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Executive Council Addresses Transition, Bids Farewell to Pam Chinnis

Episcopal News Service. May 25, 2000 [2000-086]

(ENS) With a relatively light agenda, the Executive Council took time to evaluate its work in the last triennium and bid farewell to the members who will not continue -- including Pamela Chinnis, president of the House of Deputies.

In his opening remarks to the council, Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold sketched what he called "an interesting season" since the last meeting, one that included a crucial meeting of the Anglican Communion's 38 primates in Portugal and a retreat meeting of the House of Bishops in California.

Griswold said that he was "amazed" by the stories of primates who live in "excruciating circumstances... that hold no hope and seems only to destroy and to depress. And yet, in the midst of crushing circumstances one sensed a resiliency, a hopefulness that came obviously not from themselves but from the deep faith that has been purified through suffering which was so much a part of their lives."

Sequestered at a Roman Catholic facility near Oporto, the primates, half of whom were new and were "a community that did not really know itself," were able to bond. And that proved to be important because of lobbying by what Griswold called "special interest groups" in the U.S. trying to convince the primates that "the Episcopal Church in the United States is in a state of crisis and chaos and rank unorthodoxy largely because of the accommodations that have been made in many places and congregations and dioceses to homosexuality."

For primates who were coping with "poverty, starvation, civil war and increasingly aggressive forms of Islam, sexuality was not a primary concern," Griswold added. "And there was some resentment toward the United States because there was a perception that once again the United States had determined the agenda and it has taken over and made sexuality the focal point, and set to one side these more drastic circumstances in which they had to carry out their ministries," he said.

Some "wonderfully rich Bible reflections" by David Ford of Cambridge helped to ground the meeting and to "neutralize some of the anxiety" over expectations for the meeting. Ford pointed out that, in an era with so much electronic communication, it is easier to distort and misinterpret perspectives. Therefore face-to-face encounters take on a new importance.

As a result, the primates decided to meet every year. Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey said more frequent meetings also help to dispel the notion that ad hoc meetings centered on a particular concern or issue are "perceived as normative in the life of the Anglican Communion."

A deeper place

During a day set aside to discuss sexuality issues, Griswold said that he approached the issue by sketching the evolution of the marriage canons in the Episcopal Church, "how over time the Spirit of the risen Christ, acting in the life of the community, has led us in our formal canonical procedures beyond the very strict constraints of Matthew 19...." And he pointed out that the marriage canons were "variously interpreted and applied in dioceses under the pastoral direction of the bishop."

Just as it took the church years to deal with the marriage canons, the church is now "engaged also in a very long and complicated process" in determining how to handle sexuality issues. Even the 1979 General Convention resolution that said it is "not appropriate for this church to ordain a practicing homosexual or any person who is engaged in heterosexual relations outside of marriage" is couched in language of recommendation and "presented in a way that is somewhat open to interpretation," at the same time that it upholds the traditional view of marriage.

Griswold flew directly from Portugal to a meeting of the House of Bishops in California, a meeting that took the bishops to what he called "a deeper place....a place of far more costly and authentic communion."

The bishops also welcomed Chinnis and passed a resolution to "acknowledge and give thanks for Pam's incredible leadership." Griswold noted efforts by some to "create a sense of division" between the two houses on the eve of General Convention and the presence of the president of the House of Deputies was a good reminder that "we do not act alone."

The bishops expressed concern for how they could be "a positive and helpful presence in the life of General Convention," he added. "And so we talked about how we ought to go, how we ought to deport ourselves, how we ought to listen to one another and to the House of Deputies -- how we ought to be willing to suspend debate in order to ground ourselves more deeply in the mystery of our own faith so that what we decide has a character of the mind of Christ."

