Episcopal Diocese of West Texas (Use your browser print commands then click back to the webpage.)

Live from Columbus - June 14, 2006

Volume 2, No. 4

NEW! Live from Columbus Audio recording

Listen as John Warren, alternate deputy from West Texas and member of Church of the Good Shepherd, Corpus Christi, reports on the committee hearings on Title IV canon revisions.

Fun Facts about GenCon06

As of 3 p.m. June 13 there were:

West Texans are everywhere

 

Eleanor Stromberger at Recovery Ministries

The eight deputies and six alternates are hardly the only West Texans who represent the diocese at the 75th General Convention. Around the periphery of the two legislative Houses - Bishops and Deputies -- is another facet of General Convention life that includes luncheons, forums, exhibits, and special Eucharists. West Texans are prominent in many of these Convention "extras":

 Eleanor Stromberger, member of St. Luke's, San Antonio, is manning the Episcopal Church Recovery Ministries booth in the Exhibit Hall. Stromberger is president of the group along with being active on the diocesan Recovery Ministries committee.

Tom Rickey of St. Thomas, San Antonio, is also on the exhibit floor selling hand-made goods from Ecuador to support his ministry in that country. Rickey's efforts provide an outlet for Ecuadorian suppliers and fund "dream corners" in Ecuadorian schools which enrich the students' education.

Lou Taylor, Christian Education Officer for the diocese and Chair of Province VII Christian Education, is involved in the children's area at General Convention.

 Susan Johnson, member of St. Alban's, Harlingen, is running for president of the national Episcopal Church Women. Johnson is the Province VII Representative to the ECW board and is attending the ECW Triennial Meeting in that capacity.

Tom Rickey with hand-made goods from Ecuador

 Catherine Lillibridge, member of St. David's, San Antonio, and wife of Bishop Gary Lillibridge, will be the keynote speaker at the Province VII ECW breakfast Friday morning, June 16.

 Bishop John MacNaughton, retired bishop of West Texas, is being honored by The Episcopal Network for Stewardship at a luncheon on Saturday, June 17, for his contribution to stewardship throughout his career. MacNaughton is one of two bishops being given the 2006 Apostles in Stewardship Award.

 Caren Richardson of St. Boniface, Comfort, and Brenda Kingery, of St. Mark's, San Antonio, have both been selected as artists whose works will be featured in the visual preludes that precede the daily Holy Eucharist at Convention.

 The choir of St. Paul's, Brownsville, will lead worship in Spanish on June 16 for E3, the youth event that parallels General Convention.

 The Ven. Don Lee, archdeacon of the diocese, is running for a seat as a board member of the Church Pension Group. Lee is a General Convention Deputy.

Hearing on Windsor response draws crowd

 More than 1,500 persons filled the Regency ballroom at the Hyatt Regency in Columbus on Wednesday evening to attend a hearing of the committee that is considering the report from the Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. This is the commission that undertook to craft a response from the Episcopal Church to the Windsor Report.

Because of the expected attendance, guaranteed seating was by ticket, with each deputation receiving four tickets.

Eleven resolutions have been proposed by the Special Commission of which the four deemed most important by deputies and bishops are resolutions A160, A161, A162, and A 163. These call for the Episcopal Church to express "regret for the pain that others have experienced with respect to our actions at the General Convention of 2003" (A160); urge dioceses to "exercise considerable caution in the nomination of bishops whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church" (A161); not proceed with public rites for the blessing of same-sex unions (A162); and call for Delegated Episcopal Oversight for those "who do not feel able to receive appropriate pastoral care from their own bishops" (A163).

Before hearing from dozens of deputies, bishops, and visitors who lined up six at a time to address the committee, the co-chair the Rev. Francis Wade invited the speakers to "say what is on your heart and on your mind." He added that the most important thing those attending the hearing could do was listen. "The contrary view may be the most important thing you hear tonight," he said.

A number of those who testified spoke to the language of the resolutions, saying it departed from the language of the Windsor Report. "Where there is clarity, there is honesty," said the Rev. Dr. Kendall Harmon of the Diocese of South Carolina. "We have been asked to take a 'moratorium' [on the consecration of bishops in same-gender relationships], but we say we will exercise 'considerable caution'." The Rev. Christopher Cantrell of the Diocese of Ft. Worth pointed out that the resolutions express regret "for the pain we have caused," but, he said, "I don't think that is what we are being asked to regret." But others, such as The Rev. Titus Pressler, a member of the Executive Council, said that expression of regret is an important step toward reconciliation.

For many of those who spoke, the central issue was the full inclusion of gay and lesbian persons in the Episcopal Church. "This debate is about one thing: do we as the Church recognize the light of Christ in the faces of those who are gay," said Bishop V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who in fact is at the center of the controversy. Robinson, a partnered gay man, was approved for consecration as a bishop at the 74th General Convention in 2003.

