Thursday July 9, 2009

Welcome to Day 1 of the General Convention!

The 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church is underway in Anaheim, California! Each day of convention will be covered with stories that will include links to blogs, videos, and podcasts. This first issue is a special introduction to some of the deputies representing Wyoming.

Today was also a special day for Bishop Bruce Caldwell. Happy Birthday Bruce! Wyoming deputies and attendees celebrated with Bruce tonight and were treated to a fireworks display from the conference room window courtesy of Disneyland. While it would be nice to think it was in honor of Bruce’s birthday, apparently every evening is a reason for fireworks at Disney, but was still a lovely evening.

If you want to keep up with up to minute goings-on of the convention check out the .Ning site that Kay Flores (St Stephen’s, Casper) developed for blogs, pictures and video: http://generalconventionroundup.ning.com , The Diocese Twitter site: http://www.twitter.com/wyomingdiocese, and the Episcopal Church conference news site: http://www.episcopalchurch.org/gchub

-Andrew
andrew@wyomingdiocese.org
 

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By Ms. Mary Ellen Honsaker. Email: stom@dteworld.com

Province VI Synod

I attended the Province VI Synod as one who volunteered to go early to take the Coach Training for the Public Narrative work to be done at Convention in July. Both Training and practice “coaching” others at table in Synod was a great help for the job ahead. Public Narrative is being considered a “tool to take home” to be taught at Convention around 212 group tables in four sessions. Basically it consists of discerning what in your own life story has prepared the heart you have now that yearns to address an urgent mission need at home, in our country, or around the world. Taking that story to whatever group you are currently with, the narrative shared includes what you see could connect these particular people to what you believe is needed and hope to accomplish. Finally you present specific ways to join together in addressing the need. The sharing of stories has always knit hearts together, and the hope of Public Narrative is to move this sharing into shared actions.

At Province V! the Public Narrative Coaches came out of their training and experiences at tables with a feeling for what the uniqueness of this Mountains, Lakes and Plains people might offer to the general attitude and interaction in Anaheim next month. Part of this came from responses from Native Americans among us that told of different ways of listening to elders and telling their stories. Thus at an impromptu workshop a letter was drafted about listening, respect and learning from each other that will be sent as a gift from the Province to all Bishops and Deputies as we proceed to our time together. Please pray for these attributes to be very present in Anaheim as we consider the life of our Church.
 

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Photo by The Very Rev Marilyn Engstrom. Email: marengstrom@bresnan.net

Photos of our deputation after getting prepped for General Convention while at the Provincial synod. June 11-13 in Minneapolis.
They are left to right Josey Nickles, Margaret Babcock, Marilyn Engstrom Dan Land, Mary Ellen Honsaker and Ann Fontaine.

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By Ms. Linda Fleming. Email: lfleming22@yahoo.com

76th General Convention

I was elected at our Diocesan Convention as third alternate to attend the General Convention in California in July as a lay deputy. The Wyoming first alternate deputy always attends the Convention. I learned earlier this spring that I had moved into the first alternate position.  I was privileged to attend the General Convention in Ohio in 2006. Like then, I have been preparing for the Convention by studying the resolutions and other materials in a book that is called the “Blue Book” but this year it is red and three years ago it was green!

I thought you might be interested in the makeup of the legislative functions of the church. It is a republic form of representation, much like our national government. All bishops of the Episcopal Church, active and retired, are entitled to a seat, voice and vote in the House of Bishops. Each of the Episcopal Church’s domestic and overseas dioceses (and the Convocation of Churches in Europe) is entitled to elect eight deputies; four lay persons and four priests and/or deacons, to the House of Deputies.
Deputies are not delegates, that is, they are not elected to represent the electing dioceses. Deputies vote their conscience for the good of the church. They cannot be instructed to vote one way or another, for to do would preclude godly debate and preempt the work of the Holy Spirit.

The House of Bishops and House of Deputies meet, deliberate and vote separately. To be enacted resolutions must pass both houses in the same language. Both houses have the right to amend legislation, but the amendment must be accepted by the other house.

The legislation begins on the first day of the session and does not end until the final hours of the final day. The days are long and the deliberations are engaging. In the mornings, evenings and sometimes during the noon break there are hearings by the various committees that bring forth the resolutions. There are nearly 1000 persons seated in the House of Deputies. The deputies have access to about 10 microphones. It is amazing to participate in a group of this size that effectively debates issues, sets policy and registers votes.
 

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By Ms. Kay Flores. Email: kaydflores@gmail.com

New Deputy Conveners

A few years ago, you elected me to serve as a Deputy to 2009 General Convention from the Diocese of Wyoming. I was delighted, and I was immediately overwhelmed with worry – what is General Convention all about? How will I know what to do to prepare? How will I know what to do when I am there?

