Piezas de una reunion (Pieces of a meeting)

I guess I can't put up any photos right now as blogger isn't responding. So I will write my thoughts and do the photos later.

Lisa and Pseudopisky want to know how the meeting went and how to interpret things.

I think the resolutions and response to the draft Anglican Covenant stand on their own. What surprised me is that no one wanted either to debate the response or the NAC resolution about the HOB reinterpretation of B033. When the presiding bishop asked if there were any comments, there were none. She waited, and still nothing. She raised her eyebrows forming a question of surprise. And then she called the question.

Like Mark Harris, I was part of the task force and drafting committee that produced the response. We worked hard to create a document that would reflect where TEC is: namely, a lot of reactions across the continuum. For that reason, we could only say we are not of one mind. Evidently, that was sufficient.

As for the NAC resolution, again, I was very surprised that there was absolutely no debate on it. I think that Council was aware of two very large items of business yet to cover on the agenda: the restructuring of the Episcopal Church Center (aka 815) and initial discussion of the 2008 budget. For that reason, and perhaps also because the resolution speaks for itself, there was no discussion. The motion was made, the presiding bishop asked if there was discussion and when she saw none, called the question.

Meanwhile, there were the surprises that always come up in a meeting: lots of discussion over a resolution that seemed to be a straight-shoot.

Not having experienced Executive Council before the budget cuts, I don't know what it's like to have a four-day meeting. These three-day meetings are as intense, as if not more so, than General Convention. It's go, go, go, go from early morning until evening.

This meeting was graced by the presence of our covenant provincial partners: Liberia, Philippines, Central America, Brazil and Mexico. These provinces are all in different stages of monetary covenants (the Philippines has ended receiving support) but they wish for, as one primate put it, 'an eternal covenant' of relationship with TEC.

In a dinner-time conversation with the Primate of Mexico, Carlos Touché-Porter, he told me about his journey to The Episcopal Church. He was raised in a fundamentalist Presbyterian family. At age 15, he realised he could no longer take their claiming to have the sole claim on 'the Truth.' So he looked at other denominations, all of whom claimed the same thing: only they knew what the Truth is and no one else did. (Sounds familiar as in Old Turtle and the Broken Truth.) He eventually found The Episcopal Church and felt at home because here was a church that didn't assume infaillibility and that wasn't afraid of questions but rather embraced them.

During his presentation to Executive Council, he said: Our province is diverse and plural. We avoid extremes and regard inclusiveness as an essential element of Anglicanism. We [the Episcopal Church of Mexico] are in Mexico to give witness that there’s another way to be catholic and express the Christian church in a catholic tradition that respects human freedom and the dignity of every human being and that is probably the one reason why we have something to do in Mexico.

And the Primate of Brazil also said: The Province of Brazil wants to be a welcoming place respecting the diversity of the adoration of God and Anglican ways, to be committed, in action through our living communities with Justice and Peace in the world, to help people find their specific ministry and live the fullness of the baptismal covenant. We are a living church, contextualized in the reality of Brazil. We have our own way of being within the Anglican Communion. The Brazilian House of Bishops rejects any attempt to introduce into the Anglican Communion whatever practises that are foreign to our traditions, historical or evangelical, and our inspiration in God

I thanked Bishop Porter for his words, saying that even though Mexico feels isolated, so do we at times in TEC. It was so important to hear words of solidarity coming from another province, particularly one from the global centre. I thanked him, saying that at moments, his presentation and that of Brazil, had brought tears to my eyes. And I asked where did he learn this tolerance and commitment to inclusivity?

He answered he had learned it from TEC. It was TEC's gift to him and he felt it very important to work toward a church that is truly and fully inclusive of all. Wow.

We do have good companions in Central America, Brazil and Mexico. We are not alone.

Perhaps, if time will allow it, I can write more. However, I have to put together a powerpoint on the MDGs to present to a bunch of high school students tomorrow and then Thursday prepare for All Saints' Day and diocesan convention which starts on Friday.