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

Live from Columbus - June 15, 2006

Volume 2, No. 5

NEW! Live from Columbus Audio recording

Today's audio: Bishop Gary Lillibridge explains some of the differences between the House of Bishops and House of Deputies and gives an overview of Day Three.

Reed passes House of Deputies

The ordination and consecration of the Rev. David M. Reed as bishop suffragan of the Diocese of West Texas was consented to by the General Convention House of Deputies on Thursday. The resolution of consent now goes to the House of Bishops for its approval. That action may happen as early as Friday.

Women celebrate women

The Episcopal Church Women (ECW), meeting for their Triennial concurrently with the General Convention, celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of the ordination of women to the priesthood on June 14. More than 300 women representing 93 of the Episcopal Church's 111 dioceses are attending the Triennial, whose primary purpose is fellowship, spiritual growth, and education.

The celebration included worship, song and dance, and three reflections by clergywomen. It was wrapped up with the women making paper prayer chains containing the names of the ordained women in each diocese. The names will become a part of the Episcopal Women's History Project and then become part of the Episcopal Church archives.

Not Your Father's College Ministry

Testimony from students and chaplains bent on raising the profile of young adults in decision-making bodies throughout the Church energized Evangelism Committee hearings June 15. One of the resolutions (A041) to come before that committee calls for campus ministries to be given canonical status as mission congregations whenever appropriate.

Kate Ketcham, assistant chaplain at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, supports that. "I came out of a campus ministry at William and Mary [in Virginia] and I know campus ministry fosters leadership . . . It would be a dream to be a mission congregation and have voice and vote at diocesan convention. We are now unable to respond," she said.

Several students from the Episcopal Campus Ministry (ECM) at Washington University were present to offer testimony. Reynolds Whalen, an ECM member, joked about the early hour with committee members who remarked that college students being present at 7:30 a.m. certainly demonstrated their commitment. Whalen brought the point of representation to bear when he said he had to change his church membership to a parish near campus in order to stand for election as a deputy. Whalen is an alternate for the Diocese of Missouri.

While mission status would bring up the issue of diocesan assessments, the Rev. Mary Hileman, a committee member from Oklahoma, said the group also considered campus ministries as potential locations for church planting. The Very Rev. Martin I. Yabroff, Northern Indiana, took exception to the concept of church plant because they would never be self-sufficient "as is the strategic plan for plants."

In other legislation, the committee considered a substitute resolution for A038: "Diocesan Development Initiative" that would direct the office of mission at the Church Center to develop new resources, endorse existing programs and encourage dioceses to share best practices in organizational development and leadership training.

-- Carol E. Barnwell for Episcopal News Service

Budget committee hears requests

More than three dozen people asked the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance (PB&F) to fund projects ranging from ministry to the deaf to a pilot program for ministry in New Orleans in their committee hearing on June 14. The proposed budget, which will be presented to a joint meeting of the House of Deputies and House of Bishops on Monday, June 19, is nearly $152 million over the next triennium.

Speakers made appeals to restore funding for ministry to the deaf, three historically black colleges, ministry in Appalachia and Navajoland, and dioceses that make up the Domestic Mission Partnerships. Others spoke on behalf of new or increased funding for youth ministry, prison ministry, non-violence training and world mission programs.

The United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which Convention added to one of its mission priorities on June 13, were the focus of several requests for funding to help the Church address issues of poverty.

Bishop Duncan Gray of the Diocese of Mississippi requested funding for what is believed to be the only Katrina-related resolution to come before General Convention. It would create a pilot project to gather data about ministry taking place in New Orleans that could later be translated to other locations around the country.

-- Melodie Woerman for Episcopal News Service.

Reflections from The Rev. Ram Lopez
A Goodly Fellowship

Tuesday was a pretty dull day from what I experienced.

Parliamentary organization of each House was what I witnessed, and it was deadly dull. The biggest controversy was that some felt there were not enough trash and recycle cans in the room. Some folks just love a microphone!

The best part of the day came during lunch when our deputation gathered and recounted our day so far and planned out the rest of the day. At the end of lunch, one of our clergy deputies called us all to lay hands and pray over our bishop suffragan-elect before he had to endure the questioning of the Consent to Bishop's Elections committee.

So, we gathered in prayer and we prayed. Silently and aloud we prayed. We prayed for him. We prayed for his wife. We prayed for his children. We prayed for the Church. We prayed for each other. We prayed for the General Convention.

We prayed.

Later, as we were awaiting the word of the Consent committee, we prayed for another member of the diocese who is standing for election as president of Episcopal Church Women. This time we prayed in the hallways of the legislative meeting rooms.

We prayed again.

