The Very Rev. Laurie Lewis of St. Stephen’s, Wichita reflects on how General Convention reminds us we are part of something bigger

Monday, June 24th, began with legislative committee meetings at 7:00 a.m., followed by morning prayer that I like to call mega worship because it is worship with 3,000 of your closest friends. 

Then the work began with a joint meeting of the House of bishops and the House of Deputies to hear a presentation, and ask questions about the Episcopal Church budget that will cover the next three years. It was 90 minutes of thoughtful, prayerful, respectful, and sometimes comical debate and governance. 

Our deputation is very intentional about caucusing together over our lunch time. We bring to the group anything that might shed light on the legislation scheduled to come before us. This can include any deliberation we may have observed in a legislative committee meeting, article or blog post we have read on an issue, or even some background information we bring from friends and colleagues in other dioceses.

This afternoon we experienced debate over issues that, on paper, did not look like there should be any debate. But that is good.  Some people are more skilled than others at thinking of the ways a resolution might be misinterpreted. These types of things need to be highlighted for the body so what we vote on is the clearest representation of God’s love through the workings of The Episcopal Church.

This convention is one way we experience the reminder that we are part of something bigger. Today, we celebrated the 85th anniversary of the founding of Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD). The mission of ERD is to protect children, empower women, adapt to the effects of climate change and respond to emergencies worldwide.  We passed a resolution, that beyond just celebrating this milestone anniversary, called for this mission of ERD to “be our guidepost as we live into our Baptismal Covenant to protect the dignity of every human being.”

The work of ERD is your work, friends.  They are us…the Episcopal Diocese of Kansas…reaching out and doing God’s work, out in the world, wherever disaster strikes.  We are more than the work we do on Kansas.  This convention shows us that we are working everywhere. 

Thank you for electing me to this role. This work, every three years, feeds my soul and fires me up for the ministry God has called me to do in Kansas.