Into the Fray

The triennial national convention of the Episcopal Church began today in Columbus, Ohio. On Friday, I'll be flying out there to spend a couple of days and participate in a talk/book signing with Bishop Gene Robinson for my new biography of him. The books are on Amazon and other major distributors' websites and available for pre-order; they should be shipping by July 1. More on that to come; this is a pre-notice!

I've never been to General Convention, though I feel like I have, since I wrote about the last one - when Gene was elected - in so much detail. Very few people expected the issue of homosexuality to be so heated three years later; many of us, including Gene, thought the controversy would in fact die down. This Convention will be discussing some very important resolutions that will affect not only the future of our national church but the path of the worldwide Anglican Communion. I'll be trying to write some here about what's happening, but people who are interested can also check the following links:

General Convention News Website: From the Episcopal News Service, daily news summaries from the legislative sessions; votes; noteworthy events.

Integrity’s General Convention pages. Integrity, the main organization for GLBT Episcopalians, lists all the resolutions about gay issues, the Windsor Report, same-sex blessings and related topics which will be coming before the convention, and is a source for news and information. On Friday night, I'll be attending the Integrity Eucharist, a communion service in which all GLBT clergy are invited to robe , wearing rainbow stoles if possible, and participate: my gay friends have told me that it is one of the most powerful events in their lives. Bishop Gene Robinson will be the preacher for that service, and the Rev. Susan Russell, the current president of Integrity, will be the celebrant.

Tomorrow, Gene Robinson and Joe Solmonese, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, will speak at a press conference, along with Susan Russell and HRC Religion and Faith Director Harry Knox "to urge the Episcopal Church to stay the course towards equality and reject discrimination based on sexual orientation.  'It's time we took the Bible back,' said Bishop Robinson. 'It's time we took our faith back and stopped having to apologize for being Christian or Jewish or Muslim without having to explain, 'No, we're not that kind of a Jew, we're not that kind of a Christian.'" 

Blogger Father Jake will be blogging from the convention at Father Jake Stops the World.

The excellent Thinking Anglicans website/blog, from England, will no doubt have daily updates giving more of a world perspective.

And Canon Kendall Harmon, who writes the blog titusonline will also be covering the convention, from a conservative perspective but (I find) generally a more respectful and reasoned tone than some of his fellow convervatives; I appreciate that.

Comments

[qB]

Beth, this is so inspiring and exciting. And momentous. Don't get frayed, though. Keep the calm centre. I'm so looking forward to hearing about this from you as events unfurl, and I wish I could be there and claim a signed first edition.

By the way, I know you are versatile, but your output is prodigious! I clicked on Amazon's author link and discovered how busy you have been over the years, writing and illustrating. Little did I suspect that your range of output is as diverse as to include both "Madam 90210: My Life as Madam to the Rich and Famous" and the seminal, but perhaps less popular "Optical devices for adults with low vision: A systematic review of published studies of effectiveness". Wow!

[douglas]

Beth, if you want any Columbus tips send me an email. My wife and I have been living in Columbus for about six years now. My cousin is attending the convention with a delagation from Pennsylvania. Small world.

[Beth]

Yes, qB, isn't it amazing? But you are the one who is industrious and curious - I haven't even clicked on that author link yet to see what my various selves have been up to! Thanks for sharing your personal favorites from the list.

I was interviewed a couple of days ago by a reporter who seriously thought I *had* written one of the book she found online - something about religion - and was quite surprised when I told her no, this is my first book!

[Beth]

Douglas, thank you so much! I am all set for this visit and will barely have time to breathe, but who knows, maybe someday I will come back to Columbus. I'll be visiting old friends there too, and wishing I had time to discover the city as well as spend more time with them.

[sylph]

Beth, I second qB's observation...I did what she did and was impressed, enlightened and inspired.

[dale]

Beth, I admire your engagement in this, and the way you're engaged in it, so much.