Day 3 snapshot (Sean)

It's been a long day, and we're beat. I hope to catch up here maybe tomorrow with more detail on today's activities, but tonight I just don't have the energy. To make matters worse, I have Red Cross curriculum development that is due Sunday, and Tropical Depression 1 has formed in the Caribbean (we are, actually, on call already for hurricane season).

In the meantime, a quick snapshot: This morning was Plenary-III, wherein we debated and voted on the Statement of Conscience (SOC) on "Creating Peace," which had been referred back to committee last year, and also voted on choosing one of five Congregational Study Action Issues (CSAIs). A very moving part of the morning's ceremonies for us, of course, was the presentation of the Distinguished Service Award to our very own Reverend Jane Rzepka. We also heard reports from the treasurer and financial advisor, and Louise will be posting some details of those in due time.

As a quick summary, we passed the SOC on Creating Peace by a landslide after some contentious adopting of amendments. I may have cast the only "nay" vote in the room, and when I have time I will explain my reasons. The amendment process and several motions to extend debate put Plenary a full hour over, and we ended just in time for Louise to go to choir (more precisely, stay at choir, which was scheduled for the main hall and booted Plenary out). That meant I had to forego a 1pm session so I could go home and walk the dog, and I made it back to the MCC just in time for the Legacy donor reception. As for the CSAIs, the votes had not yet been tallied by the time we adjourned, so we will find out tomorrow morning if one had a majority, or if, more likely, we will have a runoff vote.

After the donor reception we did our second hour of booth duty at the CLF booth, having already done an hour yesterday. That took us right up to the CLF worship, and we helped cart the various accoutrements over to the ballroom for the service. Worship was good, as always, with sermons by Reverends Abhi Janamanchi and Gail Geisenheimer (and please excuse me if I got the spelling of either name incorrectly, I don't have them handy, but will correct them here later as needed). We ended up wit usher duty as well, and since we were already there helped get everything back to the booth.

By this time it was pouring rain with a tornado watch, and we decided to wait out the storm downtown rather than riding the scooters back home, so we took advantage of Minneapolis' enclosed "Sky Walk" system to make our way to the Hilton for dinner.

Tomorrow we have another early start and long plenaries; we'll see if I find time to update here. I do hope to share with you some more about the SOC and CSAI votes and process today.