Convention Day 5

Another busy day on Tuesday. They really pack the days full here, which they need to do to get everything done. (And even then they often don't get to everything.) My Floor Committee was on again yesterday, and it was interesting - one resolution we thought would produce some blow back didn't get even one speaker! The other we thought would got a boat load of people who wanted to speak, but after a bunch of discussion on a proposed amendment, the chair (the Synodical President) pushed it through without any more discussion. I was a bit surprised, a little disappointed, but I also understand his reasons for doing so. That's one of the difficult thing he has to do - figure out how to regulate the debate and keep things moving. You want to be fair but also keep things moving. You want to let people speak, but you also want meaningful comments (which sometimes are rare!). I have a new appreciation for how difficult that job is.

We (my Floor Committee) has one resolution coming to the floor today that could be tense. I say could because some progress has been made that might enable it to proceed more smoothly. We'll see what today brings. This one has been the source of a great deal of time, energy, and discussion that (IMHO) has perhaps revealed an issue in our synodical structure (hierarchy) that needs addressing. But who am I? I'll mention it to some folks, but that's another thing I learned here: for many (not all) folks, who you ARE is often more important than what you SAY.

Now, some more pictures . . .

Athanasian-Missionary John Wolf here to promote the work being done in Africa and Kenya. We had some nice conversations. Hopefully he and his family will be able to visit us next year. Bishop Omolo is also here, and I got to greet him only very briefly. Hopefully I'll see him a little more before we end tomorrow.

The altar used for all the services. This isn't the best picture - between sessions they dim the lights up front. But it really is quite beautiful. The picture in the middle is a lamb shedding its blood for us.

Last night for dinner we went to the home of one of our delegates who lives and has his church in Tampa. It was Pastor Luke Jacob's (pictured) wife's birthday yesterday, so he got her on the phone and we all sang Happy Birthday to her - that's what you see going on here.

After dinner, I crashed. I couldn't stay awake any longer. All the early mornings and late nights finally caught up to me. So I got a bit more sleep last night than I had since I arrived. :-)