It turns out I am not the only new Deputy with those concerns. In 2009, approximately 40% of the members of the House of Deputies are new deputies. Those numbers are similar to past years. Over the years, it has become apparent that many new Deputies choose not to run for a second term. This year, the president of the House of Deputies, Dr. Bonnie Anderson, decided to try to change those statistics. President Anderson appointed Deputy Vanessa Glass of the Diocese of California to chair a new group, the New Deputy Conveners. I was asked to be part of this group, along with Deputy Wade Brings of South Dakota, Deputy Lynn Collins of the Diocese of Long Island, and Deputy Michael Delk of the Diocese of Southern Virginia.
The five of us have been meeting by telephone since November to try to prepare a plan for new Deputies. We’ve brainstormed a list of topics we are curious about.

From our list of topics, we worked with President Anderson to set up some educational and social events to help us connect with each other and with General Convention.

We invited experienced General Convention Deputies share their insights on a special E-mail communications tool for new Deputies.

We started a social networking site where new Deputies can post pictures, biographies, videos, and learn a little about each other in advance of General Convention.

We’ve scheduled a series of Lunch Forums during General Convention. We’ll be able to pick up a box lunch and move to an area set aside for new Deputies. We’ve invited guest speakers to talk to us during those events.

President Anderson’s goal is to improve the General Convention experience for new Deputies and to encourage us share our experience by running again for another term as Deputy.

General Convention will start officially for me on July 7 when I meet my new friends, the New Deputy Conveners, for breakfast. We then move to the official orientation for new Deputies, followed by a new Deputy reception later that evening.
 

I hope you will all follow the news from General Convention, praying for us all daily.

In Christ,
Deputy Kay Flores
St. Stephen’s, Casper
 

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By The Very Rev Marilyn Engstrom. Email: marengstrom@bresnan.net

Ecumenical Report

Among the more exciting resolutions to come before the General Convention are those dealing with ecumenical and interreligious relations. Just as Jesus prayed in his high priestly prayer, “The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:22-23), so the Episcopal Church continues in its efforts to find ways of coordinating policies and recommendations to bring about greater cooperation in mission, understanding in doctrine and unity in Christ.

This year the Convention will consider one resolution to approve full communion with the Moravian Church, which is formally known as the Unitas Fratrum or Unity of the Brethren. This is a worldwide communion that was founded in 1457 as one of the early reformation bodies. In the USA, numbering about 50,000, they are found mostly in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. There are about 700,000 worldwide in 19 other provinces. Like Episcopalians, they are a creedal, liturgical church which professes belief in the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. They practice infant baptism. They are well known for their hymnody. They have retained the threefold office of deacon, presbyter and bishop, though their deacons are always transitional, unlike ours which may be vocational.

We will be voting to approve full communion, enabling sharing of the eucharist, ministers, and mission. I love the title given to the agreement which is based on a Moravian hymn, “Finding our Delight in the Lord: A proposal for Full Communion.” There appears to be much to commend the furthering of this relationship.

Another resolution will encourage us to continue in the dialogue begun in 2006 and to encourage greater missional and Eucharistic sharing (on an interim basis) with the United Methodist Church. We will also consider beginning a dialogue with the Presbyterian Church, USA. While there is significant agreement on a number of theological and missional fronts, there are also some tensions regarding different understandings about orders of ministry and the episcopate. Pleasingly to this Swedish author, there is a resolution to begin dialogue with the Church of Sweden, which is already in full communion with the Church of England through the Poorvu Agreement.

The resolution that may lead to the most emotional debate involves the endorsement of a theological statement on interreligious relations, (i.e. involving those of other faith traditions.) Recognizing that we are part of the worldwide Anglican Communion and aware of differing contemporary local and global contexts and as Christians, we continue to struggle to find common ground and mutual respect with Jews and Muslims who are fellow children of Abraham. It appears that one of the gifts that Anglicans bring to the discussion is the particular way we do theology, the manner in which scripture, reason, tradition and experience are employed and held in creative tension. How we deal with faith claims, including the particularity of Jesus as Savior, our understanding of salvation and the means of grace and hope of glory will be on the table as w attempt to “learn from other faith traditions such insights and understandings as can enrich our own salvation story.” From my understanding the document under consideration does not prevent dialogue with non-Abrahamic faiths, but this is not its primary focus. It is all about growth in trust and understanding, not about competition or compromise. I am looking forward to these hearings and debates.

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By Mr. Dan Land. Email: dland0827@bresnan.net

Triennial budget of TEC

The original numbers submitted to the Executive Council for their consideration of the budget for the next triennium(2010-2012)showed expenses in excess of income by $23 million. The Draft Budget adopted by the Council was balanced, but projected increases in Diocesan giving by $4 million:$1 million in 2010, $1 million in 2011 and $2 million in 2012. Since this budget was adopted by the Council economic conditions have worsened and responses from Dioceses indicates that further cuts in expected income will be forthcoming.

