Our delegates to the ECW Triennial Meeting in Indianapolis.
Alongside the General Convention the Episcopal Church Women gather for their triennial meeting. The following is a report from Cristy Jordan of St. Patrick’s Pooler who is one of five women representing the Diocese of Georgia at the ECW meeting:
General Convention and the Triennial are an awe inspiring experience, and it’s difficult to put it into words. Morning Eucharist is shared with hundreds of people from all over the U.S. and beyond. Prayers and Readings are spoken in multiple languages and hearing hundreds of voices singing and breaking bread together is soul touching.
The love of The Episcopal Church reaches beyond places that I could have imagined. The first night here I attended the Overseas Bishops dinner. Some of the Bishops traveled as many as 20 hours just to be here. There is a female Bishop of Cuba, which is a very special occurrence. The Bishops were from Taiwan, Africa, Uganda, Dominican Republic, Canada (they joked his was the Bishop from over the lakes, not seas) and several other countries were represented. They all spoke of the love and generosity of the Episcopal Church and their own personal experiences. Some spoke in English and others in their native language and had translators, their message was loud and clear even without the translators.
Of course, there is also the business aspect of both Convention and Triennial. The schedule is tight, if you come thinking you’re going to see the City sights -ha! We all go from meeting, to voting, listening to reports committees, eating and sleeping a little bit (I laid down thinking for only a minute between breaks -feel asleep for 20 minutes with my shoes on). Discussions are respectful but can become very heated at times. There is talk of change and restructure on both sides, Convention and Triennial. Change is sometimes hard to accept and many discussions are still to be had.
This is all overwhelming at times but it’s opened my thought about the Episcopal Church and the reaches we have around the world. At the end of the day, what country or state, your native language or your age, our overall mission is to share God’s love with the world and that’s what this experience is teaching me.
God’s Peace from Indy,
Cristy
