Convention Wrap Up

I am now safely ensconced back home with a cup of tea and I'm beginning the work of mentally processing the results and events of convention. Some, like most of the resolutions and the changes to constitution and canons are pretty straight forward; some, like our resolutions regarding human sexuality, the death penalty, our relationship with the Anglican Communion and especially, the viewing of the movie "Traces of the Trade were a bit more complex, to say the least.

Traces of the Trade is, as I mentioned in an earlier post, a documentary about the descendants of the largest slave trader in United States history. The film attempts to address the continuing and incredible impact slavery has on us to this day. It is an uncomfortable film to watch, especially in a room full of folks who are overwhelming white and affluent. The film is massively ambitious, and though it can be easy to ignore the difficult lessons of the film, facing full on the horror of our history and the incomprehensible things whites did to slaves is embarrassing at some times and outright overwhelming at others. I can only say that it made even me, a progressive political warrior who has worked relatively extensively in black communities and for minority causes to totally reconsider my stance on race and racial politics in our country. Take that for what you will. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

As far as the Resolutions went, almost nothing surprising happened. The closest to an exception was a resolution calling on our Diocese to spend more energy opposing the death penalty. I participated in the Resolutions breakout session discussion on this resolution and felt very confident in its chances after hearing that debate. The room seemed to be (almost) of one mind in support of the resolution and, in fact, called on more than one occasion to strengthen the resolution in some ways so it was unambiguous that we were addressing the moral issue rather than any peripheral issues. However, when we came to a vote on this it was the only resolution that required a vote by show of hands (rather than a simple voice vote.) I am immensely relieved that the resolution passed, but was saddened that it was as close as it was (I'd say 60-40 from where I was sitting.) My only real regret of the whole convention, especially considering the relative tightness of the vote, is that I did not rise and speak in support of the resolution. This is one area I feel the Bible is unequivocal and plain. Presented with someone rightly sentenced under the law to capital punishment, Jesus stepped between her and her executors and prevented the stoning from happening (John 8:1-11). We are also told "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom. 12:19 KJV.) This totally leaves out that little one from the Ten Commandments "Thou shall not kill." I don't know how much plainer we can be shown our duty specific issue, and it frustrates me that so many Christians still think that a well-thought out, sadistically planned, and precisely carried out killing of any person is acceptible. We are obviously making strides in the right direction as a Church and we are clearly far ahead of our state government on this topic, but I hope we can speed our progress and stand as a moral beacon alongside the Roman Catholic Church on this issue.

To end my recap on a high note, on Friday afternoon, I had the good fortune of being elected by acclamation to serve our Diocese in a three year term as a Trustee of The University of the South. I am obviously thrilled and itching to get to work on whatever my duties may be.

Apropos to the previous paragraph, all I can think to describe convention is this: Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (Psalm 133) It was, in many ways all a convention should be. It was the embodiment of the Diocese with elected members sitting representative of their respective parishes. It was progressive, but with a tolerance, love and mutual respect between factions that has been conspicuous in its absence from many other meetings outside our Diocese.

It is this characteristic I most took away. Our friends from St. Paul's, Edenton, one of the most conservative parishes in the Diocese was at the table next to us. We interacted regularly and respectfully; Richard worked to modify a Resolution of theirs to make it more acceptable to the majority at the convention; they accepted as legitimate and fair the results of votes (even though I'm sure they were extremely disappointed in the failure of one of their resolutions) and did not show contempt for either the body or the individuals who voted against their resolution.

In the same vein, our reliably progressive Bishop struck a reliably (and unsurprisingly) progressive tone in his address. However, in that same speech, he also spoke at some length about his desire to accommodate many different points of view, and to allow for differences of conscience so all feel comfortable and welcome. He spoke of the areas of common ground we have in regards to human sexuality, and of the respect he had for their position. He was as welcoming and magnanimous to all (and not just the LGBT Community and its supporters!) as anyone could ask of a bishop.

It is a shame the news cameras didn't see that. There will be no clips of the conciliatory efforts made by either bishop or delegates. There will be no clips of us working together on the many things we agree wholeheartedly on, even while fumbling through the dark, trying to find acceptable ground on those things we don't. There will be no clips of the bonds of affection secured between those from the far left and the far right who, even in a short time of living and working together, are reminded of the humanity of those who stand apart; those who can so easily be called "enemies." If nothing else, gathering together reminds us that in spite of our differences we have far more in common than we think, and that though we may not all be of one mind, we are of one body and one prayer. Though we may disagree, we are of one God, one faith and one baptism. May we continue to recognize that, and to recognize our own need to serve the risen Lord in each and every one; as long as we do that I think we will be just fine.

For the 127th Convention of the Diocese of East Carolina, for those who hosted the convention, for the parishes and missions of the diocese, for the Episcopal Church, and for the people who attended and the work that was done this last week, Thanks Be To God!

Day 2, Part 2

After our legislative sessions have ended for the day, I want to reflect a bit on the Traces of the Trade. The movie was somewhat uncomfortable to watch as I'm sure it was intended to be. It is always uncomfortable when someone extends their hand in an earnestly conciliatory gesture and it is rejected, but this happened repeatedly in even the abridged version we saw. It is understandable though when one considers the magnitude of what the attempted apology is for. Put in the position of an African-American in today's still oppressive society, I'm not sure I could accept an apology, either. However, one thing that struck me was when the black producer took the hand of a white descendant of a slave trader and said, roughly, "Yes, I'm angry at 'White People', but when I see you all I see is a good and decent person." If we could step out of 'society' for a moment and recognize our shared humanity, seeing each other in that light might help us to heal our open wounds that we have been so willingly ignoring for most of the last 60 years.


