General Convention Day Six

Things are starting to slow down here at General Convention.  Committees have largely wrapped up their work so the days focus more on the legislative sessions.

My walking for Monday was "only"  10,455 steps or right about 5 miles.

It was back to a pretty straightforward day.  No special events or anything.  Worship in the morning was wonderful featuring Native American language readings and music.  Really enjoyed that quite a lot.  I could follow along with where they were in the printed reading material for all the languages except the Dineh.

The biggest challenge facing us today was tiredness.  Several of the young people are feeling under the weather still but most of us, adults and youth, are just flat tired.  I also talked to some of the WNY delegation who noted that they were tired as well.  We're trying to care for one another, letting folks grab naps, go to bed early, skip unnecessary meetings and things like that to help us get to the finish line.

The one exciting thing is that one of our youth has written a resolution that was then sponsored by a deputy (the GCOYP can't sponsor legislation) that has passed the committee process and we hope will reach the floor before GC ends.  Check out the link HERE to see one of the GCOYP testifying on the DREAM Act Resolution.

You can find more photos and interviews and videos about GCOYP  at the EpiscoYouth blog

General Convention Day 5

Sunday is a slow day at GC.  We got to sleep in!  First event is the United Thank Offering in gathering for the whole church which is always impressive.  The service was very good with some Taize chant added in so it was better.  After that it was a free event at the ballpark.  Everything was free, food, games, various kinds of "stuff".  You could make a donation or several donations and all the money went to three dioceses - Haiti, one in Brazil and one in Africa.  It was actually a lot of fun.

Still had a good walking day - 15,672 steps so just over 7.5 miles.  I'm happy to report that my feet and legs are holding up well.

The weather remains hot but it's dropped down into the high 80s more often so that makes it a bit more bearable.

After the fun outside it was back inside for a single legislative session.  So an easy day as far as the work goes.  Afterwards various dioceses and provinces had evening parties.  I went with the Province II youth to the provincial dinner.  Introduced them to various folks until they were tired out (took about an hour) and then we went home.

I was so tired I was sent to bed.  I complied.

One of the things that folks don't realize about GC is that it is both long and hard.  The days start at 7 AM with committee meetings many days and can go until 10 PM.  For a couple days that's fine but for 9 days in a row it's just brutal.  There is a real need to pace yourself but even then by Monday or Tuesday people really begin to drag.  If you're not careful you can even get sick.  We've had a variety of folks have exactly that problem at the convention so far.  For the Deputies if they really start to drag they can have an alternate take their place on the floor.  The GCOYP don't have alternates so we adults try to keep our eyes and ears open for when they need a break.  The young people are pretty good about admitting when they need to stand down.

By the way the performance not only of GCOYP but of the young adult deputies this year has been tremendous.  Articulate, prepared and confident they are taking their place as leaders early.  And that is great news.

General Convention - Day Four

A quick addition to yesterday – favorite quote from the floor came during the discussion about selling the building at 815 Second Ave in NY (which is where the Church Center is).  Noting that the building represents a remnant of the historic understanding of church as a center of temporal power the speaker said,

                “Constantine has left the building.  It also seems that Constantine has left the building”

A brilliant summation I thought.

Lots of walking today too.  Final count - 14,318.  It dropped off today because I spent most of the evening sitting outside a committee meeting while one of our youth did their work.  Some quality reading time though!

Having grumbled about worship yesterday I need to note that today was better.   We had music before  and after (and a bit at Communion) from a steel drum band from a parish in Brooklyn.  The rest of the music was largely from Wonder, Love and Praise and Lift Every Voice which was fine.  The real high point however was the sermon by Bishop Michael Curry from North Carolina.  If you’ve ever seen Bishop  Curry preach you know that he rocks!  And he did it again today.  Calling us all to be Crazy Christians he had the hall enthralled.  I hope that his sermon is/will be available online.  Take the time and see it.

The OYP got a real close look at what the legislation process can look like.  A resolution that included some wording affecting how future OYPs would be chosen came up and went through some major wrangling.  Amendments and amendments to amendments and procedural points and the whole thing being interrupted in the middle of the process for other items.  At the end of about an hour’s worth of work the whole thing was sent back to committee to be fixed.  It can be incredibly frustrating but it is part of the whole process of how we govern ourselves.

Meals for a group this are a challenge.  We have to get out meals out in the public just like all the other folks here.  Which means places get full fast and they don’t necessarily want to see a group of 30 folks walk through the door!  Kudos to the folks at Panera Bread and Buco di Beppo who handled it beautifully. Dinner was pizza with the folks from the Young Adult Festival.

