Away I go to Synod Convention

I'm headed away from the computer again for a few days. I've been chosen as a voting lay delegate (as opposed to ordained delegates) at Synod Assembly (the Lutheran church is divided into synods by region, and these synods gather once a year to vote on various pieces of legislation and to elect leaders).

Will it be a mountain-top experience like a retreat at Lutheridge? Will it be more like a multiple day department meeting? I shall report back.

We're meeting at a resort in Orlando, which feels strange to me. When I was an adolescent, Synod Convention was held at a college which had just let students go for the summer, and I think the South Carolina Synod still meets that way at Newberry College, my alma mater.

But a resort . . . that's a lot of money. Wouldn't we do better to give that money to the poor? Do we really need to gather as a group? Can't we do our business electronically?

There might be good reasons for meeting in person, not the least of which would be fellowship and the ability to worship together. I'll keep an open mind and report back. I've about decided that I won't even take the laptop. There's not much time, after all. I'll be back at the home computer before it even realizes I've been gone.