Live from Columbus - June 12, 2006
Volume 2, No. 2
 Committee
hearings are underway, the Exhibit Hall is swarming with people, and
on Tuesday morning, June 13, the gavel falls to open the first
legislative session of the 75th General Convention of the
Episcopal Church in Columbus, Ohio. Estimates are 8,000 to 10,000
people will participate in some way in Convention. Of those, up to
880 comprise the House of Deputies - each of the 111 dioceses of the
Episcopal Church, regardless of size, is entitled to eight deputies,
of which four are clergy and four are lay. Dioceses are also
entitled to eight additional alternate deputies. The House of
Bishops includes 150 active bishops and 168 retired bishops, of
which 280 are eligible to vote. Bishops continue to have voice and
vote in their House even after their retirement, although this
Convention may change that. One of the canon changes to come before
this Convention would take away vote in the House of Bishops for
retired bishops, while leaving them with voice. This change was
affirmed at the 74th General Convention; canon changes
require two readings.
Each day of Convention begins with Bible study
and worship when bishops, deputies, and women attending the ECW
Triennial meeting gather around 185 tables (plus an additional 115
tables for visitors) to reflect on a daily Scripture and participate
in Eucharist.
It is expected that Convention will deal with
close to 250 resolutions. By June 5, 239 had been filed; the
deadline for filing is 5 p.m. on June 14. Each resolution is
assigned to one of 22 committees which then reports it out to the
House of Deputies or the House of Bishops for initial action. For a
resolution to be passed by the Convention, it must pass both houses
in the same wording.
All eyes on response to Windsor Report
The most-watched resolutions will no doubt be
those coming out of The Special Commission on the Episcopal Church
and the Anglican Communion that has studied how the Episcopal Church
will respond to the Windsor Report. The commission was appointed in
2005 by Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold and House of Deputies
President George Werner to assist the 75th General Convention in
"considering how to maintain the highest degree of communion within
the Anglican Communion given the different perspectives held with
regard to the place of homosexual persons in the life of the
church." One of the resolutions expresses the Episcopal Church's
"deep regret for the pain that others have experienced with respect
to our actions at the General Convention of 2003." Another asks that
dioceses exercise "very considerable caution in the nomination,
election, consent to, and consecration of bishops whose manner of
life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to
further strains on communion."
President of the House of the Deputies, the
Very Rev. George Werner, said he hopes that those resolutions will
be dealt with before June 18, the day of the election of a new
Presiding Bishop.
The 75th General Convention will
consider canon changes that could overturn the Church's historical
policy that prohibits dioceses or bishops from disciplining or
excommunicating lay members.
Title IV of the Canons, titled Ecclesiastical
Discipline, is currently applicable only to bishops, priests, and
deacons. The work of a task force studying the canon essentially
would, according to the task force's own report, replace the
existing canon with a substantially different one "in purpose,
process, and scope."
Admitting that "it may be difficult at first to
envision how it can be implemented," the proposers of the new canon
say it seeks to reclaim "the broader meaning of discipline as the
developing of habits which can form all members of the Church in
healthy and responsible ministries and which can produce
reconciliation and healing when failures occur."
This proposed new canon does have some wrinkles
for members of the laity who are engaged in any kind of ministry
including volunteer or elected ministries (e.g. vestry) as
well as salaried lay professionals. Under this new canon, members
of the laity engaged in any type of ministry would, for the first
time in Episcopal Church history, be subject to disciplinary
procedures of a bishop as are the clergy now. The proposed revision
also delineates a complex process for handling claims of wrongdoing
that would call for the adding at the diocesan level several
positions or panels.
Critics of the proposed revision are quick to
assert that there are many unfortunate results this new canon would
produce. Among these are additional processes that will make
dealing with complaints and allegations much more burdensome on the
bishop and diocese. Other items cited ranged from limiting of
bishop's pastoral care and oversight responsibilities to increasing
a diocese's legal liability to opening the door for too much
diocesan involvement in local parish day-to-day matters. Further,
critics contend, it would take away much of the responsibility and
authority of a rector for the supervision of staff members and other
ministry leaders in the parish.
