Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Surrounded by a Cloud of Witnesses

By The Rev. Linda Spiers

Amid the flurry of General Convention resolutions and legislative committee meetings and evening offerings is the profound call to pray in and through all things. Day 7 (July 1) was a good example when we remembered Hiram Hisanori Kano at our daily Eucharist. I had already attended my early morning Ecumenical and Interreligious Committee meeting which began with prayer. I then headed to the enormous worship space to claim seats for Paul Carling, Thom Peters, and me, for the three of us have generally sat together each morning.

Imagine worshiping with 1,500+ people each day. Paul, Thom and I sit close to the front, just behind seating for the deaf where we witness that community signing the prayers and hymns with their fingers dancing the words. The altar and baptismal font are both gigantic and are also right in front of us.

Hiram Hisanori Kano was a Japanese missionary priest serving in Nebraska and was incarcerated with other Japanese immigrants after the Pearl Harbor attack. Check out his courageous story in this related article. In his honor the Kenshin Taiko Drummers brought Japanese culture into our daily Eucharist with their powerful and spirit-filled drumming. The Rev. Becca Stevens, founder of Thistle Farms, preached. Her ministry helps support survivors of trafficking, addiction and violence. Through her own courageous story she invited us to see and live into the ways that love heals.

Our House of Deputies (HOD) chaplain originates from South Africa and has us singing and moving with inclusive prayer that reminds us continually that we are all one. Our HOD sessions begin with prayer. Our July 1 deliberations regarding the two marriage equality resolutions (A054 and A036) were thoughtful and respectful of the other. Before votes were taken prayer centered us.

The day ended with the Utah Showcase when the Kenshin Taiko Drummers returned as part of an evening of music at the Salt Lake Tabernacle. That night of fun began and ended with prayer. We are indeed praying in and through all things and reminded daily that an enormous cloud of witnesses surrounds us.

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

A first look at the data from our Structure Conversation



On Friday morning we held a joint session of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies to have a conversation on the structure of our Church. It was a conversation on what structures (at all levels of The Episcopal Church) best enable our parishes and dioceses to more fully participate in the Mission of God and what structures should be changed in order to enable parishes and dioceses. 

Since I am serving as the assistant secretary for the Committee on Governance and Structure, I did not actually participate in the conversation. I was running the Powerpoint slides of the presentation and trying to keep track of the output from the conversation. We invited people to tweet and email their responses. This resulted in over 50 emails and over 1400 tweets on what people care about in The Episcopal Church. We have taken an initial look at the data that we have received, and I can say it is interesting and inspiring to read what people had to say. Here are the word clouds of the top 50 words in each category of "change" and "keep." While there is much to do with the data (and these word clouds are not perfect), they are a good indicator of where the energy is around our structures and governance. 

KEEP

CHANGE



As you can see, there is a great deal of energy and interest around networking/collaboration, around keeping resources at local level when possible, about diocesan camps, youth, and increasing communication at all levels. This raises the important questions of how we can modify and create structures to enable more relationship building in our communities and across the church and to enable people to be out in the neighborhood using our resources to more fully be about the holy work of restoration and reconciliation. There is also clearly great passion about keeping much of our traditions and structures that bind us together as The Episcopal Church.

As we go about our work today at this General Convention, I trust that that conversation on Friday, and its output will inform our work together. There is clearly energy for transformation and change across the Church. May we also all be inspired and open to the possibilities for transformation in our Church and in our own lives. 

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Celebrating History


Today in the House of Deputies we had a party for the 230th birthday. We celebrated the fact that it was an innovation to allow all the orders to have a say in the governance of the church. President Jennings invited former Presidents and vice-presidents of the House of Deputies to join us. We watched a video about Charles Wille, who served in the early 1970s. He was an ardent supporter of women’s ordination and preached at the ordination of the Philadelphia Eleven. 1970 was the first year women were seated as deputies at General Convention. Wille resigned when the recognition of the Philadelphia Eleven was not recognized by General Convention. 

