Last Full Day

Today I worked a three-hour shift and then a five-hour shift on the legislative floor, which meant that because we have to report to the volunteer center half an hour early, my day started at 8:00 and ended around 6:30.  At General Convention all manner of legislation gets discussed, amended, and voted on by the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies.  I was assigned to the House of Deputies, who are the elected representative from the various Episcopal Dioceses.  Each diocese elects one member of the clergy and one lay person, and these are known as Deputies, not delegates.  The name "delegate" would imply voting on behalf of a constituency, and deputies are instead free to vote their consciences on the various issues.  The atmosphere at times is similar to what I've seen on C-Span, and other times there are breaks of various sorts.

Province 9 of the Episcopal Church includes Central Ecuador, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Columbia.  My job was to assist people who wished to speak at the podium closest to the Province 9 delegation; they placed me there because I can communicate in Spanish.  ("Speaking Spanish" might be overstating things a bit.)  Forget what you've heard about "the gay issue."  The most painful and complex debate I heard was about the recent election of a new bishop to Central Ecuador.  The question gets at all of those awkward issues that crop up in the aftermath of a leadership crisis.  Several years back the bishop of Ecuador had to step down because of fiscal mismanagement.  Since then the diocese has had outside assistance by other bishops and this recent election was meant to be a fresh start.  Unfortunately, two members of the delegation protested the manner in which the bishop had been elected.  Others from the delegation, as well as outside observers, testified that the election had functioned according to canon law.  There were also questions about the manner in which documents had been translated and whether the correct translations had been available.  In the end, the bishop's election was ratified.  Those who supported the election and those who had contested it were seated at the same tables.

Tonight is my last night in Anaheim.  I fly home on the red-eye tomorrow.  It's been a heck of a week.  

I've run into friends from various church activities, including good friends from the Episcopal church in Brazil.  Last week I got together with a college friend I hadn't seen in 30 years, and last night I had a (much too brief) get-together with another friend who's been living out of the country for five years.  I've collected a lot of literature, received some invitations, and over-internalized some criticism.  I've been living on too-rich meals, supplemented with shredded wheat, skim milk, and nectarines from the fridge in my room.  It's been a lot of fun, but I'm ready to go home.