The Acts of Convention

Resolved, That this 68th General Convention of the Episcopal Church invite its principal ecumenical and interfaith partners to join this Church in calling upon the President of the United States and the Congress to authorize and appoint a National Commission on the Reform of Health Care charged with making recommendations concerning ways in which health services in these United States may be more economically and efficiently made available in a fair and equitable manner to all Americans, addressing in the process the 1984 findings of the National Citizens Board of Inquiry Into Health in America; and be it further

Resolved, That this 68th General Convention recommend and affirm the support by local congregations of community preventive health programs, such as alcohol and drug counseling, school health classes, immunization programs, maternal-child education programs, environmental health programs, crisis centers, suicide prevention programs and poison control centers; and be it further

Resolved, That this 68th General Convention encourage development in local congregations of training programs for lay persons through which pastoral care can be extended and strengthened through lay visitation; and be it further

Resolved, That this 68th General Convention commend the many programs initiated by congregations in community outreach and services, and encourage expanded efforts by all congregations to identify their community resources and assist in raising financial and personnel support for such health services as food kitchens, shelters for the homeless, legal aid centers, mental health centers, neighborhood health clinics, homes for persons with physical and mental disabilities or both, home health care, hospice care for the dying and their families, and halfway houses.