General Convention Deputy Blog

Deputy Blog for July 9, 2022, by Dean Torey Lightcap+

Hello, Kansas! Greetings from Baltimore, and the start of a long day.

The second half of yesterday found us engaged in many useful deliberations.

We began by centering around tasks of leadership, vitality, vision, and planning. For those who may know the distinction, it was a mix of both technical and adaptive thinking in the form of some well-considered reporting that finally took the shape of resolutions, or items we considered for action:

• Did we learn anything usable from the pandemic? Can we actually put that into practice?
• What would happen if we vested people younger than ourselves with real, not token, tasks of self-governance?
• What new ways of thinking about church are there for us in 2022, and what do they have to do with following Jesus, which is always our only vocation?

I understand that fear of the future can be immobilizing. But when you move beyond hand-wringing and your own best ideas, and step beyond the edge of what’s comfortable, then you can acknowledge the fear and move beyond it. You can be collaborative, clear, and decisive. You can commit to thinking experimentally and to living with things failing from time to time. You can take joy in the fact that there are others who share your concerns, ideas, and resources.

To that end, I especially commend a sermon by Gay Clark Jennings, President of the House of Deputies, and remarks made by Chris Rankin-Williams on the state of the church.

As you’ve probably already seen and read, this is an abbreviated General Convention. There seems to be precious little time for much of anything. Yet there have been moments of real insight and prayer. There are many times we find ourselves laughing, or joyous, or just having to admit that it is too late in the day to be voting on things we are too tired to grasp in all their complexity.

The tables for the Diocese of Kansas are in the back of the room, far left as you face forward. If you see us, pray for us, and know that we are deeply involved in work that matters, stopping often to confer with one another, and thinking often of you.

I thank you for your trust in electing me a Deputy to General Convention two times now. It is such a privilege to serve you in this way. We all serve Christ in different ways, and this way, for me, has been most extraordinary.

The Very Reverend Torey Lightcap, Dean
Grace Cathedral, Topeka