The Acts of Convention

Resolved, That the 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church direct the Church Center to develop multilingual, multicultural churchwide resources to support our dioceses, provinces, churchwide leaders, and congregations in living into our commitments to welcome and support people and communities of diverse genders, including transgender and non-binary, based on the following needs:

• To affirm and support transgender and non-binary people already in our congregations, including in lay and ordained leadership;
• To provide spiritual and practical support to persons who are discerning their gender or are in the process of transitioning, and their families;
• To support congregations and dioceses in becoming welcoming and affirming of people of diverse genders, with resources and training materials that are theologically and scripturally grounded, culturally and linguistically accessible to our diverse congregations, and include voices and stories of transgender and non-binary people and their families;
• To support congregations in their community outreach and advocacy work in solidarity with transgender and non-binary people in our wider communities, as called for in General Convention resolution 2009-D012;
• To have resources that can be used in a variety of settings and formats, including diocesan, provincial, and congregational trainings, seasonal education programs for congregations, search committee and vestry trainings, pastoral conversations with individuals and families, and development or augmentation of liturgical resources to support times of discernment, occasions such as taking a new name, and congregational expressions of commitment to welcome and affirmation.

And be it further

Resolved, That the Church Center offer trainings on these resources, once they are developed, that are made widely available (such as via online webinars) for diocesan, provincial, churchwide, and congregational leaders; and be it further

Resolved, That the General Convention request the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance to consider a budget allocation of $50,000 for the implementation of this resolution.