As I have walked the halls of this Convention, I have seen lots and lots of women in collars. And all of us owe a debt of gratitude to Wille. We owe a debt to him and so many others who took a courageous stand to enable women to be ordained in The Episcopal Church. For me, it has been a powerful learning experience over the last two years as we have celebrated the 40th anniversary of the ordination of women. It has been remarkable to hear the stories of those who blazed the trail for so many of us. 

I was blessed to go through the ordination process in the Diocese of Maine which had a woman bishop from the time I was in high school. Because of that there was no issue for me as a woman in the ordination process. I admit to having been relatively naive in how many challenges other women faced in the process of becoming priests. I am humbled and inspired by these women. Today I was reminded of the numerous men who took a courageous stand to make it possible for women to be priests in this church. I am grateful. 

Thursday, June 25, 2015

From Heights to Depths to the Place In-between

I cannot say for certain, but I suspect today may have been typical of many days to come here at Convention.  I began ascending Mt. Sinai, but then I found myself wandering in the Valley of the Shadow of Death.  Finally I rested on the shores of Galilee with my friends.

This morning the entire convention gathered for our first eucharist: bishops, deputies, visitors; Anglos, Latinos, Africans, Europeans; northerners, easterners, southerners, westerners; speaking English, Spanish, French.  An oversized altar atop a platform, presided over by the Presiding Bishop, was the focus in front of a backdrop of a Utah landscape presided over by a large cross.  The gospel story (Luke 1:57-80) included Zechariah’s prophecy about his son, John the Baptist: “You will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.” Bishop Jefferts Schori  urged us “to be the road crew.” The service continued with songs and prayers sung and prayed by more than a thousand people.  As powerful as that was, there were also moments of silence kept by thousands of people.  I felt atop a holy mountain.

But then there was the descent.  It is not easy to actually “build the road,” I quickly realized as I began to observe the work of two committees.  One was fretting over the placement of the word “any” to insure the most clarity in a particular canon.  A second committee was listening to testimony regarding resolutions regarding what the response of The Episcopal Church should be to the presence of Israel in land claimed by Palestine.  Many first-hand stories of the real hardships faced by individuals there made my own feelings about the situation clouded.  Pleas for continued attempts at reconciliation and for patience were met by cries of frustration and anger and calls for more punitive responses in hopes of achieving justice.


Left a bit bewildered, I eagerly anticipated joining the deputation in the Juniper Room at the end of the day.  Over crackers, cheese, and water, we shared our stories of the day.  Bishops, clergy, laity and some other visitors from Connecticut joined us.  There were some tales of woe, some tales of victory, some tales of insight.  This was a time of some commiseration, some laughter, and some sharing of joy. I felt reassured and restored.  It was all going to be all right.  Jesus was among us in our relationships as we rested on the shores of Galilee.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Women in Leadership in the Church




This morning we had the opportunity to listen to opening remarks from our Presiding Officers. It is not likely lost on those gathered that these two officers are both women. Remarkably that has been true for much of the nine years of our Presiding Bishop’s term. Yet just prior to this session, Twitter notified me that The Episcopal Church has released a toolkit for promoting women clergy in leadership in the Church. The juxtaposition of these two realities is significant. On the one hand, we are tremendously blessed to have women serving in the most senior leadership positions in The Episcopal Church. On the other hand, we still need a “toolkit” because women are not adequately represented in leadership across our Church.
As the co-chair, of The Young Clergy Women Project, I am privileged to work with and regularly be in conversation with a number of remarkable women in leadership from a number of denominations in the US and around the world. My work with the Project gives me a great window on the tremendous gifts and wisdom that women, and particularly young women, bring to ordained ministry and leadership in the Body of Christ. It also gives me a window into the numerous challenges that we still face across denominations. I am blessed to serve in denomination that has been ordaining women for longer than I have been alive. I am grateful for the courageous, wise and dynamic women who have paved the way for my generation to become leaders in the Church. Given that, I do not share some of the challenges of my sisters whose denominations have only just begun to ordain women. And yet, The Episcopal Church is not without its challenges regarding women in leadership. If it were, we would not need a toolkit. 

