We were tired this morning so Sarah and I didn’t arrive at
the Convention Center until after 10 a.m. We had been asked to sit as witnesses today
and to try to sit with other LYNC volunteers.
As we walked into the plenary session, we heard Bishop Ough, president
of the Council of Bishops, announce that they are not in agreement so there
will be no split. So once again our
bishops have failed to lead us. We went
into prayer. The mood in the room was
somber.
We sat and tried to follow legislation. The process is painfully slow; there were so many questions and challenges to parliamentary procedure. My district superintendent, who was sitting
near me, said they may not finish all of their business by the end of the
conference. If they don’t, that’s it; it’s
not taken up later.
After a lunch break, we returned to the plenary session just
after 2:00 p.m. We found LYNC volunteers
singing around the edge of the hall so we joined them. Earlier Bishop Ough had read scripture about
binding us together with chains.
Therefore, we sang “Blest Be the Tie That Binds” over and over: some
people had their wrists bound. We
finally began slowly walking in a line and along the back. Business continued on the floor. We heard a delegate make a motion from the
floor to ask the bishops to deliberate and return with a nonbinding proposal
for our direction forward. Still singing
we walked out the opposite door and formed a circle. There may have been as many as 200 people. We continued singing a bit longer. Pastor Duane and Pastor Barbara said hello
and joined us. This action felt powerful
and peaceful.
We returned to the plenary session and listened to more
legislation with multiple amendments and questions. It moved very slowly. Sarah left at the break. I returned briefly but left when I got a text
from a friend I was meeting for dinner.
I enjoyed a delightful dinner and conversation; it was a good break from
church politics (although we did discuss it).
I returned to the Jupiter for a LYNC meeting. There was lots of singing and planning. We learned that the bishops did go into a
meeting for further discussion. We will all
be present to see what tomorrow brings.
My favorite quote from the evening: “Justice is what love looks like in
public.”
Written on 5/17/2016
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