Re: [HoB/D] Thinking outside the flooded box

[Louie Crew <lcrew@andromeda.rutgers.edu>]

There must be other, perhaps better ways, that you can lobby your 
issues.   They are important to you, but must be secondary to why we 
have a convention.

Of course housing the poor for those days would be but a drop in the 
bucket of their need, but it would be important.  Even if we did not 
bring the poor of New Orleans, we could provide it for the poor of 
Columbus as their surrogates.  And we could have deputies who insisted 
on coming, to come and listen to the poor describe their lives and 
their need.

That's but a small part of the savings.  The huge savings would be the
diocesan money set aside for paying the way and the lodging of at least one
bishiop and typically 8 deputies and 2 alternates.

As to reforming the current practices to make the convention less 
expensive, of course we need those, but that's a distraction from the 
radical action that I am proposing as a one-time act of GC 2006. 
Also, all efforts to economize in recent conventions have been signally 
unimpressive, and we would have no clear way to pass along the savings 
to the uninsured victims of Katrina.

Of course GC will have several hundred resolutions to consider, but 
the most urgent of those could be handled, as they are between GCs 
anyway, by Executive Council.  We also have nearly 100% of the 
deputies and bishops online, and it would be possible to use cyber 
connections to facilitate the election of the new officers of the 
House of Deputies, the new class of Executive Council, and other elections
normally done at Convention physically.

Extraordinary?  Of course.  Do the circumstances merit it?  That is, 
would the money sent to those without insurance be worth more in God's 
economy?  Absolutely.

We have a major opportunity here.  It will be easy to find hundreds of 
rationalizations not to seize it.  That's true with almost every
opportunity that God gives us through putting in our path sisters and
brothers in great need.

Thanks for sharing your reflections.

L.

  On Aug 31 10:22pm XXXX wrote:

>> I urge us to cancel General Convention 2006, have the House of Bishops 
>> elect the new Presiding Bishop at their meeting next spring, have the 
>> deputies confirm the election by a mail ballot, and give to the victims of 
>> Katrina who have no insurance all the money we would spend going to the 
>> Convention. What a witness we would make for God's priorities!  Any 
>> contracts we're stuck with for hotels could be honored by provide those 
>> spaces for the poor, who will apparently need it for a long time.
>> 
>
> <snip>
>
> I agree that an event like General Convention costs an ungodly amount of 
> money.  And I liked someone's suggestion a couple of years ago that we 
> consider renting space some place like a college campus for future 
> conventions instead of an overpriced convention center with high-priced 
> hotels and restaurants.  Since the exhibitors are charged $1300 (for those of 
> us active Episcopalians who aren't considered "church-related") for a 10'X10' 
> piece of floor, I assumed that we exhibitors bear the brunt of the cost of 
> the convention center, at least.  (Are there any ways costs could be cut 
> without cancelling altogether -- even shortening the number of days?  Is 
> there anything you'll be discussing and voting on besides the next PB?  And 
> would the credit from the hotel deposits in Columbus be enough to house the 
> refugees of the Gulf Coast for more than 9 or 10 nights?)
>
> Nevertheless, the cost of an exhibit booth is worth every cent to have the 
> kind of exposure to, and interaction with hundred/thousands of people from 
> across the country and beyond over the many days of the convention.
>
> If General Convention would be cancelled, it would feel like someone pulled 
> the rug out from under our hope.
>
> And I doubt that Jos T. Griffin would refund our deposit money for the 
> Exhibit Hall (which wouldn't help the hurricane refugees at all).
>
> Selfishly, perhaps, our mission would be so "HoBlD" if the convention would 
> be cancelled.
> And I (speaking only for myself) would lose heart.
>
> On the eve of ENAW's first anniversary,
>
> Kibitzer, Diocese of XXXXXXXX
> GC2006 Exhibit Hall Booth # XXXXXXX
> XXXXXXXXX  XXXXXXXX