I will be hosting a conversation about the Convention in the Parish Hall on Sunday, July 12, following the 11:15 service.
Final Reflections on the 78th General Convention
After the first couple of days of General Convention,
you can’t believe there is a whole week of Convention left. In the last couple of days you can’t believe it’s been a week. As one person said, General Convention days are like two days in length. By evening, the things you did that morning seem like they were done yesterday. I am still catching my breath from the Convention, and I cut out a day earlier than I originally planned to. As an alternate, I weighed the last day against one more day away from my family, and I decided to get on the plane a little bit sooner. It was an incredible Convention, and I am honored to have played a small part in the Deputation from Georgia. I am also very glad to be home!
As I reflect on the Convention as a whole, I am struck with the reality that our Episcopal Church is moving into a new chapter of its common life. I was at the Convention in 2012, and witnessed firsthand the building of energy around rebirth in the Church. It came in the form of a desire to restructure our Church in such a way that we could be more effective and responsive to the needs of the Gospel. The energy of the Convention took the form of structural design, although that’s not necessarily what people were craving.
I’ve come to realize that we were and still are craving a revival in the Episcopal Church. That’s not a very Episcopal word to use, but it’s the best word I can think of. As we have done on a few occasions in our past, the movement of the Spirit has been calling us to realign ourselves with our core mission and calling as the Church. It happened about 100 years ago when we changed the official name of the Protestant Episcopal Church to The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (all of you who are Episcopalian are automatic members of the society!). It’s happening again today. We understand that we have a unique message about Jesus to convey to the world, and we’re getting excited about doing it.
For years I’ve heard speakers like Brian McLaren tell us that the Episcopal Church is uniquely poised to offer something to Christianity that it has been craving in many places. Our combination of liturgy, theology, and mission is what a lot of folks are looking for – they just don’t know we’re here. With this Convention it is clear that we are starting to believe this about ourselves, and ready to spread the word. This is different than the self-importance we have carried with us for so many decades as the church of presidents and leaders. We are now realizing our place in the world as a mission center, as a gospel agent, and as evangelists (another non-Episcopal word!).
This Convention put a large amount of money on our future growth, funding church planting, Hispanic ministry planting, and digital evangelism. We have taken a bit of a risk to fund these initiatives. The budget was amended to include an extra ½ percent draw from unrestricted endowments to fund these initiatives. (That extra ½ percent brings the total draw to 5.5%. Market growth in the last 8 years has allowed 5% to be a manageable figure, although some are admittedly nervous about the extra ½ percent.) For those who were wary of spending endowment resources at this new rate, there were several comments that made it clear that the risk was worth it. As Bishop Hahn of Lexington was reported to have said in the House of Bishops before the bishops overwhelmingly passed it, “I’d rather not be part of a church with a growing endowment and declining membership.” It’s not a huge deal, in the big scheme of things, but it is a step out in faith as opposed to a safe decision based on fear. Jesus spoke to us about risking things for the sake of the gospel, and it’s good to see the church trying to live that out, if only in small measure.
The tally at the end of the convention was just shy of 400 “actions” by the House of Deputies, and a similar number in the House of Bishops. Actions included any resolutions that came forward, as well as votes for various offices, and any special commendations that the particular house wanted to add to the record. Resolutions covered everything from the headline-sized issues, to adding saints to the calendar (like Deaconess Alexander from just up the road), to procedural matter internal to the convention (such as changing the deadline for filing resolutions), and updating our church-wide alcohol policies. All told, that is a remarkable figure, given that many of those resolutions would have been debated and/or amended, or at least attempted amendments. It is no wonder that it takes nine days to get through it all.
As you probably know by now, the House of Deputies concurred with the House of Bishops on the resolutions around marriage for same sex couples. There were no amendments to the version the Bishop’s passed, which I wrote about previously. The first resolution addressed liturgical rites, making them available for “Trial Use” across the church, a process that means that they could one day be included in a revision of the Book of Common Prayer. That resolution also stated that no bishop or priest must perform marriages they do not wish to perform. A bishop may not allow clergy in his or her diocese to use such liturgies, but that bishop must make provision for the people of the Church to access them via another route. The second resolution dealt with an update to the canons which had some good language around the intent and theology of marriage, although it removed the stipulation that marriage was only possible between a man and a woman.