This proposed new canon brings to light several
serious theological concerns about the policies and procedures of
ecclesiastical discipline, the ministry of the laity, and how the
church determines a minister's level of accountability and to whom.
Certainly the presence of a canon on
Ecclesiastical Discipline is a tragic reality in the Church and
speaks to our being in need of the transforming grace and
forgiveness of Jesus Christ. And, while one hopes and prays that
this canon would never have to be utilized, history, long past and
recent, tells us that this canon will be drawn upon by many bishops
and dioceses. This potential for frequent usage -- and some would
contend, misusage -- is what will fuel much of the debate on the
legislative floor.
"Perhaps, because the level of trust is so low
throughout the Church, now is not the time to replace Title IV"
writes Drew Cauthorn, Chancellor of the Diocese of West Texas, to
the West Texas deputation regarding this canon change. "It is my
fervent hope, however," he adds, "that we will not politicize the
subject matter because the setting and respecting proper boundaries,
which the proposed revision attempts to do, are vital to the health
of our communion life together."
The movers of this Title IV canonical change
assert a similar concern for our life together stressing that the
canons "can provide not only structure for the maintenance,
discipline, and good order in the Church, but a statement of
expectation and a process to aid the formation of all our members in
living out the faith. At the very least," the report continues,
"our canons should reflect the teachings of Jesus and our own
conviction that God's desire for the Church is involvement in the
holy enterprise of reconciliation."
-- The Rev. Ram Lopez
 Less
paper and more timely information may well be the result of some
major technological changes in place for the 75th General
Convention.
Time is of the essence since the Convention
is one legislative day shorter than the 74th General Convention in
2003 in Minneapolis.
In its review of the workings of Convention,
the General Convention task force, created in 2003, found that the
Convention could be shortened by using the Internet and other means
to supply participants with pre-convention information and
orientation, and by greater use of electronic technology to expedite
the work at Convention.
Leading the list is a new computerized
system for updating and tracking resolutions. The system (including
already filed resolutions and their assignment status) is accessible
at
http://www.gc2006.org/legislation/
All resolutions will be available online
with their status updated after each day's morning and afternoon
legislative sessions, according to the Rev. Dr. Gregory Straub, the
Convention's executive officer.
Committee chairs have received their
pre-filed resolutions on a flash drive, a thumb-sized memory card
that can be plugged into a computer. Any changes to the resolutions
will be made by the committee on the electronic copy of the
legislation.
When it comes time for the houses to debate
resolutions, the electronic versions will be projected onto screens
for everyone in the house to see. Amendments made during floor
debate will be added to a resolution on the spot.
Straub said the electronic editing will
allow for quicker updating in the new tracking system. No printed
copies of amended resolutions will have to be distributed to all
bishops and deputies, and the secretariats of each house (the
support staff) will have electronic records of all resolutions
"without having to type it all in," Straub said.
Just type in your number
During debate on the floor of the House of
Deputies, a new system will change the way speakers are recognized.
A volunteer at each microphone, one of which will be accessible for
those in wheelchairs, will key in the speaker's number. The
volunteer will also electronically relay to the dais such
information as the fact that the person supports or opposes the
motion on the floor, wants to ask for a point of personal privilege,
propose an amendment, ask a question or call the question.
Straub said the presiding officer will
receive the electronic information in a queue and can alternate
calling on people opposing or supporting a motion. This change will
eliminate the need at past conventions for delegates to line up at
designated microphones based on their stance on a particular motion.
The electronic voting system has also been
improved. In the past any time a slate of candidates exceeded nine,
the House of Deputies had to vote by paper ballot. At the last
convention, according to Straub, it took six legislative days to
elect the trustees of the Church Pension Fund. Straub hopes this
Convention's efforts to elect 12 trustees from a field of 25 can be
done in a single session.
