The journey started on October 19, or maybe it started decades ago.  Fact is, though, I didn't know I was on this particular journey until after the Russian River Deanery convocation on October 19.  Fall convocations are devoted to preparing for Diocesan Conventions, important in the Episcopal Church since the people, gathered in Convention, make the policy decisions and some operational decisions, for the Diocese.  For the most part Episcopal Church Dioceses are autonomous, but operate within the framework of the (mostly U.S., but with ten non-U.S. dioceses) Episcopal Church. It's important to know what you are will vote on when you go to Convention - so if you are a delegate, you go to the fall convocation.

Not an exciting meeting - typical batch of policy resolutions - not very contentious since the Church has  pretty much come down on the side of inclusion.  And then there were the introductions of nominees for Diocesan governance offices.  What caught my eye were the nominees for Lay Deputy to the Episcopal Church's 2015 General Convention (GC2015) in Salt Lake City - there were four very good nominees, but only four and there were eight positions to be filled (four Deputies and four Alternates).  Not good - every Diocese should have a full representation - but there's a nomination from the floor process, so more folks could be nominated and elected.

Driving back to The Sea Ranch that afternoon, I thought (or maybe the Holy Spirit nudged - we shall see) about offering myself as a nominee.  As the miles passed, the thoughts congealed into a coherent whole.  Although I'd never been a Deputy, I do know my way around General Convention, having represented the Church's Committee on Science, Technology, and Faith in 2006 and 2009 (Convention happens every three years).  And I've been part of the Diocesan governance structure.  Restructuring the Episcopal Church is going to be a big deal at GC2015 and I've worked on the restructuring of the Diocese of Northern California.  For nearly ten years I've been following the HoB/D (House of Bishops/House of Deputies) listserv, an informal list where a subset of Deputies and a few Bishops hash out ideas on issues they think are important.  And anyway, Joan and I have been planning to be at GC2015 since we have family in Salt Lake City.  Offering myself as Deputy seemed less and less crazy.

So I did.  The Very Reverend Matthew Lawrence, Dean of the Russian River Deanery, graciously nominated me.  Three or four others were nominated from the floor.  The nomination and balloting process seemed pretty chaotic.  Suffice to say by the third ballot three Deputies had been chosen and I had no clue re my chances of election.  I figured it would take many more ballots to elect the fourth Deputy and to get the order of Alternates set.  Also figured this was a good time to let the Holy Spirit sort things out.  Lo and behold, on the next ballot, I was elected Deputy, the order of the Alternates was set, and the election was over.

So, what next?  Lots of prep work, lots of digging into issues, all leading up the ten days in June/July 2015 as a member of what is thought to be the largest legislative body in the United States.  My ambitious goal for this blog is to keep a record of this experience; to do so will be a good discipline and provide insights into the Church's journey (and mine) for folks who don't find slogging through this kind of stuff completely boring.