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Eighteen representatives of the official “youth presence” at General Convention visited the ECW plenary to thank Episcopal Church Women for their support of youth and campus ministries in many dioceses and parishes, to share their dreams and eloquently advocate for their priorities as young Episcopalians: increased youth involvement, evangelism, outreach and human rights.

\”The community of youth yearn for a true voice in the Church. Our passion and faith are measurable, our ideas are sound,\” said 16-year old Amy Espinoza, a member of St. Martin\’s in the Diocese of Rhode Island, where she is a eucharistic minister.

Eighteen-year old Jacqueline Bray of St. Margaret\’s Church in San Diego was \”shocked to discover that the average age members of the House of Deputies is 65.\”

At the close of their visit, the Rev. Canon Liz Habecker, a member of the National ECW board, led the youth and the ECW delegates in a choreographed dance.

I\’m still not sure it did anything to prove we all aren\’t complete old fogeys, but as they were leaving one young woman did rush back to the microphone to say, \”I think you all have more fun here than they do in the House of Deputies!\”

Out of the mouths of babes.

One of the traditions of the ECW Triennial at General Convention is \”Shirt Day.\” Delegations show their team colors, so to speak, with the wearing of shirts announcing their diocese\’s name, and sometimes more. (Who knew Province II is the \”home of the kazoo\”?).

Shirt Day was Saturday. Here we are in our but-white-goes-with-everything shirts. A shout-out to diocesan ECW board member Anne Butler of Winston-Salem for making sure the embroidery happened on time.

And here\’s a sampling of some of the other Shirt Day shirts seen \’round the Anaheim Convention Center.

[In addition to blogging, I\’ve been asked to contribute to the in-house newspaper about the proceedings at General Convention and ECW Triennial. This is taken from an article I wrote for the July 10 issue of The Daily.]

The Rt. Rev. Barbara C. HarrisThe Rt. Rev. Barbara C. Harris and Gregory Straub, executive officer and secretary of General Convention, and the other women and men who attended the ECW Welcome Dinner on Wednesday were reminded why the telling of our collective history can at once be liberating and soul wrenching.

Katerina Katsarka WhitleyAsked to produce a program for the dinner, Katerina Katsarka Whitley, an Episcopalian, author, dramatist and retreat leader, opted to write a play chronicling the history of Episcopal Church Women in order to “show how God worked through admirable Episcopal women in the course of long years and struggles to bring about the accomplishments taken for granted today.”

Nearly 140 years of history—from an early plea to the leaders of the Protestant Episcopal Church to seriously consider the contributions of women “who labor for their Lord” to the election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as presiding bishop—played out in under an hour, but still had people talking well into the following day.

An ActressDee Doyle, Triennial delegate from the Diocese of San Joaquin, said, “I thought it was great. It was, in a real way, the story of my life. I’m coming up on 80 years old. I’ve lived a lot of what they were talking about. I graduated from college with a degree in business in ’51, and all potential employers wanted to know was how fast I could type. The young men got the great jobs. The story of our church and the story of our society really parallel one another. The play last night showed that clearly.”

First-time delegate Sharon Massey of the Diocese of North Carolina said, “It was wonderful to see all that history so neatly laid out. I laughed. I cried. What a great gift.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury (aka \”ABC\”) Rowan Williams had just one day to spend at General Convention, and he made a point of devoting a portion of his time to the Episcopal Church Women.

He and his entourage, including what appeared to be a security team, were escorted into our plenary session and he quietly took a seat. He indicated he wanted to listen for a few minutes to what was being said before addressing us, so our chaplain, the Rev. Dr. Ellen Sloan, continued her meditation on the true meaning of grace. Hint: it has nothing to do with being \”a ticket to heaven.\”

Once he got to the microphone, he first acknowledged the tension between the Episcopal Church and some others within the Anglican Communion, characterizing it as \”rocky times.\” But he quickly moved onto his theme, the transformational capacity of women\’s ministry such as the Mothers\’ Union, which has a huge presence in Europe and Africa, and the Episcopal Church Women.

