MARYLAND: Convention pledges involvement in immigration debate, sets growth plan
Episcopal News Service. May 5, 2010 [050510-02]
Mary Frances Schjonberg
The 226th meeting of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland's convention called on members of the diocese to understand the issues involved in the ongoing immigration debate in the United States and to advocate for comprehensive policy reform.
In one of 12 resolutions considered during the April 30-May 1 gathering in Hunt Valley, the convention said that Maryland Episcopalians should participate in the immigration debate "in a manner that promotes our values: with reasoned civility and charity toward those with whom we disagree; with respect for the rule of law, tempered with a sense of God’s justice and mercy; and with compassion and love toward our sisters and brothers who seek refuge here from the violence, poverty, and oppression of their home countries."
The convention also called for reducing the use of bottled water and the use of chemicals on lawns and gardens. Resolutions made changes to the diocese's ecclesiastical discipline canon and to its constitution concerning lay delegates to convention. Delegates also agreed to give seat, voice and vote to Evangelical Lutheran Church in America clergy who are in charge of Episcopal Church parishes under the provisions of the two denominations' full communion agreement. Another resolution set clergy and lay compensation standards for 2010.
Information about all resolutions, including those tabled or withdrawn, is available here.
Diocesan Bishop Eugene Sutton told the convention during his annual address that the diocese's "Horizons 2015" priorities, which the convention approved, are "our marching orders."
"We decided to imagine a future that cannot be readily seen in the present, and -- given the past -- is not guaranteed to become a reality," Sutton said. "This, my brothers and sisters, is called 'vision.'"
Using the acronym "peace," the convention agreed to the priorities of proclamation, evangelism, action, Christian formation and education. To accomplish the work involved, Sutton said, Maryland Episcopalians must pray, prepare and perspire.
"The spiritual and religious situation in our culture is daunting, but strangely excellent for a creaky, old institution like ours that dares to face the future with a bold new vision," Sutton said, acknowledging a decline in membership among most mainline denominations. "We are going to grow!"
The convention also heard that Bishop Suffragan John Rabb plans to retire Jan. 1. Referring to Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 Rabb said in his address to the convention that "it is time for me to be about a new season of ministry."