In our afternoon breakout I attended the Resolutions meeting to watch and join the discussion on the resolutions. There were a couple of resolutions from St. Paul's Edenton in support of the Archbishop of Canterbury (standing against the Glasspool election) and in favor of the Anglican Covenant. Those were obviously the resolutions that sparked the most debate. Our standing committee gave consent to Glasspool yesterday which may have mooted one of the resolutions and another pro-LGBT resolution was pulled in light of the Bishops Address.

Happily, a Death Penalty resolution that I am strongly in support of was perhaps made stronger by folks urging us to highlight the immorality and social unacceptability of the Death Penalty rather than highlighting the cost saving benefits. I did not agree that the resolution was highlighting cost-cutting over morality, but I am always in favor of making as unequivocal a stand against the Death Penalty as possible. I sincerely hope the resolution passes.

I am now off to a Service of Reconciliation, again at Christ Church, New Bern. My father will be singing in the service as a member of Schola Cantorum, our Diocesan Choir, and I am very much looking forward to it. Following that, Dinner, a cocktail or two, and a chance to unwind after a surprisingly busy day.


Cheers!

Day 2, Part 1

After morning prayer, we moved into legislative session and began the business of starting convention, and a tedious business it was.

As anyone who has been to a legislative convention knows, there is a good deal of parliamentary procedure that ha to take place so we can begin considering business. We also took the time to recognize military chaplains, seminarians and postulants, and youth and young delagates. I was very pleased to see the number of youth delegates sent by their parishes. Sadly there were fewer delagates between the ages of 20 and 30 than there were high schoolers. Only two of us in that age group were not seminarians. This is clearly an area the episcopal church need to work on.

We followed this session with a viewing of a film called "Traces of the Trade.". It is a rather profound movie documenting one families attempts to com to terms with their slave trading history. It was a fantastic movie and I would recommend it to anyone and will post a more complete reflection later.




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Day 1

After check-in this afternoon, most of the new delegates headed (surprisingly) to the New Delegate Training Session. It was a rather nondescript, though useful little workshop, mostly focused on Robert's Rules of Order. The high point of the day came afterward at the opening Eucharist for the convention at wonderful and historic Christ Church New Bern.

When most of the St. Andrew's on-the-Sound delegation arrived roughly a half hour early to secure a seat the church was already thoroughly censed and the smoke hung rather heavily in the nave. This good omen carried through to the service. Though the hymns were a touch unconventional and left the crowd somewhat disoriented as to what we were singing, a rather good sermon from Bishop Daniel pulled the service through strong. As we were acknowledging the presentation of Christ in the Temple and his recognition by Simeon, the theme was based around the light of Christ. Bishop Daniel told a story of a little boy who watched the lamplighter making his rounds and told his grandmother he was watching the man "punch holes in the dark." After listing several of the many afflictions facing the world today, the Bishop spoke of how we have grown rather adept at punching holes in our neighbors instead. The suggestion was that we would serve better punching holes in hunger, oppression, fear, homelessness, want, etc. than beating up our neighbors over things of little consequence. It was a simple message eloquently put (by the Bishop, though obviously not here.)

Following the service, our delegation had dinner at a fantastic restaurant in downtown New Bern called "The Chelsea" and a few of us followed it up with a nightcap in the hotel bar afterward with some company. All in all a pretty good end to a pretty good day.

In other news, I may wind up with an opponent in my election for the Board of Trustees of the University of the South. A woman approached me purely by chance and asked if anyone was nominated for the University of the South trustee position. I mentioned that I was and she then mentioned that her husband was also interested in that and may put his name in. As of yet, I'm not terribly worried as I'm the only person in the convention literature, but it appears this may not be a totally uncontested race. I will check with the convention office tomorrow to see if anyone else has been nominated and keep everyone posted.

So ends the first day of convention, and I'll leave you with a bit of Night Prayer from the New Zealand Prayer Book



Lord it is night.

The night is for stillness.
Let us be still in the presence of God.

It is night after a long day.
What has been done has been done; what has not been done has not been done.

Let it be.

The night is dark.
Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives rest in you.

The night is quiet.
Let the quietness of your peace enfold us, all dear to us, and all who have no peace.

The night heralds the dawn.
Let us look expectantly to a new day, new joys, new possibilities.

In your name we pray.
Amen

Convention Time!!!

This afternoon the 127th Convention of the Diocese of East Carolina will convene and begin its business. I have the good fortune of attending this convention for the first time as a full voting delegate, having attended previously as a youth delegate, Bishop's page and observer. I also am very excited to be nominated and up for election as the next Trustee of The University of the South (Sewanee), my alma mater. There is not a ton of controversial legislation up this time, though there is a resolution regarding our position on the Ridley-Cambridge Draft of the Anglican Covenant we will be voting on.

The diocese will be addressing also the "Traces of the Trade," the marks slavery has left on our society, a particularly prescient issue in our diocese, who's many ports were the place of entry for many thousands of Africans brought to this country against their will. I will have my computer and phone with me throughout convention and will be blogging and posting twitter updates from convention at @danielstroud and with the hashtag #DECC unless an official hashtag emerges. So here is an invitation to the few folks who actually read this (and hopefully that number will go up over the course of the weekend): PLEASE COMMENT ON THIS BLOG!! Or send @replies to my twitter account or post on my facebook wall and join the conversation. Convention represents everyone from the Diocese and is in communion with the whole of the Episcopal Church, and I for one take my duties seriously and would like to have feedback and input on my thoughts and decisions so that I can effectively serve those who sent me there. So please send your thoughts and prayers and wish us all a safe, productive and harmonious trip to New Bern!