The Deputation from Georgia, including our bishop, voted for the liturgical resolution. It was a continuation of a process begun three years ago, and it also represented the most appropriate way for this discussion to move forward. In advance of the Convention there was concern that a canonical change without a proposed change to the Book of Common Prayer would put the canons and the constitution of our church at odds with one another (The BCP is a constitutional document). There was considerable debate on this issue with differing legal opinions about the legitimacy of that argument, and at the end of the day it was decided by the Bishops that Trial Use was the appropriate next step. Trial Use does not guarantee that a liturgy will be included in the BCP in the future, but it is a step forward without abandoning the conversation. The vote for this resolution was a vote by orders according to our constitution – any constitution requires a vote by orders.
On the canonical change, our Deputation was split. Our bishop was one of five bishops who abstained on the canonical change vote. Our clergy voted 4-1 in favor, and our laity voted 2-2, which is a divided vote, and counts as a no vote in parliamentary procedure. Both of these resolutions passed overwhelmingly in both houses. These votes make us the third “mainline” church to reach a place of marriage equality in the Church. The Presbyterian USA and United Church of Christ denominations arrived there before us. The ELCA (Lutheran) has opted for a local option approach, letting local jurisdictions make the ruling – often a step to take before fully endorsing. The United Methodist Church has gone back and forth at the national level, and while they currently prohibit same sex marriage/blessing, they have stopped prosecuting pastors who do it in most places. The Mormon Church and a number of high profile Evangelical pastors have also begun to rethink their beliefs on same sex issues, although those understandings fall short of where our church is now officially standing on this issue.
None of the changes around same sex marriage are to take effect until Advent 1 of this year (the start of the next church year). Our bishop will be making a decision about how these changes will be reflected in the Diocese of Georgia before that time, and we will wait to see what his ruling is.
For all that the marriage resolutions got the biggest headlines, such as they were (the new cycle moved beyond them in a matter of hours), this Convention was about so much more. We saw some reigning in of the machinery of our church in an attempt to make us more effective and better stewards of our resources: we eliminated most of the standing committees of the church, moving to a model of task forces, so that we aren’t incurring the cost for regular meetings of committees with no specific task. We increased the accountability in reporting how monies have been spent at the national level before new monies will be allocated. We reduced the asking from each diocese, so that by the next general convention it will drop from 19% to 15%.
We certainly backed our evangelism efforts, as I mentioned above. We also have continued our Church’s track record of seeking social justice, calling for continued efforts in the are of racism and anti-racism training; through our care of creation, and supporting the Pope’s recent encyclical and calling upon our own Presiding Bishop to craft a response from the Church; by calling for an end to capital punishment nationwide; by calling for reformation of the commercial prison industry and the side effects it brings with it.
We also called for more outreach work, some of which pairs nicely with efforts we’re already involved with. For example, as a way to ensure better education for our children, parishes were commended to join the “All our Children” network, a group of parishes that are working with local schools to support learning in those schools – the very same initiative we are pursuing with GEM in Brunswick.
I was greatly impressed at the spirit of this convention and its debate. With few exceptions, everyone was cordial and respectful. There was a different tone to the controversial debates this time around, as everyone worked hard to be sure that there was room in our big tent for everyone. The House of Bishops received a minority report from the bishops who voted no on the canonical change regarding marriage, and then crafted a majority response, noting their affection for their fellow bishops and their desire to stay in relationship with them. It was a powerful witness and an example of what unity can look like even when we disagree. We don’t operate that way in minor things, but it certainly has a place in these major discussions, and it was well received across the board.
The Spirit was very much a part of the General Convention from day one until the end. Connecting with such a diverse group of various Episcopalians from around the world is a powerful experience and not to be forgotten. I have a great hope for our Church as we continue our work in the 21st Century. I hope you do too.
Tom+
Gracious Father, we pray for thy holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior. Amen.