June 13, 2006
GC 02
At TEC General Convention 2006
Beloved…
[My fellow reporter Pepper Marts from New Mexico, begins his dailies, “Beloved.” Although it may strike you as out of character, I thought I might as well do the same thing, wondering if maybe you’d see it as a move toward a more compassionate affect.]
When the Plano, TX, meeting of the American Anglican Council met in Dallas a few years ago, their conferees were admonished not to talk to “outsiders” nor even to each other, for that matter, for their attention to the agenda was more important. Just to keep them mindful of the gravity of the situation, six uniformed and armed Dallas police officers surrounded the room and barred the doors.
This morning’s press briefing sans cops is not nearly so somber, but grave enough. The church is proud of its electronic sophistication with all these ethernet and wireless possibilities, but the briefers had to work without microphones. There are four of them, two from the House of Deputies and two from the House of Bishops, plus a moderator.
The hot topic this morning is, of all things, about sex. One of the seven nominees for the new Presiding Bishop is a woman. The bishop-briefers were asked what they thought her chances of being elected PB are and, if she is, how that might affect the rest of the Anglican Communion which has a dim-enough view of us already. They demurred. They’re both males.
We were informed that there’ll be seating priorities at the press conferences. The big guns — AP, CNN, NPR, NYTimes, WSJ, etc, national and international media will get the best seats. Plain old newspapers next, then us shotgun alternates will be down at the end of the line. I don’t see anybody here from Time magazine, but then, I’m told, they don’t usually show up until there’s going to be blood. Mad magazine doesn’t appear to be here here, either. Whether they’re still in print, I don’t know, but nevertheless, OoN will keep up their tradition that “All The News That Fits, We’ll Print.”
Be well. Do good work. Keep in touch.