Churchwide Assembly Final Day

TGIF, right?

Well, not really. Today is my last day here at CWA. My flight home takes off bright and early tomorrow morning, meaning I get to miss the final plenaries on Saturday. So this will be my last CWA submission (until 3 years from now, I hope.)

Since I showered last night after returning from Bourbon Street (I had to wash off that experience. Just kidding; it was just really hot and humid last night with the rain and heat), I got out of the room early and managed to make it to the CWA early.  But they’re running late. (Apparently, there’s still trouble with the buses from the influx of Grace Gathering folks.)

If that’s the worst problem we get this week (and it has been a smooth week for the most part), we’re in good shape. My compliments to the planning committee for doing such an excellent job dealing with the logistics of this massive conference.

Despite my goofy grin, I am completely sober in this picture. Just showing off some Hokie pride.

Opening devotions threatens to lull me to sleep, which is not a criticism. It was so peaceful. We sang the beautiful Chinese hymn “Golden Breaks the Dawn.” I feel like I’m transported into “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” held in the hands of God yet surrounded by the beauty of the Chinese landscape. The power of music at work. A perfect beginning.

And now we hit the ground running. The first item of business is the change to the lay roster. I’ve been hearing scuttlebutt since the hearings that this was rather fervently discussed. But apparently, people got that out of their system because the floor debate now is quite muted. One person speaking for the change. One person requesting further information. And the question is now called. The first part of the change passes with flying color. So they are now all deacons.

There is however a second piece to this, which requires a constitutional change. One of the ripple effects of these changes is the removal of the phrase “ordained” for pastors like myself (We will now be “ministers of Word and Sacrament”) from the constitution. I can see this being a hot button issue. And it seems I’m wrong again. No one went to a mic, so the vote was immediate. Another overwhelming pass.

Hashing out the business of the ELCA

The next item is a perfunctory vote to approve some editorial changes to the constitution. A quick vote with no debate. Pass.

Curse you, ulcerative colitis! I had to dash to the rest room, so I ended up missing the votes on the Israeli-Palestinian memorial from the other day. It passed without amendment (i.e. the hotly debated amendment from the other day failed.)

Next item is a memorial to lift up the contributions of African-descent Lutherans, to battle racism, and to recommit the church towards diversity. A quick parliamentary change starts off discussion; someone has moved that we close debate after 4 people have stood up to speak in a row on one side of an issue. It passes, so that ought to accelerate our conversations. A quick amendment to ensure womanist (i.e. feminists of color) theologians are added to the teachings of seminary is proposed and passed. The amended memorial passes.

Next is a memorial regarding our nation’s foreign policy, dedicating our church to peace and diplomacy, and to urge members of this church to encourage their elected representatives to the same. An amendment is proposed to expand this beyond simply the 2016 election cycle to a three year period and to create a task force on finding ways to minister those most affected by our recent wars. Given what I hear on nearly every Sunday in our prayers, this is a good amendment. An amendment of the amendment is then proposed, scaling back this change somewhat and removing the task force. I hope this fails and it does by the closest vote yet. So back to the original amendment. A motion to postpone is now brought up so we can have time to further consider the full implication of what we’re proposing (specifically in terms of funding.) Postponement passes by another close vote, so we’ll be coming back to this later.

Some of you reading may think I’m nuts, but I actually love this stuff. Although I’ll even admit it can be easy to get lost in all the parliamentary layers.

Next is a memorial regarding welcoming refugees. An amendment is immediately proposed to open up our facilities and buildings to do that welcoming. The amendment passes and the amended memorial now comes to a vote. It passes.

Bp. Eaton calls the orders of the day, so we’re moving on from memorials to the next item. That means a Starbucks run.

I return as Reference and Council begins their presentation. That means more voting. First resolution is to encourage anti-racism training via the synods to its members. Having had such training, I know the value of it, so I’m in favor of this (and would likely take advantage of further training if offered.) Orders of the day are called before debate finishes so we can do our VP candidate speeches.

