Province VIII Synod Adopts New Life Style
Diocesan Press Service. September 10, 1975 [75306]
Canon Larry Davidson, Provincial Press Officer, Diocese of Oregon
DAVIS, Calif. -- Unlike the old "Spring Rites" of former years, and the rushed "day before General Convention" meetings of recent years, the Synod of Province VIII of the Episcopal Church blossomed out with a new life style at its Sept. 5-6 meeting here on the University of California campus.
Restructuring itself into a more workable, more flexible province that encourages and supports common - interest groupings on a regional basis within the provincial framework, the Synod opened its two-day meeting with forums on four special areas of concern.
The four areas included: Special Ministries (Asian ministry, Christian education, college work) ; World Mission (evangelism, hunger, Partners in Mission, overseas missions); Coalitions for Ministry (Northwest Six-Pac, TEAM -- Teach Each A Ministry -- and Coalition 14); and Ministry Support Systems (continuing education, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, the Board for Theological Education, Church Pension Fund, and diocesan commissions on ministry).
Purpose of the forums was to create an awareness of existing programs in the Province, to explore possibilities for developing new programs, and to find means of implementing and funding new programs. Recommendations from the four groups were referred to the Province's Program Planning Council for implementation at its January 1976 meeting in San Francisco.
The Rt. Rev. C. Kilmer Myers, bishop of California and president of the Province, chaired the meeting of nearly 200 delegates from the Province's 19 member dioceses, plus representatives of diocesan ECW organizations.
On Friday evening the Synod heard the Most Rev. John M. Allin, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, call for greater coordination and communication, increased economy and efficiency in all its efforts.
" I view strengthening of the provincial system, " Bishop Allin told the Synod, " as less a matter of decentralization and more a matter of coordinating the national Church effort."
The Presiding Bishop also warned Synod delegates against "playing the priority game." "The fact is," he said, "that if I asked the Church to give up anything, I'd ask it to give up priority setting. It is a luxury we cannot afford. "
"We cannot any more decide which are the five most important issues and then line them up in 1-2-3-4-5 order and build our budget around them, than we can decide which five congregations are the most important or which five people we will believe in because their needs are greatest, and leave all the rest. It is an impossibility."
Bishop Allin said, "You and I have to fight on many fronts, so the problems get solved by coordinating our efforts, developing the flexibility and the capability, and responding, and working out our strategies and our logistics. It seems to me that the task, rather than priority setting, is one which I like to call 'sequential selection.' It's a timing problem."
He urged the Synod to "loosen up, streamline yourselves, use your good experiences in your future planning."
In a passing reference to the ordination of women to the priesthood, the Presiding Bishop said, "I am convinced that this Church, if we are faithful to the Holy Spirit, can resolve the problem of who should be in what Order (of Ministry), where. Many people ask me -- I get pressed from both sides --, 'Why don't you take a stand on this?' You don't need my vote on either side, but I couldn't be more concerned, because of the confusion, the relationships that have been broken, the dreams that have been broken, and the dangerous position we have placed ourselves in."
"Renewal of the whole ministry must be the concern," Bishop Allin said.
In other matters, Synod :
* elected the Rt. Rev. Hal R. Gross, suffragan bishop of Oregon, to be Provincial Representative to the national Executive Council, completing the term left open by the recent death of the Rt. Rev. Lani Hanchett, bishop of Hawaii. Bishop Gross will take office immediately and will serve until September 1976.
* also elected the Rt. Rev. William B. Spofford, bishop of Eastern Oregon, as a trustee to the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, Calif., and named a six-member Ecclesiastical Court of Review for the Province, headed up by the Rt. Rev. Hanford King, bishop of Idaho.
* adopted several Memorials to General Convention, including one calling for deacons to be made eligible to serve as deputies to General Convention, and another requesting a reordering of the membership of Executive Council to allow more provincial participation in its quarterly meetings.
A resolution, offered by the Diocese of San Joaquin, against inviting special representatives to take part in the 1976 General Convention was also adopted by the Synod.
In restructuring the Province, the Synod voted to set up several programmatic and administrative areas as services to the entire Province, and opened the door to more frequent meetings of the Synod, as need arises.
At the present time, the Province has had only one "stated" meeting triennially, usually held the day before General Convention opens. The new stance allows the " stated " meeting to be held "within one year prior to the opening of General Convention, " and also permits other meetings to be called by either the Program Planning Council or any five dioceses, as necessity demands.
The Synod restructure plan also limits terms of office of president and vice-president to six years without the right of re-election. Both offices are held by bishops and it was felt that current demands on the episcopate are such that bishops should not be asked to serve more than one term.
Reports were received by the Synod on the Navajo Nation, resettlement of Southeast Asia refugees, the Church Divinity School of the Pacific, and on the proposed Draft Book of Common Prayer.
Synod was preceded by a one-day meeting of the Provincial ECW, with representatives from throughout the Province in attendance. Reports on structure and program of Triennial, which will meet concurrently with General Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul on Sept. 11-22, 1976, were received by the ECW, and a workshop on the UTO granting process was held on the evening before Synod opened.
Also holding meetings on the Davis campus were the Daughters of the King and the Church Periodical Club.