'Archbishop' Proposed as Title for 'Presiding Bishop'
Episcopal News Service. July 29, 1982 [82173]
Helen Ferguson
NEW YORK (DPS, July 29) -- Should the title of the chief pastor of the Episcopal Church be changed from Presiding Bishop to Archbishop?
Would the Church be better served if the size of the House of Deputies were reduced?
How are Convention actions implemented?
These are some of the questions that have been studied by the Standing Commission on the Structure of the Church. Twelve Commission members divided into three sub-committees to present eleven resolutions to the 1982 General Convention meeting in New Orleans, Sept. 5-15.
An important one has to do with the election of a new Presiding Bishop. John Maury Allin was elected to that office in 1973, the 23rd bishop to hold the position. By Canon law, he must retire on the first of January, following the General Convention of 1985, having served a 12-year term.
The Polity and Authority Committee will submit a resolution asking for the creation of a Joint Nominating Committee to consider the office of Presiding Bishop. The Nominating Committee will be asked to define the responsibilities of the Chief Pastor, to consider the Primate in relation to other Anglican Provinces, and as the primary ecumenical link with other Christian and non-Christian bodies.
The resolution further asks that the Nominating Committee develop a profile of the office in light of its historical development and present requirements, and finally, that the Standing Commission on the Structure of the Church monitor and evaluate the work of the committee.
In The Blue Book, which provides General Convention deputies and bishops with background material, there is a brief description of the development of the office of Presiding Bishop in historical, Biblical and theological terms, as well as noting its canonical requirements. A bibliography provides the names of books and papers bearing on the subject.
The Polity and Authority Committee makes a clear distinction between the office of Presiding Bishop and the choice of individuals to fill that office. The nominating committee will carry the burden of the latter task, and the make-up of that committee is defined in another resolution.
A constitutional amendment will be required to change the title of Presiding Bishop to Archbishop and this is what the Committee will propose. Adoption of this change would require approval by the Convention in 1982 and again in 1985.
The title "Presiding Bishop" is unique, The Blue Book report states. Twenty-eight autonomous national Churches of the Anglican Communion use the title Primate or Archbishop. A change in name would in no way add to the responsibility or authority of the office.
This is not a new suggestion. At the General Convention of 1895 there was spirited debate on the power of a name, and the title of primate was rejected as being un-American. The subject has surfaced at other General Conventions and has always been voted down, although many are in favor of the change.
Opinions vary and are based on whether the Presiding Bishop is seen as the Chief Pastor, an Executive Officer, a Prophetic Symbol, or a marvelous combination of all three. The office became an elective one in 1923, having been awarded to the oldest Bishop until that time. As the duties made the post more demanding, much discussion has centered on whether the Presiding Bishop should continue his diocesan duties, have a special see created for him, or be independent with headquarters in New York, as is the case now.
Another resolution will be concerned with a disability allowance to a Presiding Bishop forced to retire before his term is up, as Arthur Lichtenberger did in 1964. The amount will be left open, to be determined by the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance if the resolution is passed.
Representatives to the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), the Anglican Church in North America and the Caribbean (ACNAC) and other Anglican and ecumenical bodies will be elected by the Executive Council instead of by General Convention, if a resolution to this effect is approved.
The Process Committee is the second sub-committee of the Commission on the Structure of the Church, and its resolutions have to do with the new procedure for the election of a Presiding Bishop.
The make-up of the Nominating Committee shall be as follows: one lay and one clerical member from each of the nine Provinces shall be elected by the House of Deputies. These members must be nominated by another deputy from the same Province.
One bishop from each Province shall be nominated by another bishop of the same Province and elected by the House of Bishops.
This resolution is to become effective immediately, if passed, creating a nominating committee of 27 persons to consider the candidates for the office of Presiding Bishop.
For more than 30 years, the size of the House of Deputies has come under consideration. A resolution will ask the General Convention to reduce the number from four to three lay and three clerical deputies from each diocese.
Selection of members of the Board for Church Deployment will be put in the hands of the Presidents of the two Houses of General Convention if a resolution to that effect is passed. This is to bring about more uniformity with other interim bodies having to do with ministry.
Finally, when specific action is expected from a resolution passed at General Convention, a separate clause should state what it is, in order that dioceses may be properly informed. This resolution is in response to a request from the Committee on the State of the Church.
Several matters having to do with Bishops have been studied by this sub-committee, but no resolutions have come from it. No changes were recommended in the Canon which forbids a Suffragan Bishop, while acting as such, to be in charge of a parish.
Terminology affecting the translation of bishops has been clarified. Five years of service in one jurisdiction is found to mean that a bishop should have been either Suffragan or Ordinary for the full five years.
Mrs. Donald C. Barnum of Bethlehem served as chairman of the 12-member commission, whose resort now goes to the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops of Convention. The legislative committees of the two Houses will consider the proposals and put the resolutions to the Houses, possibly modified. Both Houses must concur for any resolution to become law. There are 27 boards, commissions and committees which meet and work between Conventions and whose reports are published in The Blue Book.