Introduction!

My name is Ashley Miller. I'm 22 years old and I will be representing the Diocese of Spokane as a deputy to the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church in Anaheim, CA. WOO!

I am super excited about this fact because I have always been extremely interested in church governance and because I know I am very blessed to have been elected to serve as a deputy at such a young age. Only 2.7% of the lay deputies are under the age of 30 - that is to say, of the 900+ deputies, 25 of us are under 30, and 3 of those are first alternates. Needless to say, as a full on deputy I feel as though my diocese has put a lot of faith in me by giving me this opportunity and I am very proud to get to take such an active role in church formation. (Thanks, Diocese of Spokane!)

A little background on me: my home parish is St. John's Cathedral in Spokane where I served as an acolyte from age 10 to 18 (and sporadically now) and have served as a verger since 2003. (I have never been able to confirm this, but there is a very good chance I was the youngest female verger to date; if anyone can corroborate this I would appreciate being able to hold the bragging rights!) Perhaps most usefully, I was a delegate to our diocesan convention once and attended as a youth delegate several times. I also worked at our diocesan summer camp for two summers and have volunteered as a counselor many times. I am incredibly excited to apply my experience in the church to GC, but more importantly to learn from other Episcopalians and engage in dialogue and learn by experience how national church governance operates.

The easiest way to explain GC to anyone unfamiliar with it is this: if the Episcopal Church (TEC) were compared to the US government, the House of Deputies (which is comprised of lay people and clergy, 8 per diocese plus alternates) is like the US House of Representatives, the House of Bishops (self-explanatory) is like the Senate, but we only meet and vote on legislation once every three years for two weeks at a time. That's a lot of governing crammed into a short period of time combined with lots of prayer and fellowship. Some of it is rather ceremonial, some of it forms national mission imperatives, and some of it can make a big splash domestically and internationally. My goal in this blog is to document some of my daily experiences to give everyone a taste of what it will be like to be at GC, to report on facts and events of importance to me. I hope also to comment on the decisions made and some of my opinions on them. Looking at the big book of legislation (fondly called the Blue Book even though its cover is crimson this year), I fully expect to be so overwhelmed for awhile that I might not be able to process everything and understand its implications right away, but I'm sure there will be mountains of bloggers eager to contribute to that aspect.

Tomorrow, we have our first deputation meeting, which I can't wait for because it's going to give me tons of information about what to expect and what's going to happen and where I'm sleeping - you know, little details like that. :) Until then, keep checking back for updates,talk about GC with your friends, and keep all the bishops, deputies, volunteers, and visitors in your prayers. The action starts July 7!