General Convention

As members of the church, we go to service, receive communion, and sometimes attend out-of-church events. This process repeats itself over and over, with no foreseeable end or change. While in this cycle, I never took the time to think how these processes came to be, or how they would develop. That all changed after attending General Convention #77. After attending numerous meetings, countless committee hearings, and too many resolutions to count, I began to think. How did the Church of the past become the Church of the present? And more importantly, how can it become the Church of the future? The answer is us. From bishops to priests to lay persons, from youth to adults to elders, we all play a critical role in the process.

            The thing that I found the most interesting was the way both houses were run. The level of formality was surprising to say the least.  The parliamentary procedure was so complex, that the House of Deputies had its own parliamentarian. Between the constant procedural checks, and amendments to amendments, I was left feeling like I had just watched the Episcopalian version of Inception.  The modus of operation was that tedious, that slow, that I wondered how the two governing bodies were able to accomplish anything at all. But after coming to that question, I asked myself “What if all of those things weren’t there?”  It would be a mess of 800 persons, all strongly minded, wanting to push across their personal agenda. I quickly came to the conclusion that this system was not the most efficient, but instead the fairest. 

 - Matt, Trinity, Iowa City