Final - Live from Columbus - June
21, 2006
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Volume 2, No.11
(To be posted shortly) Bishop Lillibridge will summarize
the actions of today plus all other General Convention actions
responding to the Windsor report.
 General
Convention makes positive response to
Windsor
After a particularly difficult day in the
House of Deputies on Tuesday, the 75th General
Convention has come forth with a response to the Windsor Report
that many hope will keep the Episcopal Church in conversation
with the Anglican Communion.
Resolution B033 calls the General
Convention to "receive and embrace The Windsor Report's
invitation to engage in a process of healing and reconciliation"
and asks diocesan Standing Committees and bishops "to exercise
restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate
to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to
the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion."
It was adopted by both houses.
On Tuesday, the House of Deputies had voted
down a similar resolution, A161, which called for the Episcopal
Church not to ordain bishops "whose manner of life presents a
challenge to the wider communion" and not to develop rites for
blessing same-sex unions. Following lengthy and complex debate
filled with parliamentary maneuvering, the House voted it down
with only 38 dioceses in the lay order and 44 dioceses in the
clergy order voting in favor.
But leaving the General Convention without
a positive response to the Windsor Report concerned the House of
Bishops greatly. As Bishop Lillibridge told his colleagues, "If
we do not give our new Presiding Bishop-elect something that she
can work with, she won't even have a place at the table so that
conversation with the Anglican Communion can continue."
On Wednesday morning, following Eucharist,
Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold called both houses to a joint
session in which he presented the new resolution B033 to
deputies and bishops.
"Unless there is a clear perception on the
part of our Anglican brothers and sisters that they have been
taken seriously in their concerns, it will be impossible to have
any genuine conversation," Griswold told the joint session.
"What I believe we actually yearn for," he
said, "has not been adequately reflected through the workings of
our legislative processes. Our conversations in both Houses
reveal a much greater complexity. We must now act with
generosity and imagination so that our actions are a clearer
reflection of the willingness of the majority of us to
relinquish something in order to serve a larger purpose." (See
the full text of his remarks below.)
By noon the House of Bishops had approved
B033, sending it on to the House of Deputies where suspension of
Rule 28, which does not allow for the same subject to be voted
upon again once it has been defeated, was first approved by more
than the required two-thirds majority.
During the 30 minutes of debate on
resolution B033, the Rev. Morgan Allen of Western Louisiana
spoke for many in the House when he said, "I am tired of being
bullied about by each end of this house, which is not
representative of the church we serve." He added, "I want to be
able to say that the church under which I made my vows has found
a way to live together, even if only for a time."
That was echoed by the Rev. David Read of
West Texas who said he was "ashamed of the arrogance of the
House" the day before. "I urge this House to act with humility,
to act with restraint, and to set aside our personal agendas."
In an extraordinary move, Presiding
Bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori asked to address the
House, during which time she likened the position of the
Episcopal Church to that of conjoined twins. "When physicians
and ethicists and parents have to wrestle with the decision to
separate conjoined twins, they operate out of an understanding
that it is wrong to attempt the separation unless both twins can
live full lives," she said. Noting that others have said the
Episcopal Church is one church with two minds at this time,
Jefferts Schori said "this body of Christ is not wholly one and
not wholly two. I don't think we're certain that the two
offspring are capable of living separately and healthily." She
admitted that the resolution was not perfect, but was "the best
we can manage at this time."
The final vote in the House of Deputies was
taken by orders with 72 of 104 dioceses approving it in the lay
order and 75 of 109 dioceses approving it in the clergy order.
Full text of Resolution B033 follows:
Resolved, the House of Deputies
concurring, that the 75th General Convention
receive and embrace The Windsor Report's invitation to
engage in a process of healing and reconciliation; and be it
further
Resolved, that this Convention
therefore call upon Standing Committees and bishops with
jurisdiction to exercise restraint by not consenting to the
consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner
of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will
lead to further strains on communion.
