Budget

It all began when I woke up, later than usual because we felt that sleep was more important that Eucharist that morning (since we went to two Eucharists the day before). All of us girls got ready and packed all of our clothes and the close to forty pounds of free buttons, water bottles, bags, key chains, and etc we all got at the exhibition hall. Misjudging our time, we all were ready to go to the convention center about an hour early, so we used our time to have a pillow fight (which was tweeted about and then retweeted by the Episcopal Church's twitter). We were all excited about our last day; mostly the knowledge of us all going back to our own homes, sleeping in our own beds, and not having to wear nice clothes all the time. However, I was excited because I knew I would be able to spend most of the day in the House of Deputies, listening to the different resolutions and debates, and then finally hearing about the budget, which contained resolutions I was tracking. In the end, the budget contained $600,000 to be used for youth ministries on things like Episcopal Youth Event and National Happening Leadership Convention. That was the biggest thing I was worried about--in the proposed budget from the Executive Council, there was virtually NO money for youth ministries. I wasn't the only one worried about it; Jenna Guy, one of our own deputies from Iowa, spoke to the House of Deputies on the importance of things like EYE and how money was needed to support the youth. All in all, it was a magical last day of General Convention. Of course, the ride home was also fun: playing mafia and having catchphrase tournaments. I couldn't have asked for an experience any better--until (hopefully) I become elected to be a deputy from Iowa. 

 - Jessie, St. Luke's, Cedar Falls