Executive Council Plans for Future, Proposes Minneapolis for General Convention in 2003
Episcopal News Service. June 30, 1999 [99-087]
(ENS) The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church, meeting for the first time in the Diocese of Fond du Lac in Wisconsin, continued its work on a budget process, laid plans for new program initiatives in preparation for next summer's General Convention, and proposed Minneapolis as the site for the 2003 convention.
In the opening plenary on June 14, House of Deputies president Pamela Chinnis reported that she had been "energized" in her meetings with the church on the local level, that it was "refreshing" to meet church members who were concerned with "how to live a Christian life in today's world." This is the challenge always before us, to balance care for the institution of the church, Christ's body, with commitment to the mission of the church, to bring the reconciling love of Christ to all the world."
Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold reported on his own encounters with the church in recent months. He said that the recent meeting of the bishops in Texas revealed continuing attempts by the bishops to serve as "a community of wisdom" for the whole church." Despite "some tensions among certain bishops," he is convinced that they are in a "good, solid place" and want to work together on the issues facing the church.
Commenting on the recent report on authority by the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (see ENS May 26), he encouraged Episcopalians to regard it "not as a finished document" but rather an invitation to reflection, especially about the ministry exercised by the bishop of Rome.
The Zacchaeus Report, now being sent to all congregations by the Episcopal Church Foundation, is a "careful sampling" of how people at the local level view their church (see separate article). It reveals broad recognition that the church is alive and well and doing effective ministry, especially in dealing with differences, he said. It also reveals some "real concern about how decisions are made," he added. But it is clear that "Episcopalians find their identity through worship -- the Eucharist is central to their lives."
Griswold said that a recent meeting of the board of the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief endorsed a capital funds drive to celebrate its 60th anniversary and will study how the drive can best be "integrated" into the life of the church.
Following a trip to Washington, where he met with Congressional leaders as well as representatives of the World Bank and civil rights advocates, Griswold issued a statement urging them to address the issue of world debt and the heavy burden it places on developing nations (see statement in Newsfeatures). The conversations in Washington also raised questions about his own role in public affairs.
Council members, under the leadership of the planning and evaluation committee, engaged in small group discussions about the future program of the church. As a result they urged programs to promote diversity, expand the capacity for communication and develop leadership for the future, without affecting the church's emphasis on or support for global mission and programs in peace and justice.
"We want to become a church rich with diversity, we want to enhance communications for the 21st century and we want to make disciples and apostles," said the Rev. Bavi Rivera of California, chair of the committee.
Treasurer Stephen Duggan reported that national income is "quite strong," and that 70 percent of the dioceses are pledging at or above the requested formula. "There is no indication that any portion of the budget will be significantly out of line," he said, and that the good news is that the church will be "close to budget" for the second consecutive year.
The council continued to develop a more flexible and responsive budget process, one that Duggan has been advocating in this triennium. Griswold urged the council not to start with budgets, because that too often highlights scarcities, but to look first at mission and then the monetary resources. He quoted the late Cardinal Suenens of Belgium who said, "The trouble with the church is that it lives with such low expectations."
Griswold said that the church should ask, "What are the gifts of grace and signs of abundance among us? Where is the energy and passion and how can they be linked, how do we encourage and support ministry?" He added that "we need to be stretched as individuals and as a church," trying to "imagine the future we want for ourselves."
The council endorsed plans for a new network of all the groups involved in world mission into an Episcopal Partnership for Global Mission, to provide "greater coherence in the midst of some confusion," said the Rev. Titus Presler of Massachusetts in his presentation on behalf of the planners. The network would address "some misunderstanding and even some competition" and attempt to overcome distinctions between what are often perceived as official and unofficial mission efforts, he said.
Council members spent a morning in anti-racism training, a crucial effort by the church to deal with a subject that "grieves the Holy Spirit," according to Griswold in an introductory meditation. Racism is "a denial of communion," he said, which undermines "the very nature of the church," adding that it is "blasphemy" to say that we live in the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and not take seriously what communion demands of us.
The council commended the presiding bishop and staff for its diplomatic initiatives and humanitarian efforts in the Balkan crisis and pledged to support continuing attempts by the religious community to seek healing and reconciliation. Richard Parkins, fresh from visiting refugee camps in Macedonia, described those efforts to support refugees and seek their return to Kosovo.
The council also urged Congress to pass comprehensive gun control legislation, restricting access to firearms by children by stiffening background checks for purchases. It recommended a response to gun violence at next summer's General Convention.
The Rev. Karen Parker, an observer to council from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, offered a sobering assessment about the fate of the new proposal for full communion, Called to Common Mission, based on strong opposition to adoption by Lutherans of the historic episcopate. "What impedes my hope is that the opposition is strong and well-organized," she said. An alternate proposal that would seek a continuing relationship between the two churches without sharing the historic episcopate is gaining support, she said.
Council members journeyed to the nearby city of Fond du Lac for a reception and a special Fortieth Annual Eucharistic Festival with a packed congregation at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul the Apostle. Bishop Russell Jacobus and the presiding bishop preached. The cathedral emptied during the procession, adoration and benediction of the blessed sacrament on the lawn of the cathedral, followed by a picnic.
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