Archbishop of Canterbury responds to
Convention's Windsor-related actions
 [Episcopal
News Service] The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams
issued a statement June 21 just after
 the
75th General Convention adopted Resolution B033 that calls on
bishops and Standing Committees to "exercise restraint by not
consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate
whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and
will lead to further strains on communion."
The full text of Williams' statement is below.
"I am grateful to the Bishops and Deputies of
the 75th General Convention of the Episcopal Church (USA) for
the exceptional seriousness with which they have responded to
the request of the Primates of the Anglican Communion that they
should address the recommendations of the Windsor Report
relating to the tensions arising from the decisions associated
with the 74th General Convention in 2003.
"There is much to appreciate in the hard and
devoted work done by General Convention, and before that, by the
Special Commission on the Episcopal Church and the Anglican
Communion, in crafting the resolutions. This and the actions
taken today show how strong is their concern to seek
reconciliation and conversation with the rest of the Communion.
"It is not yet clear how far the resolutions
passed this week and today represent the adoption by the
Episcopal Church of all the proposals set out in the Windsor
Report. The wider Communion will therefore need to reflect
carefully on the significance of what has been decided before we
respond more fully.
"I am grateful that the Joint Standing
Committee of the Primates and ACC has already appointed a small
working group to assist this process of reflection and to advise
me on these matters in the months leading up to the next
Primates' Meeting.
"I intend to offer fuller comments on the
situation in the next few days. The members of Convention and
the whole of the Episcopal Church remain very much in our
prayers."
Link to Archbishop of Canterbury website press release
Text of Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold's June 21
message to a Joint Session of the 75th General Convention's
House of Bishops and the House of Deputies.
[Episcopal
News Service] Following the delivery of this message, the Houses met
in separate sessions to consider Resolution B033, "On the Election
of Bishops" (see text below).
The Bishops approved the resolution shortly after 11:30 a.m. and
following debate during which Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine
Jefferts Schori supported the resolution.
Text of Griswold's message to the Joint Session is as follows:
When I became your Presiding Bishop eight and a half years
ago, I called the church to the costly discipline of
conversation. At that time I pointed out that the word
conversation and the word conversion come from the same Latin
root. I said that to enter into conversation deeply, and with an
undefended heart, opened the way to conversion. By conversion I
did not mean one point of view capitulating to another - but
rather a new way of seeing one another and recognizing Christ in
one another. The conversion of which I spoke had less to do with
a change of mind and more to do with a change of heart.
As part of our response to the Windsor Report, we have
passed Resolution A159 which reaffirms "the abiding commitment
of the Episcopal Church to the fellowship of churches that
constitute the Anglican Communion and to seek to live into the
highest degree of communion possible." We have also passed
Resolution A166 supporting the process of developing an Anglican
Covenant for the purpose of strengthening our Communion. We have
thus indicated our desire for continuing conversation.
However, unless there is a clear perception on the part of
our Anglican brothers and sisters that they have been taken
seriously in their concerns it will be impossible to have any
genuine conversation. Therefore there will be no conversion and
the bonds of affection which undergird communion will be further
strained. We will be less able to recognize Christ in one
another and the mission we are called to share together for the
sake of the world will be further diminished and undermined.
For our voices to be heard there needs to be a clear sense
that we are not ignoring the sensibilities of those who are
genuinely unable to understand what we have done. Yes, there is
anger, but to a greater degree, there is confusion.
And conversation works. I have already experienced some of
its potential fruits in the course of primates' meetings, as
difficult as they sometimes have been. There have been times
when, with great difficulty, I have had to receive before I was
able to give. Such moments have not been easy but they have been
necessary.
Humility is not an easy virtue but it is very much
required in this season. Humility requires at times a stance of
restraint in order that something larger can happen. There are
times when what may appear to be a step backward may be called
for in order to go forward.
