Convention structure and discusses how our deputation is functioning in the committee process. He also comments on hearings to come on the issue of human sexuality and on a resolution the Diocese of West Texas sent to General Convention.

VIEWPOINT – General Convention is extraordinary. There is just no other way to put it. In terms of delegate days (no. of conventioneers times no. of days), I’m told it is the third largest convention in the U.S. behind the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention.

Its pace is like a roaring river. It doesn’t wait for anyone. You paddle with all your might and even then you can’t keep up.

The first legislative session of the House of Deputies started at 8a.m. this morning, mostly house keeping. The Bishops started at 7:30a.m. Opening Eucharist, from 9:15a.m. to 10:30a.m., was worth the price of admission and then some. A man, carrying and beating a drum, bellowed an African chant as he danced around the stage—if anyone could enliven a church, that man could do it! I loved it! And there was a woman in the choir who sang a spiritual who had one of the most beautiful voices I have heard.

Add to that the sermon given by the Presiding Bishop. One of the scripture readings was out of Ezekiel—“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

The PB said we don’t need to change our minds. We need to change our hearts. We need to learn a new way of understanding and a new way of acting. We need to receive new hearts from the organ donor who gave his heart that others might live. With this one heart, together we are made whole. We find abundant life in being poured out into the world. Mission is the heart beat.

This is a poor summary of one part of her wonderful sermon—I urge you to go to the website of The Episcopal Church and listen to the sermon. The Presiding Bishop does an excellent job with metaphor.

After that we had committee hearings until noon, the West Texas deputation assembled for lunch with the West Texas delegation for the Women of the Church, additional committee hearings after lunch, another legislative session from 4:30pm until 6pm, then the West Texas deputation assembled again, committee hearings resumed from 7pm until 9pm and that’s not all—whew!!!!

Other nits and gnats—I bumped into (maybe almost bumped into) the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Exhibition Hall. He has joined us for two days as have Bishops from all over the world. He looks somewhat like Gandalf. I suspect he may be as wise and prophetic as he appears. There were shouters outside the Convention Hall yelling insults at The Episcopal Church. And then there are literally thousands of wonderful, friendly, deeply committed church people of all ages functioning as best they can with the limitations they have. I wish you all could experience this!

Blessings,
Drew Cauthorn
St. Mark’s, San Antonio

I’ve FBd, tweeted & blogged my way thru GC  

VIEWPOINT – If that title doesn’t make sense to you, this article may not be for you.  Then again, you may be the most important person to read it.  I came to General Convention knowing that I was a newbie and a freelance.  In other words, I don’t have a committee assignment so I am free to roam, attend whatever hearings might be interesting and generally, just have more time to meet people and enjoy the fellowship aspects of GC.  I decided early on to use all the social media networking capabilities to connect with other Episcopalians and to report my experiences.  

I’ve blogged. You’ve probably read one or more if you are reading this.  I’ve FBd.  That means I’ve posted regular updates on Facebook.  Those are usually short quips about the day or the events and allows friends to read and respond and also to know what other friends here and at home are doing.  There are at least 6 of us here that are posting regularly on Facebook.  

And then there’s Twitter.  I was most skeptical about this social media outlet before I came.  I have used twitter for a couple of months to connect with other people all over the earth about spirituality.  Ok, I also follow San Antonio Spurs updates but it’s primarily about the spiritual aspects of my life.  Currently, I follow about 100 people.  That means I can read the posts of about 100 people as they tweet. And believe it or not, about 125 people follow me. Obviously, you can’t read Twitter feed constantly or you would never get anything done.  But several times a day, I will log in and read the last few “tweets” that have been posted.  I’ve learned much and a great number of these people blog.  But I wasn’t really sure I got it.  What’s the point?  It was a little like sitting around a cocktail party and pontificating.  

Last month, I began to see more and more posts about General Convention and the people that we coming out here.  Last night, through Twitter, we arranged a Tweetup and all got together.

Wow!  The first tweetup was attended by 7 people.  There was a priest from Kentucky, a priest from Rhode Island, an activist from New York, a member of the Young Adult Presence from Florida and a young lady from Michigan.  I was probably the oldest by at least 10 years!  Overall, every one of these people is dedicated to their church, extremely interested in the “state” of the church and is working tirelessly.  Mission, LGBT, and social justice issues are at the forefront of their concerns.  Most interesting to me was Allison.  She is a young lady that prior to GC did not attend church much but was so interested in the twitter chatter about General Convention that she drove all the way here from Michigan to attend.  And now she’s hooked!  We’ve committed to at least one more tweetup while we’re here as it seems more tweeters are coming in over the weekend.  

Social media is reaching people that our traditional means of communication has not.  We talked last night about the fact that some of our other twitter friends can actually have a broader GC experience by simply reading all our posts and blogs.  We are literally the eyes and the ears for the social media world.  Look at Allison!  The younger generation is not just using social media; it is a part of who they are.  It is how they communicate.  The tweeters I met last night all had stories of reaching people that either weren’t in church, had left the church or had never been to church.  That’s our mission, to bring the Gospel to the world.  And they’re doing it! 

I’m excited by their energy and their dedication.  I am excited that these younger people are so excited about the future of our church.  And me, I think I finally get it.  I’m just trying to hang on and keep up!  

God’s Peace,
@ktkimble (my twitter name) Kelley Kimble
Lay Deputy, St. Philip’s Uvalde