The Rev. Maggie Zeller
The House of Deputies is staring at the end of our time together with way too much left to do. Every day, we get a calendar for the day, a consent calendar for the next day and then one, two or three supplemental calendars! Now that wouldn’t be so bad if we actually did all of that stuff on the day it gets on the calendar. But we just got to day six today even though this is day eight! So we are probably going to have a session tomorrow night in addition to the morning and afternoon sessions.
My committee, Prayer Book Liturgy and Music, is still meeting. We have what we hope will be our final meeting in the morning. We have had quick meetings at the end of the afternoon legislative sessions yesterday and today. But we expect to finish up tomorrow, prioritizing the resolutions that are most important and putting whatever we can on the consent calendar.
Today was the introduction of the final budget. There are many deep cuts but I don’t think any of them are unjustifiable. We have added back support for the MDGs, reduced money for interim meetings and reduced diocesan asking for the second two years of the triennium. Should anyone wish to add money back to a line, they must also propose where to take it from. My guess is that it will pass with no problems.
We will also have a chance to concur with the House of Bishops on a resolution about same gender blessings (C056).
So don’t think things are winding down. You might even say they are winding up! Stayed tuned….