Legislative Day 4

 Day 4...and it's the final day of General Convention. In that past, we weren't even halfway finished on Day 4! Shorter, smaller, safer. And as it turned out, faster!

Last time descending to the House of Deputies.

During the service of Morning Prayer, PHOD-Elect Julia Ayala Harris preached.

Julia Ayala Harris Sermon

As part of morning announcements, Dr. Rodney Coldren, health officer for the General Convention and responsible--with others--for developing our plans to maintain Covid-safety, gave his last report. He brought welcome news. With around 800 members of the House of Deputies, the anticipated infection positivity rate was expected to be around 10%, meaning 70-something deputies could have contracted the virus. And while we don't yet know who might become sick after arriving home, he reported that only sixteen persons are known to have fallen ill during our days in Baltimore. He expressed how moved he was by our care for one another throughout this gathering.

We than dealt with some amendments, concurrences with resolutions acted on by the House of Bishops. Then came a big batch of courtesy resolutions honoring those who are retiring from service to the General Convention. Among them, the Chancellor, the Vice President, and lastly, the President.

PHOD Gay Jennings offers her final closing remarks.

NH Unofficial Deputy Moose has descended from his perch and listens intently.

Passing of the gavel to the Julia Ayala Harris...

Who posed with some deputation members after the session...

which ended at midday!

Here is the deputation's group photo. Look at those happy faces! We got a free afternoon, and will gather again for our deputation dinner on the Inner Harbor.

Front: Gail, Tina, Benge, Bishop Rob, Jason

Back: Sue, Colin, Sarah, Margaret, Moose, Kelly

Thanks to the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire for following our adventures. Stay tuned for more updates and reports of the outcomes and insights from this hopeful, forward-looking, historic, and unusual General Convention.

Legislative Day 3, Part 2

Day 3 was long and eventful--but when isn't that true?

Here's what else we did...

The NH Deputation spent the lunch break poring over the proposed budget of The Episcopal Church, identifying expenditures included and questioning which ones had been voted via resolutions but might not be included. 

The House of Bishops entered the House of Deputies, seated at the back (Covid protocol) rather than with their deputations as in the past. After the presentation on the budget, there was time for questions.

Our CFO Benge Ambrogi was the first person to the microphone.

He alluded to the manner in which he and our deputation spent lunch break. And instantly, on what we refer to as the House of Twitter, our Math Lunch became a thing.

In the afternoon, we also voted on the Vice President of the House of Deputies. If the President is a layperson, as Julia Ayala Harris is, then the VPHOD must be elected from the clerical order. There were two priests nominated. The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, a woman of indigenous heritage, of the Diocese of Olympia is the next Vice President.

Afterwards, it was time to honor our outgoing President of the House of Deputies, The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings. 

PHOD-Elect shares her experiences of working with Gay.

There were many testimonials from the floor, and one very surprising tribute: from the former speaker of the British House of Commons, The Hon. John Bercow.

Your blogger presented some courtesy resolutions. This is my view from the Platform, where the podium is located. Its pretty impressive, the sight of all those Deputies--about 800.

And at the tables on the platform, the President of the House of Deputies, presenting the HOD Medal to our hardworking and amusing Parliamentarian, Bryan Krislock.

The evening session concluded at 9:30.

Yawn.

Legislative Day 3, Part 1

This day being Sunday, we began with Holy Eucharist. The sermon was given by The Rt. Rev. Eugene Sutton of our host diocese of Maryland. Wonderful insights and inspiration

We remain being in our legislative calendar, as is always the case. We'll see how far we get...

Tina is assessing the resolutions

Benge and Sue confer

The sermon was given by The Rt. Reverend Eugene Sutton, Bishop of the hosting Diocese of Maryland.

Sermon by the Rt. Rev. Eugene Sutton

Vice President of the House of Deputies, The. hon. Byron Rushing, who has served in 16 General Conventions, was called to the podium for an address to the House. He represents so much history of the body and our Church.

And we're starting--

And the PHOD recognizes...

The Rev. Canon Michael Barlow for Announcements.

More later...

Legislative Day 2

Our third day of legislative business passed a blur of activity.

But at the start,  Margaret and Sue were bright-eyed and filled with spirit.

We began with a service of morning prayer, which included a sermon by The Rev. Gay Jennings, President of the House of Deputies. 

Sermon by The Rev. Gay Jennings

We then moved to elections...with the usual wifi issue delays, and some decisions requiring multiple ballots. 

At lunchtime,The Rev. Deacon Geof Smith (of NH) of The Episcopal Church office joined the deputation gathering.

There was a scheduled session following lunch--which the PHOD opened by stating there would also be an evening session. No surprise! The big event was the election of Julia Ayala Harris of Oklahoma as the next President of the HOD. Her term begins when the adjournment gavel comes down on Monday.

Oh, and Deputy Moose and Alternate Deputy Moose acquired rainbow masks from a friendly Eastern Oregon deputy.

