“The water’s fine”

But is it?  Massachusetts deputy Fredrica Harris Thompsett weighs in after yesterday’s joint session on creation care (watch it by going to the Media Hub and clicking on “TEConversations”).

“Those who know me know I am a great fan of Holy Baptism. It grounds all ministries and deserves attention not just at the start of our lives (if we were baptized as infants) or when we made an adult decision, but also throughout our lives.

“So I have happily been wearing a pin that says ‘The Water’s Fine.’  But is it fine when 900 million Africans do not have access to daily water?  Is it fine when most of these cherished children of God come from the poorest of the poor?  Is it fine when there is too much water in some places and too little water in others?  Is it fine when many on the continent of Africa and elsewhere predict that there will be ‘water wars’ in our future?

“We learned today from the Most Rev. Thabo Mkgoba that water justice is a critical and daily reality in much of Africa.

“We in Massachusetts know that creation care in our state, throughout our nation and the world is a challenge.  Please pay attention, look and see how we are using our water resources.  Yes, today at General Convention I learned again the importance of remembering the just sanctity of our globe’s holy waters.

“Peace to one and all.”

And here, Massachusetts alternate deputy Sue Perkinson shares that powerful testimony has staying power through the long working days of the convention:

“We are all quite tired by this time in the convention.  We have been working long hours and debating and crafting resolutions in committee and on the floors of both houses.  The testimony from women (mostly) as a result of the #MeToo response has been strong and jarring and riveting.  I continue to be haunted by the women at the Hutto Detention Center.  We heard powerful testimony from Archbishop Thabo Mkgoba of South Africa about water shortages and the impact always on the poorest.  We heard about the native people of Alaska:  how their sacred lands and the caribou are being decimated by drilling.  ‘Our children deserve to see the world as it was in the beginning—-not what it is after we are done with it.'”

Yesterday’s legislative highlights include:

• The House of Bishops said no to prayer book revision in the form of a complete rewrite of Resolution A068 approved last week by the House of Deputies.  The amended proposal from the bishops keeps the 1979 Book of Common Prayer in place as “a prayer book of the church” and calls for the creation of a task force to encourage and report on new language translations and liturgical resources and experimentation in dioceses over the triennium.  Read The Living Church report here.  The amended resolution now goes back to the House of Deputies.

• After much committee deliberation over precedent and procedure, the House of Bishops voted to admit the Episcopal Church of Cuba as a diocese of the Episcopal Church.  The measure now goes to the House of Deputies.  Read Episcopal News Service coverage here.

• The Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance yesterday got the church’s proposed budget for 2019-2021 balanced at $133.8 million and will present it this afternoon at a joint session of both houses for their separate consideration.  Episcopal News Service gets into the numbers and process here.

Check out what’s on the legislative docket for today in the House of Deputies here, and the House of Bishops here.

A sure sign that the finish line is in sight:  The Exhibit Hall closes later today.