And we break for worship, lunch, and Bible study. I’m planning to skip to see if I can complete my shopping plans. Since I’m planning to only go next door to the Riverwalk Outlets, I may not have to miss everything.

Best laid plans and all that. Since this is my last day, I’m going to have to turn in some items before the end of the day, namely my rented iPad and charger. I left the charger back at the room, so I dashed back to the hotel. And since I did that, I figured I’d just wander back into the French Quarter again to get my last two gifts.

I got back in record time, but with a new problem. Between the rain and the 90+% humidity here, I was drenched by the time I returned. I remember a detective TV show from a few years ago where the cops were investigating crimes related to a porno website that peeped in on young women in an apartment. Those women were instructed to shower three or more times a day so the Peeping Toms could get their fix. I feel a bit like that (not the peeping part, although I did see more than my fair share unavoidably on Bourbon Street last night), but the showering multiple times a day. Yeah, that’s a weird memory to use as a metaphor, but most of you, my dear readers, know what an oddball I can be. (Enter into my abnormal train of thought at your peril.)

I couldn't resist this joke.

Anyway, I had to shower and change clothes AGAIN making it the third time I’ve had to take two showers in a 24 hour period. But I still made it back to the Assembly in time for lunch. So I didn’t miss nearly as much of the proceedings today as I feared I might. So I ate lunch (More jambalaya. Yum!) I spoke again with Bp. Riegel, who is looking for me to speak to the fossil fuels memorial when it comes up later. I will probably do so.

And then I found a bench and promptly fell asleep. By the time I woke up, I had missed the Bible Study and much of the keynote address. So much for not missing things. That’s the second embarrassing thing I’ve admitted to today after my bathroom rush that made me miss a vote earlier; third, I suppose, if you count my oddball illustration about showering so much.

Alright, I fell asleep. That means I got some rest, so I refuse to allow that gift (however cursed) to go to waste. I returned to this same laptop on which I’ve been recording these thoughts to write that second sermon I needed to finish this week. And whammo! It’s done.

My final plenary session began with what I hope will be the final vote for VP. William Horne has been elected to the position of Vice President.

We moved from their to updates to our Constitution, Bylaws, and Continuing Resolutions. The first was to update the previously attempted 10% inclusion of people of color in our membership, since we did not make that goal in the allotted time period. What passed in its place is an ongoing effort towards diversity with accountability to the Churchwide office. Most of the remaining changes were accepted en bloc.

After an onerous debate over a point of order in the requirement for youth attendees (we literally wasted 20 minutes of time over something that would not change anything regardless of whether the vote was yes or no), we’re back to Reference and Counsel and the anti-racism training resolution. A bit of technical difficulty with the voting machines has us using colored cards now to vote. The anti-racism resolution passes. The next resolution is about creating a strategy to work towards diversity in the ELCA. Seeing as this is in line with so much of what we’ve been doing throughout this week, I’m hoping this passes quickly. It does, going to Church Council for implementation. Third item is a resolution about appropriate use of water. A pastor from Minneapolis gets up to speak in support of this with a cute gimmick of having collected water from three different points along the Mississippi (beginning to end), but I don’t expect there’ll be much opposition to this resolution. And there isn’t. It passes easily.

Now, Motion D, which is on gender identity, opening up options for LGBTQ persons in our church, specifically Ts & Qs (i.e. transgender, genderqueer, and other gender non-conforming people.) We’ve already made much progress in this area, so I hope this passes easily and it does.

Reference and Council yields to the Memorial committee after an effort to extend the plenary session fails. The fossil fuel memorial comes first. The original amendment fails (which would have divested our investments from fossil fuel companies), but a new amendment with similar language comes forward. I rose to speak, but the question was called before I could offer my opinion. The new amendment is adopted. But orders of the day is called before a final vote can happen, so that pretty much ends my active participation in the Churchwide Assembly.

A fine banquet meal concluded our evening and I headed back to the hotel to pack. This time tomorrow, I will be comfortably back in York county after an incredible experience. See y'all soon.