Got a chance to wander through the Exhibition Hall some more.  Ran into a youth group from the Diocese of New Jersey led by their diocesan staff person Deacon Debi Clark.  Also saw a former GCOYP member Rich Hogue who is working at the Episcopal Service Corps table.  Spoke with Tracey Herzer the boss lady at Leader Resources (she sent me away with a new idea for formation and ministry with young people in smaller congregations or even at the Deanery level.  Don’t let me forget that I have that to share when I get back!)  So a pretty typical day.  Lots of friends and acquaintances floating around.

Will tell you this - we are all, youth and adult, very tired.  Lots of punchy giggling going on.  Fortunately  Sunday is a slower day on the schedule.

General Convention Day Three

(A note on the irrgular posting of these updates.  Because I have to be where the young people need me and many of those places don't have WiFi I can't post as quickly as I'd like.  So these are running later than I'd prefer.  I hope to get caught up tomorrow morning.  We'll see if I can stay there)

Well I said the days would get busier!  Day three saw 12,000+ steps overall.  I was just shy of that number at 4:30 today!  Final count?  17,575 or just under 9 miles. More committee meetings and that kept  me moving.    Some quick thoughts from the day:

So far I’ve been disappointed in the worship.  It has been extremely well done don’t get me wrong.  But it has been very “Episcopal Standard”.  Some music from Lift Every Voice and some Taize chant.  Sermons by the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies were both solid as per usual.  But I remember much more adventurous worship in 2003 with a much wider variety of music.  I know that some folks get antsy when we do something that isn’t “mainstream” but we need to  deal with the reality that the “mainstream” has moved from where an awful lot of us assume it is.

It has been a tough day for Bonnie Anderson the President of the House of Deputies (PHoD).  She stumbled moving away the pulpit following the sermon and had an ongoing rough day running the Convention.  Fortunately both she and the House had a great sense of humor about it all.

It was a momentous day for me.  I actually got to walk onto the floor of the House!  The House was in recess at the time so I was not struck dead on the spot.  PHoD invited two of our young people address the House today.  I got to go with them for the audio check and give them the last bits of advice that I could offer.  In the afternoon they did a great job and got a standing ovation for their efforts.

I have now (in my lifetime) had 5 different opportunities to meet the current Presiding Bishop.  I missed the first one because of my stroke and have found one thing after another standing in my way.  It seemed like GC would be a great opportunity.  So far the PB has met with the OYP twice.  And I’ve been otherwise occupied both times.  Sigh.  On the other hand I’ve bumped into and spoken with PHoD multiple times.  Still freaks me out  a little that she seems to know who I am.  LOL.

The Exhibition Hall!  One of my favorite parts of GC is the central bazaar known as the Exhibition Hall.  Things to buy, information to gather, people to meet.  It goes on for most of the time of GC and is just an amazing place.  It fills a HUGE room and I finally got the chance to get in.  My practice is to cruise through the first time just to see what’s there, and then explore in detail over the remaining days.  Well I got in there twice today and still haven’t seen everything!  

General Convention Day Two

Well I told you that the days would get busier.  My step total for Thursday was 12,300+ so just over 6 miles!  The hotels  surrounding the Convention Center here are all connected to one another and the Center as well.  That is very convenient to avoid going outside into the 100 degree heat.  Even the locals agree this is really hot weather.  The problem is that what’s created is the world’s largest gerbil cage.  So I spent most of yesterday trying to get the map of the areas where we will spend most of our time.  Fortunately the youth have been here several days longer than I have and already know their way around. 

Ah the young people!  Every GCOYP I’ve worked with have been great and these young people fit in beautifully.  They spent the first day testifying at a variety of committees and have gotten lots and lots of rave reviews.  If you follow Twitter check out the hashtag #GC77.  There have been lots of chatter every time some member of the OYP speaks.  Part of what I do here is to help them with their testimony and comments.  My job is not to shape their thoughts but to help them make sure that they have stated their ideas clearly.  So they write their speeches out, bring them back to the adults sitting in the visitor’s gallery and we go over them quickly.  Very often there is very little time for that review so we are forced to speed read.  Usually the hardest part is reading the handwriting because they’ve written very quickly.  In whatever small way I’ve been able to help the GCOYP has done wonderfully.

Quick note on Lis Engle from St Matthias who is a member of the GCOYP – She is doing a great job and has taken particular interest in legislation centered on smaller congregations.  If you know Lis then you’ll be familiar with her bright smile and energetic personality.  She is representing herself, her parish, her diocese and province very, very well.

The day itself was pretty straight forward divided between legislative sessions and committee meetings.  This means I tag along and sit in the gallery while they do whatever they need to do.

Lunch was fun.  Bp. Stacey Sauls the Chief Operating Officer of TEC joined us in the suite that we use as our meeting space.  Bp. Stacey is very personable and answered any all questions the young people had.  Mostly it was concerned with budget issues which is probably the biggest controversy facing the Convention this year.  There are other issues that will generate their own heat but nothing compares with the budget.  It was a great time and wonderful that the bishop was willing to take time out of a very busy time to be with us.

