I am amazed at how much we accomplished - our bishops and diocesan deputation worked long and hard - they deserve our thanks and praise. For an overview of what happened - and some commentary on what we did - check out my Lambeth Pilgrim blog at
http://lambethpilgrim.wordpress.com.
During Convention I testified for Oasis in support of four resolutions wrote two articles for the diocesan web site, wrote 20 posts for the Lambeth Pilgrim blog, posted 180 news stories to that blog, and tweeted more than 900 times. Most of those tweets were summaries of what one person while testifying before a committee or speaking on the floor of the House of Deputies or the House of Bishops. I did not realize the impact of these tweets (@tcjackson2009) one of the bishops came up to me, the new Bishop of
Ecuador embraced me and said “thanks for all your tweets.” Now I understand the power of Twitter.
This was the first convention when the Episcopal Church supported the rights of Transgender people.
Bishops Marc worked behind the scenes and in House of Bishops sessions on our behalf. In terms of LGBT concerns, Bishop Marc is a leading light in our church, speaking truth to power while also building bonds with his colleagues. Bishop Steven – who electrified the Convention with his sermon calling for protecting the earth, was equally effective in the House of Bishops. The Rt. Rev. Otis Charles, the retired Bishop of Utah and longtime Oasis friend, added his voice and vote during Convention.
Many of our Deputies worked to achieve this goal: Michael Barlowe and Sarah Lawton spoke for Trans resolutions with grace and eloquence on the Flow of the House of Deputies.
With their words and stories, Rev. Vicki Gray and her colleagues from TransEpiscopal moved the hearts and minds of deputies and bishops alike. Integrity ran a superb convention effort: it seemed Integrity President Susan Russell was on the front lie at every place where she was needed. The Integrity team – which includes our friend Jan Adams – was on top of every meeting, development and opportunity. I’ve omitted many names of those who deserve our thanks – I’m still reeling a bit as I try to get ready for work Monday.
Here’s the Cliff notes of GC 2009: our campaign to include all of the baptized in all of the sacraments moved farther toward reality than I hoped, expected or dreamed. I went expecting a contentions convention; I found a place where diverse opinions did not translate into interpersonal divisions, where rancor was checked at the door, where people of differing views got along. And that was in the House of BISHOPS! I found GC 2009 to be filled with the Holy Spirit, not what I expected and far better than I had ever dreamed.