Here, in part, is what he had to say: \”In your sharing of care and prayer, what you have is one of the most deep-rooted and enduring things that keeps our community together. It is profoundly sacramental. What unites Christians is the presence to one another in Christ; this is what you represent and live out.

\”It is clear that the women of faith are among the most effective leaders of lasting and prophetic change. That is because, in so many contexts around the world, with women it\’s the grassroots. With this approach you provide the lever for real and lasting and profound change. You are the people that will bring about the Millennium Development Goals or whatever need is determined.

\”I say, if you want transformation look to the women.\”

In all, he was with us 20 minutes. Not long after he offered a meditation during the daily Eucharist, again touching on issues of brokenness and reconciliation.

\”I don\’t like coded messages and hidden agendas,\” he said in opening. \”So I\’ll speak plainly. Thank you for the invitation to join you and for your continued willingness to engage in the wider life of the communion. Of course I\’m coming here with hopes and anxieties. One of my hopes is there won\’t be decisions made in the coming days that will push us further apart.\”

Perhaps what he was talking about was B033, a resolution adopted by the 2006 General Convention. It calls for restraint in electing as bishops those whose \”manner of life,\” widely understood to mean homosexuality, would cause concern for the rest of the Anglican Communion.

Revisiting B033 has created quite a stir in the House of Deputies, where opinion remains split between rejecting the resolution and preserving it.

The gang\’s all here in the Diocese of Los Angeles.

Good thing as the activity level, already humming along, has picked up. Joining me in Anaheim are the following Diocesan ECW board members:.

Alice Freeman, a member of the deputation from North Carolina, who\’s also an ECW delegate given that she\’s the United Thank Offering Coordinator for the diocese.

Sharon Massey, an at-large delegate and triennial newbie. Sharon is chair of the Durham Convocation ECW.

Vivian Edwards, who, as Altar Guild Coordinator for our diocese is contributing to the altar guild effort for the convention\’s daily community Eucharist.

We very much miss Moli Jones, Church Periodical Club Director. She was to have been a part of the delegation, but her for-pay job obligations called.

This afternoon the House of Bishops requested that the Millennium Development Goals remain a program and budget priority for the Episcopal Church for the next triennium. But then they went even further. They not only recommended reinstatement of the MDGs budget line item of 0.7%, but to raise it to 1% of the non-government revenue of the Church! All three of North Carolina\’s bishops voted in favor of this.

Word around the convention center is that the budget people at the national level completely underestimated the belief in the MDGs as a way for the Episcopal Church to live into its mission. Kay Meyer, president of the National ECW, had testified in a hearing to the vital role of the MDGs in women\’s ministries, and Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation executive director, the Rev. Devon Anderson along with the Rev. Ian Douglas, EGR board member and co-founder, had also spoken to the passion of the Church\’s grassroots for the Goals. And each of them stressed that national leadership was needed if these efforts are to be sustained.

Still and all, the recommendations and affirmative votes don\’t guarantee funding of the Goals at the national level. That decision rests with the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance (PB&F), and they\’ve been told income during the 2010-2012 triennium could be $9 million less than forecast last January, when Executive Council approved the draft budget.

This is why dozens of people representing various constituencies within the Episcopal Church again pled their case before PB&F tonight. Episcopal Church camps, ministries for Native Americans, deaf congregations, the bishops of Haiti and Columbia, and Christian education directors were just some of those seeking to maintain funding levels. Dr. Dianne Suber, president of Saint Augustine\’s College in Raleigh, spoke on behalf of the country\’s three historically black Episcopal colleges. And Devon Anderson was back to bat for the MDGs.

\”Symbols like the cross convey the images of our core values. They are visual proclamations. Likewise, the MDG line item in our national church budget is a singular proclamation, a symbol of who we are in relation to the world\’s poorest people,\” she said. \”The choice to be faithful to the MDGs will cost us, but it will cost us more if we aren\’t.\”

The House of Deputies has adopted five priorities proposed by the Program, Budget and Finance Committee that will guide the mission of the Episcopal Church for the next three years. Included is reinstatement of a triennial budget line appropriating 0.7% in revenue for specific Millennium Development Goal spending as well as Christian education and formation. The resolution now goes to the House of Bishops for consideration.