this summer, from July 7-17, Deputies from every diocese in The Episcopal Church (TEC) will gather in Anaheim, CA to meet each other, to share stories of local struggles and successes, and to tend to the work of the church.

TEC’s homepage provides links to background information about the General Convention of the church, which meets every three years.  The Diocese of Spokane will also have links from its homepage, including connections to Deputy blogs and video.

About ‘Ubuntu,’ Archbishop Desmond Tutu says the following:

“One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu – the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can’t be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality – Ubuntu – you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.” (from Wikipedia)

Deputies from the Diocese of Spokane are (clerical order) Kristi Philip — co-chair, Brian Prior — vp, house of deputies, Bill Ellis, and Paul Lebens-Englund, as well as (lay order) Bryan Krislock — co-chair, Carolyn Terry, Bob Runkle, and Ashley Miller.  Spokane will also send two alternates to GC’09 — Gretchen Rehberg (clerical) and Pia Longinotti (lay).