[Episcopal News Service – Austin, Texas] Much happens each day during General Convention. To complement Episcopal News Service’s primary coverage, we have collected some additional news items from July 12.
‘Everything is going okay’ despite record number of resolutions
Full ENS coverage of the 79th meeting of General Convention is available here.
The 79th General Convention is moving through a record 502 resolutions, but House of Deputies Parliamentarian Bryan Krislock told his colleagues at the opening of the morning legislative session July12 that “everything is going okay.”
“We have every expectation that we will complete our business before the close of convention tomorrow and have enough time to discuss the very serious issues and resolutions that are before this house,” Krislock said.
Convention is scheduled to adjourn at 6:30 p.m. CT on July 13.
Krislock said that “most of the time” in the sessions has been spent dealing with procedural issues, points of order and parliamentary inquiries rather than actual debate on resolutions. He projected a graph on the large screens in the house to illustrate his point.
House of Deputies Parliamentarian Bryan Krislock offers a visual explanation July 12 of how to consider the efficiency of debate. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service
“Once the debate starts, it really moves rather smoothly,” he said.
Meanwhile, the House of Bishops spent the first 90 minutes of the two-and-a-half-hour morning legislative session completing its legislative calendar and then was waiting on resolutions from the deputies.
If the pace in the House of Deputies slows down too much, Kryslock said, the parliamentarians and the house’s committee on dispatch, which manages the flow of resolutions to the floor, will present a plan to the deputies for picking up the pace.
In a related move, Jennings told the house just after Kryslock finished his remarks that she was limiting committee reports on legislation to three minutes.
-Mary Frances Schjonberg
GoFundMe site created to raise money for Cuban clergy pensions
In her testimony delivered during the House of Bishop’s July 10 legislative session where bishops voted unanimously to admit the Episcopal Church in Cuba as a diocese, former Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori pointed out that if each Episcopalian gave 50 cents, the church could fund the gap in Cuba’s pension plan. Utah Bishop ScottB. Hayashi responded saying he would up it to $1 for every person in his diocese.
Since then, the Rev. Nic Mather, an associate at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, Washington, created a GoFundMe page with a goal of raising $5,000 to fund pensions for the Cuban clergy, who’ve forgone both institutional and governmental pensions to serve the church.
You can donate to the fund here.
– Lynette Wilson
After-dark legislative sessions not instant hits at convention
Both houses of the 79th General Convention met in rare evening-into-night sessions on July 11. With 501 resolutions pending at one point, the presiding officers decided that bishops and deputies had some work to do.
The Episcopal Church knows how to light up the night: parliamentary and legislative work in both Houses until 9:30 p.m. #gcafterdark
— kelligrace (@kelligrace) July 12, 2018
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The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, announced at the start of that house’s session that there was a hashtag for the two hours ahead: #GCAfterDark.
Deputies then spent the first 30 minutes not passing any resolutions.
https://twitter.com/FrJody/status/1017211164764393472
They eventually got down to business and passed six resolutions.
Most of the resolutions were accompanied by impassioned, if short, pleas for passage.
https://twitter.com/ATXScott/status/1017224843425611777
The after-dark sessions apparently disturbed the resident and visiting pigeons in the deputies’ hall.
https://twitter.com/diocesecpa/status/1017211405999771649
I think #gcafterdark is cramping the style of @gc79pigeon #gc79pigeonafterdark. #gc79 #pigeonsneedaprivatelifetoo pic.twitter.com/nQIxrujbXC
— Kelley Hudlow (@akhudlow) July 12, 2018
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However, General Convention Pigeon was oaky with it all.
Ain’t no party like a house of deputies night party because a house of deputies night party is… MANDATORY. #withapologiestolizlemon https://t.co/br2TRmHZGD
— General Convention Pigeon (@gc79pigeon) July 12, 2018
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Loyalties to the pigeons’ status as Beloved of Deputies were challenged at one point.
The official animal of the #HoD #gc79 #GCAfterDark pic.twitter.com/ceGS5Updit
— Fr. Paul H. Castelli, AF (@PaulHCastelli) July 12, 2018
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Upstairs in the House of Bishops, the word “punchy” could be heard being murmured around the floor.
As the bishops reached the end of their legislative calendar of a handful of resolutions about 9 p.m. as they were getting ready for closing prayers, there was a lightness and palpable relief in the room.
Meanwhile, back downstairs in deputies, tweeting was going strong.
The Diocese of Oklahoma decided that it could at least achieve some efficiency in meal planning by visiting the famous and increasingly craved output from nearby Voodoo Donuts.
https://twitter.com/kate_huston/status/1017211892543127552
And then, at 9:30 p.m., the deputies called it a night.
https://twitter.com/AMcKellar17/status/1017233793676185602
— Mary Frances Schjonberg
This post appeared here first: July 12 dispatches from 79th General Convention in Austin
[Episcopal News Service – General Convention 2018]