Therefore, GC 2009 and the Joint Committee on Program, Budget and Finance, on which I serve, will be charged with cutting expenses proposed in the Draft Budget in order to keep them in balance with the projected reduction in income.

Please keep your Wyoming Deputies in your prayers as they approach this formidable task.

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By the Rev Ann Fontaine. Email: annfontaine@mac.com

B033

There are several resolutions that will come before this summer's General Convention that will affect Episcopalians who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
1) Transgender - a resolutions to include - gender identity or expression of gender identity, in the non-discrimination canons.

2) Consent to election of bishops who are gay or lesbian -- currently, due to B033 from GC 2006 - those elected bishop whose manner of life might cause difficulties for other provinces of the church (like being a partnered gay or lesbian person) are under a moratorium. This GC has many resolutions to change this back to the way it was before 2006 where each person is judged on their ability to be a bishop as laid out in the canons.

3) Marriage Equality - many resolutions have been filed on this subject. They range from changing the pronouns in the Book of Common Prayer marriage services (or at least allowing bishops in states where there is marriage equality to use the BCP) to new rites for blessings of relationships. It is unclear which resolution or what wording will be favored after hearings and voting.
 

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Presiding Bishop’s Opening Address

The following is the opening address of Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, presented July 7 to the Church’s 76th General Convention.

General Convention opening address
7 July 2009

(The sermon is also available on the media hub, http://www.episcopalchurch.org/gchub)

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate

Greetings to all the dioceses; visitors, ecumenical and interfaith from around AC. We give thanks to the diocese of Los Angeles for hospitality, and to the many volunteers. It is already a great convention.

When I was growing up, my mother often reminded us of what our grandfather used to say to her and her siblings when they were in trouble, “We’re going to have words, and you’re not going to get to use any of yours.” Well, we are going to have words. I’m not going to chastise; I am going to talk about crisis. And you are going to have abundant opportunity to use your words – they will fill the coming eleven days. As you use those words, remember that they are meant to image and imitate God’s effective word, and accomplish what God intends for a healed and reconciled creation.

Crisis is always a remarkable opportunity – that’s how Christians are meant to engage crisis. Crisis is about focusing on the most important and most essential things first. Pilots talk about crisis management in the shorthand of aviate, navigate, communicate – fly the airplane, figure out where you are, and then call for help – but keep on flying the plane. The crisis management called First Aid deals with breathing and bleeding and heart beats, and then moves on to other, less critical issues.

In the tradition that you and I have inherited, crisis response has a lot to do with caring for the most vulnerable – who is sick or hungry or dying or grieving? In the kind of crisis called a disaster, it’s about ensuring that people have food, water, shelter, and medical care. Schools are important, but you can worry about rebuilding them after the flood has receded.

The word crisis has its origins in the Greek krinein, meaning to judge, separate, or distinguish. A crisis is time for decision-making, and a response cannot be avoided. The early English use of the word had to do with the turning point in a disease process – like the height of a fever – will it lead to death, or will the fever resolve and the patient begin to heal? In the gospels, the essential crisis is contained in Jesus’ decision to turn his face toward Jerusalem.

General Convention is always a time of critical decision-making. This 76th General Convention has some connection with other memorable Conventions – like the one in 1967 that adopted the General Convention Special Program, and the 1976 General Convention that permitted the ordination of women to the priesthood and episcopate. We’ll hear echoes of those debates in our conversations at this one, as we consider the needs of the poorest around us, and the inclusion of those who do not have full access to the life of this Church. We may revisit some of the critical conversations of the last General Convention as we consider how the life of this Church intersects with the life of other Anglicans. Underlying all of those debates will be the reality that we do not have the same kind of financial resources to address them that we had three years ago – that is another kind of crisis, both local and global.

However, this is not a TSA announcement that the threat level has risen from orange to red, or a reminder to keep an eye on your luggage. Not a bad idea, but hardly good news. This IS a gospel announcement that our journey is meant to be toward Jerusalem, rather than sunning ourselves in the sands of the Negev or floating in the Dead Sea. This IS a reminder that we’re supposed to travel light – no extra sandals or tunics or lunch bags. Our mission is to keep traveling, bearing the good news of Jesus and working to transform the world. This crisis is an opportunity to refocus on what is most essential. When we have done that, we WILL go on our way rejoicing.