The meetings went on into the evening.  The good news is that we managed to wrap up a little earlier so I was back in my room just before 11 PM.  Even better I wasn’t needed to be an early riser the next day so I had a nice long sleep period available.

And we all know that’s a good thing.  Tomorrow I finally visit the Exhibition Hall!!

Day 1 at General Convention

I'm going to try and give you an idea of  what my day to day life at General Convention.  My first day was Wednesday July 4 and it was a doozy.  I have been the Master of Ceremonies at the Independence Day Parade in Mayville NY for 25 years.  The idea was that I would do the parade with my daughter  as co-MC.  So I got up that morning, finished packing, tossed my bags into the car and headed to Mayville.  So far so good.  Unfortunately once the parade began the sky grew darker and darker .  A rumble of thunder.  A distant flash of lightning.  A NOT so distant flash of lightning.  And then the heavens opened.  The downpour sent the crowds flocking to cover and e announcers to do likewise.

Amazingly a fair number of the units kept right on marching so we kept on announcing.  It was a lot of fun while being utterly uncomfortable the whole way along.  Our notes were drenched, units were out of order so it was a bit of a challenge.  But everyone was great about it and it will be a parade that will be talked about for years.

The problem was that I had planned to go directly to the airport after the parade.  But I was soaking wet!  So home quickly, clothes into the dryer and THEN off to the airport.  Gladly there were no adventures on either flights (Erie to Detroit, then Detroit to Indy).  It was kind of interesting that at one point I had people next to me speaking Norwegian, folks one row up speaking in French, and folks a row back speaking in German.  Very cool.

A quick ride from the airport to the hotel with a surprise at the end.  Indianapolis is the home of the AAA minor league team for my beloved (and at the moment fabulously successful) Pittsburgh Pirates.  I got a text saying that the General Convention Official Youth Presence (GCOYP) was at the game and there was an extra ticket with my name on it!  The game started early so it was the 7th inning by the time I got there.  It was big time hot but it was great time and the Indians won!  Even saw a home run!

We finished the day in a meeting and had fireworks right outside the hotel windows.  I finally got back to my room about 11:30 to unpack.  My lights finally went out at midnight.  Long day.

I have a step counting pedometer with me so I'll keep you up to date about how much walking I get in.  With airport walking and the like I had a fairly average day for me - 8,857 steps.  So that's about 4 miles.  I have no doubt it will be my easiest day for a while.

Photos from Senior High

Sorry for the delay! We've had some technical issues and besides we have to stop having fun to post these!  Which do you think we'd rather do?

Happening #30!

The corrected applications for Happening Weekend #30 are now up.  We needed to correct some dates for the Team.  Now we are ready to go.  Check them out on the Happening Page at the EYouthWNY website!

Youth Missioner and General Convention

I know I've mentioned several times that I will be going to General Convention.  Folks still ask me questions about what I'm doing there and if I'm a Deputy for our Diocese.  The answer to that second question is no but the answer to the first is pretty interesting.

This will be my third time at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church.  I went in both 2003 and 2006.  Quick review in case you're not clear.  General Convention is like our diocesan convention in that it is the business meeting of the church.  Budgets get passed, plans for ministry and making decisions about our future together all take place at the conventions.  One of the most common phrases about either convention is that they are "family reunions", a gathering of folks from all over the church for discussion, sharing and joy.

General Convention (GC) is different from our diocesan convention in that it only meets once every three years.  That means the budgets are bigger, the plans are longer range and the discussions need to be longer.  Plus it is many, many times larger.  Lay, clergy and bishops from just over 100 dioceses.  Plus staff people and exhibit people and people who just like hanging out at GC (yes, there are people like that).  So it is HUGE.

In the midst of all that I'll be working as a mentor with the General Convention Official Youth Presence (GCOYP.  Episcopalians love acronyms).  GCOYP is made up of two young people from each province of our denomination.  So there are 18 young people from all over including the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico (The Episcopal Church [TEC] goes beyond just the U.S.) This means a lot of things.  I'm there because I have experience both with GC and GCOYP.  In addition I work with the young people on speaking in public and media relations.  My background is very strong in both those areas and it's great fun for me to bring those different parts of my life all together.  Beyond that I and the other mentors basically serve as staff for the youth.  You see THEY are the important folks for that time and place.  GCOYP is granted seat and voice in the House of Deputies (HOD.  As compared to the House of Bishops which is HOB.  I told you we LOVE acronyms!).  They need to focus on the issues that are before them and the days are long.  We are commonly out the door on our way to hearings or meetings at 7 A.M. and wrap up the day around 11 P.M.  Every day for 9 days.  So that means I get them supplies they need, dig up answers they need, set up meetings and upon occasion get them a cup of coffee.

