Anti-racism, Evangelism Focus of Executive Council Meeting in Louisville
Episcopal News Service. June 17, 2005 [0617-2]
The Episcopal Church's ongoing response to racism—and its impact on evangelism and mission in the church—took up a large part of the agenda of the Executive Council at its Louisville, Kentucky meeting, held June 13–16.
"This is a dialogue, rather than a 'training' or a debate," explained the Rev. Ed Rodman of Massachusetts, who facilitated the sessions with fellow council members Bonnie Anderson of Michigan and R.P.M. Bowden of Atlanta. "Our goal is not guilt, but reflection, repentance, reconciliation and transformation."
The extended session began Monday evening with a lively game as table groups competed on the answers to five questions about the Episcopal Church's anti-racism efforts over the last several General Conventions, followed by an optional screening of two videos about white privilege and racism.
The first, an Oscar-winning short film by director Adam Davidson called "The Lunch Date," followed a white suburban matron through a series of events in which she comes face to face with her own prejudices and stereotypes about black males and homeless people as she navigates through a big-city railroad station.
The second video was entitled "Free Indeed: Of White Privilege and How We Play the Game," a 30-minute black and white video produced by the Mennonite Central Committee in 1995 which features four white middle-class young adults playing a card game as a prerequisite for doing a service project for a black Baptist church.
The Tuesday morning session opened with a "Personal Inventory Exercise," asking council members and staff to discuss a series of questions about racial and ethnic heritage, their first realizations about racism, its relationship to other forms of bigotry or discrimination, and the different forms of resistance to overcoming racism or other social problems.
In the afternoon the group discussed a chart that placed responses to injustice on a continuum from charity to service to advocacy to doing justice, and reviewed some principles of "restorative justice" and the marks of multicultural competence.
Systemic, not traumatic
During a special plenary session on Thursday, the council received an interim report from the Standing Commission on Domestic Mission and Evangelism (SCDME) about the church's 20/20 movement from evangelism commission member Lallie Lloyd of Massachusetts, and an update on membership and attendance patterns from the Rev. Charles Fulton, director of congregational development, and the Very Rev. Jim Lemler, director of mission.
According to Fulton, the 2004 data—based on reporting from 73 percent of the church's congregations—shows that membership losses might reach 1.48 percent, with an estimated loss in average Sunday attendance of 3.17 percent.
"Don't overreact to these numbers," cautioned Fulton, pointing out that other denominations—and not just mainline Protestants, either— are also reporting losses. Recent national surveys report that only 18 percent of the U.S. population attends church on Sundays, contrasted with almost 30 percent just a decade ago and 23 percent five years ago.
The losses in membership and attendance spanned all of the church's domestic provinces, and began more than a year before the controversies of the 2003 General Convention, Fulton said. In fact, blaming losses on "culture wars" in the church over sexuality is a symptom of a larger problem, said Fulton—and a variation on the old 'post hoc, ergo propter hoc' logical fallacy, not a road to a solution.
"I really wish it had been a single event" like the ordination of Bishop Gene Robinson, Fulton said, because the effects of a single traumatic event "could be dealt with. In fact, one of the indicators of a systemic decline is the tendency to deny there is such a decline and put the blame on a single event or cause.
"Time will not be our friend," and this is no time to engage in denial or blame, he urged the council.
But a renewed churchwide focus on mission, particularly multicultural ministry, can turn the situation around.
"It often happens that when the topic of 20/20 or mission arises, people seem to be waiting for the 'National Church' to produce a '20/20 Program,'" said the SCDME report. "But we are the 'National Church.'…20/20 is not a program: it is a movement, a vision, a call to live as disciples of Christ, to be New Testament communities in our new times."
Lloyd asked that the council accelerate the church's financial commitment to mission, reach across boundaries and choose a new Presiding Bishop who will continue to "live boldly into God's mission for the 21st century."
Written responses to the reports were referred to the Council's Congregations in Ministry (CIM) committee.
"Over and over we say demographics tell us we should be doing more to open our congregations to Latinos. This is NOT difficult to do—offer a misa en Espanol and they will come! But we must promote Hispanic leadership development models all over the church," wrote one council member.
"We are a church weighted heavily toward service. This is a good thing, but we use it as the principal means of evangelism. We must make more effort to evangelize directly and bring some balance to our mission work. We must proclaim the good news," declared another.
One year to General Convention
In his opening reflections, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold recounted his travels in recent months, including a trip to Salt Lake City, Utah for the annual Episcopal Communicators convention at which he said the highlight was a panel discussion of six people under age 30 reflecting on what drew them to the Episcopal Church. He also attended a convocation on hunger and participated in the "One" campaign, focused on ending poverty. Griswold announced he will leave soon for Armenia for the enthronement of a new Primate.