The decision-making we face here is an opportunity to choose the direction of our journey into God’s mission. Will we turn our faces toward Jerusalem, or will we wander back out into the desert? How will we engage God’s reconciling mission – in sharing the good news, healing the world, and caring for all of God’s creation? How will we discover anew that we ARE in relationship with all that God has created, and that we’re meant to be stewards of the whole?

Lane Denson reminded us recently that stewards are wardens of the styes – keepers of the pigpens. We’re beginning to notice that our global garden increasingly resembles an odorous sty. But it’s not pigs who are the problem – pigs are neat and tidy if they have enough space. The problem is with their keepers, who see the pigs only as bacon and ham producing machines, rather than part of God’s good creation and therefore deserving of appropriate respect.

The crisis of this moment has several parts, and like Episcopalians, particularly ones in Mississippi, they’re all related. The overarching connection in all of these crises has to do with the great Western heresy – that we can be saved as individuals, that any of use alone can be in right relationship with God. It’s caricatured in some quarters by insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus. That individualist focus is a form of idolatry, for it puts me and my words in the place that only God can occupy, at the center of existence, as the ground of all being. That heresy is one reason for the theme of this Convention.

Ubuntu. That word doesn’t have any “I”s in it. The I only emerges as we connect – and that is really what the word means: I am because we are, and I can only become a whole person in relationship with others. There is no “I” without “you,” and in our context, you and I are known only as we reflect the image of the one who created us. Some of you will hear a resonance with Martin Buber’s I and Thou and recognize a harmony. You will not be wrong.

I said that this crisis has several elements related to that heretical and individualistic understanding. We’ve touched on one – how we keep the earth, meant to be a gift to all God’s creatures. The financial condition of the nations right now is another element. The sins of a few have wreaked havoc with the lives of many, as greed and dishonesty have destroyed livelihoods, educational possibilities, care for the aged, and multiple forms of creativity – and that’s just the aftermath of Ponzi schemes for which a handful will go to jail. If we want to be faithful, we need to be continually rediscovering that my needs are not the only significant ones. Living in Ubuntu implies that selfishness and self-centeredness cannot long survive. We are our siblings’ keepers and their knowers, and we cannot be known without them – we have no meaning, no true existence in isolation. We shall indeed die as we forget or ignore that reality.

There is another related element to this crisis, the one that has to do with the particular means and purpose of our gathering. How do we keep the main thing the main thing? How will we insist that this Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society remember that God’s mission is our reason for existence, and that it has most to do with loving our neighbors? The structures of this church are resources for God’s mission, but they are not God’s mission in themselves, and if we get that mixed up, we will have turned our face toward the date palms of Jericho rather than Jerusalem.

The temptation for us here will be to see one small part of God’s mission, the part each one of use holds most dear, as the overarching reason for this church’s existence. The reality is that God’s mission will continue, whatever we do here, but it may not advance as effectively or penetrate as widely in the next few years if we get selfish or miss the mark. There are aspects of mission that are more appropriate and effective at the congregational and diocesan level. This church as a whole shouldn’t be running, for example, Camp East of Eden for kids from all over the church, but it could provide some liaison and connecting gifts, and share some best practices for camping ministry. Much of that work is already being done by Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers, and the job of the whole church in that response is thus mostly about making connections.
Some of the ecumenists in here will twitch at this word, but we should be in the business of subsidiarity – the church as a whole should not be doing mission work that can be done better at a more local level. The budget and the resolutions we will debate here should be about those things that affect the whole of this Church, and the vision of a renewed creation for all of God’s handiwork. We should leave smaller things and more local issues to more local parts of the Church. We might also consider putting in that category the big picture issues we can’t yet agree on – the ones for which we have many, more local, and varied understandings, recognizing the different contexts may require different responses.

Jesus’ critical decision to journey toward Jerusalem is about the city of God’s dream, Yerushalayim, the city of peace, the city of shalom, the city of God’s holy mountain, toward which the nations stream. We Christians often think the only important part of the Jerusalem story is Calvary, and, yes, suffering and killing in that place still seem to be the loudest news. But Calvary was a waypoint in the larger arc of God’s dream – it’s on the way to Jerusalem, it is not in Jerusalem. Jesus’ passion was and is for God’s dream of a reconciled creation. We’re meant to be partners in building that reality, throughout all of creation. This crisis is a decision point, one which may involve suffering, but it is our opportunity to choose which direction we’ll go and what we will build. We will fail if we choose business as usual. There will be cross-shaped decisions in our work, but if we look faithfully, there will be resurrection as well.

Will the words we use in the coming days reflect the word of God incarnate in our midst? Will our words imitate God’s effective word, speaking shalom to creation? That’s our decision, individually and collectively – that is our opportunity to live Ubuntu. This is our moment of judgment, our crisis. We can make our decisions in hope, and we can speak the love of God to the world through this Church, and we can do it together.

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