Chinnis Denies Bias in Appointments to Church Committees
Episcopal News Service. September 17, 1993 [93156]
Responding to charges that she would unfairly "stack" Episcopal Church committees with "biased" members, Pamela Chinnis, president of the House of Deputies, has issued a statement to clarify her position on her appointment policies.
In a mid-September statement, Chinnis acknowledged that press accounts following her address to annual convention of Integrity in July "have led some to suppose that I intend to 'stack' 1994 legislative committees with Integrity members to the exclusion of those holding other points of view. Nothing could be further from the truth..." she said (See Newsfeatures section for text of the statement).
In a July 17 address at the meeting of Integrity, an organization of lesbian and gay Episcopalians, Chinnis asked participants to help her identify members of the organization so that they could be considered for appointment to legislative committees of the 1994 General Convention.
In a press release following the Integrity meeting, the Rev. Todd Wetzel, executive director of Episcopalians United for Revelation, Renewal and Reformation (EURRR), charged that Chinnis would "cause pain to orthodox Episcopalians by stacking committees with members who are so clearly biased."
"I sense no concern for balance, much less diversity, in President Chinnis' remarks regarding committee appointments," Wetzel added. "I hear only a concern for winning the battle. Showing a bias is understandable and appropriate for an advocacy organization such as Episcopalians United or Integrity," he said. "It is inappropriate for the President of the House of Deputies to show such a clear bias and to act upon it."
In a letter to the Living Church, Bishop Francis Gray of Northern Indiana suggested that Chinnis' invitation to Integrity represented "an abuse of power which comes at a time when many people are questioning the very structure of the General Convention."
In her statement following the criticisms, Chinnis insisted that she had "widely solicited and always welcomed suggestions of qualified persons from all quarters of the church" for appointments to committees. "I have given particular attention to identifying competent people from groups which have previously been under-represented in our leadership and decision-making processes..."
Chinnis noted that she had considered balance in geography and ideology in all her appointments, including persons representing the interests of groups as diverse as Episcopalians United and Integrity, the Episcopal Synod of America and the Episcopal Women's Caucus. "It was in that context that I assured the Integrity convention that I do not exclude openly gay and lesbian Episcopalians from consideration for appointments to interim bodies or legislative committees," she said.
"It grieves me that some have read this invitation to broader participation as a threat to exclude other groups," Chinnis added. "I reiterate my welcome of suggestions from all constituencies within the church, and ask your prayers that we may all listen for the voice of the Spirit through the clamor of public debate."