We had our elections for General Convention deputies at our diocesan convention this weekend; I was chosen to go to Indianapolis in 2012. The head of our deputation is Katrina Hamilton, the first layperson elected. This will be her third convention which is amazing since she is only 25 years old. She is the perfect choice to be our leader – young and idealistic enough to push us to new horizons and now politically experienced enough to actually see some victories that won’t be merely symbolic.
There are winners and losers at each General Convention;...
Faye laundered money. Literally.
At the small, rural church, she collected the offering at the end of the service and hid it in her clothes hamper until she could make it to the bank.
We discovered the occasions when she washed the purse with the rest of her laundry. The ink would run off the checks, and she'd call, asking how much we had given.
Today, on All Saints Day, we remember the guardians and martyrs of the faith, the Saints of The Church.
I also like to remember the saints in my churches.
Faye was nearly 90 years old -- and widowed for half a century, but she turned up at the church nearly every time the doors opened. Her shoulders hunched over and her knuckles looked like walnuts, but she never failed to clean up after potluck dinners or to give a pat to the child who hugged her leg.
She didn't offer herself to the lions or spark a reformation, but Faye and so many others seem to fit the definition of a saint -- a person of exceptional holiness.
Give a shout out to the saints in your churches, in your lives. Post their first names here. Add a sentence or two about how they have been extraordinary examples of the living Christ. And then give thanks for their witness and saint-likeness.
Amen.
Do you believe the Episcopal Church's system of governance helps or hinders your congregation's ability to carry out God's Mission? During her remarks at the Executive Council's first plenary session, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori challenged the Executive Council to avoid "committing suicide by governance."
Read the ENS story here.
What do you think? How does your vestry manage the balance between a mission focus and managing the internal aspects of running a congregation?
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