LIVE FROM SALT LAKE CITY V: ORDINARY BUSINESS

Today was less dramatic at Gen Con than the last few days have been. But it was still good work. My day began in the Stewardship & Development Committee. Our main work was a resolution calling on the Church to refrain from investing in for-profit prisons. We tweaked it minimally and sent it on to the floor with a recommendation to approve.

There was a joint session of the Bishops and Deputies to talk about the Five Marks Of Mission in our congregations. It was an excellent conversation in the Nevada deputation. I like this stuff considerably better than the legislative process. The Deputies seem less than thrilled with much of the restructuring proposal. It was a fairly star studded joint session. The governor of Utah welcomed us and said to us, “You are punching above your weight.” I liked that a lot. Ray Suarez of NPR was there as MC, giving a good account of his congregation, St. Columba’s in Washington, D.C. The former PB, the Most Rev. Frank Griswold was also on stage along with Bishop Katharine and Bishop Michael.

The Bishops then addressed a number of resolutions, most of which I cannot remember after all the amendments and parliamentary rigmarole. There were two main pieces that stood out: one was a major initiative for new church plants; the other was an initiative to create a network of regional coaches for revitalizing congregations that want to make a come-back.