Executive Council Reflects on Proposed Changes as It Prepares for General Convention
Episcopal News Service. May 5, 1994 [94093]
While tornadoes danced across the Nebraska prairies, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church gathered in Omaha to take another look at the sweeping changes in national structure and program it will propose at the Indianapolis General Convention in August.
In its last meeting of the triennium the mood was reflective. Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning seemed to set the right tone when he said in his address from the chair at the opening session on April 26 that the council had made "hard choices and tough decisions" in its attempt to respond to what it heard during visits to all the dioceses and to projected budget shortfalls (full text in the Newsfeatures section).
Browning said that he and council members have heard reactions from many in the church about the changes adopted at the Norfolk meeting in February. "I have heard a great deal of affirmation for the work of this council and for the fact that our decisions were informed by what we heard in the listening process," he said. "We decided to go out to where the members of this church are carrying out the mission and find out first-hand just what they need and hope for from a national program."
And yet "it is painful to change," Browning added, to let go of programs and people while responding to current realities. While the proposed budget is now in the hands of the Joint Committee on Program, Budget and Finance, he said that he and his staff were committed to "recognize that there are valid criticisms to what we have produced. We must not for a minute demean those who have reservations or criticisms about the budget. We must honor and value their opinions. We must hear the pain of those for whom this proposed budget means program cuts. We must help, in every way we can, to bear the pain," he said.
"A toll has been extracted as we have walked along this road, both in terms of staff and program," Browning said in warning against any sense of "triumphalism."
"As the task is being portioned out in new ways, many of those things once part of the program of the national church must be taken up by provinces, dioceses, congregations and other groups gathered around particular concerns," Browning observed. Since the structure is now "a giant web of connected strands," a new partnership should emerge in which it will be important to both challenge and hold one another accountable. "And over the next years, we must keep testing to see if we have the balance right." In this time of transition, "trust is the key to all we are about," he concluded.
Many council members resonated with Browning's observations. Sobered by the magnitude of the changes they are proposing, and facing a General Convention where their decisions will be tested, council members shared deep feelings about the future of the church in the small group discussions which have become a valuable part of the meetings.
"We have set in motion a tremendous change for the church," said Bishop Don Wimberly of Lexington. Judy Conley of Iowa said that she was still clinging to the "euphoria" of the Norfolk meeting but said it was clear that "we are embarking on uncharted waters. We don't know if the dioceses will respond as we hope by picking up ministries at the local level."
In a conversation filled with a mixture of hope and apprehension, Joyce Austin of New York said that the council "came out of Norfolk united in a different way," adding that she hoped that renewed spirit wouldn't be jeopardized by a "Titanic mentality." Bishop Elliott Sorge, retired bishop of Easton, said that it will be difficult to "make the shift away from old patterns" and that the transition period would be marked by tensions. Some may be tempted to put the new wine in old wineskins, "to impose arbitrary structures on what is perceived as chaos but may actually be the work of the Spirit," he added.
Diane Porter, senior executive for program, told the program committee meeting that "change is always difficult" and that there are some rough times ahead. And yet the new style adopted at Norfolk "is the only way we can break things open and convince people that they must be in better partnership with each other," she said.
"The diocesan visits by council and staff were the centerpiece of our activities in this triennium," said Bishop Rustin Kimsey of Eastern Oregon to a murmur of agreement. "And a continuous conversation with the dioceses will make a big difference in how our mission is carried out," added the presiding bishop. Kimsey added that he hoped the next stage of conversation would be "more two-way, challenging them as well as listening." While Bishop John MacNaugton of West Texas said the response to the proposals for change were "overwhelmingly positive" because "most participants feel they have been heard," Kimsey said that he was "still surprised that some people feel locked out by what we have done."
Some council members were clearly worried about how the proposals would be received by the General Convention. "How do we help the convention share the transformation we expressed at Norfolk -- so that they can own it and go back home to share it?" asked the Rev. Canon Roswell Moore of California. "If we run into icebergs on uncharted waters, how do we hold the mission together?" asked Conley.
"Money has replaced sex at the top of the church's agenda," observed Wimberly, the council's liaison with the Program, Budget and Finance Committee. He predicted that 1995 could be a very difficult year financially because many congregations think of themselves as the center of the church, not the dioceses. When they begin to deny the very essence of the national church, "the fabric will come apart."
In a lucid and well-received presentation, the Rev. Clement Lee, the church's director of electronic media, opened a vision of the electronic superhighway for council members, demonstrating the world that awaits them on the Quest, the Inter-Anglican Information Network. Lee argued that the church should be using telecommunications as "an instrument of unity," providing "more accurate and timely church news and a way to encourage development of local ministries." He said that one of the best features of the information network is that it is an interactive conversation, bringing together people who share common concerns.
Treasurer Ellen Cooke laid out the financial picture to a very attentive council. She reported that 68 dioceses had pledged apportionments so far for 1994, providing "too mixed a picture at this point" to make broader predictions for the whole year. She usually waits until 80 or 85 dioceses have reported before assessing the situation. In the coming weeks she will ask the other 31 dioceses about their intentions.
Cooke also reported that the pledges are running about 79.1 percent of the askings in those 68 dioceses, slightly below the estimate of 82.5 percent. Despite this, she said that she still hoped there would be additional funds for allocation at the end of the year.
"The moment in your life you call Norfolk was transforming; you have been leaving one way of being the church and taking hold of a new one," said Gordon Light, one of the two observers from the Anglican Church of Canada. He said that it was still evident that "some of the pain still clings to your decisions but you have worked hard to be faithful to your decisions. It is a good path you are on."
- took time for some "holy levity" by "roasting" departing council members and staff who were present;
- heard a moving account of two years in an Israeli prison by Abed el Razek, a Palestinian who worked at the church's hospital in Gaza and who is now studying in Omaha; and
- voted to extend the life of the Episcopal Legacy Fund which provides scholarships for minority students but to reorganize the fund to operate outside of the regular program of the church.
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