Dear GC80,
Greetings from Austin, Texas, where The Episcopal Herald has set up Herald House, a busy little hive of writers, thinkers, translators, and techies who care deeply about the work that you are doing in Baltimore. We had hoped to be with you and approximately 10,000 other Episcopalians in Charm City for the great triennial family reunion that is General Convention. However, being good Episcopalians, we appreciate good order and felt that it was meet and right to obey the guidelines created out of Covid-concern. We will be praying for you and with you as you go about the essential business of the Church in the coming four days.
May all of your Covid tests be negative.
May you be gifted by the Spirit with the power to recognize each other and rejoice in each other’s company in spite of the masks and the lack of the lovely Zoom touch-up filter to blur away the ravages for four difficult years.
May you be unintimidated by massive consent calendars and legislative days that are somehow both too short and too long.
And may God pour out grace and a spirit of bold compassion upon you as you guide us in taking stock of where we are and who we are as a Church that has passed through many adversities and faces great challenges.
Over the coming days, we will be seeking to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church and to be a resource both to those of you who are at General Convention and to the church nerds feeling the FOMO as we look on from afar. We have noticed that a tremendous amount of worthy and substantial church business will pass through on consent calendars, which you may or may not want to pick apart for debate. For example, nearly all of the Care for Creation legislation will roll through in this way, with the exception of the task force continuation. Given that this is one of the Presiding Bishop’s priorities and a weak spot for concerted community action (and I am not just talking about in TX, y’all), we are hoping to lift up and explain these measures. We long to spark your imagination for how the spirit and the practicalities of this work might be put into action in your local context to form a different future for the church.
We hope that you will be in conversation with us. Seriously, this may sound a little sad, but we are here at our phones and computers, with all our social media accounts open, waiting to hear your questions, your concerns, and your hopes for the future of the Church. If we are not talking about what you are thinking and praying about, give us a nudge. We will be watching, hoping, and praying with you.
Love,
The Episcopal Herald Team
The Episcopal Herald 