What a full full day! This morning was spent in intense discussion about Belhar in advisory committees, mine went long. I then rushed to lunch late with some friends I haven't seen in years and then rushed back to the Advisory Committee on Women's Ministries. Being moderator for this committee has been an interesting experience and more intense than I anticipated. This meeting too ran long. I was afraid we were in big trouble when the first item on the agenda, purposely positioned as the one item I thought we would be able to quickly take care of took much longer than anticipated. However, given the large agenda of business before the committee including two recommendations and seven overtures, we were able to work through the agenda diligently, giving fair voice to each item in the time we had to work with. After the meeting, as moderator, the vice moderator and I needed to prepare the report and then have it reviewed. This was my first experience moderating a committee and preparing a report.
The irony of the committee running long, preparing the report and having it reviewed with staff is that we missed the special women's dinner as well as the first half of the celebration for the ordination of women! The vice moderator and I are both female ministers of word and sacrament as we "missed our own celebration" because we were working on behalf of women! I am okay with all of it and find it somewhat humorous. I would have loved to have seen some of the videos shown and heard some of the speeches, stories, and recognitions, but it just did not work out that way. Such is life, sometimes we end up missing our own party!