Worth the bumpy ride to be at General Convention

Carrington Wingard is in Austin serving as the Alternate Lay Deputy for The Episcopal Church in South Carolina. This is her reprt as our Deputy of the Day for July 8. 

Carrington Wingard, second from left, at the Eucharist
where she presented South Carolina's UTO Ingathering gift. 

I was the last member of the deputation to get to Austin. Probably fitting, since I am the alternate lay deputy. My flight from Charlotte was uneventful until we were ready to land. After initially announcing that we would be at the gate in 30 minutes, the pilot then said that we would be experiencing some turbulence, as there were “storms over the airport”. We would have to circle around awhile as we could not land. And keep those seat belts fastened and there would be bumps. So we circled and bumped, a lot of bumps. The pilot tried to land once, landing gear down. But he had to pull up.

He announced that the wind was too strong, fuel was running low, and we had to go to San Antonio for refueling. We bumped our way over there, got our fuel and after about an hour on the tarmac, headed back to Austin. This time we made it with continuing bumps. 

In spite of all the bumps, the Episcopal Church in South Carolina had fully arrived at General Convention. As the alternate, I can enjoy the informative sessions, beautiful worship services, and lively debate, without the responsibility of voting. Besides the official business of the convention, related groups such as Episcopal Church Women (ECW) and National Altar Guild are meeting and having events. 

The United Thank Offering (UTO) had its Ingathering at the Friday Eucharist. Each diocese had a representative present its contribution for the past triennium. It was my great pleasure to represent South Carolina. We had a rehearsal to practice walking up on the platform behind the altar, placing the contribution card in a special basket, and then shaking the hands of the Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies.

Shaking hands with Presiding Bishop Curry.

We were given strict instructions that we could only shake hands, no hugging allowed. Those were good instructions. Bishop Curry preaches a message of love and inclusiveness, and hugging somehow seems more appropriate than handshaking. So 100+ women were well admonished not to hug. The service would have gone far too long for all of us to do that, and we all probably would have. 

Even though we were in a “no hug zone”, the love and inclusiveness of TEC was surrounding us. The wonderful mission work accomplished by the UTO shows our love for those in need both here and throughout the world. Worth a bumpy ride to get to Austin to be a part of this amazing church.