The dinner break preceded the evening session. There were several debated resolutions and points of order. The long, long Third Legislative Day ended at 9.30 p.m.

The exhausted deputies retired to their rooms.

A Lengthy Legislative Day 1

Our NH deputation sits near the back of the House of Deputies, kind of towards the middle. 

This morning we had a problematic issue with the wifi system necessary for accessing our Virtual Binder--and most importantly, the voting system. Fortunately it was resolved, and we managed a successful electronic vote--yay!

The deputation gathered at lunch time, but there wasn't much to discuss.

Two resolutions on today's Consent Calendar were removed, and will go on a future Legislative Calendar, allowing debate and more informed decisions.

We approved the Special Rules of Order, with amendment, followed by meaningful and inspiring special-ordered resolutions from the Racial Justice and Reconciliation Committee.

But we hadn't made it very far through the full calendar by the time we had our dinner break. After both Houses recessed, the Bishops United Against Gun Violence held a visibility with prayer at the site of a tragic and fatal gun violence event that occurred yesterday, a few blocks from the Convention Center. 

Hoping and praying for more speedy conduct of business in the evening legislative session!

Colin Chapman, Tina Pickering, Jason Wells, Deputy Moose

Everyone looked so lively and eager and well-caffeinated first thing this morning!

 

The New Hampshire Deputation has arrived!

 NH Moose, our honorary deputy, checked out the Convention Center this morning. Even though he was appropriately masked, he was not officially certified as a deputy. Nevertheless, he will attend every legislative session.

If he had been able to register, he would have received a nametag, and ipad with the General Convention Virtual Binder, containing all the legislative information for the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops, resolutions, and much more. Anyone can access it! And follow the action via Media Hub/Live Streaming.

There is also a goody bag. Contents: 5 rapid Covid tests (one to use each morning), breath mints (to help with KN95 mask mouth), coloring book and pencils, mini-composition book for doodles and scribbles, a cookie, and wooden reusable non-plastic environmentally safe eating utensils. Plus a fan, which cannot offset Baltimore's overwhelming humidity!

Our deputation's hotel home is the Renaissance Harborplace, a few big blocks from the Baltimore Convention Center. Everyone who traveled today arrived safely.

Early this evening, we held our first deputation meeting to discuss resolutions of interest to our diocese. Most of our members were in the suite, a couple of us Zoomed in--one from the same hotel, one from New Hampshire.

Gail, Tina, Colin, Jason, Benge, Margaret, Moose, Bobbi

out of frame: Kelly, Sarah (birthday girl) & Sue

Bishop Rob, Gail, Tina

Tomorrow, Legislative Day 1 will begin with worship, the Bishops and Deputies in their separate Houses. Followed by morning, afternoon, and evening legislative sessions.

Baltimore Bound!

 Members of our New Hampshire deputation are on the move, or soon will be, traveling by air or by car--destination, Baltimore.

From Friday through next Monday, we will be spending most of our time in the Convention Center. The presence of the 80th General Convention is already apparent from the signage there. 

Welcome sign @ the Convention Center

The weather is far warmer and far more humid than in New Hampshire. Rain showers and thunderstorms are predicted.

Up & down temperatures. Wet & dry weather.

Baltimore Skyline

National Aquarium, left & Inner Harbor, right.

Late this afternoon, the showers moved across the distant edge of the city...and the faint rainbow that appeared afterwards seemed like a good omen.

Registration and deputy certification takes place tomorrow, as well as the first gathering of the NH deputation. 

Our First Legislative Day is Friday, and will begin with worship.

Convening Virtually

 Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 80th General Convention did not take place in 2021 as scheduled.

Instead of a Triennium, we find ourselves in a "Quadrennium."

The New Hampshire deputies began meeting online, sharing information about our legislative committee work, making assignments for monitoring committee hearings conducted on Zoom, and those of us assigned to committees have been attending them.

Our assignments are:

     Bishop Rob--Sexual Harassment, Sexual Exploitation, & Safeguarding (House of Bishops)

     Sarah Ambrogi--Secretary, Churchwide Leadership

     Margaret Porter--Chair, Privilege & Courtesy

     Kelly Sundberg-Seaman--Member, House of Deputies News

     Jason Wells--Member, Dispatch of Business

The Presiding Officers of General Convention created committees charged with making recommendations for a safe convention. Ultimately, the advice received was to shorten the length of the gathering and reduce as far as possible the number of persons attending. Therefore, the dates for Baltimore will be July 8-11. Only bishops, deputies and first alternate deputies will be present. All other adjacent church gatherings (Episcopal Church Women, Official Youth Presence, etc.) have been cancelled. Full vaccination is mandatory. Masking in all meeting places is required. Self-testing for Covid will take place daily. And other restrictions will be in place regarding worship, food consumption, and son on.

For those who have attended prior conventions, this one will be like no other. For those new to our deputation, they have begun their service in a strange season.

We ask your prayers as we finalize preparations for our pilgrimage to Baltimore!

Our Zooming Deputation