Day Two

I can hardly believe that the second day is almost over. 

One reason, is because yesterday was so insane. The second, is because today's been so much fun; time really does fly when one's having fun. My flight yesterday was at 7AM out of BWI. So, of course, Mom and I were out of the house and on the road by 4:30AM. Seven hours later, I was walking into the Millennium Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Of course, I'm my grandmother's granddaughter...I went to the wrong hotel. So, in reality, it was about 11:45 when I got to the right place. One thing about Minnesota that I was shamefully unaware of, it's embarrassing because my family's from Minnesota, is that there are these skyways that go from building to building in downtown MN. What are skyways, you might ask? They're like tunnels, just two stories above ground. Created in 1962, their primary purpose was to offer an alternate means of transportation during the winter months when temperatures can get to -50F. Makes sense. Not everyone likes to go outside when it's that cold outside. So. I first go to the wrong hotel and then I'm left to navigate through these skyways, desperately trying to find the Minneapolis Conference Center. Took about an hour, but I finally found it...missed the youth luncheon, but at that point that was the least of my worries. Things finally started to settle around 4PM, when everyone gathered to have worship. The worship service was really the opening ceremony for this event. I'm sure many, if not all of you, have seen at least one Olympic Opening Ceremony. It was similar to that. Just like the athletes walk around a stadium and proudly represent their country, bishops and pastors from all over the United States represented their synods. Of course, not all the pastors were out there, but my guess is that there was at least one pastor or bishop from each synod. They all wore a plain, white pastoral robes, formally called albs, so while they all might not have known each other, they looked very much like a community. Bishop Mark Hanson, the current presiding bishop of the ELCA, had a wonderful sermon. You can find it online at the ELCA website. I strongly urge you to check it out! After coming together and worshipping, the voting members of the assembly dined in one of the many halls and then promptly (at 7PM) gathered in the assembly hall, where we were had a brief orientation and then adopted the rules that we will use, when voting, for the rest of the week. 

*breath* I'm sorry, that was all quite longwinded. But, I can assure you, the afternoon was packed and busy.

At dinner I was able to meet a lot of the other voting members from the Metropolitan Washington D.C. Synod. All in all, the members are Mr. Kevin Anderson, Pr. Anne Dwiggins, Bp Richard Graham, Mr. Phil Moeller, Pr Mark Olsen, Mr Tommie Robinson Jr, Dr. Diane Yeager, and me. Other members of the synod who are not voting include Drew Genszler, Ida Hakkarinen, Darrell Morton, Kate Murray, Pr. Amy Savimli, and Robin Steinke. I wish you could meet them all! They each have different backgrounds and are incredible people, I'm so happy to be able to work beside them this week. The assembly room is set up with voting members sitting with their synods, so this week is really a great opportunity for one to meet and get to know members in their synod. Which, as a newcomer, creates a smaller family within the larger community meeting here this week. 

With rules of procedure to decide upon, the assembly stayed in session until about 11PM. Talk about a long day. But, a lot of conversation was had and at least one important issue was discussed, so all in all, it was considered a good day!

As everyone leaves the Conference Center, going their own separate ways until tomorrow morning, I think this is my cue to leave too. I realize I haven't even touched on what was discussed and decided today, but for security reasons it's not smart to hang out here by oneself. 

Until tomorrow, Godbless!