Sunday at lunch

Here is my first attempt at a live blog. Sitting in range from the Crown Plaza, using their free wireless hookup and recharging my laptop.

This morning we looked at the second of the Windsor Resolutions, A163, having to do with Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight, aka DEPO. We are the house of initial action on this one and it has been interesting to see how different people representing different streams have reacted and how the House as a whole is dealing with them.

The resolution as presented may be found here.

There was, first of all the call from several of the more "conservative" diocese to vote by Orders. This means that you have an actual roll call as to who voted "yes" and "no" and there is also the fact that it is harder to pass something because every 2/2 split in a lay or clergy deputation becomes one no vote instead of four discrete votes in that order. This was expected.

Next came two attempts to change the language. First by removing the words "when in good faith" a DEPO intervention is asked for. Second, by stengthening the language of the last resolve about diocesan boundaries to harken instead to canon and constitution instead of to historic precedent. The first proposed amendment was from conservatives who wanted a lower threshold for DEPO to take effect. The second came from those who wanted to put teeth into Bishops domestic and foreign who invade other jurisdictions. Both amendments failed by a wide margin despite the passions of those at the mikes.

This tells me that at the moment the House as a whole wants to stick with the work of the Special Commission and the Special Committee #26. There is also a sense that I have where the edges are being called to the center and the center is taking leadership.

We await both the news on the PB election (now in the third ballot, I hear) and the results of our own vote on A163.