Executive Council Meets In Pittsburgh
Episcopal News Service. June 22, 1989 [89112E]
PITTSBURGH (DPS, June 22) -- The Rev. Austin Cooper of the Diocese of Ohio and Pamela Chinnis of the Diocese of Washington were elected to serve three-year terms on the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC).
Cooper was elected as representative in the clerical order after six ballots. Chinnis was reelected unanimously in the lay order, where she has served for several terms.
Elected as alternate delegates to the ACC were Nell Gibson in the lay order and the Rev. Kermit Lloyd in the clerical order.
The ACC is an interim body representing all of the provinces of the worldwide Anglican Communion between Lambeth Conferences. The group's headquarters are in London, under the leadership of the Rev. Canon Samuel Van Culin. The next meeting of the ACC is scheduled to be held in Wales in July 1990.
PITTSBURGH (DPS, June 22) -- Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning announced the deaths of two well-known Episcopalians at the opening of Executive Council in Pittsburgh.
The Rt. Rev. John Boyd Bentley, retired bishop of Alaska, died at his home in Hampton, Virginia. He was 93. Bentley was consecrated bishop of Alaska in 1931. The funeral was held in Hampton on June 15.
Judy Jones, wife of the Rt. Rev. Robert Jones, bishop of Wyoming, died after falling down a flight of stairs in her home. Funeral arrangements were pending.
The Executive Council members expressed their sadness and condolences to both families, and offered prayers of support.
PITTSBURGH (DPS, June 22) -- International human-rights cases in China, South Africa, and the Philippines received the support of Executive Council meeting here June 12-16.
In regard to China and the violence used to put down the student uprising in Beijing, the Executive Council expressed "its deep concern and sadness at the recent events...which resulted in widespread suffering and deaths -- and which continue to result in the suffering of the Chinese people."
Executive Council commended to the Church Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning's recommendations that the Episcopal Church pray for the victims of the recent violence and for those who mourn, for the people and the Church of China, and for those who must make the fateful decisions concerning the future of that nation. Browning also asked Episcopalians to extend hospitality to those persons from China who are currently in the United States.
In South Africa, Executive Council condemned the recent attempt on the life of the Rev. Frank Chikane, general secretary of the South African Council of Churches, calling the action "tragic evidence of the continuing violence present in the apartheid system."
According to reports from the World Council of Churches (WCC), Chikane faced a life-threatening illness after apparently being poisoned by "a mysterious chemical substance" that contaminated his clothes and was absorbed through his skin.
Executive Council resolved to "support the Rev. Frank Chikane's work for a peaceful change in South Africa, and send our prayers and greeting to him, his family, and those who work for justice and peace in southern Africa."
In the Philippines, Executive Council sent its greetings to the Philippine Episcopal Church, commending it for providing "leadership in the midst of poverty, displacement, and violence."
Executive Council further said it "deplores the intimidation of violence and death that is part of everyday life in the Philippines, and supports the record keeping by ECUSA of human-rights violations."
Executive Council directed the Church's Washington Office to support Philippine Church efforts to study the effect of United States military bases in the islands, and the Church's support of a constitutional declaration of a nuclear-free Philippines.
The resolution also recognized the concern over covert operations by the United States, and calls upon the United States government "to respect the sovereignty of the Philippines and to refrain from all activities that undermine Philippine integrity and independence."
Additionally, Executive Council expressed support for "aid toward genuine development of the Philippine economy and the building up of the nation, and deplores aid that strengthens the military and elite of that country; joins in concern over the forced displacement of entire communities; and encourages the establishment of relationships of solidarity between the people of the Philippines and the United States."
The resolution charges "appropriate Church leadership and staff to work toward resolution of the concerns, and directs "that this statement of solidarity with the Philippine Episcopal Church be communicated to the wider Church and community and that it especially be made known to appropriate members of government as representing the official policy of this Church."
PITTSBURGH (DPS, June 22) -- The dates for the 70th General Convention have been slightly changed, and the Executive Council has reserved the right to recommend reconsideration of Phoenix as the site if the state of Arizona does not declare Martin Luther King Day as a paid legal holiday.
The resolution to hold the right to move from Phoenix came after Executive Council voted unanimously to alter the dates of the next General Convention to Thursday, July 11, through Saturday, July 20. The recommendation was made by the General Convention's Planning and Arrangements Committee, which was responding to requests following the convention in Detroit that deliberations not extend over two consecutive Sundays.
In the last resolution from the floor, made as Executive Council was about to leave, Ann Fontaine of the Diocese of Wyoming recommended that Executive Council "encourage the Presiding Bishop to reserve the right to reconsider the decision about the location of the 1991 General Convention following the next session of the Arizona State Legislature." According to national canons, only the Presiding Bishop can recommend changing an action of General Convention. Executive Council does not hold that authority.
When Phoenix was designated as the General Convention site last year, Arizona was in the midst of impeaching its conservative governor. Arizona has so far refused to designate a state-wide holiday in honor of the late civil-rights leader. The city of Phoenix, however, does honor January 15 as a paid legal holiday.
Changing the site would represent a statement of conscience against racism and in support of blacks and minorities. If General Convention were to move from Phoenix, it would take with it an estimated $15 million, which is injected into the local economy by General Convention delegates. Copies of the resolution will be sent to the city of Phoenix, the state of Arizona, and the bishop of Arizona.
One Executive Council member noted that the National Bar Association recently moved its convention from Phoenix because of a similar objection to Arizona's lack of a Martin Luther King holiday.
The only dissenter on Executive Council was Vincent Curry, who noted that the Baptists recently held a national conference in Las Vegas, using the site as an opportunity for evangelism.
Said Curry, "Why don't we just go to Phoenix and tell them how we feel?"