The Acts of Convention

Resolved, That the 76th General Convention recognizes the reality of the global economic crisis that has left the human community both in the United States and around the world in dire economic circumstances; and that we in The Episcopal Church are complicit in the crisis in that we have too often embraced an unrestrained free-market form of capitalism that results in predatory practices of lending and income generation divorced from systems of accountability; and be it further

Resolved, That this Convention thanks the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, for his leadership and teaching offering a Christian response to the global economic crisis including his contributions at this Convention in the Presiding Officer’s Forum; and be it further

Resolved, That this Convention urges the House of Bishops to extend their teaching in their March 2009 “Pastoral Letter” by developing a “Pastoral Teaching Resource” on God’s mission and the global economic crisis as soon as possible in the next triennium; and be it further

Resolved, That this Convention invite dioceses and parishes in The Episcopal Church to focus the season of Lent 2010 as a time of penitential reflection on the brokenness of the global economic order and its reformation in light of the Gospel using resources developed by such agencies and organizations as: the House of Bishops Theology Committee, Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation, the 2010 Trinity Institute “Building an Ethical Economy” and the Episcopal Network of Economic Justice; and be it further

Resolved, That the General Convention suggest that diocesan deputations address the global economic crisis in their own contexts utilizing the lessons and methods of the “Public Narrative Project” introduced at this Convention, and/or other community organizing principles consistent with the “Public Narrative Project.”