164th Diocesan Convention

Graced with Light, by Anne Patterson, at Grace Cathedral.

As they did last year, delegates from 74 Episcopal congregations gathered at Grace Cathedral to conduct the business of the Diocese of California (summary here).

Like most corporations, non-profits, and other non-governmental entities, the Diocese is required to have an annual meeting to receive reports, elect officers, and vote on resolutions. Over the years it's been a challenge to avoid losing control over time, since every Episcopalian who loves to hear the sound of his or her own voice shows up at convention. (Your humble observer, a kindred soul to Chauncey Gardiner, just likes to watch.) The organizers are to be commended for strict enforcement of the two-minute speaking rule. (The bishop was exempt.)

The most spirited discussion concerned a resolution that would order the endowment manager to divest all shares in fossil-fuel companies, a tricky and somewhat costly proposition if one participates in a broad-based investment fund. A counter-proposal to invest new monies in alternative energies won the day, although everyone seemed to agree that being anti-carbon was a good thing. As for me, I sympathized with all the employees and retirees of Chevron, Exxon-Mobil, Philips Petroleum, and Occidental whose livelihood was lumped in with apartheid (divestment was a favorite method of expressing disapproval of South Africa in the 1980's). Fossil-fuel people won't debate, they'll just join the millions of others who have stopped coming.

So why do I stay? I've already stated my reasons, or maybe I'm just a creature of habit. © 2013 Stephen Yuen