Let me say here: we need to be mindful of the dynamics
that have brought us to where we are. Some among us feel that
expressions of restraint with regard to the office of bishop
demean the dignity of those among us who are gay and lesbian.
Others among us may be opposed to expressions of restraint,
which would make it more difficult for them to justify their
apparent need to establish a separate ecclesial body. Nothing
would better serve such purposes than to be able to say that we,
because of our action or inaction, have chosen to walk apart
from the rest of the Communion. In a strange way, those with
very different views are able to vote on the same side of the
question.
However, resolutions passed thus far indicate a desire on
the part of the majority to find a way forward that may require
relinquishments on all sides. The majority of us, whom I
describe as the diverse center - made up of divergent opinions
but unified by a common sense of being church together for the
sake of mission, do not want to take a step that precludes
further steps and genuine conversation.
I have said that conversation works and that I have seen
the fruits of difficult conversations as hearts and minds have
been opened. I want our 26th Presiding Bishop and our members of
the Anglican Consultative Council to have an opportunity to be
at the table, to engage in those conversations.
This is the final day of General Convention. What I
believe we actually yearn for has not been adequately reflected
through the workings of our legislative processes. Our
conversations in both Houses reveal a much greater complexity.
We must now act with generosity and imagination so that our
actions are a clearer reflection of the willingness of the
majority of us to relinquish something in order to serve a
larger purpose.
As your Presiding Bishop and chief pastor, I now ask both
houses to consider the following resolution. I do so knowing
that consideration in the House of Deputies may require special
action.
Resolution B003, "On the Election of Bishops"
Resolved, [the House of Deputies concurring,] that the 75th
General Convention receive and embrace the Windsor Report's
invitation to engage in a process of healing and reconciliation;
and be it further
Resolved, that this Convention therefore call upon
Standing Committees and bishops with jurisdiction to exercise
restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate
to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to
the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion.
I will close this session with a prayer and ask the
bishops to return promptly to their House to reconvene in order
to consider this resolution.
[Presiding Bishop Griswold led the session in prayer.]
Two Windsor resolutions get deputies OK
[Episcopal
News Service] The House of Deputies approved two resolutions June 20
dealing with the response of the church to the Windsor Report.
Deputies concurred with resolution A166 from the House of Bishops
supporting the process of developing an Anglican Covenant process.
They also approved resolution A159, a commitment to interdependence
in the Anglican Communion.
Debate on A159 was brief. The resolution reaffirms "the abiding
commitment of the Episcopal Church to the fellowship of churches
that constitute the Anglican Communion and to seek to live into the
highest degree of communication possible."
"What we are doing here in [A]159, is attempting to get back on the
island. We cannot do this unless we are going to take seriously the
language of this report," said Ellen Neufeld of the Diocese of
Albany.
The language in resolution A166, which survived an attempt to change
references of a covenant to "conversation," says the measure is "a
demonstration of our commitment to mutual responsibility and
interdependence in the Anglican Communion."
The resolution directs the Executive Council's international
concerns committee and the Episcopal Church's representatives on the
Anglican Consultative Council to follow the process of the Communion
for developing an Anglican Covenant and making regular reports to
Executive Council.
ome deputies were skeptical of agreeing to a process without a
guarantee of being involved in its formation. "It is signing a blank
check," said Patrick Wadell of the Diocese of El Camino Real. "There
needs to be some method for insisting upon our participation in the
process, whatever form it takes. To ask this General Convention to
sign such a blank check and just trust the process, is, I think,
dangerous and naive."
The chair of the Special Committee of the Episcopal Church and the
Anglican Communion, the Rev. Francis Wade of the Diocese of
Washington, said the resolution was simply intended "to bring us
into the process" at the beginning.
-- Jim DeLa is the director of the communications for the Diocese
of Southwest Florida.