It's hard work.  It's also work that I love doing.  I've been blessed that Bishop Franklin like Bishop Garrison before him supports me in this ministry. After camp this is one of my favorite parts of my ministry.  This year we will also have a youth from our diocese there as a member of GCOYP.  Elisabeth Engle is one of the two Province Two representatives.  We both have a lot of work waiting for us.  I'm sure I speak for Lis when I say we would appreciate being kept in your prayers along with the Deputies from WNY and Bishop Franklin.

My time at GC will run from July 4-12.

Well Worth Reading

I shared this link on the Adult newsletter this week but I think it's worth a wider reading as well.  Adam McClane is currently one of my favorite reads in the world of Youth Ministry.  He's an "in the trenches"  youth minister, husband, father, writer and creative type person.  According to his blog bio

He is a purveyor, connoisseur, trader, and collector of ideas.

Which means he's definitely my kind of guy.  A couple weeks ago he posted a blog about things he didn't feel like he should be expected to apologize for as a youth minister.  I really enjoyed the post (although I did call him out on one item in the comments.  Scroll down and check it out.  As always he handled it with grace and humor).  The list, he reminded me, is a personal one for him but contains lots of great thoughts.

What would be on your list of things you don't think you need to apologize for?  I'll admit that reasons 1, 2 and 4 just leapt out at me.  This one is worth a read and I'd recommend checking in on Adam regularly.

Don't Apologize

This Week's Newsletter!

Wow, what a week last week was for me.

Spent it with the young people of the General Convention Official Youth Presence (GCOYP) 2012 in Indianapolis IN preparing for this summer's General Convention(GC).  Our own Elisabeth Engle was there as one of the two youth representing Province II (the other is Grace Steele from the Diocese of Long Island.  Keep them both in your prayers)

We spent a lot of time in conversation about what happens at GC, what their roles will be, how to live together in a high pressure environment for 9-10 long hard days, how to deliver speeches and how to deal with the media.  We also sang, worshiped and laughed.  We laughed a lot.  GCOYP12 has young people from all over the continental U.S. plus Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.  They speak at least 3 languages among them, maybe 4 (English, Spanish, French and I thought I heard some German being bandied about)

Please keep all the young people and the adults working with them in your prayers as we move towards General Convention in July.

 

Plus don't forget - 

We are now accepting applications for the Diocesan Convention Youth Representatives.  This is one of the premium leadership slots for youth in our diocese.  These young people are the voice of youth at the highest level of our diocesan government.  There will be only one youth rep chosen from each Deanery.

If you are interested you must:

1. Currently be in grades 8-11
2. Able to commit to being present for all of the following - training May 20 following Youth Commission, a pre-convention meeting October 14 at 2 PM, and BOTH days of Convention.  We will provide you with a letter explaining missing school on that Friday.
3. Be prepared to present yourself and your ideas in a manner appropriate to the event.

 Convention this year is taking place in Mayville.  The Youth delegation will be staying at Camp Merz, the Boy Scout camp next door to the hotel where the convention will take place.  Applications are available on the website and the EYouthWNY Facebook page.

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION IS APRIL 22.

And of course don't forget  - CAMP!!!!!!!!

Get your applications in!  It's never too early.  I think this will be a wonderful year.  It'll be even better if you're there too.

Don't forget that camp applications are now available online AND you can register online too!  Let's keep those camp registrations rolling in!

Online registration is HERE

Or download an application HERE

Summer Mission Trip and Convention Youth Reps

Two important notes:


If you're interested in a mission trip this summer check this out:

Mission Trip

July 22 – 29, 2012 - Elyria, Ohio

We will be rebuilding porches, renovating housing, creating new community spaces while making new friends, having fun and helping celebrate the 150^th anniversary of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

Who: All youth who will be in grades 7 – 12 in September 2012

We could also use a couple of adults who want to come along

What: A week of work, fun and old and new friends

Where: St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

300 3^rd St. Elyria, Ohio, 44035 – a suburb of Cleveland

Cost: $350

Details: We will leave St. Paul’s Harris Hill – 4275 Harris Hill Rd. 14221 at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday July 22 and return to St. Paul’s at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday July 29.

Deadline: Registration Information and a $150 deposit must be in by June 1.

Questions: Contact the Rev. Vicki Zust – paulsrector@gmail.com or 716-632-8221

There is a flyer/poster with more details that you can download HERE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And don't forget the deadline to apply to be a Diocesan Convention Youth Representative is April 22!

You can get your application HERE

You must in grades 8-11 right now and be able to attend the training sessions May 20 and October 14 plus both days of Convention.  

If you have questions get in touch with the Youth Missioner!