-- from an article by the Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg for
Episcopal News Service.
Why I'm glad we drove
by Marjorie George
It was everything I expected a small town in
Arkansas to be. A very small town. About six houses and an Assembly
of God church. The sign out front declared, "The cross is God's plus
sign in a negative world."
Nancy, Susan, and I had decided to drive to
General Convention. It was Day Two of our trek, and we had pulled
off the Interstate at Briscoe, east of Little Rock, to find gas. We
drove down the two-lane road, past front yards full of weeds and
rusting cars up on cinder blocks. I hated that I was stereotyping
the town.
We finally spotted Martin's grocery - a kind of
an ice house in bad need of a paint job squatted by the side of the
road. The clerk thought there was a gas station just a piece down
the road. We were not comforted when his only customer remarked, "Is
it still open?"
Did the gas station have a name? we asked. The
clerk eyed us suspiciously; apparently the folks in these parts
don't need a name to know where something is.
It was still open. A full-service station, no
credit cards accepted. The young man who came out had Brian written
on his khaki work shirt. It's been a long time since we had full
service, we remarked. "Yeah," drawled the youngster as he pulled the
squeegee out of some nasty water and headed toward our front window.
"Had a guy in here the other day, said,'The last time someone filled
up my gas tank for me you wasn't even born'."
Brian said his grandpa was trying to sell the
station; he had closed the deal three different times, but they had
all fallen through.
The no-name gas station had done double duty in
its recent past; the store shelves still had some stock on them -
cans of Spam and Potted Meat. A wasp breezed in the open front door
and buzzed overhead as we paid the bill, in cash, which Brian had
rounded off to the nearest dollar.
In his spare time, of which he had plenty,
grandpa was a whittler of sorts. An assortment of deer antlers that
had been sanded, stained, and turned into candle holders or table
lamp bases were on another shelf in the back room.
It's real quiet on a June morning in Briscoe,
Arkansas, a world and a culture away from IH40, just two miles'
distance. They probably aren't worried about the war in Iraq; pretty
soon they won't be worried about the price of gas, either. Nobody in
in a rush to accomplish the next task, and they don't need radar
detectors on their front windshields.
We climbed back into the mini-van where my
laptop computer was plugged into a power source so I could work all
the way from San Antonio to Columbus, and I wondered which of us was
the more destitute.
A whole bunch of people think we are crazy
driving three days to get to General Convention. Flying is so much
faster, you know. Maybe, but you don't get the benefit of visiting
Briscoe, Arkansas, at 35,000 feet.
The Rev. David Reed appears before the
Commission on Consecration of Bishops on Tuesday at 2:15 p.m. This
is not the vote to consent; it is an interview as part of the
consent process.
The vote to consent to Reed's, and five other
bishop's elections, will likely come after June 18.
Committees meet tomorrow beginning at 7 a.m.
and again in the evening. Some legislation should come to both
houses on Tuesday, but there is as yet no specific agenda.
Griswold, Werner offer focus for Convention
and reflection on tenure.
Program, Budget and Finance considers
mission funding priorities.
For the full stories,
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/gc2006news.
In-depth coverage of the Convention will be
provided by the Episcopal News Service and can be accessed online at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/gc2006news.
Daily news links and articles can also be
received via email. For details about how to subscribe to Episcopal
News Service, visit
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_11458_ENG_HTM.htm.
The Convention Daily newspaper will be
published each day, and the Convention Nightly newscast will be
broadcast each evening throughout Convention. Video, audio streams
and podcasts of each newscast and a .pdf of each newspaper will be
available beginning June 13 at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/gc2006news.
Translations into Spanish of Convention news
are offered on the General Convention news website at
http://www.iglesiaepiscopal.org.
Episcopal Church General Convention web pages
are at
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/53785_ENG_HTM.htm
For questions, comments, and suggestions,
e-mail Live from Columbus editors
Nancy Stinson (nancy.stinson@dwtx.org)
Marjorie George (marjorie.george@dwtx.org)
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