One example of this is the issue of parental leave. Female Episcopal clergy are blessed to have an excellent benefit of 12 weeks of paid leave following the birth of a child through our Pension Fund. I am tremendously grateful for this benefit, and the fact that the Episcopal Church in CT has a fair parental leave policy that provides 12 weeks of leave for all parents (birth or adoptive). Yet through conversation among my Episcopal colleagues in The Young Clergy Women Project, we discovered that while this benefit is available at no cost to parishes or dioceses across the Church, it is not widely implemented. In fact, there are many women clergy who do not even know this benefit is available! In an effort to remedy this reality and to promote fair parental leave for all across the Church, some of my Project colleagues (along with a male colleague) have submitted a resolution to support parental leave. 

This resolution is just one way in which we might continue the good work that has been done at so many previous General Conventions to support women, and ultimately to be about justice, dignity, and respect for all people. 

We have a daughter who will be entering kindergarten in the fall. It is my hope that when her generation takes their seats in the House of Deputies, there will be women equally represented in positions of leadership across the Church  and that there will be no need for toolkits or resolutions to address gender inequality in our Church.  
Note: The photo is from my first Sunday back in the pulpit after my 12 weeks of maternity leave following the birth of our son.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Water

June 23, 2015
By Thom Peters, deputy

 They will neither hunger nor thirst,
    nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them
    and lead them beside springs of water.

--Isaiah 49:10

With time to get my bearings this morning before the work of Convention was to begin in earnest, I decided to walk up to the State Capitol building.  I was struck by the number of sprinkler heads at work as I climbed Arsenal Hill.  None were operating on the grand scale or arc I often see in Connecticut; rather, they tended to be tucked underneath shrubs, misting more than spraying.  There was plenty of green grass and flowers in beds to be seen.  But the backdrop of the bare mountains looming overhead and the warming temperature as the sun began to rise reminded me of how dry Utah is.  Then I realized why the sink in my room was so shallow and my shower head so broad.  What I was seeing was a sensitivity to the value of water.  
 
With this new awareness came a new appreciation for water.   There are plenty of fountains to be seen here in Salt Lake City, but they are in shaded areas where evaporation is minimized. The sound of a fountain was enough to draw me to take an unmapped short cut through a park.  Later I discovered an artificial "creek" that babbled its way through a shopping plaza in the center of town, entertaining little children and grownups alike, drawing me past shops, highlighting sculptures of birds at play.  

I take the pleasures of water for granted to a great extent in Connecticut.  But here in Salt Lake, I am reminded that it really is a precious gift.  Finally in the Convention Hall, I was reminded of the fine work of organizations such as Episcopal Relief and Development that seek to provide clean water to many who do not have this basic essential resource.  
 
Our deputation will be carrying water bottles with our ECCT logo on it.  I'll carry mine with a new appreciation for the gift.

Getting Ready - for Holy Work #GC78






So it is the day of getting ready. I have my badge and my "virtual binder." It is an iPad pre-loaded with resolution material and specially programmed to connect to all the resolutions and legislative resources. The binder will be updated as committees make changes to resolutions. Lots of thought and hard work into it, and we are all hoping and praying that there will not be too many (or any) technical glitches.

The halls are filling up. The vendor hall is open. Legislative officers are learning how to file legislation and committees are beginning to meet.

In a prayerful service led by the Presiding Officers, all the Legislative officers and aides have been commissioned for the work that lies ahead. That was a wonderful way to begin our work. It reminds us and grounds us in the fact that we are truly about holy work here. There will no doubt be moments when we feel as though we are just doing mundane tasks that are superficial, administrative work. It will be helpful to think back to this afternoon's service and to be reminded that the work we are about here, even if it is administrative is to the furtherance of God's mission.

Through our legislative work here we have the opportunity to engage in transformation without letting go of the gifts of our tradition that we have inherited. We have the opportunity to ensure that our Church has the structures (on all its levels) to be about God's work in the world and to use our resources to be about the ministry of restoration and reconciliation in all of our communities.