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Resolution Number: 1982-A080
Title: Implement "The Jubilee Ministry" to Meet Basic Human Needs
Legislative Action Taken: Concurred As Amended
Final Text:

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That the 67th General Convention affirms that a ministry of joint discipleship in Christ with poor and oppressed people, wherever they are found, to meet basic human needs and to build a just society, is at the heart of the mission of the Church; and be it further

Resolved, That the Executive Council is directed to implement and co-ordinate with other programs of the Church the following functions of a priority ministry commitment by this Church to be called "The Jubilee Ministry":

  1. Consciousness Raising. To challenge and confront the members of the Episcopal Church and other churches, through conferences, seminars, study materials, Christian education programs, and this Church's seminaries to understand the facts of poverty and injustice, encouraging them to take an active role in meeting the needs of poor and oppressed people and in the struggles against the causes of such suffering.
  2. Designated Jubilee Centers. Through a sub-committee of the Coalition for Human Needs to locate and affirm as Jubilee Centers those congregations, including ecumenical clusters, already directly engaged in mission and ministry among and with poor people, so that their experience can be studied and the learnings used by other parishes to become Jubilee Centers.
  3. Training. For leadership of, and involvement in, Jubilee Ministry, through academic-year field training for clergy and seminarians, summer work programs, seminars and classes for clergy and lay volunteers, including poor and oppressed people and indigenous leaders, sabbaticals, shared work between parishes in partnership, and utilization of retirees.
  4. Human Resources. To identify persons with gifts and skills helpful in Jubilee Ministry, establish a retrieval system, and match personnel with Jubilee Center needs.
  5. Research and Evaluation. To select particular Jubilee Ministries with significant potential as models, and to communicate their work and methodology to the whole Church.
  6. Publications. To publish a quarterly journal at a nominal price to report on issues which affect the poor, public and church policy related to those issues, theological reflection, and local models of Jubilee Ministry, as well as occasional papers and books on related concerns.
  7. Network for Public Policy. To cooperate closely with such organizations as the Episcopal Urban Caucus, the Standing Commission on the Church in Small Communities, the Appalachian Peoples Service Organization (APSO) and Coalition Fourteen (C-14) and others, in developing an active network able to respond quickly and significantly on public issues of peace and justice.
  8. Evangelism and Congregational Development. To seek and implement additional ways of urban and rural evangelism, especially in the formation of non-caucasian congregations.
  9. Jubilee Ministry Grants. To be made by the Coalition for Human Needs commission through the Executive Council, in accordance with the procedures and guidelines in the report of the Standing Commission on the Church in Metropolitan Areas, representing, in sum, a concrete expression of the priority commitment made by this Church in the foregoing resolution.
Citation: General Convention, Journal of the General Convention of...The Episcopal Church, New Orleans, 1982 (New York: General Convention, 1983), p. C-94.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY

Author: The Standing Commission on the Church in Metropolitan Areas
Originating House: House of Bishops
Originating Committee: Committee on Social and Urban Affairs

House of Bishops

Original Text of Resolution:

(A080)

Whereas, the Year of Jubilee decreed by God (Leviticus 25) demands a time of new beginnings, when relationships of power and servitude come to an end and all members of the society are restored to equality and freedom; and

Whereas, in his life, death and resurrection Jesus proclaimed a new beginning of the Reign of God in him; and

Whereas, the Scriptures defined God's Reign as a society of shalom, of peace and justice for all people; and

Whereas, Jesus defined his mission to be "to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, new sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free" (Luke 4:18-19); and

Whereas, Jesus identified so completely with poor and oppressed people that he told his followers that to meet or fail to meet the needs of the hungry, the stranger, the one without clothing, the sick, or the prisoner is to serve or not serve Jesus himself (Matthew 25); and

Whereas, the mission of the Church in this and every age is to embody faithfully the mission of Jesus Christ in the Time of Jubilee, the New Creation of Shalom; therefore, be it

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That the 67th General Convention affirms that a ministry of joint discipleship in Christ with poor and oppressed people, to meet basic human needs and to build a just society, is the mission of the Church; and be it further

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That the Executive Council is directed to implement the following functions of a priority ministry commitment by this Church to be called "The Jubilee Ministry":

  1. Consciousness Raising. To challenge and confront the members of the Episcopal Church and other churches, through conferences, seminars, study materials, Christian education programs, and this Church's seminaries, to understand the facts of poverty and injustice, encouraging them to take an active role in meeting the needs of poor and oppressed people and in the struggle against the causes of such suffering.
  2. Designated Jubilee Centers. Through a distinct commission of the Coalition for Human Needs to locate and affirm as Jubilee Centers those congregations, including ecumenical clusters, already directly engaged in mission and ministry among and with poor people, so that their experience can be studied and the learnings used by other parishes to become Jubilee Centers.
  3. Training. For leadership of, and involvement in, Jubilee Ministry, through academic-year field training for clergy and seminaries, summer work programs for younger people, seminars and classes for clergy and lay volunteers, including poor and oppressed people and indigenous leaders, sabbaticals, shared work time between parishes in partnership, and utilization of retirees.
  4. Human Resources Bank. To identify persons with gifts and skills helpful in Jubilee Ministry, establish a retrieval system, and match personnel with Jubilee Center needs.
  5. Research and Evaluation. To select particular Jubilee Ministries with significant potential as models, and to communicate their work and methodology to the whole Church.
  6. Publications. To publish a quarterly journal at a nominal price to report on issues which affect the poor, public and church policy related to those issues, theological reflection, and local models of Jubilee Ministry, as well as occasional papers and books on related concerns.
  7. Network for Public Policy. To cooperate closely with the Episcopal Urban Caucus in developing an active network able to respond quickly and significantly on public issues of peace and justice.
  8. Evangelism and Congregational Development. To seek and implement more effectively ways of urban evangelism, especially in the formation of non-caucasian congregations.
  9. Jubilee Ministry Grants. To be made by the Coalition for Human Needs commissions through the Executive Council, in accordance with the procedures and guidelines in the report of the Standing Commission on the Church in Metropolitan Areas, representing, in sum, a concrete expression of the priority commitment made by this Church in the foregoing resolution.

Proposed Committee Amendment:

Not Currently Available

On the fourth day, the Committee on Social and Urban Affairs moved adoption of Resolution A-80A.

Seconded by the Bishop of Olympia.

The Bishop of Quincy moved the following amendment:

Proposed Amendment:

In the second Resolve:

delete everything after the word "implement" and add the words "such a commitment, and be it further Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That in such implementation the Executive Council should consider the following functions:"

Seconded by the Bishop of Chicago.

Amendment failed

The Bishop of Eau Claire moved Resolution D-18A be substituted for A-80A.

Proposed Substitute:

(D018)

Whereas, the National Commission on Social and Specialized Ministries has studied the Jubilee Ministry as proposed by the General Convention Standing Commission on Metropolitan Areas; and

Whereas, the Jubilee Ministry is closely aligned with the ministry with the poor and oppressed, which was encouraged by the 1982 Pastoral Letter of the House of Bishops; and

Whereas, the thrust and style of the Jubilee Ministry clearly falls within the perimeter of the Coalition for Human Needs; therefore be it

Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That the General Convention:

  1. Endorse the Jubilee Ministry in concept as set forth in A-80;
  2. Give authority to the Executive Council to include the Jubilee Ministry in its general program and structure;
  3. Provided appropriate funding can be realized, implement this ministry in a manner that does not cut the funding of our existing programs.

Seconded by the Bishop of Quincy.

Amendment to substitute failed

The motion to adopt A-80A carried.

Motion carried

(Communicated to the House of Deputies in HB Message #53)

On the fourth day, the Bishop of Texas moved reconsideration of A-80A, Jubilee Ministry.

Seconded by the Bishop of Pennsylvania.

Motion to reconsider carried

The Bishop of Texas moved the adoption of the following amendment to A-80A:

Proposed Amendment:

In the first Resolve:

add the words: "at the heart of" after "just society is"

Seconded by Bishop Rose.

Motion carried

(Communicated to the House of Deputies in HB Message #71)

House of Deputies

On the sixth day, the Committee on Social and Urban Affairs presented its Report #21 on Resolution A-80A (Jubilee Ministry) recommending concurrence with House of Bishops Messages #53 and 71, and that the resolution be adopted as amended.

Debate followed.

Deputy Six, of Arizona, offered an amendment.

Proposed Amendment:

[In the first Resolve:]

[Insert after the words "oppressed people"] "wherever they are found"

[In item 3:]

delete "younger people."

The Committee accepted the amendment.

Deputy Webster Chandler, of Southern Virginia, moved that the resolution be amended.

Proposed Amendment:

In the second Resolve, second line:

Insert the words "and co-ordinate with other programs of the Church" following the word "implement".

The Committee accepted the amendment.

Motion carried

The House concurred with amendment

(Communicated to the House of Bishops in HD Message #64)

The Deputations of the Dioceses of Milwaukee, Fond du Lac, and Eau Claire called for a vote by orders. The President ruled that the request was made too late. The President further stated that he believed that the result would not be changed by a vote by orders.

House of Bishops

On the seventh day, the Secretary read:

HD Message #64 --A-80A, Amended by HD: Jubilee Ministry.

The House concurred

(Communicated to the House of Deputies in HB Message #154)

Resolution Concurred by Both Houses, September 11.

Reference: The Blue Book, p. 179f.
Abstract: The 67th General Convention establishes the Jubilee Ministry as a joint discipleship in Christ with poor and oppressed people.
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