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General Convention Wrap Up
by Jim Greer, Dean's Warden
Since the General Convention adjourned on June 21, there have been several dramatic announcements and events including 1) a statement from the Archbishop of Canterbury saying the American church has not gone far enough in responding to the Windsor Report and suggesting a new two tiered Anglican Communion organizational arrangement where: the conservatives would be the real or “constituent” members of the communion and the liberals would become associate, observer members; 2) requests from four dioceses to Canterbury asking for alternative oversight on the grounds that the American church has not sufficiently changed its ways from the 2003 election of Bishop Robinson and because they cannot work with our new Presiding Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Katherine Jefertt Schori; 3) an announcement from the Diocese of Newark of their candidates for the upcoming election of a new bishop, including a gay priest in a non-celibate, longtime relationship. Any one of these developments could ultimately make the work of the convention, at least as far as the Windsor Report is concerned moot.
The General Convention is the supreme legislative assembly of our church and it convened, June 13, in Columbus Ohio. The official diocesan deputation was comprised of our bishop as well as 4 lay and 4 clergy deputies, including our own Rev. Canon Allisyn Thomas who was chair of the Diocese of San Diego deputation. Other St. Paul’s Cathedral attendees included, the Rev. Canon Joan Ford, the Rev. Dorothy Curry, Jim Langston, Bryan McNutt, Mike Angell, Kathryn Bunch-Hoyecki and this reporter.
The Convention functions very much like the Congress: two houses, Bishops and Deputies, who must agree on final language after proposals have worked their way through committee hearings and word-smithing. The convention attempts to deal with hundreds of resolutions, reports and of course , the very important national church budget. Committees begin meeting at 7:00 am, legislative sessions of the full houses are held in mid-day and then more committee meetings continue well into the evening. In addition there is a daily Eucharist and several special events. The convention also includes a large “marketplace” of vendors exhibiting their services and wares.
Many strong statements and action plans were adopted by the convention, including positions on immigration, status of women, environment, the war in Iraq, poverty, prisoners, slavery, new church planting, college ministry and the adoption of the Revised Common Lectionary. Full details on all convention proposals can be found on the national church’s web site, www.episcopalchurch.org. But perhaps the most thrilling moment was when the convention elected as our new Presiding Bishop, the Bishop of Nevada, The Rt. Rev Katharine Jeffert Schori. Someone carefully planned or hoped for the results, because within moments of her election, lot of folks were sporting pink “It’s A Girl!” buttons.
Unfortunately, the convention’s legislative process, like that of Congress, may be democratic, but it’s not very efficient and so despite nine full days, many proposals just didn’t make it through the process. Most significant among them were a number of international concern statements, i.e. genocide in Northern Uganda, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, the Sudan, Cuba, Haiti and others. Many of these proposals will ultimately be considered by various standing committees of the national church and by the national Executive Council, which functions between general conventions.
The most anticipated action had to do with our church’s response to the Windsor Report, (“WR”) issued by the Anglican Communion after our 2003 general convention and the election and consecration of Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The conservatives in our own church and in Anglican churches in much of the developing world were extremely upset with the Bishop Robinson situation and the blessing of same sex relationships in parts of Canada. While the WR asked for many things, of most interest were its requests for repentance from the American church and an agreement to establish moratoria on the election of future gay or lesbian bishops and on same sex blessings. A “regrets for people hurt by our actions” resolution was adopted, but as of the second from the last day, neither house was willing to adopt moratoria positions. In fact the House of Deputies voted down two proposals.
Then on the last day, under great pressure from the retiring Presiding Bishop, Griswold and the Presiding Bishop elect Schori; both houses adopted a resolution asking 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 stains on communion.” The phrase “manner of life” is widely understood to mean gay and lesbian. No action was taken on the same sex blessings issue prior to adjournment. The PBs advised that he believed such action was necessary if the American church was to remain at the table with other Anglican churches in the communion. So in many cases, against better judgment, with tears and figuratively holding of noses, the deputies adopted the resolution.
Jim Greer is the Dean’s Warden, member of Chapter, member of the Finance Committee and active in Cursillo. Jim prefers to worship at the 8 am Eucharist on Sundays. He visited the General Convention as a registered visitor and filed this report at the editor’s request.