Text of Presiding Bishop-elect's June 21 homily
[Episcopal
News Service]
 Presiding
Bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori
preached the homily at the Closing Eucharist
June 21 at General Convention in Columbus,
Ohio. The text of Jefferts Schori's homily
follows:
Homily preached the General Convention's
Closing Eucharist
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
The Right Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Grow in All Things into Christ
Lections for the Reign of Christ
Colossians 1:11-20
Canticle 18
John 18:33-37
This last Sunday morning I woke very early,
while it was still dark. I wanted to go for
a run, but I had to wait until there was
enough light to see. When the dawn finally
began, I ventured out. It was warm, and
still, and very quiet, and the clouds were
just beginning to show tinges of pink. I ran
by the back of the Hyatt just as two workers
were coming out one of the service doors.
They were startled, I'm afraid, but I nodded
at them, and they responded. I went west
over the freeway, and encountered a man I'd
seen here in the Convention Center. Neither
of us stopped, but we did say a quiet good
morning. Then I found a lovely green park,
and started around it. There was a man with
a reflective vest, standing in the street by
some orange cones, as though he were waiting
for a run or a parade to begin. I said good
morning, and he responded in kind. Around
the corner I came to a bleary-eyed fellow
with several bags who looked like he'd just
risen from sleeping rough. I said good
morning to him too, but I must admit I went
past him in the street instead of on the
sidewalk. Then I met a rabbit hopping across
the sidewalk, and though we didn't use
words, one of us eyed the other with more
than a bit of wariness. Around another
corner, a woman was delivering Sunday papers
from her car. She was wary too, and didn't
get out of her car with the next paper until
I was a long way past her. Back over the
freeway, and a block later, two guys
seemingly on their early way to work. We
nodded at each other.
As I returned to my hotel, I reflected on
all those meetings. There was some degree of
wariness in most of them. There were small
glimpses of a reconciled world in our
willingness to greet each other. But the
unrealized possibility of a real
relationship -- whether in response of
wariness, or caution, or fear -- meant that
we still had a very long way to go.
Can we dream of a world where all creatures,
human and not, can meet each other in a
stance that is not tinged with fear?
When Jesus says that his kingdom is not of
this world, he is saying that his rule is
not based on the ability to generate fear in
his subjects. A willingness to go to the
cross implies a vulnerability so radical, so
fundamental, that fear has no impact or
import. The love he invites us to imitate
removes any possibility of reactive or
violent response. King Jesus' followers
don't fight back when the world threatens.
Jesus calls us friends, not agents of fear.
If you and I are going to grow in all things
into Christ, if we're going to grow up into
the full stature of Christ, if we are going
to become the blessed ones God called us to
be while we were still in our mothers'
wombs, our growing will need to be rooted in
a soil of internal peace. We'll have to
claim the confidence of souls planted in the
overwhelming love of God, a love so
abundant, so profligate, given with such
unwillingness to count the cost, that we,
too, are caught up into a similar
abandonment.
That full measure of love, pressed down and
overflowing, drives out our idolatrous
self-interest. Because that is what fear
really is -- it is a reaction, an often
unconscious response to something we think
is so essential that it takes the place of
God. "Oh, that's mine and you can't take it,
because I can't live without it" -- whether
it's my bank account or theological
framework or my sense of being in control.
If you threaten my self-definition, I
respond with fear. Unless, like Jesus, we
can set aside those lesser goods, unless we
can make "peace through the blood of the
cross."
That bloody cross brings new life into this
world. Colossians calls Jesus the firstborn
of all creation, the firstborn from the
dead. That sweaty, bloody, tear-stained
labor of the cross bears new life. Our
mother Jesus gives birth to a new creation
-- and you and I are His children. If we're
going to keep on growing into Christ-images
for the world around us, we're going to have
to give up fear.
What do the godly messengers say when they
turn up in the Bible? "Fear not." "Don't be
afraid." "God is with you." "You are God's
beloved, and God is well-pleased with you."
When we know ourselves beloved of God, we
can begin to respond in less fearful ways.