If the hearing was an indicator of what to expect during floor debate, the lines seem to have been drawn, with conservatives calling for stronger language than is in the resolutions. Bishop Robert Duncan of Pittsburgh, who led his deputation out of the 74th General Convention after the vote on Robinson, said the moment of impossibility has been reached. "The central question is: will ECUSA [the Episcopal Church in the U.S.A.] comply with the Windsor Report or will it not? If these resolutions are not amended, we will have decided to walk apart. We have reached an impossible moment of holding it together."

The Rev. David Roseberry of Christ Church in Plano, Texas, told the committee he was reminded of the cell phone commercial in which the man keeps asking "Can you hear me now?" Roseberry had organized an online petition for Episcopal clergy recently that asked the Episcopal Church to stop any further consecrations of those living in same-sex relationships, stop the blessing of same-sex unions, embrace the Windsor Report, and turn the focus of the Church to reaching the lost. He reported that 1,064 clergy have signed the petition, representing 22,490 years of ordained service. "Can you hear me now?" added Roseberry.

All eleven resolutions will now be further considered by the Committee and will be reported out to either the House of Deputies or the House of Bishops for their action. That is expected to occur before the weekend.

Laity may be removed from Title IV revisions

 The committee dealing with sweeping revisions to the disciplinary canons of the church may attempt to win approval for the plan by removing its most controversial aspect: the inclusion of laity.

 In hearings June 14, the Legislative Committee on Canons decided to attempt a massive revision of resolution A153, which is of itself, a complete rewrite of Title IV, replacing the present adversarial system with a multi-layered approach stressing mediation and reconciliation.

 Holding laity accountable under Title IV has caused a great deal of concern among critics of the resolution, some of whom expressed their views at a June 13 public hearing.

 "I would just forget about the laity," said committee member William Fleener, a lay deputy from Western Michigan, during the committee meeting on Wednesday.  ". . .if that is included in the version that hits the floor, I think that's going to be such a lightning rod that it really would take down the whole thing, regardless of how good the rest of it is."

The Rev. Virginia Herring of the Diocese of North Carolina, who described herself as "passionate" about keeping the laity in the proposed canons, was willing to compromise in order to save the rest of the resolution. "If we get something, if we can get the basic philosophy changed; if we can get this passed in this year of anxiety, we can do things with it later," she said.

The task of rewriting the resolution will be done by a subcommittee led by Stephen Hutchinson of the Diocese of Utah, who served on the task force that wrote the revisions contained in the resolution. After the hearing, he would not speculate on what the new draft could look like. "The committee has made its views known," he said, adding the group needs to organize and begin work.

The full committee also discussed a laundry list of other issues for Hutchinson's group to address. The topics include:

 -- Burden of proof: The current resolution changes the standard of proof from "clear and convincing" to the less stringent "preponderance of the evidence," which merely requires that the matter asserted seem more likely true than not.

 -- Impairment: Some committee members suggest moving all references dealing with impairment to Title III, which deals with ministry.

-- Compelling testimony: The proposed resolution would compel respondents and complainants to testify at hearings, possibly exposing participants to litigation.

 -- Refining the role of the Intake Officer: The new draft may include language to further define the officer's duties, to emphasize pastoral considerations in the initial phases of a complaint.

 -- Default options: The current resolution makes no provisions in the event a diocese fails to appoint personnel to fulfill the duties the new Title IV would require.

 --Jim DeLa for Episcopal News Service

 Editor's note: For an even later update, listen to the audio   from John Warren in this edition of Live from Columbus.

Bonnie Anderson elected to lead House of Deputies

Bonnie Anderson, vice president of the House of Deputies and a lay deputy from the Diocese of Michigan, was elected unanimously as the next president of the House of Deputies June 14.

 Anderson was the only nominee put forward and was elected by acclamation. She acknowledged her family as they looked on from the spectators' gallery. "They think that this election is 'the' election at this General Convention," she told the house.

 In her remarks, which she delivered in both English and Spanish, Anderson thanked the deputies for the opportunity to serve and said she especially was looking forward to becoming better acquainted with members of Province IX, which includes the overseas dioceses within the Episcopal Church.

 Anderson is currently completing a three-year term as vice president of the House of Deputies.

As Deputies president, Anderson will serve as presiding officer during the meeting of the House of Deputies at the 76th General Convention. In addition, she will serve as vice president of the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, the elected body that carries out programs and policies adopted by the General Convention and oversees the ministry and mission of the Church. The president also appoints lay and clergy members of most committees, commissions, agencies and boards that serve the church.

- Jim DeLa and Melodie Woerman for Episcopal News Service

Reflections by Karen Lee

As a first timer at General Convention, I find everything new and exciting - but very confusing.  For instance, at our diocesan council we have delegates, whereas at General Convention we have deputies.  The House of Deputies is made up of 4 clergy and 4 lay persons from every diocese.  Like our national government, there are 2 houses - the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies.  Sounds pretty democratic and wonderful, right?  Well, today we spent the afternoon trying to elect 12 people to be trustees of the Pension Fund.  Sounds easy enough, but moving into the electronic age is somewhat of a stumbling block for some.  The use of the new "doohickey," a voting tool that resembles a TV remote, was beyond the comprehension of the average Episcopalian.  For practice we voted on whether the cucumber sandwich should be the official Episcopalian dish.  We progressed to a more complicated endeavor of favorite Episcopal hymns.  Now we were ready for the big time - Pension Fund.  An hour and a half later after several amendments, complaints and misdirected votes and visions of the hanging chads, it was found that 96 out of 820 had been unable to handle the newfangled voting machine, so tomorrow we are back to the paper ballot.