And, you should have seen the looks on the faces of the other deputies and people in the hallway.

It occurred to me that we, the brothers and sisters in Christ of our diocese, made a witness that day. In spite of all the things that we could choose to take sides on and be divided over, we are making conscious decisions to be the people of God together. We are a diverse group of people who, I have no doubt, have differing opinions on any number of topics. But, we choose not to live in the world of differences. We choose to live in the world of the common call to mission extended to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We are showing our amazing fellowship in Christ Jesus to others in the legislative meeting room, in the hallways, at restaurants and in elevators.

Someone asked our bishop suffragan-elect what his vision is for his episcopacy. He stated that we in the diocese have something positive to share with the rest of the Church.

He is right. And, we are sharing it right now. By our prayers, by our fellowship, by our friendship and in many other ways, we are sharing the transforming love of Jesus Christ with each other and modeling how that love can be shared with others across diocesan lines. In fact, a party is rumored to be in the making with another diocese with whom we share a boundary and, more importantly, a number of personal relationships.

"What a fellowship," the old gospel hymn says. And indeed, that is the best part of my time here: to be with my brothers and sisters in the diocese sharing this time that God has given to us and sharing the love of Jesus with each other in ways that I wish we all could experience personally.

-- The Rev. Ram Lopez

News Briefs from Episcopal News Service

Convention considers ecumenical relationship

General Convention will be asked to ratify Episcopal Church membership in "the broadest ecumenical table that's ever existed in this country," according to Bishop Christopher Epting. It has the potential of "really being a breakthrough in conciliar ecumenism," said Epting, who is Presiding Bishop's Deputy for Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations.

"The Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical and mainline Protestant churches are all together at one table for the first time," said Epting.

In September 2001, church leaders throughout the United States began to consider forming an organization that would bring together leaders from a variety of Christian denominations. After several years of conversations and meetings, the Episcopal Church became a founding member of Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT-USA), by decision of Executive Council in February 2005. The Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations is asking Convention to ratify that decision with resolution A053.

The CCT-USA steering committee met in Chicago May 30-31; the annual meeting will be held in Los Angeles February 6-9 and will include the first public launch of the organization. Membership dues in CCT-USA will come from the existing budget for the Office of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations.

The House of Bishops adopted the membership resolution (A053) June 13; the resolution is currently in committee with the House of Deputies.

Peace in Israel/Palestine is focus of committee

A public hearing on resolutions A011, A012 and A013 addressed the stance of the Church on the Palestine/Israel peace process and investment in Palestine during a June 15 morning session in the National and International Concerns committee.

During the last triennium, the Episcopal Church has been involved in issues relating to Israel and Palestine through its Social Responsibility in Investments (SRI) committee, the Anglican Peace and Justice Network (APJN), and the Anglican and International Peace with Justice Concerns (AIPJC), the standing commission which proposed the resolutions.

Episcopal Church support of the "rightful existence" of the State of Israel and the State of Palestine as two nations is reaffirmed in Resolution A011. The legislation also calls for an end to all violence and its "crippling impact on Israeli and Palestinian societies," and the withdrawal by Israel from its settlements in the West Bank.

Resolution A012 advocates for five points: an end to the isolation of East Jerusalem and Bethlehem from the West Bank; removal of the Wall; assurance of human rights for Palestinians; support for the return of sovereign control of Gaza to the Palestinian people; and assurance that no U.S. tax dollars will be used to finance the Israeli Occupation of Palestinian territories.

Resolution A013 asks for the consideration of investments that would support an economically viable Palestine. Targeting investment is vital to helping Palestinians create a viable state said Mary Miller, an AIPJC member who spoke in favor of the resolutions, "which allows them to work with dignity as children as God." She added, "This is not happening right now."

Reparations resolutions begin moving through process

The Committee on Social and Urban Affairs, during its June 15 hearing, heard passionate testimony on four resolutions focused on slavery and reparations.

"We hope to embark on a new journey, one that involves the Episcopal Church as an institution, confronting its institutional racism," said John Vanderstar, deputy from the Diocese of Washington, and a member of Executive Council. "I'm talking specifically about the church's participation in the ugly sin of racism."

Discussion was centered around four resolutions; A123 focusing on slavery and reconciliation; A124 studying the "complicity" of the church in the Institution of slavery and how "recompense" can be made; C005 from the Diocese of New York requesting the establishment of a commission to research the history of any complicity of the church and several dioceses in slavery and any necessary steps to make reparations; and C011 proposing a task force of the Executive Council to study, document and report on the enslavement of Africans and their descendants.

The committee was also asked to consider resolution A127, which would endorse the concept of restorative justice as a "fresh means" of achieving "wholeness" in the church.

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