Griswold also told the council that the six-person response team is ready for the Anglican Consultative Council meeting in Nottingham. The text of their presentation will not be made public beforehand, he said, but noted that it contains an appendix by Dr. Pamela Darling that shows almost 40 years of reflection in the Episcopal Church on homosexuality.
Dean George Werner, in his remarks as vice-chair of the council and president of the House of Deputies, reminded the council that "one year from today" they will be at General Convention in Columbus, Ohio. Werner's Council of Advice met following Executive Council to select the chairs and co-chairs of legislative committees at the convention.
On Wednesday the council and staff had lunch at the Presbyterian Center, home to four of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s national offices since 1988: the General Assembly Council, the Office of the General Assembly, the Presbyterian Publishing Corporation and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Investment and Loan Program. The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church's General Assembly, and John J. Detterick, Executive Director of the General Assembly Council, joined other members of the center's staff in offering frank reflections about the challenges facing both churches and answering questions about the denomination's operations.
That evening the Council heard from Bishop Ted Gulick and clergy and lay members of the Diocese of Kentucky, including a young refugee from the Sudan brought to the United States by Episcopal Migration Ministries.
Executive Council next meets October 7-10 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
-- The Rev. Jan Nunley is Deputy for Communication for the Episcopal Church.
Resolutions passed by the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church Meeting in Louisville, KY, June 13-16, 2005 Administration and Finance
AF 062(s): Commits the Executive Council to review contracts with overseas missionaries employed by DFMS and to consider adjusting their stipends when currency fluctuations severely impact their standard of living, and that a standardized policy of compensation for overseas missionaries be developed.
AF 074-1: Releases $244,696.68 accumulated balance of The Astor Fund income to the Diocese of Long Island for ongoing projects.
AF 075: Establishes a 5% investment income payout rate over a rolling 5-year period for investment revenue income projected in the 2007-2009 draft Budget for the Episcopal Church.
AF 076: Draws $450,000 from two trust funds to meet the needs of Cuttington University College in Liberia, including funds to enable the College to complete payment for a re-roofing project, build new dormitories to increase enrollment capacity, and for general operating expenses. This request for assistance comes from Bishop Edward Neufville of Liberia, president of the Cuttington University College Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee of the CUC trustees.
AF 077: Draws $100,000 from a trust fund to support the observation of the centenary of the cathedral in the Diocese of Northern Malawi and to support the operating expenses of the diocese. The trust was originally established by the Diocese of Texas, which has given its approval to make this distribution.
AF 078: Requests the Church Center staff to prepare a draft budget for the 2007-2009 Triennium based on the following mission priorities listed in rank order of importance: young adults and youth; reconciliation and evangelism; congregational transformation: justice and peace; and partnerships.
AF 079: Consents to the appointment of Margareth Crosnier de Bellaistre as an officer of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society with the title of Director of Investment Management and Banking.
AF 080: Designates employees authorized to effect banking transactions, including check issuance, and to assist the Treasurer in the routine approval to secure hotel accommodations and related travel and entertainment services.
AF 081: Asks the Presiding Officers of the Executive Council to appoint an Episcopal Church Archives Strategy Committee to plan for a new Archives site and building
AF 082: Makes minor revisions to the Charter of the Mission Funding Initiative.
Congregations in Ministry
CIM 023: Affirms allocations for new initiatives in youth, young adult, and higher education ministries of $508,000 in 2005 and $400,000 in 2006, including funds for Campus Ministry Start-Up Grants, Campus Peer Ministry, Young Adult Network, Short-Term Internships Program, Youth Peer Ministry, Faith in 3D (ecumenical youth gathering), Sabbath Summit (Youth Min. & Spirituality Project), Youth Mission Exchange, EYE Media Support, and Youth Ministry and Spirituality Project Implementation.
CIM 024: Authorizes the Office of Communication to implement an online contribution system for the support of church-wide advertising efforts of the Episcopal Church.
CIM 025: Amends priority 3 of the Mission Priorities to emphasize that leadership development for laity and clergy is a significant part of the prosecution of all five mission priorities.
CIM 038: Affirms the work of the Office of Native American Ministries in the preparation and implementation of a comprehensive plan to fulfill the Covenant for the Observance of the Decade of Remembrance, Recognition, and Reconciliation, 1997-2007, marking the Jamestown Settlement's 400th Anniversary and apologizing for the insensitivity of the Anglican Church in its relationship to the Indigenous peoples of this land by calling them "savages." The plan focuses on education and training; liturgy and liturgical events; youth and young adult leadership; congregational development, and office program development.
