Episcopal Diocese of Iowa [ Deputy Reports ]

Diocesan Convention 2006

General 2006

Iowa's Deputies to General Convention report

Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Willa Goodfellow

In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their
trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. (2
Corinthians 5:19)

Reconciliation - this is what we are about. We have heard these words over and
over in the last ten days at General Convention. You will hear them again this
Sunday. God has entrusted to us the ministry of reconciliation. Last week
Senator (and Episcopal priest) John Danforth told us that the Episcopal Church
is uniquely positioned to be reconcilers in the world.

How can that be? We disagree so loudly about so much! And that is the point.
People who agree on everything don't have to be reconciled. They never learn
how to reconcile. So they cannot carry the message of reconciliation to the
world.

In the vastness of 10,000 bishops, deputies, delegates, local and international
visitors, worshippers, exhibitors and shoppers, there are thousands of moments
when we live Paul's words, when we carry out the message of reconciliation. My
report from General Convention is on one of those moments.

Monday night the House of Deputies recessed, while in the middle of debate of a
contentious resolution, calling for moratoria on the elections of gay men and
lesbians to the episcopacy and on public blessings of same sex unions. Our
deputation was not of one mind, and on Tuesday morning we knew we would vote a
divided ballot.

On the way to daily Eucharist, I saw Kathleen Milligan and Cathy Bascom at a
table outside our hotel, and overheard them discussing the matter. I stopped
to pull up a chair. Maggie Tinsman joined us. Among the four, we represent
the range of positions held by people of the diocese of Iowa. We also know
each other well enough that we are bound by profound respect for each other's
faith and integrity. We laid all that on the table, along with the pain of the
disagreement, and our dismay at how these disagreements are sometimes expressed
less honorably and less respectfully in the Church.

All the while that we talked, across the street in the convention center, the
gospel was being proclaimed. The bread was being blessed, broken and shared.
So we picked up the remains of a blueberry muffin and did the same. "This is
the body of Christ, broken for us, and we are the body of Christ. We, too, are
broken, and yet we are one in the body of Christ." We gave each other the
bread. Kathleen reminded us of words from Stephen Bayne, that in its most
sacred moments, the Episcopal Church disappears. When we bless in baptism, and
when we break bread in the Eucharist, we act not as the Episcopal Church, but as
Christians. As Paul said it in 2nd Corinthians, we act as ambassadors for
Christ, God's agents of reconciliation.

Okay, I am not recommending a new blueberry muffin liturgy. But I invite you to
imagine that the power of God, the power of reconciliation is strong enough to
endure, to hold us together even when we know just how deeply we disagree, even
when we take the chance to tell each other how deeply we disagree.

General Convention is messy. It is filled with conflict. It is also held in
God's hands, whose hands are well able to hold us together, any of us who are
willing to be held together. We don't have to put on our false faces. We
don't have to hide who we are. You don't have to hide who you are. You just
have to keep coming to the table where the body of Christ is broken and shared.
As we share that bread, all of us who are broken are brought back together
again. And then we are sent out to carry the message of reconciliation to a
broken world, for whom Christ died, to bring it together again.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

Cathleen Bascom, rector at St. Stephen’s, Newton

One Deputy’s Look at the First Week of General Convention

Sometimes, when I have tried to think holistically about all that goes on in the life of a parish I have imagined a kaleidoscope. Looking at a church’s ministry is like seeing

shafts and slices of color – our worship, one slice of color; our formation through study and private prayer another; our practical theology and struggles to understand; our moving out to justice and care for others; our treasured relationships – all colors which combine to portray the life we share in Christ. My experience of General Convention so far, is like magnifying that kaleidoscope of the church like a child’s toy telescope is magnified when one visits the planetarium!

Worshipping together daily with thousands gathered is an experience in itself. As a Eucharistic minister one morning, the power of placing a piece of bread in the hands all so different from one another will remain for me a reminder the true breadth of the Episcopal Church. As a Midwesterner I forget the racial, economic and language diversity of the Episcopal Church. Yesterday we said the antiphon for Psalm 124 in English, Spanish, French, Tagalog, and Ojibwa. The man next to me was from Haiti and I could see his joy at the familiar French words. Except for Festive Eucharists, we spend time in Bible study and reflection after the sermon as part of the Eucharist, and members of my table come from Arkansas, the Virgin Islands, Washington D.C., Ohio, and Liberia. Little surprise to those who know me, my favorite worship was the U2-charist.

A special service to raise awareness and support for efforts against hunger, poverty and the lack of education, and health issues world-wide using rock band U2’s music as hymns, was full of energy and young people and was so packed that one wondered if they would start opening the roof to lower people in! Needless to say, the worship and study at General Convention has been vibrant!

