Failing and Flourishing

The Episcopal Church (TEC) recently held its remarkable General Convention in Austin, Texas. Part synod, part trade exhibition, and part extended family reunion, the event described as one of the largest democratic legislative gatherings in the world brought more than 3000 people together in an apparent display of energy and confidence. Its work included taking positions on the wider issues of immigration, Israel-Palestine, and the ecological crisis. There were also the more inhouse questions of readmitting the Episcopal Church of Cuba as a diocese, and of prayer book revision, including a complex debate about the calendar of saints and its membership.