by the Rev. Roman Roldan, Clerical Alternate, Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana-
After serving as a deputized Delegate in the main House for two days, yesterday I went back to the place behind the fenced curtain where Alternates sit. This morning, however, I was quite distracted and walked into the main House, planning to join my deputation at the Louisiana table. Two steps into the House, I saw quite a bit of activity from the corner of my eye. Suddenly, two elderly volunteers approached me with the speed of prairie coyotes descending upon unsuspecting pray. “Wait” said a gentleman in his sixties in a loud and commanding voice, while a woman of the same age jumped behind me with the skill of a ninja warrior and the humor of a navy seal seconds before he discharges his weapon on a dangerous terrorist. “You are in the wrong section!” He said, pointing to my Alternate badge. “You must go to the area behind the curtain!” added the woman. I froze in place while dozens of legal deputies watched how the illegal deputy was about to be deported across the border. Some were annoyed, while others watched the spectacle with morbid curiosity. I avoided eye contact with the woman because, frankly, I was terrified of her. I addressed the man, “May I get some water before I walk to the Alternates section?” (The area where Alternates seat has no access to water fountains or coolers). With icy determination he responded, “No! You must leave this area now!” Quite humbled and embarrassed, I walked to the Alternates section and avoided eye contact with those poor souls who, like myself, were seating in solitary confinement.
Ironically, within 20 minutes of the start of the session, the President of the House invited all Alternates to join their deputation for a group exercise on the Five Marks of Mission. As I walked past the same two ninja warriors, I smiled and said, “I have a work permit now!” They did not find any humor in my comment. In fact, I swear I saw the woman reaching into her purse. I hurried in, just in case she was looking for her taser gun or a silenced semiautomatic. Once at the deputation table, I participated in the group exercise, which consisted in a 30-second video on each of the Five Marks of Mission, followed by questions and answers. This was a joint session of the Convention, so, it was nice having Bishop Thompson with us. The five marks of mission are as follows: (1) To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom, (2) To teach, baptize, and nurture new believers, (3) to respond to human need through loving service, (4) to seek to transform unjust structures of society, to challenge violence of every kind, and to pursue peace and reconciliation, (5) to strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth. The questions that followed each video had to do with local application of each mark of mission.
After the group exercise ended, the business of the House turned to an encomium of the outgoing Presiding Bishop’s ministry over the last nine years. A good definition of encomium would be, “A formal expression of high praise, as in a recognition of the valor of a returning hero, or a eulogy of a great leader who has died.” Katharine Jefferts Schori, the outgoing Presiding Bishop, is seen by many as a hero of the faith. All the speakers narrated episodes were Schori acted with “great courage in the face of great opposition”, “represented the church as an ambassador of the Episcopal Church to a suffering world”, “acted with grace and cool determination in the face of grave challenges”, “conclusively built a bridge between faith and science, proving that faith and science are not in opposition”, etc. A moving video flashed the images of dozens of trips within the United States and all the countries of Province IX, international partners, and mission enterprises in which the Episcopal Church participates. The background to the images was a farewell sermon from the Presiding Bishop set to worship music. A highlight of the celebration was a keynote speech by Frank T. Griswold, the 25th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. Towards the end of his speech, Bishop Griswold invited the Presiding Bishop Elect, Michael Curry, to join him and Katharine Jefferts Schori on stage. The Presiding Bishop Elect then spoke kindly and generously about Schori and stated that the church is better today because of her service.
After lunch, the House gathered for a legislative session. After dealing with several run of the mill resolutions, the anticipated report by the Restructuring Committee came before the House. After a lengthy report by the Chair about all the recommendations the committed intended to make, the first resolution came up for debate. The resolution seeks to keep the number of members of Executive Council at 40, as it has been up until now. The task force for the restructuring of the church appointed in 2012 had recommended a reduction of the council by more than half of its members. The Restructuring Committee chose to leave the number intact because they proposed to reduce the number of Executive Council Committees (Known as CCAB’s) from 12 to 2 and this will result in more work for the Executive Council in the future. After almost two hours of discussion on proposed amendments (all of which were defeated) a Delegate from the Episcopal Diocese of Venezuela stood for a point of order. None of the resolutions being discussed were available in Spanish, so the delegations from Province IX were unable to read the text and participate in the discussion. Prior to now, all resolutions have been translated and Province IX has been able to participate. After a short break, the President of the House confirmed that there was a backlog in the translation services at Convention and postponed all of these resolutions until tomorrow morning. The translators will work through the night catching up on their work. So, the much anticipated conversation on restructuring has been postponed.
We are approaching the end of Convention on Friday and much work still needs to get done. The attention of the House will turn to restructuring and marriage. Both of these issues will prove controversial, but I suspect that at the end of the day some of the restructuring resolutions will be approved, as will those resolutions having to do with same sex marriage rites.
Please continue to pray for your delegates. Blessings to all, Fr. Roldan+