Executive Council Sifts Through Variety of Concerns, Votes Against Using Denver Hotel
Episcopal News Service. January 31, 2000 [2000-018]
(ENS) The Episcopal Church's Executive Council met in New Orleans January 17-20, sifting through a variety of concerns over this summer's General Convention, deciding not to use a Denver hotel that is part of a chain accused of a broad pattern of racial discrimination.
The issue of whether or not to use the Adam's Mark Hotel in Denver as the headquarters for the July 4-14 General Convention was on the agenda of the planning and arrangements committee, meeting in New Orleans before Executive Council. After what was described by the Rev. Barnum McCarty of Florida, chair of the committee, as an "in-depth discussion" of the issue, the committee recommended to the presiding officers that the church not use the hotel.
In an ironic twist, the council's unanimous vote came on the day much of the country was celebrating the birthday of slain civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. A January 17, statement by Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold and Pamela P. Chinnis, president of the House of Deputies, said that the allegations in the Justice Department suit, coupled with "other reports from local leaders citing similar problems with the Adams Mark in Denver," led to the decision. The statement (text in News Features) said that the action was "the most appropriate response," especially in light of the church's "profound commitment to eradicating racism in our church and society."
Bishop Frank Turner of Pennsylvania said that the process of reaching a decision was better than the one used to decide to go to Phoenix in 1991, even though Arizona did not celebrate King's birthday. "We feel good about the process," he said. "It was a tough decision but the right one." Griswold commended the council for the "graciousness" of the discussion, adding that it represented a "wonderful quality of care and thoughtfulness."
In his opening remarks to the council, Griswold described his travels and encounters since the last meeting. He said that he was "extremely sad" with the isolation the Diocese in Colombia is suffering because decades of civil war has meant that it has not had a companion relationship with another diocese for over 20 years. His plans to visit a housing project where the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief is helping to rebuild houses after an earthquake had to be cancelled because it was in a rebel-held zone.
Griswold said that a meeting called by the archbishop of Canterbury in response to a 1998 Lambeth Conference resolution urging dialogue on the divisive issue of homosexuality was "an extremely rich and positive exchange." Participants at the retreat center in New York were able to lay out the different points of view and then identify gray areas, helping them to explore subtleties, according to Griswold. After engaging in conversation beyond their stated positions, participants unanimously agreed that the dialogue should continue.
The presiding bishop also met with the pope at the Vatican to discuss the future of the official international dialogue between Roman Catholics and Anglicans, a commission which Griswold co-chairs. And he participated in the dedication of the new Anglican Centre in Rome.
He participated in a retreat with a small group of denominational church leaders at the College of Preachers in Washington where there was considerable conversation about the future of the National Council of Churches (NCC). "In one sense the NCC has died and there needs to be a resurrection," he said, adding that there can't be a resurrection until people "recognize that there has been a death."
In her comments to the council, Pamela Chinnis, president of the House of Deputies, reflected on reconciliation. For example, her Council of Advice and the presiding bishop's council met "to consider issues most likely to be contentious when we get to Denver this summer, and identify approaches for encouraging respectful dialogue and creating connections between those holding conflicting positions seeking reconciliation within our own church body."
At a meeting of the U.S. churches that are members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Atlanta, "the whole theme was reconciliation," including a sermon by Archbishop Desmond Tutu at Ebenezer Baptist Church from the pulpit of Martin Luther King, Jr. She also reported on the warning by Prof. Miraslov Volf of Yale Divinity School against "cheap reconciliation," false ways of seeking to resolve the tensions between justice and peace.
Chinnis also held out the possibility that "through the miracle of modern telecommunication the majority of deputies and bishops can participate in conversation, exchange of information, testing ideas, sharing views, debating positions through e-mail" months before General Convention. Only 19 percent of deputies at the last convention used the potential but that has quadrupled to over 72 percent now. "The 2000 Convention will be the first to benefit from the kind of preparation afforded by this non-geographic conversation," she said.
While telecommunication "can be an instrument of unity and reconciliation," it also has the potential to "heighten our tendency toward division," she observed. "It's not a level playing field yet and may never be."
Treasurer Steve Duggan took council members through the budget that will be presented at this summer's General Convention, pointing out "how the numbers have changed and how that represents a change in emphasis" in the church's mission. In showing the income in the last triennium, he said that, when the figures are adjusted for inflation, "we are about nine million behind where we should be." The proposed budget for the triennium totals $139,385,000.
"We are still far short of what we need to accomplish the mission we're called to do," he added. "We are back from the disastrous place of five or six years ago -- but we shouldn't be complacent." While the income from investments has compensated for a decrease in diocesan contributions, he said, "We are in a good place to go forward in the new triennium" because the trends are "very positive."
Duggan said that the $250 million net worth of the church "has been rising dramatically" because of investments. "We are still a wealthy church, especially when compared with the rest of the world," he added.
The Rev. Jim Boyle described the recent court decision holding a diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada liable for sexual abuse in residential schools it operated for indigenous children, in cooperation with the government. He said that the church is facing 300 similar lawsuits involving hundreds of millions of dollars. "Our first goal is healing and reconciliation for those who have been damaged" and with Canadian First Nation people. "Many aboriginal members of our church are torn," he said. The second goal is survival of the church, even though that might mean a dramatic change in its present institutional form.
The council passed a resolution expressing its solidarity with the Canadians "as it seeks healing and reconciliation with aboriginal peoples who have been damaged through their residential schools experience and as it deals with the human and financial pain resulting from recent litigation...."
- endorse the decision by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to order Elian Gonzalez returned to Cuba and his natural father;
- adopt a mission statement, "The Episcopal Church in Service to Refugees and Immigrants";
- approve a one-time grant of $300,000 to help the National Council of Churches in its "financial recovery and renewal";
- express to the government of Israel its opposition to the building of a mosque next to the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth;
- monitor the progress toward implementation of the canon opening the ordination process for women in all dioceses;
- support a network of provincial coordinators by providing a line item in the church's budget.