Ask the Episcopal Church General Convention Deputy!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I just returned, mere days ago, from the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church. You may have read something about it.

Now I know 90% probably don’t give a rat’s ass, but some of you might be interested, so if you are, I’ll be glad to talk about it.

More or less interesting facts:

  • With about 825 members in the House of Deputies and about 150 members in the House of Bishops, it is supposedly one of the largest bicameral legislative bodies in the world
  • Nearly 400 resolutions were considered by one of both Houses during the 10-day convention
  • With all those clergy conspicuously roaming around, you wouldn’t think someone would have the balls to steal my nice pen. But they did anyway.
2

Where were you? Was this the kind of convention the hotel and restaurant staff were glad to have in town, or no?

3

Anaheim convention center. I was a lay deputy from my diocese.

I would guess that, in general, we were less rowdy then some other conventions, and we spent a lot of money at the local hotels and restaurants for two weeks, so I suppose they were glad to have us.

The funny thing about our conventions is that you can go into the liquor store and have two bishops in line in front of you.

4

Did you get to meet Bishop whats-her-name … Jeffries I think? Is she really as approachable as people say she is? You know, how some bishops seem kind of larger-than-life.

Did you get to vote on anything controversial?

It was probably a tipsy bishop who stole your pen.

5

Episcopal deacon checking in.

Good on you, Skammer! One of my parishioners was a deputy and what you folks do is more than commendable! Kudos to a member of the largest, and most important, order of ministry in the church: the laity!

I went to GC03 in Minneapolis as a visitor and was astounded at the exhibit hall.

I’ve met the Presiding Bishop. She’s taller than she looks, smart as a whip…she’s a pilot and got her doctorate in oceanography before becoming ordained.

jon

6

Did you meet anyone from the Diocese of Arizona? The Dean of my church gave us constant online updates. Seems like it was very busy and quite a lot of controversy.

I was at St. Paul Cathedral in San Diego last Sunday on vacation. Bishop Mathes was there and he seemed quite dedicated to continuing to push for same sex church blessings. Was same sex unions the major issue there? Or, just the most controversial?

7

Seriously, how do you feel about the now probable split of the Episcopal church from the rest of the Anglican communion?

Si

8

Bishop Katharine Jefforts Schori, the Presiding Bishop of our Church. She’s not a Metropolitan - the other bishops don’t report to her - but she’s the mouthpiece of our House of Bishops and our representative to other churches we are in communion with.

I have not met her personally, although I heard her speak both in Anaheim and a few weeks ago in Nashville.

As a scientist, she’s very sharp. As a theologian, she’s… very tall? I respect her position, and as a person she seems very thoughtful and quite smart. I haven’t been overly impressed with her theology, which has often caused controversy. Her voice is quite soothing though.

Sue. Usually on the losing side. We voted on a statement that may or may not remove any obstacles for partnered gays or lesbians to become bishops; and we voted on a resolution that may or may not allow clergy to perform public same-sex blessings in jurisdictions where they are legal. We’re really good at writing legislation that can be read a bunch of different ways :slight_smile:

We also mandated a lay employee pension plan, and a new health plan for lay and clergy, weighed in on some political issues like health care, and a bunch of other stuff.

I don’t recall seeing the Arizona deputation. We were seated near the front of the hall, so my back was to most of the House.

Yes, there are a number of bishops in favor of moving forward on same sex blessings, and Bp. Mathes is by no means the most aggressive. With all the conservatives who left the Episcopal Church in the last six years, the liberals have about a 2-1 majority. The resolutions I mentioned above passed both houses handily. I can see why, from the outside, these got the most press: first, gay issues are a cultural flashpoint right now; and two, who outside our church cares about our pension plan, church calendar or opinions about Palestine?

Well, first of all, I don’t think it’s probable. I think TEC (The Episcopal Church) will become more isolated within the AC (Anglican Communion), but even now I don’t think they will be kicked out. Technically, we have not consecrated another partnered gay bishop or authorized same-sex marriage rites yet, although we are moving closer to both.

I’m in the moderate-conservative minority on both of these issues, but I’m committed to staying in TEC as long as it remains in the Anglican Communion - which I think will be a long time, although I’ve been wrong before. There is certainly a lot of overseas anger going on, but the Archbishop of Canterbury has been remarkably patient with us.

Speaking of the ABC, he came and spoke to us very early in the convention. He has the most amazing voice. He pleaded with us not to do anything that would push us farther away from the communion. So you can see how much influence he has…

9

Oh! I should mention, I got the chance to influence one piece of legislation directly. Resolution A166 called for giving paid parental leave for all church employees who gave birth or adopted new children: 12 weeks of paid leave plus 4 weeks of unpaid leave.

In my day job, I’m a Leave Administration Manager, so I went to the committee hearing and offered my professional opinion that the resolution was insane: way too generous. It would cause economic hardship on congregations and result in hiring discrimination against childbearing-aged employees. The resolution was changed as a result of my testimony, recommending parental leave “consistant with local statutes and generous industry standards.”

I also suggested changes to the pension plan provisions, but none of my floor amendments ever passed on any legislation.

10

Was there any serious consideration given to attempting to bring any of the dissident groups back into TEC? Or to preventing further splits?

11

+Cantaur (the Archbishop of Canterbury) is not, thank goodness, our “pope”.

TEC is a uniquely American Church with it’s own canons and polity. I feel (my own, ‘collar off’ opinion) that the Anglican Communion is one of the last vestiges of colonialism and I would be perfectly happy if TEC were to go on her own. The Anglican Communion means very little, if anything, to me.

On an unrelated note, before +Shahan became bishop of Arizona he was dean at Grace Cathedral in Topeka, KS, and when I attended cursillo in the late 1980s he was co-rector for the weekend. (I am canonically resident in West Missouri.) He mentioned to us that before he went into ministry he was in advertising and that he designed the first ad campaign for the Kit-Kat bar.

Whenever I have a Kit-Kat bar I think of Bishop Shahan.:smiley:

jon

12

No. The groups that have split off were not really mentioned directly, except when we were discussing the budget: litigation expenses was pretty much the only line item that did not get drastically gutted.

A few folks speaking from the floor worried that certain decisions would drive more people in the pews to the dissident groups, but I think that was largely considered an acceptable price for moving forward.

As far as preventing further splits, I think that was the reason for the ambiguity in the more controversial resolutions. Progressive bishops can go home and rightly say “Look! No more artificial restrictions on who can become a Bishop!” and conservative Bishops can go home and say “Look! The restraint on partnered gay bishops we passed last time is still in effect!”

For example, the group Integrity is the leading pro-gay and lesbian organization in the church. If you read their interpretation of D025 (on the consecration of bishops) and then read the letter that Jefferts Schori and her deputy counterpart wrote to the ABC, you’ll see a complete different spin on the resolution.

13

I can respect that opinion of the Anglican Communion, but it is one I do not share. I think we should be striving for more connectedness and interdependence in the church, not further fragmentation. If forced to choose between TEC and the Communion (and I hope it does not come to that), I will stay in the Communion. Nevertheless I hope we can keep TEC as a place for both of us; that’s why I agreed to be a deputy.

re: Bishop Shahan and the Kit-Kats: :smiley: