The Acts of Convention

Whereas, we are sensitive to the controversy and confusion surrounding various grants made by the World Council of Churches special fund of the Programme to Combat Racism (the fund is raised outside the regular budget of the World Council of Churches from contributions specifically designated for the fund and has not received any general program money of the Episcopal Church since 1972) which according to its criteria makes grants "to be used for humanitarian activities (i.e., social, health and educational purposes, legal aid)"; and

Whereas, it is recognized that applying such criteria in a revolutionary situation is complex, and meeting human needs can involve risks in decision making. The Lambeth Conference of 1978 has called upon the World Council of Churches and all of us "to reexamine any complicity with violence in its many forms and to take with utmost seriousness the question which the teaching of Jesus places against all violence in human relationships"; and

Whereas, the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, of which the Presiding Bishop is a member, has initiated a general review of all purposes and operations of the World Council of Churches to provide better accountability and communications with all member Churches, by a special committee chaired by Dr. Cynthia Wedel, an American Episcopalian and a President of the World Council of Churches; and

Whereas, the Lambeth Conference of 1978 has urged all Churches of the Anglican Communion to reaffirm their support and strengthen their understanding of the World Council of Churches, whose many concerns include a wide spectrum of ecumenical studies and activities (e.g., faith and order, evangelism and mission, world relief and resettlement of refugees, the initiation of major international conferences such as the recent "Faith, Science and the Future" in Cambridge, etc.); therefore be it

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That the 66th General Convention of the Episcopal Church commends the purposes being carried forward by the World Council of Churches' committee on accountability and communication; and be it further

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That the 66th General Convention of the Episcopal Church joins with the Lambeth Conference of 1978 in reaffirming its support of the World Council of Churches as "the most comprehensive expression of the ecumenical movement and the chief vehicle of worldwide ecumenical cooperation and service".