The President of the House of Deputies has sent a small group of young (very young, even younger than me!) to the House of Bishops to tell them that we are organized. I suppose we are organized. It is formal, sometimes cold, and isolative. I am blessed to have my Nevada Deputation, but there is just a seemingly endless stream of new faces. Everyone is friendly enough. We are, after all, gathered here in hopes of doing for this human institution we call the Episcopal Church, what God would have us do. We have prayer before each Legislative Session and before each Legislative Committee meeting, and Thank God! Prayer feels natural here when in the rest of the world it can feel awkward and uncomfortable. I think of how I see a family praying before a meal at a restaurant and how it makes me feel like they are being a little ostentatious with their faith, but clearly that is my Episcopalian showing. I am so grateful that I can pray openly here and I even have the option to have the entire assembly pray as well. What a cool thing! If not, I would really feel disconnected from God.
But Eucharist. Today Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori preached and as usual it reached deep down into my soul and revealed something to me about my human nature that is beautiful. Something I had not previous known was there. Then we had communion and thousands of faithful Episcopalians worked their way to the dozens of communion stations placed around this gigantic worship space. It was a warehouse, really, converted into a portal to the divine. We started to sing Ubi Caritas and I began to cry. I couldn't help but see the searching and seeking spirit of all of these "strangers" around me. We were all here, thousands of us, looking for something to give our lives meaning and we have all come to the same conclusion. God will fill us up.
So here we are, listening intently for God's will in our lives and the for the Church and trying to translate that into some legal mumbo jumbo to guide the activities of the Episcopal Church. Oh, and elect a Presiding Bishop. There are 4 nominees whose bios you can find here
https://extranet.generalconvention.org/staff/files/download/13096.pdf
All are wonderful, but of course, we all have our favorites. I caucused with the Deputies under the age of 30 today and we are crafting a statement of support for one nominee in particular. I will not say who, because it would probably taint your thoughts in regards to them if you choose to read the information at the link, but there is one that really stands out for me. The truth is that my opinion doesn't matter much because it is the House of Bishops that does the electing. The House of Deputies only affirms their election.
I just think that this whole General Convention thing is so mystical and I would really like to see it become real for the people it is meant to help and guide, so I will write what I see. I cannot write everything because I cannot be everywhere, but I will give you my perspective on things.
Today I have developed an opinion about some resolutions coming out of the Committee on Alcohol and Drug Addiction. They are looking at requiring that all people seeking ordination be asked about their involvement with substances and other addictions. I have no problem sharing my opinion on this one because I think that there is a clear wrong answer. This resolution is clearly a reaction to a horrific accident that occurred recently (find the link to the news story here http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-timeline-timing-20150203-story.html#page=1). It was a horrible accident and Heather Cook is now facing some very serious consequences for her alcoholism. I fully understand and respect that the Church wants to respond to this issue. BUT, lay people are not clinicians, nor are they able to diagnose substance abuse or reasonably refer a person to treatment. A psychological evaluation is already required when a person is in an ordination discernment process. This kind of thing would be captured in the psychological evaluation. More importantly, this resolutions paints addiction as a moral failing when it is a physical ailment. Time and time again stigma is placed on alcoholics and addicts stating that they just need to find the will power to combat this problem. That is clearly insufficient and to imply that a chemical change in the brain can be alleviated by will power is naive. Again, I point to the fact that people who do the interviewing of candidates, postulants, and discerners in general are not clinicians. They should not have the authority to act as such.
Okay, I will get down off of my mental health soap box now. I hope you will continue to follow this as we walk this journey together, trying to tread the line between the divine and the human. Peace be with you.
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