Day 2 of the Young Adult Festival in Anahiem, CA

Today was a much more interesting day here at Convention. My roommate and I stayed up until like 2 am talking, which is 5 am in Atlanta, so I tried to sleep in to keep myself from dragging all day. I woke up and got ready and went downstairs to catch the 9:20 shuttle, but found out that the times were wrong and that the shuttle came to the hotel on the hour and to the convention center on the 20. So I decided to walk the 2 ½ miles to the convention center. I got about halfway there when I realized that my shoes were killing my feet and I had blisters everywhere. I am not happy about that, because now my feet are going to hurt all week. Luckily, I came across a Target and went in to buy a new pair of shoes that didn’t hurt.

When I finally got to the center, I walked in to find people milling around everywhere. I tried to call my friend Rachel Swan to see where she was, but she was off working with the Integrity group on the Eucharist they were having later that night. I went in to the hall of deputies and listened to people talk about resolution B033, which is the resolution passed on 2006 that put a moratorium on electing openly gay bishops. Two members of our Diocese spoke. I should probably take a minute to explain how the governing body works. There are two houses, the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. They each hear legislation and “arguments” on different topics and then vote. A resolution can only pass if both houses vote it in. B033 seems to be the big elephant in the room at this convention. I think people are ready to make a decision about it and it seems as though they are leaning towards revoking it in some fashion. This is a huge hot button issue, because the Anglican Communion has specifically asked us to wait for more discussion before we take any more steps on this issue. I think if it is removed, we will have an even more difficult time ahead of us.

The hardest part of listening to these people speak for me was one specific man. He got up to the microphone and said that he and his wife have a daughter who is gay. The thing that struck me about this statement is that he followed it by saying “do we like that she is gay? No, but we love her anyway”. He wanted us to wait on revoking this piece of legislation until we have further support from the Communion. It was very hard for me to hear a man speak of his daughter in such a callous way. I am sure he did not mean it, but it sounded like he was embarrassed of her and that he wanted to act like that part of her life was just a phase. I feel bad for the large number of GLBT people who get this reaction from their loved ones. It must hurt a lot to have someone who has loved you unconditionally for so long find out that you are gay and then seem as if they are turning their back to you with disgust. I hope that the people in that community can find unity and peace with each other.

After I listened in, I went over to the Great Hall to check out the booths for all the different ministries. I only got through one row before Rick Calloway called to let me know where they were sitting at the Eucharist and I went to look for them. I never found them, but I did end up sitting with Bishop Alexander and Janet who is the woman who puts our Diocesan Convention together. The altar was enormous and was overflowing with baskets of bread and jars of wine. It is really neat to watch 3,000 people receive the Eucharist together.

Next was lunch followed by a few workshops. I went to one on what young adults are looking for in the church and the other was on the different service corps opportunities for young people. We have year long domestic and international programs and then one 8 week domestic program. I thought both were very interesting but mostly things I had heard before. I really wish I had known about the mission work when I was younger. I am not sure if I would have gone then but I am very jealous now that I am too old. I spoke with some people from Boston about a new servant leadership type program they are starting there that sounds very intriguing. I hope to meet with them again later in the weekend to discuss it further.

After workshops I came back to the hotel to change my shirt, because it had ripped early in the day and I was embarrassed that I was walking around all day with it like that. Carlton, Brian, Amelia, Lucy, and I went to grab a bite to eat, and then Brian, Amelia, and I went back to the Hilton for the Integrity Eucharist. I saw Rachel for a brief moment and then said hello to her wife who I hadn’t seen in a while. The Eucharist was amazing. Gene Robinson was the celebrant and there was a wonderful sermon about respecting the integrity of all human beings. Rebecca ? spoke about the interesting dynamic of ordaining GLBT people to the Deaconate if we are then going to say that they can’t be Bishops. She went on to talk about why we even baptism them at all if we are just going to treat them like second class citizens who are not worthy of the same rights. She was very engaging and funny, so it was a great sermon. Everyone kept speaking to the passage in the book of Acts that talk about the story of Cornelius and his call from God to find Peter and be baptized alongside many different types of people. The scripture goes on to say that there will be no outcasts and that all are welcome.

The service was very powerful. There was beautiful African, Hispanic, and Hymnal music throughout the service and a wonderful choir from All Saint’s LA. I was really happy to see the number of GLBT clergy and advocates there are in the church as a whole. Afterwards, Brian and I went to meet with the other people from Atlanta and hear their debrief. It was nice to see everyone and we got to share some of what we have been doing over here. Everyone seemed really excited to see me, which made me feel really at home. I really do love my job and the people I work with. I am so blessed to be cared for by some many WONDERFUL human beings that are on a whole other playing field than I am.

Well, I am off to sleep and exhausted. I will see you tomorrow. Night