Other than this minor detour, I find General Convention fascinating.  Issues go off to committee where, if you are so inclined, you can sign up to give your yea or nay.  Then this is brought before the house where it is voted on, hopefully without too many people anxiously awaiting a turn at the mic to voice their opinion and come up with some new and unneeded amendment. 

With all the controversy in the church, I was a little apprehensive about being an alternate deputy here.  However, the song "I shot the Sheriff but I Did Not Shoot the Deputy" came to mind, and I was comforted.  And the posse seems to be a pretty reasonable group with both sides of the argument wanting to come together in a mutual agreement.

I have also been comforted that there are other issues, beside the obvious attention getters, being considered that make me proud to be a member of the Episcopal Church.  I attended a committee meeting which combined Millennium Development Goals with a new initiative called ONE Episcopalian which seeks to rally Episcopalians to call for the U.S. government to annually spend an additional one percent of its budget to combat global poverty. In following the goals of MDG, the resolution seeks 0.7% as a line item in church budgets as a minimum to help eradicate poverty in the world.  One speaker stated that he felt that the greatest threat of global terrorism is the result of global poverty.  Perhaps the most eye opening statement for me came from a man who said Americans spent $439 billion on Christmas last year.  How can we say we are the hands of Christ if we can spend $439 billion on Christmas while there are people in the world who go to bed hungry and lack clean water?  So what did you get for Christmas?  Just a little something to think about.

News Briefs from Episcopal News Service

PB&F recommends mission priorities

The Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance (PB&F) has filed a resolution that slightly modifies the existing budget priorities of the Episcopal Church. Resolution D031 makes justice and peace the top priority for budget considerations and specifically includes reference to the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), an eight-prong declaration that has at its core the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by the year 2015.

 The resolution also adds children to the existing mission emphasis on young adults and youth.  The other priorities - reconciliation and evangelism, congregational transformation, and partnerships within the Anglican Communion and with ecumenical and interfaith partners - remain the same.  The original five budget mission priorities were adopted by the 2003 Convention and reaffirmed by Executive Council in 2005.

 The resolution will first go to the House of Deputies for consideration.

 Approval of 'Rites of Passage' publication delayed

 After lengthy and intense debate on Tuesday afternoon, members of the Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music Committee delayed approval of a Rites of Passage Publication resolution (A067).  Instead, the committee created a subgroup for further work on a rite involving induction to military service.  The subcommittee will report back on June 14.  The Very Rev. Ernesto Medina, a Los Angeles deputy and member of the Standing Commission on Music and Liturgy, said the collection includes rites for families for use during such life transitions as the Spanish language "Quincinera" or coming of age celebration, as well as for: adoption of children; for reproductive loss, and Asian ceremonies honoring elders and the anniversary of deaths.  Several people testified that the rites echo the 20/20 commitments by the church to being welcoming and reflecting diversity.  Medina said the intent of the rites is to "include voices and experiences not reflected in the current prayer book."

Bishops vote to address Anti-Jewish Liturgy, Affirm Creation and Evolution

 During its first legislative day, the House of Bishops approved a resolution (C001) to address anti-Jewish prejudice "expressed in and stirred by portions of Christian scriptures and liturgical texts."  The bishops directed the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to collect and develop preaching, congregational education and lectionary materials, and to report back to the 76th General Convention in 2009 in Anaheim.

 In other action, bishops also approved a resolution (A129) affirming both creation and evolution.  While the theory of evolution provides a fruitful and unifying scientific explanation for the emergence of life on earth, the resolution said, "many theological interpretations of origins of life on earth can readily embrace an evolutionary outlook and that an acceptance of evolution is entirely compatible with an authentic and living Christian faith."  The resolution also called upon dioceses and congregations to seek the assistance of scientists and science educators in understanding what constitutes reliable scientific knowledge.

 Resolution urges dioceses to counter culture of debt

"Debt has the capacity to cripple our future," according to the Standing Commission on Stewardship and Development.  A resolution encouraging dioceses to "offer training, education, and resources that promote the healthy role of money in our lives" (A102) was presented to the House of Bishops by the Rt. Rev. James Shand, bishop of the diocese of Easton and chair of the Legislative Committee on Stewardship and Development.  The resolution also encourages dioceses to designate February as "Debt Awareness Month." 

 The commission cites the statistic that "the average American family carries over $9,000 in consumer debt."  Taking particular note that people aged 25-and-under are the "fastest growing segment of the population filing personal bankruptcies," the resolution directs that education materials pay "special attention to children and youth."

 The resolution will now move to the House of Deputies.

 For other stories, http://www.episcopalchurch.org/gc2006news.

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