This is where we are

This afternoon, by a margin of 2 to 1, the House of Bishops approved resolution D025, the measure that opens the door to gay and lesbian candidates in all orders of ministry. Deputies approved D025 on Sunday. I have to say, I’m surprised — I wouldn’t have bet on it — but what you’re seeing here is the mind of the House of Bishops at work.

Bishop Smith voted no; you can find the roll call at episcopalcafe.com.

“This is the truth about where we are as the Episcopal Church,” several bishops said. Yes, we are open to all; and yes, we are concerned about our relationship with the rest of the Anglican Communion. Yes, there will be repercussions, for people in the pews and around the Communion, but our bishops seem to be willing to deal with them. This was a history-making day.

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Today we sat in legislative session for two hours in the morning and four and a half hours in the afternoon. We’re about two days behind schedule, and we’ve passed the halfway point of convention. We’re going to be hustling from here on out.

Deputies vote in several ways. Usually it’s by voice vote. Occasionally it’s by show of hands. And sometimes we vote with hand-held devices about the size and shape of a cell phone. On the keypad you press 1 for yes, 2 for no, and the results are available instantaneously. These devices are great. When they work.

Today: Not so much. We were electing members of the Trial Court when the devices ceased to work properly and it looked as if 100 votes just disappeared or weren’t counted.

While the staff investigated the vanished votes, deputy Debby Melnyk of the Diocese of Florida rose to offer the help of her deputation. “We have some expertise dealing with flawed ballots,” she told House of Deputies president Bonnie Anderson.

The hall burst into laughter and applause. Anderson brought us back to order — we don’t applaud in the HOD without her permission — but conceded, “If we were going to applaud, we’d applaud that.”

(And what happened to the vanished votes, which actually totaled 83? Well, three people voted for someone who had already been elected. Eighty people voted for lay candidates at a time when we were supposed to be electing clergy candidates. Never mind!)

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I like to spend part of every day cruising the booths at the exhibit hall. I always stop for a cup of Bishop’s Blend coffee at the Episcopal Relief and Development booth (where I picked up a free coffee scoop). Then I move on to see what else is new. Every day I find a group I’ve never heard of: the Episcopal Network for Animal Welfare, the Episcopal Women’s History Project, Appalachian Ministries. At the National Episcopal Health Ministries you can enjoy a chair massage. At the Episcopal Disabilities Network booth they bring in service dogs every day. I like to go by to scratch some ears and rub some tummies and get some puppy kisses. Can you tell I’m missing my little boy, Corky the Irish terrier?

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A major piece of legislation won approval in the House of Deputies today: the revision of Title IV of the canons, dealing with clergy discipline. Give a big shout-out to our Southwest Florida deputy Roger Schwenke, a member of the committee on canons, who has been working on this revision for nine years. The Deputies obligingly refrained from on-the-floor amending, rewriting, wordsmithing and otherwise inflicting death by a thousand cuts on the revision and moved it swiftly to passage.

Thanks to Roger and the rest of the committee who worked pastorally and legally to rewrite a canon that had been based on the Code of Military Justice (!!) and reworked it into a document that reflects what we’re about as a church.

Tuesday: We legislate, therefore we are. More early-morning committee meetings, then all-day legislation. Our cavernous meeting hall is always cold. I’m wearing two sweaters, a jacket and socks to stay warm. — Judy Stark