When we know ourselves beloved, we can begin
to recognize the beloved in a homeless man,
or rhetorical opponent, or a child with
AIDS. When we know ourselves beloved, we can
even begin to see and reach beyond the
defense of others.
Our invitation, both in the last work of
this Convention, and as we go out into the
world, is to lay down our fear and love the
world. Lay down our sword and shield, and
seek out the image of God's beloved in the
people we find it hardest to love. Lay down
our narrow self-interest, and heal the
hurting and fill the hungry and set the
prisoners free. Lay down our need for power
and control, and bow to the image of God's
beloved in the weakest, the poorest, and the
most excluded.
We children can continue to squabble over
the inheritance. Or we can claim our name
and heritage as God's beloveds and share
that name, beloved, with the whole world.
--The Episcopal News Service
Deputies adopt $152 million budget for next
triennium
[Episcopal
News Service] The General Convention passed a budget of
just more than $152 million for the next three years.
The document represents three years of
preparation and hours of consideration by Church Center staff, the
Administration and Finance Committee of Executive Council and the
Joint Committee on Program, Budget & Finance (PB&F) which was
charged with crafting the document during the days of Convention.
The funds all add up as monies dedicated to
the five mission priorities adopted by the Convention as well as
other program areas and canonical requirements to support the work
of the church. The priorities are:
-
Justice and peace (with an emphasis on the
Millennium Development Goals);
-
Young adults, youth and children;
-
Reconciliation and evangelism;
-
Congregational transformation; and
-
Partnerships within the Anglican Communion,
and with ecumenical and interfaith entities.
The total budget is nearly $10 million, or 7
percent, higher than that of the current triennium.
PB&F, the committee of deputies and bishops
charged with presenting a final budget to Convention, also heard
testimony from dozens of people who requested funding for a variety
of projects. PB&F responded to those requests; a number of line
items were added, including:
-
$924,000 to respond to the eight areas of
emphasis in the Millennium Development Goals by creating a
collaboration between Episcopal Relief and Development, Jubilee
Ministries and Executive Council;
-
$900,000 to fund a new Church Center office
to solicit major gifts for the church;
-
$300,000 to fund one of two Hurricane
Katrina-related resolutions before Convention, which will
develop a strategy for a model missionary initiative in the area
around New Orleans which can produce data on church development
to the Episcopal Church as a whole;
-
$65,000 for a camp for children of
prisoners; and
-
$21,000 for non-violence training.
Existing areas in the budget which received
notable increases included:
-
$500,000 in block grants for Native
American ministries;
-
$200,000 for the Episcopal Church in the
Philippines;
-
$120,000 for new and continuing ministries
in Appalachia; and
-
$110,000 for three historically black
Episcopal colleges (St. Augustine's, St. Paul's and Vorhees).
There also is an increase in response to the
request from Anglican Consultative Council to support its work. All
provinces in the Anglican Communion were asked to increase their aid
by 10 percent; this budget complies with that request.
The budget also includes an average two
percent increase in staff salaries and an eight percent increase in
the cost of employee health insurance
Cuts included $825,000 in staff reductions and
another $825,000 by eliminating the efforts for a churchwide
advertising initiative.
The majority of funding will come from
diocesan commitments, which will make up 61 percent of the total
revenue. Dioceses are asked to contribute 21 percent of their
diocesan income, after $100,000 is deducted to allow for expenses
related to the episcopacy. Additional funding for the budget comes
from interest on investments, money from the federal government for
refugee resettlement and smaller sources such as Episcopal Life,
Episcopal Books and Resources and expected income from rental of
renovated space at the Episcopal Church Center in New York.
PB&F also called on all budget departments to
earmark 0.7 percent of their budgets for efforts of the Millennium
Development Goals; as well, each committee member personally made a
commitment to give towards the goals.
-- Melodie Woerman is director of communications for the
Diocese of Kansas.
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