The Ws of General Convention . . .
The Revd Deacon Polly M. Bowen
How do I begin to tell you about General Convention? How can I share the incomparable excitement of attending and working at it? Nothing compares with the spiritual rush I get from living, working, learning, playing, growing and praising the Lord in a variety of languages and worship experiences with 10,000 Episcopalians.
But perhaps I should start at the beginning: I was struck by all the Ws! As our airport shuttle turned onto Convention Way in Anaheim, we were greeted by a two-story high THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH WELCOMES YOU sign on the front of the Convention Center. It was a beautiful sight!
The next W was the Walking! Right from the start we knew it would be problematic; my roommate Linda was recovering from surgery, and I have my own foot troubles, but we thought we could grin and bear it, which is mostly what we did. We stayed at the Hilton, a 14-story hotel with about 3000 guest rooms, and it was a very long walk just from the elevator to our room. The convention center itself is massive, dwarfing the half-mile wide site of the previous General Convention. Each day we did the walk several times, with much walking once we were there. I actually had a harder time with it than Linda did, which surprised us both. I did hear some Whimpering and Whining one day as I passed by the First Aid station and heard other people complaining about their blisters!
For both of us, Convention was a lot of Work. Linda is a deputy who is also a member of the Education Committee, and she was up and out for a 7AM meeting most mornings before the Legislative Sessions began. I worked in the Media Office, which can be a very busy place, especially when something controversial happens. I hope you watched the Media Hub during the convention – it was constantly streaming interesting things about the event, interviewing personalities, etc. I called my sister in Virginia a few times and found she was “up” on the doings of convention due to watching the Media Hub – a grand idea that we haven’t had in previous conventions.
Whenever we had a bit of free time, we went Wandering among the Wares in the Exhibit Hall, where there were a couple hundred displays of everything to do with the Church. You could spend a lot or a little, or even nothing, as most of the exhibitors had give-aways. We collected pens, key rings, bead necklaces, mouse pads and many other novelties, and we also bought some books (what else?) and gifts for friends and loved ones.
There were fantastic side events happening, and concern for the Well-being of others abounded. A Habitat for Humanity house was actually built on site – the bishop’s spouses worked on it, and anyone who had time could sign up to do a little work After the house was framed in, it was moved to the site where it will stand for a proud new owner. The MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) were promoted, and several of the vendors in the Exhibit Hall were promoting the wellbeing of various groups such as the Lost Boys of the Sudan, Native Americans, and many others. There was a wonderful Liturgical Art Display (you wouldn’t believe the ornate Three Kings Costumes from the Los Angeles Cathedral), and some of the exhibitors, such as Daughters of the King, had set up a “prayer oasis” where you could stop to catch your breath and listen to quiet music. Another even featured a masseuse who would help to ease the tension for busy people – I saw several people getting a massage, but didn’t indulge in that myself.
In the legislative sessions, the presence of Women was evident: Our Presiding Bishop, Katherine Jefferts Schori leads the House of Bishops, and Dr. Bonnie Anderson is President of the House of Deputies. Of course many of the deputies and even several of the bishops are also women.
But the primary W was the Worship. If you’ve never experienced worship with thousands of joyful Episcopalians, you’ve missed something. It’s an experience not to be forgotten! From the Prayer Room, where you could go for solitary prayer, to the large hotel meeting rooms where special Eucharists were held, to the great Convention Center Hall D where the primary Eucharist was held each day, joy reigned. A different person presided at each daily Eucharist, and some of the prayers were in Spanish, French, or African languages (but the English translation was always printed for us.) The music was superb: two professional musicians led the choir, which was open to anyone who wanted to join them. They rehearsed at odd times throughout the days, and they always sounded magnificent. The music was richly varied; some of it new to me, but much of it familiar. The preachers – again, a different one each day - were dynamic. On Sunday, July 12, busloads of people from the Los Angeles area joined us for the primary Convention Eucharist. The procession included flags and streamers, drums, dancing children and all the bishops. During the service the parade of ECW women – one from each diocese – presented the money collected in the blue boxes throughout the year. Lillian Davis-Wilson of St. Philip’s was the presenter for Western New York. Linda and I attended Eucharist each day, and a couple of the evening ones as well. We were present on the evening the Integrity organization sponsored a Eucharist featuring the vibrant preaching of Bishop Barbara Harris, and we also went to the Episcopal Relief and Development-sponsored “U2Charist” – so named because it features the music of the musician/humanitarian Bono. The preacher, Fr. Mike Kinman, asked us what or who are we more in love with than Jesus, and charged us to be the nourishing word – to fill stomachs as well as hearts.
The Convention Theme Word was “UBUNTU” – a Zulu/Xhosa word meaning roughly “I in you and you in me” and it was all about relationships. The Presiding Bishop reminded us that Ubuntu also links us to those who come after us, asking, “What will our children’s “I am” be when we have finished our “We are?” She warned us about too much focus on saving ourselves or our institution rather than leveraging the institution for the mission of Jesus Christ in the world which God so loves. She told us that Truth is always larger than our divisions, and that the Holy Spirit works in the tension as we strive to hold together the polarities that others are eager to resolve.
In all this description of “side-events” you may be Wondering what happened in the legislative sessions. Much! I did sit in on many of the legislative sessions when I wasn’t working in the media office, but I will leave that for Linda to tell you, since she was a voting member.
All in all, it was a Wonderful convention, and I am already looking forward to the next one, which will be held in Indianapolis in 2012.
