Companion Diocese Consultation Held
Diocesan Press Service. November 7, 1975 [75394]
NEW YORK, N. Y. -- At a recent meeting of overseas bishops of the Episcopal Church with the bishops of their Companion Dioceses, agreement was reached on a wide range of issues, including the possibility of establishing a special "area mission" in New York City where " special missionary assistance " could be offered by overseas dioceses, and an endorsement of the National Council of Churches of Christ (NCCC) resolution calling for a new treaty between Panama and the U.S. with regard to the Panama Canal.
The consultation, hosted by the Joint Commission on World Mission, was the first gathering of overseas and domestic bishops who have entered into the companion relationship for mutual encouragement, enrichment, and exchange of gifts and resources.
The NCCC resolution on Panama - United States relations, which was adopted by its Governing Board in October, urged the U.S. government to "recognize the sovereign rights of the Republic of Panama over all Panamanian territory including the present Canal Zone" and called on the U.S. government "to support a serious negotiation of new relationships " between the U. S. and Panama "based on this principle."
An Agreed Statement, which developed out of the meeting, said that there would be an effort to establish a special "area mission" in the U.S.A. in which the overseas companions would provide the U.S. area with "special missionary assistance." The bishops felt that "New York City could well be such an area mission."
The bishops at the consultation said, with regard to the Overseas Development Fund, that they would "attempt to test the possibilities of designing a program by means of which provinces" of the Episcopal Church "might take on the support of the development programs in two or three overseas dioceses as a basis of action. "
The bishops of the various dioceses made presentations of their work, emphasizing the concerns, problems, and needs in their dioceses. In the Agreed Statement, the bishops listed several issues, needs, and hopes which emerged: human alienation; the amount of time and energy spent on property management; the degree of dependency on fiscal resources; the need for a better understanding of sub-cultural elements in their lives; and the need to improve the ways of using affluence.
The bishops committed themselves "to think and work together in behalf of new forms of ministry needed in the total nation today."
The bishops decided to hold a second companion diocese consultation to pursue "more deeply and intently" the issues raised at the first meeting, and set February 25-26, 1976, as the time.
Companionship is a special relationship between dioceses -- usually one continental U.S. diocese and one or more overseas dioceses of the Episcopal Church or of another Anglican church, or of the Wider Episcopal Fellowship. The relationship is established by action of the Executive Council, usually for an initial period of three years, and is often renewed for a second three-year period.