We spend the most intentional hours of each day in Legislative sessions; I joke and tell people it reminds me of being a teenager and going to the State Capitol for “Youth in Government”! We function in two Houses (mirroring our own U.S. system in some ways) the House of Deputies (lay deputies and the deacons and priests) and the House of Bishops. Legislation goes back and forth between the two Houses needing to be passed by both. Some of the 300+ resolutions we will vote on are practical guidelines for church life and government, but as we debate things of substance we really are doing practical theology. In budget conversations we must weigh things like money to plant new churches versus giving money to help refugees in Sudan – just as any parish might only on a much larger scale. There have been open hearings on the Windsor Report and the Episcopal Church’s responding 11 resolutions, but to date we have only debated and dealt with one of these resolutions. Passing Resolution A159 we have articulated our desire to “reaffirm our abiding commitment of the Episcopal Church to the fellowship of churches that constitute the Anglican Communion, and seek to live into the highest degree of communion possible….” The ten resolutions before us still will most likely generate substantial debate about human sexuality and our place in the Anglican Communion on which other Deputies will report in the next days.

Lastly, I would say that the General Convention, as is true in our parishes and Diocese, is very much about relationships. You see hugs given, heartfelt handshakes and the shouts of old friends reunited. I sat last night as our Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold was honored (an event slightly akin to a churchy Academy Award with roasts, biographical skits, eloquent speeches and skits) and was aware of the quiet tears of a few people who have traveled the road of the church with this man in this time. In about an hour the Bishops gather for worship and then to elect the next Presiding Bishop, and a new unique leadership relationship for us all will be born.

Saturday, June 17th

Maggie Tinsman

What a day of celebration this has been!
Three one-of-a-kind ceremonies occurred.

My day started very early (7:00 A.M.) as the Structure Legislative Committee met to plan a strategy for proposing four resolutions to the General Convention on Monday, June 19^th. They are: 1) Proposing child care/education program for 0-to 12-year-olds for all General, Province, and Diocesan Conventions; 2) Proposing a change in the number of days from 10 days to 8 days for the next General Convention; 3) Proposing that each Standing Commission, which meets between conventions, be limited to 12 members; 4) Proposing that the Office of General Convention will convey electronically to all bishops, deputies, and alternates all filed resolutions on a weekly basis.

I shall be speaking specifically to the Convention on Monday about this last resolution. All are fairly controversial because they entail change. (This church is not big into change.) However, we have discussed these issues for 3 to 6 years, so I believe that it is time to bring them up to the 800+ House of Deputies. I hope that all four will pass, but it is up to the will of the deputies now.

An extremely large Festival Communion Service was held in the mid-morning with 8,000 people attending. I served as a Chalice Administrator, which was extremely meaningful with the large variety of people sharing communion. This truly was a beautiful service with wonderful music and an inspirational sermon about reconciliation.

After lunch with our youth from Iowa, we went back into our Legislative session for 2 ½ hours. Not much that was meaningful was accomplished. However, a wonderful tribute to Dean George Warner, outgoing President of the House of Deputies, was held. He is a fantastic man who unfortunately was not reelected deputy by the Pittsburgh Diocese because he is a middle-of-the-road Episcopalian. How well I know this situation in the political world!

Dinner was fun as four of us Iowa Deputies relaxed together. We then attended a marvelous celebration for the retirement of Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold. A dramatic presentation on the Holy Spirit was particularly entertaining and meaningful. We ended the celebration by singing “Here I Am, Lord.”

Before going to bed after a very long day, part of the Iowa deputation got together for some joyful conversation. We really have a very friendly group of Iowans, so it is always fun the “touch base” at the end of the day. I feel very humble and privileged to be part of this active Iowa delegation. Exhaustion finally took over after I wrote this part of our ongoing journal.

Thursday June 15, 2006

From: Diane Bjorklund

This is my first General Convention and I understand that as a Provisional Lay Deputy (or Alternate) I am here to experience as much of General Convention as possible, learn about the process of General Convention, and serve where I am needed.

As of today, I have experienced a variety of worship services, a few resolution hearings, five legislative sessions and the exhibit hall. So far, my favorite worship service was the U2charist held Tuesday evening. This service combined the music of U2, dynamic preaching, and a focus on the MDG’s. Participants numbered over 750 and spanned several generations and regions of the country and world. I felt a surge of energy as we left the worship space around the desire for our church to move forward in mission and support for the ONE Episcopalian campaign.

