If the only information you’ve received lately about what’s been going on in the Episcopal Church you’ve received from the local newspaper, I have a news flash for you – you haven’t gotten the full scoop. I’m going to expand a bit on what’s going on in the Episcopal Church, and particularly our diocese.

Yesterday afternoon at 2:15 p.m., we completed the work of the 191st Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. We finished ahead of schedule – that in itself was good news for the 400 plus people who were at the Koury Center. St. Andrew’s was well represented at convention; in fact, it was very gratifying to see just how many St. Andrew’s folks were involved in one form or another.

You were represented by two clergy, four delegates and one alternate. Our delegates were Mark Courtright, Marcia Moore, Dana Gaspar, John Frizzell, and Mary Lou Strohl, alternate. Our own parishioners who were a part of convention were The Rev. Dr. Leon Spencer, Dean of the School of Ministry, Shelley Kappauf, Administrative Assistant to Bishop Marble and Dean Spencer, The Rev. Jim Prevatt, retired rector of St. Barnabas and member of St. Andrew’s, Kathy Pfister, Youth Missioner for the diocese, and Catherine Higgins, her assistant and our new Youth Minister. Our own Betty Atwell was elected to the Board of Directors of Penick Village.

Members of our congregation were part of the behind the scenes preparation, especially related to registration, and they were Ann Herman, Karen Russell, Lauren Gaspar and Cynthia Shannon. Scott Durham held responsibility of overseeing the pages, and the pages included Katherine and Martin Kappauf. Our own Drew Courtright was at convention as a youth delegate and as a representative of the Province VI youth steering committee. Drew, incidentally, led the entire convention in a stretching break which included a few dance steps to music by The Four Tops. Believe me, it was a memorable moment. I’m hoping and praying we have Drew on video. Let me put it this way – seeing Drew on video would be a whole lot more memorable than seeing 400 clergy and lay delegates trying to “get down.”

Convention consists of passing (or not) resolutions, hearing reports from the various committees of the diocese, approving the budget, and invitations to attend special programs and workshops. We passed some 19 resolutions, ranging from practical resolutions in regards to the Constitutions and Canons of the Episcopal Church and of the diocese to resolutions regarding how we act and behave towards one another, and how we continue to care for our world and our environment.

There is a very “democratic” system for the way resolutions are proposed and considered. Resolutions can be proposed by a diocesan committee or parish member. They are discussed at pre-convention meetings, so that delegates can get a feel for where the resolution has come from and the rationale behind the resolution. Once we get to convention, special hearings are held before a vote is taken for additional feedback, and very often, that results in amended resolutions. Once a resolution is before the floor of convention, time for discussion of a proposed resolution is given, as well as time for additional amendments. The bottom line is that resolutions at convention are given ample opportunity for discussion and amendment. By the time a vote is taken, people feel comfortable that what has needed to be said has been said, pro and con.

Contrary to what you may have read in the newspaper, the 191st Convention of the Episcopal Church had a far-reaching agenda, which centered primarily around mission, and the way Bishop Curry has defined mission in this diocese: Making Disciples and Making a Difference.

We heard an address from the Bishop of Costa Rica, our companion diocese, and from congregations that have been involved in mission work overseas. We had the opportunity to attend workshops on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which the Episcopal Church has adopted as a template for its own global mission work. We heard a report from the Episcopal Church Women of the diocese, who have also adopted the MDG’s as a mission focus. We listened to a heart-felt thank you from a church in our diocese that was set afire by an arsonist for the outpouring of generosity from all of us as they’ve begun to rebuild. We heard an astounding report from the young man now in charge of Penick Village, and his vision for elder care at Penick Village to be based on small family-like homes rather than the current hospital-like or institutional setting.

Using the Baptismal Covenant as our guide, which, of course is biblically based on the Great Commandment of Jesus, we reiterated our commitment that all people be treated fairly and equitably beyond ethnic, racial, or sexual orientation divisions. We remembered that this beautiful earth is the only earth that we’ve been given, and that God expects us to take good care of it.

There is so much I’ve left out of what got accomplished in just about 48 hours. I would urge you to talk with those parishioners (youth and adults) who were there and ask them their impressions. And I’ll ask now that all of you who were at convention to make yourselves available to parishioners who would like to know more about what we said and did at convention.

Bishop Curry reminded us in his address to convention that what underlines the work in front of us now and in the future is summarized in a prayer by Teresa of Avila written centuries ago:

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours

Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on the world

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good

Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world.

And then Bishop Curry said, “Let us leave this convention re-dedicated, re-consecrated, and re-committed to the work of making disciples of Jesus who make a difference in the world. Let us go forth as witnesses to the remarkable reconciling love of God that we know in Jesus. Go and witness to the justice and compassion and the forgiveness of God. Go and help God end the nightmare and realize God’s dream. Go and be the hands and the feet, the face and the arms of Jesus in the world.”

That’s what diocesan convention was all about. It was very good work that we accomplished, and it is very good and honorable work that we are being called to do. It cannot possibly be otherwise; for the work we’re called to is the work of Jesus Christ.

Amen.