Tuesday, July 03, 2012

#GC77: And there was evening and there was morning and it was the first day

Yes, Day One in Indianapolis is "in the books" -- so to speak. And this is me with "THE BOOK" ... the notebook deputies are issued at registration with currently filed resolutions and -- as you can see -- plenty of room for more to come.

And they will. Resolutions are still being filed as we speak. Our first legislative committee meetings start tomorrow and we will begin the "sausage making" process of taking the meat of the submitted resolutions, adding the spice of the committee meetings and open hearings and then grinding them all up into resolutions to commend out of committee to either the House of Bishops or House of Deputies as the "house of initial action" -- remembering that in the Episcopal Church for a "bill to become a law" (or, more precisely, for a resolution to become adopted!) it has to pass both houses.


Today was also the day the Exhibit Hall opened ... here are Tom and Vivian ready to open for business in the Integrity booth. Business was booming later in the day with lots of folks stopping by for buttons ("Say YES to Bless" is a popular one!) and also for up to date information on events, legislation and resources.

If you want to track what's going on here online the place to go is Integrity's GC2012 web portal ... or follow #GC77 on twitter.

The day was full of logistics, reunions, questions and meetings. Our Legislative team started out with an 8am meeting followed by a communication workshop until noon, a lunch meeting of the House of Deputies Floor Managers, registration and credentialling for deputies, and then a reception for bishops and deputies followed by the UBE (Union of Black Episcopalians) Gala FOLLOWED by our nightly debriefing meeting.

Seriously.

Which means the scheduled activities go from 8am - 11pm ... and, oh yeah -- then there's the email to check, the photos to upload and -- if you have the energy -- a blog to post.

And then it starts all over again tomorrow -- no 4th of July holiday around here -- with 7am deputation meeting followed by 8am committee meetings, a budget hearing, presentations by the Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies -- more legislative committee meetings and then -- tomorrow night -- it's Integrity Double Feature night as we screen "Out of the Box" AND "Love Free or Die" ... Film, as they say, at eleven.

I'll leave you with a few more pictures from this evening:


Fredrica Harris Thompsett and Thomas Brown at the Bishops/Deputies Reception


Bishop Mary Glasspool speaking at the reception with Integrity President Caro Hall looking on. (Mary was actually talking about "Out of the Box" and what a brilliant film it is. Which it is!)

Michael Hopkins, an Integrity Past-President and our floor leader
the House of Deputies giving folks some marching orders.

Some of the crowd gathered for the reception ... a great cloud of witnesses!
And finally, Caro, Katie Sherrod and Michael
at the "Team Integrity" table at the UBE Gala honoring:


And tomorrow is another day!

3 comments:

SCG said...

Thanks for this information. And prayers ascending for all in Indianapolis, and you, in particular, on Friday evening when the discussion begins on the UNAnglican Covenant.

Pat Klemme said...

Three years ago I felt downright yanked to Anaheim for the Integrity Eucharist. Because Phoenix was close I was able to do it.

Please know I am with you all in spirit, praying for progress and willingness to keep up the good work. I'll be watching through your blog and others. Thanks so much for keeping us up to date. And thank you for your hard work as well!

Mr. T said...

I am trying hard to find the place you are all apparently at in your denomination... I disagreed with female ordination, I certainly disagree with homosexual clergy, and now I hear you are 'celebrating life-long homosexual covenants'... I read you stated that Jesus never spoke a word against homosexuality... I don't want to argue or debate - and I would like to know - how do you reconcile this passage with your beliefs? Matthew 19:3-6 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife( for any and every reason “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,' and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’ So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”