Tuesday, July 07, 2009

General Convention - staying connected

Thousands of Episcopalians are gathering in Anaheim, California for General Convention, the triennial meeting in which bishops, clergy and laity make important decisions about our life together. For those of us not attending there's a ton of ways to stay connected to the action. Here's a few of the places I'm trying to visit regularly.

General Convention HUB

Episcopal Cafe

Diocese of California General Convention Updates

Walking with Integrity

An Inch at a Time

Center Aisle

My friend and colleague Rosa Lee Harden even created a Facebook group for all of us not there.
If you are at GC2009, please help keep the rest of us in the loop (thanks to everybody who is blogging & twittering) If you are not there and have sites you recommend for staying up-to-date, please post away.

Big Table

I just received a phone call from Michael Tedrick, the Episcopal Diocese of California's & Grace Cathedral's Mission Partner in the Diocese of Curitiba, Brazil. Michael expressed great joy about his new work and appreciation for the ways his involvement with Dinner with Grace in San Francisco is helping him share in community there. Here's a bit from Michael's blog:
Yesterday, sixty people crowded the small hall to share a meal at Sao Tiago Catedral. The unspoken language of sharing. We meet in the midst of our mutual hunger. Some with hungry bodies and others with hungry souls. Together, we are fed in body, mind, and spirit. Warm, simple greetings and a smile was the language spoken and understood. I used the skills I honed with Grace Cathedral's Dinner With Grace, hand mashing 50 lbs. of potatos, chopping onions, (Will+ & Alex would be glad to know that I didn't cut myself), serving meals, peeling and seeding papayas, washing lettuce and arranging tables and chairs. It is welcoming, reassuring, and comforting for the stranger. I continue to be amazed by the breadth and length of The Table.
Please keep Michael and those he is working with in Brazil in your prayers and visit his blog regularly for updates on his journey.
Also, Dinner with Grace was recently in the news, check out this story here. Many thanks to Carolyn Tyler and her crew, who communicate well what Dinner with Grace is all about.