The Rev. Martha Kreamer

Don’t sweat the small stuff

It has been a privilege to be in Anaheim at the General Convention and I’ve been blessed by beautiful worship, by the faithfulness and dedication of everyone involved, and by the 800 deputies, 300 bishops, and 2000 volunteers who made everything go smoothly; not to mention the ECW, youth presence, DOK, and Altar Guild.  Paul and I enjoyed an emerging church worship experience sponsored by the Diocese of Los Angeles, which included rock music, lights painting, poetry reading, and Christian rap music, a cross made of computer screens, and a constantly changing background of contemplative photographs and provocative words.  We also went to an U2charist featuring a Bono double who was excellent.

I spent most of my spare time working on a resolution concerning domestic violence prevention.  I was pleased when this resolution passed unanimously and ratified the outpouring of support that I received.  
The controversial issues took up a very small portion of our time.  The sixteen resolutions originally presented to the convention were far more radical in calling for an outright rejection of the moratoria, which The Episcopal Church has kept since 2003, and which moratoria have been continuously violated by a minority of Primates from the Global South over the same period.  In my opinion, this violation is more about politics and money than about theology or morality.  

I voted against the attached resolution, as did our deputation, but I can live with it, because there is much in it to commend.  We are a messy church because democracy is a messy process at best!  But to continue in the tension of differing opinions on many issues, without turning our backs on relationships with those who disagree, is one of the things I value most about our Anglican Tradition.  I believe that, as one speaker put it, it is not in the certainty of the right or the left, but in that humble tension that the Holy Spirit operates. Our key strength is that we pray what we believe.  That is Biblical and faithful, and we are enriched by hearing the Gospel & living it, and going to a Lord’s table that is open to all.  Everything else is small stuff.   Don’t sweat the small stuff.  God is good, all the time.
 
 
In Christ,
Martha+

 

 

 

May 19, 2009

Greetings in Christ!   As some of you are aware, your General Convention Deputies have already been busy, making travel plans, getting to know other deputies via email lists, and trying to keep up with the volumes of information which has flooded our inboxes since February.  This being my first time, I must confess to being somewhat overwhelmed!

Through the emails, I have learned to identify myself as C4, Diocese of Central Gulf Coast—meaning I was the fourth clergy deputy elected!  Who knew we would be ranked, alphabetically and  numerically??!!  [Acronyms are prolific—but I’ll save that to another time.] I was also tipped off to wear comfortable shoes and bring a rolling suitcase to convention to carry paperwork.  That was a bit hard to wrap my mind around, until UPS delivered the “blue book” of pre-filed convention materials—all 881 telephone-book-sized pages.  Now I’m convinced—they weren’t joking about the rolling suitcase!

We have had two meetings so far as a Diocesan deputation.  First, just a chance to get to know each other a bit, and to share our concerns and hopes for the convention.  Secondly, on Wednesday May 13, 2009, we met with our talented Communications Czar, Cindy McCrory, to watch the webcast interview with the Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori; President of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson; Executive Officer and Secretary of the General Convention, the Rev. Gregory Straub; and Bishop J. Jon Bruno of the Diocese of Los Angeles, the host diocese.    Plans for the convention sound amazing, and we are looking forward to it!   (My husband, Paul, will be a volunteer, so we will be sharing this first General Convention experience together.)

Also on Wednesday, Cindy briefed us on this blog business, and offered to make it simple to use, for those of us who have never blogged before.  So,….stepping off the edge, now……..here goes!   May God the Holy Spirit guide us all, on earth and in cyberspace, as in heaven!

 

July 11, 2009

Well, my fellow deputies are way ahead of me in blogging! I’ve spent every spare minute for the first two days doing two things: preparing to coach our Public Narrative sessions [I was assigned to a table with East Carolina, right across the aisle from our deputation] and writing a resolution, getting 2 more deputies to sponsor it with me, and submitting it by the 5pm deadline on July 9. Sounds easy, but the first time through the process was a learning curve. Then there’s the fact that the subject matter, domestic violence, is deeply emotional for me, too. Please pray for the passage of my resolution, D079. D means it was drafted by a Deputy. There are 4 types of resolutions:

  A…. submitted by CCABs of General Convention in their Report to the 76th General Convention. {the “blue book”)     B…. submitted by bishops.    C…. submitted by dioceses or provinces.     D…. submitted by deputies.  

As the bishop mentioned, our day starts at 8am sharp (that is, if we don’t have a legislative committee meeting at 7am). I soon found out that it’s best to be in place at least 10 minutes early, to have time to file the latest stack of papers in order in the proper section of our 5 inch notebooks–so we can find them quickly. And I do mean QUICKLY. Here’s the sequence: The resolution is announced by number, a second is called for, and if there is no debate, a vote takes place in about 30 seconds, and on to the next item on the daily calendar [or the consent calendar, or the supplemental calendar--keeping track of which is half the fun!]  So far, we have dealt with several things of wide-ranging importance, not the least of which is our comunion relationship with the Moravian church.  This means a great deal to me, since I spent time as a youth in Winston-Salem, NC, which is home to many Moravians.  I’ll try to go back and mention the rest later.

 

Business is dealt with with dispatch–Bonnie Anderson, president, does an amazing job with both efficiency and grace. Thanks to her and the remarkable secretary of the convention, our business is punctuated with good humor, often enough to keep things lively. More zing is provided by the remarkable wardrobe of blazers worn by our secretary–find some photos if you want to know what I mean. Not to mention the soaring visit of the dove (OK, some would say pigeon) which flew through the House just as we finally got the voting keypads to work!!!!! Then there are the diocesan mascots! In order to demonstrate to us newbies the proper procedure in the House of Deputies, a sample resolution was introduced and debated to ask all the deputations to add some visual interest to their signs, emphasizing something characteristic about their diocese. Vince had come prepared for us–seafood, naturally! I’m sending a photo so you’ll know what I mean.

 

I’ll try to catch up in another post, but rest assured we are having an amazing time. Paul is enjoying his volunteer work, with his yellow apron. Maggie has been here for a good visit and helped Paul & Kathy with the hospitality suite next to Bishop Duncan’s room. The daily worship has been glorious, and the chaplain’s meditations and prayers which begin and end each session of the House of Deputies have been both inspiring and grounding. God is good, all the time! And I am very grateful to be a part of this amazing body.

Ubuntu,

Martha+

 

The Rev. Martha Kreamer

July 20, 2009