Griswold amplified on his comments to the council during an adult forum at St. Patrick's Church in Washington, after celebrating and preaching at the lively parish. "You are a wonderful gift to me," he said in greeting about a hundred parishioners after the service. "It is too easy to get caught up in corporate anxieties," he said. He described how his concept of the church had expanded over the years, a "constantly enlarging perspective" as he moved from a parish priest to the bishop of Chicago to the office of presiding bishop.

He cited as "signs of health" the growing communicant strength of the Episcopal Church, and the even more impressive figures for attendance at worship. "And giving has gone up incredibly," he said. There is still a "certain arrogance," a tendency to wait for "right-minded people" to find the church. He argued for more directness in evangelism efforts and less reluctance to reach out into the community.

In response to a question, Griswold described a "vast, diverse center" of the church and expressed his concern that diverse, nuanced voices be heard in the church. "How do we create a different kind of rhetoric," he asked, "and claim more gracious ways of dealing with each other?"

Chinnis assesses 21 years

After 21 years of council meetings, under the leadership of three presiding bishops, it was time for Pam Chinnis to bid farewell. In her parting comments she noted the "slow but steady movement toward greater inclusivity in our church's leadership.... Moving away from hierarchical power structures toward increasing participation and collaboration."

Unhappiness and hostility toward the national church administration surfaced in the early 1990s, she noted, and the resulting financial crisis "made models of partnership and networking popular," often providing "a corrective to programming which some considered overly centralized."

While the church seemed to be regaining its equilibrium, it was rocked by the embezzlement of millions by the former treasurer, plunging council into "a crisis such as I had never seen -- and hope never to see again." Hard work by the new treasurer, Steve Duggan, and his staff "restored confidence in our stewardship of the church's money," she said.

Chinnis concluded, "How extraordinarily blessed we are to be living through this pivotal time. How daunting the honor of being called to leadership in the church as we cross from one century, one millennium, to the next, as we pass from the smoky industrial age to the beeps and blinking lights of the information age."

An icon of leadership

Council members attended an Evensong at Church of the Epiphany in Washington, the home parish of Chinnis, where participants extolled her influential leadership on the church over 21 years.

Using the text of the day as a point of departure, Griswold said that her leadership had been similar to the pillars of fire and smoke that led the people in the wilderness, suggesting that such kind of talk would probably not please her "down home Missouri heart." He said that her leadership had been exerted in a "wonderfully tireless and fearless way -- and always gracious way."

Bishop Jane Holmes Dixon of the Diocese of Washington said that her "amazing prophetic stance" on behalf of the ordination of women made it possible for a female bishop to greet the congregation. Dixon said that Chinnis was the "icon of a female leader" and a "great role model -- a gift to women of the church." Bishop Chris Epting of Iowa added, "She will be succeeded but never replaced."

Under the guidance of consultant, council members devoted most of a day to an evaluation process, asked to identify "life-giving forces" in their lives and outline their "wishes for the future." The effort was designed to move toward creation of a new kind of Executive Council and to provide some "collective wisdom" for the council in the next triennium.

Treasurer Steven Duggan reported that the 1999 budget has closed with a $100,000 deficit that is within the margin expected. Levels of diocesan commitment to the annual budget remain below 1994 levels, he said, despite a recent increase in giving.

In other action, council:

• approved a resolution to amend a canon to make Executive Council responsible for financial support for the President of the House of Deputies. Currently, there is no stipend for the president and expenses are the responsibility of the General Convention office.
• heard a report from Bishop Mark Dyer of Virginia Theological Seminary on the Virginia Report;
• called for humane treatment and due process in the case of Wen Ho Lee, a weapons scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, who is charged with mishandling nuclear secrets;
• approved a communication committee resolution calling for a database of public media initiatives resources;
• received a report from the Joint committee on the Philippine Covenant that asks the for a special thanksgiving offering from the Episcopal Church on the occasion of the Philippine Church centenary next year; and
• requested a report from the day-long evaluation of its work during the past three years and recommended an orientation for new council members before council's next meeting in November.