CIM 026-034, 037: Provides money from the Constable Fund for the following projects: Anglican Women Faith in Action Chaplaincy Formation Program Episcopal Asian-American Clergy Collegiums Filling the Gap: Vocational Development and Lifelong Learning for Deacons General Convention 2006 Activities with Children Prison Ministries Educational Resources Province IX Education Resources & Network Development Province IX Participation in EYE Renewal of Catechumenal Resources for the Church
International Concerns
INC-039: Expresses appreciation for the appointments of the Rev. John Habecker (Los Angeles) as Parish Priest in the Diocese of El Salvador and Lyra Harris (Northern California) as a micro enterprise developer in the Diocese of Honduras.
INC 041: Calls upon the United States and the international community to intensify its response to the ongoing humanitarian tragedy in the Darfur region of western Sudan; calls upon the United Nations Security Council to pass a resolution authorizing a significant expansion in the size of the African Union security force in Darfur and broadening the force's mandate to include enhanced civilian protection; and urges the world community to authorize if necessary an international intervention in Darfur. Endorses the prosecution of the perpetrators of Darfur's tragedies at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, and urges all nations – including the United States – to actively support those proceedings. Expresses thanksgiving for the work of the Episcopal Church of Sudan and restates the commitment of The Episcopal Church, USA at all levels to support its brothers and sisters in the ECS; and calls upon the entire Church, dioceses, parishes, and individuals to provide mission support and fellowship to the ECS through continued contributions of human and financial resources through DFMS or ERD, travel to ECS dioceses, and continuing prayer.
INC 042: Recommends that one evening early in the 75th General Convention be devoted to "study and prayerful consideration" of the issues surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Referred to the Standing Committee on Planning and Arrangements.
INC 043: Authorizes the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society to begin the process of applying for official United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) status for ECUSA at the United Nations, which would allow participation at a deeper level as well enhance the ability to participate in dialogue and make statements at the United Nations on issues that concern the Church, in particular the Millennium Development Goals and environmental sustainability, among others.
INC 044: Expresses commitment to deepening the Episcopal Church's relationships with Anglican companions around the world, commits itself to responding promptly to particular recommendations for listening and conversation that may come from the June, 2005 meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council in Nottingham, England, and encourages all members and leaders of the Church to pursue multiple avenues for conversation and relationship-building.
INC 045: Expresses thanks to Bishop Edward Neufville and the people of the Diocese of Liberia for hosting the meeting of the Liberia Covenant Committee in October, 2004; commits itself to study and review the recommendations in the committee's report, and notes the long and devoted service of Paul Frank to the Committee.
INC 046: Urges immediate attention to the provision of Temporary Protected Status to Haitians residing in the U.S. who are in danger of deportation to Haiti; asks the US to facilitate and support a negotiated peace among factions and a multinational peacekeeping force; invites Dr. Guy Alexandre and Bishop Jean Zache Duracin to the next meeting of the council in Las Vegas, October 7-10, 2005; and supports the Bishop of the Dominican Republic in requesting funds to assist Haitians stranded as refugees in the Dominican Republic.
INC 047: Asks the General Convention office to prepare the national flag of every country in which congregations of the Episcopal Church are situated for the display on the platform in the House of Deputies at the 2006 General Convention.
National Concerns
NAC026: Reviews 18 Jubilee Programs.
NAC 027/CIM 035: Commends to the Church the Catechism of Creation produced by the Committee on Science, Technology and Faith for study in parish education and faith formation classes, Episcopal schools, diocesan and parish workshops, vacation Bible programs, summer camps, retreats, and other programs.
NAC 028/CIM 036: Affirms and expands the mandate of the Executive Council Committee on Science, Technology and Faith (ST&F) to include conducting surveys to gather information about activities and programs related to matters of science, technology and faith that are being carried out in the various provinces, dioceses, and other units of the Church. It will collate and provide this information in electronic form to the Director of Communication for posting on the Church web site, so that it may be made accessible to all.
NAC 029: Deplores the desecration of any religious sacred text or space and calls upon all people of faith to respect religious diversity and never to defame or abuse that which is considered holy by others.
NAC 030: Referred action on this resolution reaffirming the Church's commitment to children and support for public education through its Children's Charter for the Church; urges a shift from applying sanctions for failing to raise test scores to holding states and localities accountable for making the systemic changes that improve student achievement work; and asks the Office of Government Relations to lobby the Department of Education, the White House, and Congress to ensure that the No Child Left Behind Act is adequately funded.
NAC 031: Elects the following to serve as delegates to the World Council of Churches' General Assembly, February 14-23, 2006 in Porto Alegre, Brazil: Carmen Brooks; Bishop Christopher Epting; Sarah Harte; the Rev. Kwasi Thornell.
NAC 032: Supports legislation which would permit legal workers to enter the US to respond to labor force needs; ensure that close family members be allowed to enter or be reunited with individuals legally entering the US to accept employment; permit undocumented migrants residing in the US to pursue legal residence and eventual citizenship if they are employed; and ensure that migrants working legally be granted the rights and benefits accorded US workers, including the right to change employment.