[By Sharon Alexander, Chair of Louisiana Deputation]
The Bishops and Deputies met together on Wednesday for a welcome by the Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, and President of the House of Deputies, Gay Clark Jennings, followed by an orientation to the procedures of General Convention. This year the Convention has gone “paperless” with all of the information on resolutions, reports, schedules and other items being in a “virtual binder” on an iPad. So far there do not seem to be any major problems with the new system. One of the important things we did was decorate our table with Mardi Gras beads, plastic crawfish and our trusty wooden pelican that has accompanied the Deputies to many General Conventions. We certainly have one of the most festive tables.
In the afternoon the Bishops and Deputies heard the nominees for Presiding Bishop answer questions and give brief presentations. The House of Bishops will vote on Saturday for the new Presiding Bishop. Once the Bishops have made their decision, the House of Deputies will vote to either affirm or reject the Bishops’ choice.
I spent a good portion of the day working on matters for the Legislative Committee to which I have been assigned, Governance and Structure. This committee has approximately 40 members and is looking at a variety of proposals to restructure the Episcopal Church. So far the members of the committee have been listening to a number of people and reading reports, minutes of Executive Council meetings and other materials to help determine how to come up with ways to help our churches engage ministries and be better stewards of our resources. So far there are many ideas and we are looking at all of them.