I have learned how a resolution travels from the Proposer to a legislative committee to one of the houses then back to committee and onto the other house. A resolution may get discharged, rejected, referred or adopted. Today I was following Resolution D034. It was assigned to Legislative Committee # 5, Cannons. The main emphasis of the resolution was to amend the Cannon on Licensed Ministries by eliminating Confirmation as a requirement for Eucharistic Minister and Eucharistic Visitor so that young communicants could be licensed to these ministries. After a good discussion, the committee decided to discharge this resolution and refer to Legislative Committee #14, Ministry because it is the Ministry Committee that is charged to identify ministers of the church.

I have served as needed and in particular by being a Children’s Worship Table discussion leader. Many volunteers from the Diocese of Southern Ohio put together a wonderful children’s program. During Worship, the children first work on a gathering activity (today we made Anglican Prayer beads) then, during the discussion time, there is a time of reflection. The discussion starter questions were framed in the “Godly Play” language of “I wonder…” Our focus today was on John 4:19-24 and revolved around where the children worship God, what kinds of words to say in worship, and other ways to worship God in spirit and truth. And of course the children say the most insightful things: God can be worshiped everywhere even under a bed, we need to remember to say Thank you when we worship God, and we need to love everybody.

I am so thankful for this opportunity to serve our Diocese, to see our church working at the international level, to spend time with old friends and have the opportunity to make new friends.

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

From: Raisin Horn

Greetings from your General Convention deputation! The Presiding Bishop welcomed us yesterday to the House of Deputies, reminding us that we all are met with the opportunity in this place for God’s love to break open within us. As we engage both in legislative action and corporate worship, the truth we seek is larger than any one point of view; truth is discovered in communion. We were reminded also that people tend to hold on tenaciously to their partial truths. The Presiding Bishop cautioned that the Convention’s response to the Lambeth Commission and Windsor Process, in addition to the election of the 26^th Presiding Bishop this coming Sunday, will be closely watched by the rest of the world. Our communion together obliges us to bear one another’s burdens with patience, tolerance and love. He asked us to consider what it means for us, as the gathered Church, to live a life of communion for the sake of the world. In quoting Clement of Alexandria, Bishop Griswold expressed hope that we would not fall into the habit of “curling up in our preoccupations and obsessions in the manner of hedgehogs.”

In today’s homily during the first Convention Eucharist, Bishop Griswold also dared us to invoke the Holy Spirit, asking for deeper knowledge, understanding of deeper truth, and for God’s work of reconciliation. “It is dangerous,” he said, “to invoke the Holy Spirit; what if we are taken seriously?”

And so this first Legislative day began. The President of the House of Deputies (The Very Rev. George Werner) led us into preliminary activities, such as organization of the House, orientation to a new electronic voting process (during which we voted on the official food of the Episcopal Church – the cucumber sandwich option was defeated!) and the reception of official greetings from the House of Bishops.

The House of Deputies welcomed the Episcopal Church of Liberia and the Official Youth Presence, prayed Noonday prayers together led by our Chaplain, and received further greetings from our host diocese, and from the Presidents of the Episcopal Church Foundation and Church Pension Fund. During the afternoon legislative session, the Co-Chair of the Joint Nominating Committee for the Election of the Presiding Bishop detailed the proceedings and administrative process expected on Saturday and Sunday as the ballots are taken by the House of Bishops. Our own Maggie Tinsman (Deputy from St. Peter’s, Bettendorf) had the honor of escorting the Archbishop of York to address the House of Deputies. He relayed a message from the Archbishop of Canterbury, as well as delighting us with his own response to the sight of so many gathered Episcopalians, along with the multitude of national flags draped behind the platform. As George Werner tells us, we should keep in mind that we are not a national church, but an international church.

This was a slow-moving legislative day, as sometimes happens at the start of Convention, but the House did consider resolutions concerning Provincial Leadership, Directions for Future Processes (such as nominations for Presiding Bishop), also fine-tuning the language regarding an upcoming trustee election and ongoing work with prison ministry. As the day concluded, many deputies were headed to meetings of their respective legislative committees, or to a “U2-Eucharist.” Much happens in the evening hours at Convention; there are hearings to attend, meetings, and special events such as last night’s dedication of a Time Line of Women’s History in the Episcopal Church, in which The Rev. Barbara Schlachter (Alternate from Christ Church, Cedar Rapids) had a major role.

As we move ahead in our days of legislation, meeting, and worship, we ask the continued prayers of the Diocese of Iowa. As Bishop Griswold told us upon our arrival, love is never an abstraction; rather, it is expressed in webs of relationship. We honor our relationship with you, the faithful people in our home diocese, and we look forward to communicating ongoing events here in Columbus as they enfold.

Deputy Reports in a PDF version (as published in the Diocesan "Celebrating the New Creation" Newsletter in July, 2006)