by the Rev. Sharon Alexander, Chair of the Louisiana Deputation
Friday was another long day for the House of Deputies. Committee meetings began at 7:30 am again. The Committee on Governance and Structure is considering about 40 resolutions that set forth proposals to restructure the Episcopal Church. Our task is to try to determine a reasonable path forward so we can distill these resolutions into a manageable number and proceed toward a structure that better supports our ministries and helps us be good stewards of our resources. As one would expect, different people have radically different ideas about how this should be done – or if anything should be done at all.
We are close to having a few resolutions ready to submit to the House of Deputies for approval. I am helping draft some of the resolutions that combine different proposals and am enjoying putting my old skills as a lawyer to good use for the Church. Friday evening we heard from many people expressing their opinions as to how we might restructure. Even though there was a wide range of thoughts it was heartening to see how many people care deeply and sincerely about trying to find better ways to follow Jesus and engage in ministries.
During the day the House of Deputies began to consider a number of resolutions. One of the things we hope will help speed up the voting process is a Consent Calendar. The resolutions believed to be non-controversial are placed on the Consent Calendar and voted upon as a group without discussion. If someone believes a resolution on the Consent Calendar needs to be discussed, by a 2/3 vote of the Deputies the resolution can be removed and debated.
The Louisiana Deputation is looking forward to the election of the Presiding Bishop Saturday morning. The House of Bishops will meet first and elect one of the four nominees, then the name will be given to the House of Deputies to either approve and disapprove. All four of the nominees are have important but different qualities and it is hard to imagine that the Deputies would not approve the person selected by the Bishops.