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Executive Council Takes Strong Stand Against Hate Crimes at Meeting in Oklahoma City

Episcopal News Service. November 19, 1998 [98-2257]

(ENS) In response to a challenge from Pamela Chinnis, president of the House of Deputies, the Episcopal Church's Executive Council took a strong stand against hate crimes-and urged Congress to expand its definitions to include gender, sexual orientation and disability in their considerations of legislation.

Chinnis laid down her challenge in remarks to the council's international and national concerns committee at the November 2-5 meeting in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. As the basis for her comments, she cited institutional sexism, the shocking murder of a black man tied to a pickup truck and dragged to his death in Texas, the savage murder of a gay student in Wyoming and the assassination of an abortion doctor in New York.

While admitting that "legislation does not change what's in people's hearts," Chinnis said that she hoped the Episcopal Church would "become more visible in the effort to reclaim the authority of Scripture from its misuse by the extreme right-wing" in its "evil cause."

The council's resolution calls on the "whole church to commit itself at every level to work for the eradication of hate crimes in America," basing their response on Christ's message in the parable of the Good Samaritan, to show mercy. The committee committed itself to work with national staff to prepare resources for congregations in addressing the issue of violence and hate crimes.

The council also passed other resolutions dealing with human rights issues -- calling for clemency for 15 Puerto Ricans serving unusually long prison sentences for actions based on their convictions, and another urging the United States "to fulfill its treaty obligations to the United Nations and pay its dues in full…"

Echoes of Lambeth

In his comments and reflections at the meeting, Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold said that he hoped that "we as a church, in the days ahead, explore the full range" of resolutions that emerged from this summer's Lambeth Conference of Anglican bishops, and not "stay overly fixed" on the resolution that declared homosexual practice incompatible with Scripture.

Griswold said that he was struck by "the anger towards the United States," attributing much of it to "a great deal of hostility focused on our affluence" and perhaps some "resentment that's generated" by economic dependency. He also mentioned the cultural tensions. "If you live in a hostile environment, you don't have the luxury of broad points of view and divergent perspectives," especially if you are caught in a confrontation with Islam.

In explaining why he abstained on the homosexuality resolution, Griswold said that the debate on the resolution "showed me more powerfully than I'd ever seen before that argument and controversy solves nothing. We need a new kind of conversation, one that begins with respect for the integrity of the other, and a willingness to study the Scriptures together, to reflect on our experiences, including the experience of homosexuals, and to share in a process that attempts to put into practice" that discourages "the polemic and bitterness that is around."

As a step towards a better conversation, Griswold met earlier this year with a dozen theologians to explore a role for them in dealing with issues the church is facing. The theologians told him that they felt they have "always been on the edges of the life of the church," not an active part in how the community does its discernment. "We really do need to think more profoundly about what it means to be church and then figure out how we engage in theological discourse in a way that is civil and builds up the body," Griswold concluded.

The presiding bishop also reported on the Congregational Ministries Conference (see separate article), which he described as "an opportunity to listen, to reflect, to gather information and, for my purpose, to look for some common themes that might be woven more intentionally into the on-going program life of the church."

Budget process refined

Council approved a new budget-planning process that will make it significantly easier for General Convention to respond to emerging mission priorities. Dean M.L. Agnew, chair of the council's administration and finance committee, said that the process has been staff-driven in the past. "The process is too detailed and there is little opportunity to respond to requests and proposals" that emerge at General Convention. Under the new plan, council will assume primary responsibility for the budget, using information prepared by the staff, and it will set mission priorities and draft a budget for the next triennium by the end of next year. Reynolds Cheney said that the new plan would also make possible much broader input for the process leading into General Convention.

Treasurer Stephen Duggan told the council that the church had enjoyed "good income flow" this year with "both funding and spending pretty much on target, with revenue experiencing little, if any, impact from a volatile market." Assistant treasurer Catherine Lynch added, "The investment picture is in good shape. We are watching it closely." .

Several council members expressed strong support for the stewardship of the treasurer's office. Judge James Bradberry of Southern Virginia was quite vocal in praising the "competence" and the "financial soundness" of the office. "We are ahead on income, behind on expenses, our investments are in good shape and there is integrity in what we are doing," he said, adding that it is "critical" to let the whole church know that

Tragedy also on the agenda

Tragedies often have a way of intruding on the council agenda, injecting a sense of reality. Griswold read several faxed messages from Bishop Leo Frade and his wife Diane, a member of council, with details of the flood devastation in Honduras. They reported heavy damage to the country's infrastructure and to church properties, as well as a heavy death toll in what is being called the worst natural disaster in the history of Central America. In asking for prayers, Diane Frade said, "We also want you to know that the Honduran people are resilient and strong, not willing to give up."

Council members also visited the site of another disaster, the April 1995 bombing of the Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, on their way to a Eucharist at St. Paul's Cathedral, a few blocks from the site. Dean George Back said in his welcome that nearly everything that happens in the city is dated "before or after the bomb." The cathedral was seriously damaged. "Thank you for sharing our struggle -- and our celebration in the restoration." The overwhelming response "reminded us that we are part of something larger," a community of faith.

During visits by council members to parishes and programs of the diocese, Griswold said that he had been "moved by the mystery of death and resurrection being lived out in very concrete terms" in the wake of the bombing. Using the cathedral cross damaged in the bombing as an example, he said that "Christ was there with his wounds."

In other actions the council:
  • elected Frank Oberley of Oklahoma to fill a vacancy;
  • welcomed the Rev. Rosmari Sullivan, new executive of the General Convention office, to her first council meeting;
  • received a revised text of the Lutheran document Called to Common Mission, the basis for a proposal for full communion with the Episcopal Church;
  • approved modifications in the parochial reports.
[thumbnail: Bishop Robert H. Johnson...] [thumbnail: During its November meeti...]