ALL IS WELL#4

The Convention ended after 6:00 pm last night with the House of Deputies giving the House of Bishops and particularly what the Presiding and the Presiding Bishop Elect wanted ie. a statement that there in effect would be no election and consereation of Bishops "whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church". The first test of this will be the election scheduled in the Diocese of Newark next month, but even should it chose and openly gay or lesbian individual, it is doubtful the election would pass a majority of the Bishops and Standing Committees of TEC. It was interesting to note that Bishop Robinson of New Hampshire voted for this Resolution B033. Also of interest is that the Resolution was oppossed by the extremes of the church, those supporting the gay and lesbian agenda and those threatening to leave the church because of the consecreation of Bishop Robinson. Their manuvering tied up this Convention's legislative sessions on almost every issue in an effort to keep any of the proposed responses to the Winsor Report from passage. They were almost successful as we did not get down to business until 5:30 pm on Monday with just two days left. Finally on the last day the moderates of both Houses had enough and took control of the issue and saw to it that the rest on the "must do business was done before adjornment. In the House of Deputies the President in an attempt to give everyone an opportunity to be heard fell victim to the plans of the extremes of the House who showed him and Committee 26 ( the committee in charge of the Winsor response), and as a result the process, little respect. My hope is that those beating the drum of the "me now generation" will come to understand what the word "Reconcilliation" means as we go forward.
On the much brighter side, my hat goes off to the ECW. They had a great convention and showed the unity we in the House sought. Our Nebraska delegation to the ECW sure made my experience a more meaningful one.
A word about Bishop Joe and our Deputation, I was proud to be apart of this serious group of Christians. We did not always agree but I assure you each of us acted in what we truly believed was in the best interest of our Church.
Finally, Katherine Jefferts Schori is going to carry the Gospel forward in a way that will cause all of us to look into ourselves to see if we are ready to "give it up" for Jesus. In other words she is going to put us on the spot to put our Chrisitianity first and to alter our priories accordingly. I am thankful for the opportnity to again carry the Nebraska banner at a General Convention and I assure you all is well. Woody