Following Clergy Deputy Andrew Cooley, a member of the Committee on Dispatch of Business

It is the job of the The Committee for the Dispatch of Business to keep legislation moving through the Convention. The Rev. Andrew Cooley is a member of that committee, and is assigned as the liaison to the Committee on Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music. That committee has dealt with several resolutions throughout the Convention, and on Monday, was workng to complete its inital work on a resolution C056, which calls for the development of theological resources and liturgies of blessing for same-gender "holy unions." This post is not about the content of that resolution, but about Cooley's role in physically moving that piece of legislation from committee to the floor of the House of Deputies.

Here is how Cooley's day unfolded:

6:30 am – Caucus of the Colorado deputation and breakfast

7:30 am – Open session of the Committee on Prayer Book, Liturgy & Music, which is working to complete their work on resolution C056, which deals with same-sex blessings. The Committee is keen to complete work on the resolution so that it will go on to the House of Bishops with adequate time for it to be addressed by both houses during this Convention. Cooley sits at the table with the committee members, a folder he uses to organize the resolutions for which the committee is responsible sitting open in front of him. (See photo above.)

8:45 am – Following a lively debate, the committee does finish perfecting the resolution – or formally editing it through Robert’s Rules of Order – and passes the resolution out of the committee. Cooley is then responsible for getting the amended text of the resolution to the Secretariat of the House of Bishops, so that it can be scheduled to be heard in the that House. He takes the flash drive and a printout of the resolution from the committee meeting room to the Secretariat for the House of Bishops in the Convention Center.

The Secretariat will then work to schedule debate of the resolution on the floor of the House of Deputies.

Cooley talks about this process in the video clip below:

9:15 am – Having delivered the resolution to the secretariat, Cooley goes down the escalators to the House of Deputies, which has just begun its opening prayer. He takes his seat at the Colorado table.

11:30 am – At the conclusion of the House of Deputies session, Cooley again heads up the escalators in the Convention Center to a meeting of the Committee on Dispatch. Here, all of the committee liaisons report on the progress of legislation through their committees, and, at this point – just beyond half way through the General Convention – they discuss very practically what they can do to ensure that legislation continues to move from the committees on to the schedules for the House of Bishops to the House of Deputies. Cooley reports on the action of the Prayer Book, Liturgy & Music committee on C056, and also that the committee still has some resolutions to work on, and that they will have another open hearing this evening at 7:00 pm, following the conclusion of the legislative session.

In the video clip below, Cooley talks about the work of the Committee on Dispatch:

2:00 pm – The House of Deputies is back in session, and Cooley is back at his place with the Colorado deputation. Several minutes into the session, the vice chair of the Dispatch committee comes to Cooley to tell him that C056 has been properly filed, and is being placed on the calendar of the House of Bishops. Cooley briefly leaves his seat to pass that information on the chair of the Prayer Book, Liturgy & Music (who happens to sit just a few rows in front of him).

7:00 pm
Meeting of the Committee on Prayer Book, Liturgy & Music to perfect some of its remaining resolutions. At the conclusion of the meeting at 8 pm, Cooley collects the perfected resolutions to deliver to the secretariat in the morning.

Cooley talks about the folder he uses to organize his work on Dispatch: