Where I'll Be a Week from Now: Synod Assembly!

A week from today, I'll be at Synod Assembly.  We'll meet on Thursday and begin the process of selecting a bishop.  I wonder where we'll be in the process by this time next week.

I'm hoping that I'll leave inspired by how we've been open to the Holy Spirit.  I'm hoping that I'll have insight into how the discernment process can work.

Of course, I'm worried that I'll see the ugly side of people, which is always discouraging, but never more so than when Christians, who are commanded to love each other, act in icky ways.

By this time next week, we'll have whittled down a list of possibilities.  What will the candidates look like?

If you look at the pastors who attend Synod Assembly, you'd assume that chances are good we'll be in the process of deciding between older, white men.  But maybe the Holy Spirit will surprise us.

I've written before that I'd like to see a woman leading the Florida-Bahamas Synod.  But more than gender, I'd like to see someone who's creative and capable of leading us in new directions.  I'm not exactly sure what that would look like--will I recognize that person if I see him or her a week from today?

I'm also looking forward to the chance to see people from across the state.  By now, I've been attending long enough that some of the faces are familiar.  Plus, I'm riding up with a church member who feels like a kindred spirit; he's the one who took a side trip to Merton's abbey, since he was nearby for a family wedding.

I'm also hoping that there's a meet-up time for people who are discerning a call.  I'm discerning something, but I'm not sure it's a call to traditional ministry.

Of course, I'll be taking notes and writing blog posts about the whole event.  I like the idea of a blog as a historical record, one that might be easier for future scholars to find and use than traditional private journals have been.