wfn.org | Episcopal Church Executive Council sifts through concerns

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org (ENS)]

For more information contact:
Episcopal News Service
Kathryn McCormick
kmccormick@dfms.org
212/922-5383
http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

2000-018

Executive Council sifts through variety of concerns, votes 
against using Denver hotel

by James Solheim

     (ENS) The Episcopal Church's Executive Council met in New 
Orleans January 17-20, sifting through a variety of concerns over 
this summer's General Convention, deciding not to use a Denver 
hotel that is part of a chain accused of a broad pattern of 
racial discrimination.

     The issue of whether or not to use the Adam's Mark Hotel in 
Denver as the headquarters for the July 4-14 General Convention 
was on the agenda of the planning and arrangements committee, 
meeting in New Orleans before Executive Council. After what was 
described by the Rev. Barnum McCarty of Florida, chair of the 
committee, as an "in-depth discussion" of the issue, the 
committee recommended to the presiding officers that the church 
not use the hotel. 

     In an ironic twist, the council's unanimous vote came on the 
day much of the country was celebrating the birthday of slain 
civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr. A January 17, 
statement by Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold and Pamela P. 
Chinnis, president of the House of Deputies, said that the 
allegations in the Justice Department suit, coupled with "other 
reports from local leaders citing similar problems with the Adams 
Mark in Denver," led to the decision. The statement (text in News 
Features) said that the action was "the most appropriate 
response," especially in light of the church's "profound 
commitment to eradicating racism in our church and society."

     Bishop Frank Turner of Pennsylvania said that the process of 
reaching a decision was better than the one used to decide to go 
to Phoenix in 1991, even though Arizona did not celebrate King's 
birthday. "We feel good about the process," he said. "It was a 
tough decision but the right one." Griswold commended the council 
for the "graciousness" of the discussion, adding that it 
represented a "wonderful quality of care and thoughtfulness."

Griswold reports on encounters

     In his opening remarks to the council, Griswold described 
his travels and encounters since the last meeting. He said that 
he was "extremely sad" with the isolation the Diocese in Colombia 
is suffering because decades of civil war has meant that it has 
not had a companion relationship with another diocese for over 20 
years. His plans to visit a housing project where the Presiding 
Bishop's Fund for World Relief is helping to rebuild houses after 
an earthquake had to be cancelled because it was in a rebel-held 
zone.

     Griswold said that a meeting called by the archbishop of 
Canterbury in response to a 1998 Lambeth Conference resolution 
urging dialogue on the divisive issue of homosexuality was "an 
extremely rich and positive exchange." Participants at the 
retreat center in New York  were able to lay out the different 
points of view and then identify gray areas, helping them to 
explore subtleties, according to Griswold. After engaging in 
conversation beyond their stated positions, participants 
unanimously agreed that the dialogue should continue.

     The presiding bishop also met with the pope at the Vatican 
to discuss the future of the official international dialogue 
between Roman Catholics and Anglicans, a commission which 
Griswold co-chairs. And he participated in the dedication of the 
new Anglican Centre in Rome.

     He participated in a retreat with a small group of 
denominational church leaders at the College of Preachers in 
Washington where there was considerable conversation about the 
future of the National Council of Churches (NCC). "In one sense 
the NCC has died and there needs to be a resurrection," he said, 
adding that there can't be a resurrection until people "recognize 
that there has been a death." 

The task of reconciliation

     In her comments to the council, Pamela Chinnis, president of 
the House of Deputies, reflected on reconciliation. For example, 
her Council of Advice and the presiding bishop's council met "to 
consider issues most likely to be contentious when we get to 
Denver this summer, and identify approaches for encouraging 
respectful dialogue and creating connections between those 
holding conflicting positions seeking reconciliation within our 
own church body."

     At a meeting of the U.S. churches that are members of the 
World Council of Churches (WCC) in Atlanta, "the whole theme was 
reconciliation," including a sermon by Archbishop Desmond Tutu at 
Ebenezer Baptist Church from the pulpit of Martin Luther King, 
Jr. She also reported on the warning by Prof. Miraslov Volf of 
Yale Divinity School against "cheap reconciliation," false ways 
of seeking to resolve the tensions between justice and peace.

     Chinnis also held out the possibility that "through the 
miracle of modern telecommunication the majority of deputies and 
bishops can participate in conversation, exchange of information, 
testing ideas, sharing views, debating positions through e-mail" 
months before General Convention. Only 19 percent of deputies at 
the last convention used the potential but that has quadrupled to 
over 72 percent now. "The 2000 Convention will be the first to 
benefit from the kind of preparation afforded by this non-
geographic conversation," she said. 

     While telecommunication "can be an instrument of unity and 
reconciliation," it also has the potential to "heighten our 
tendency toward division," she observed. "It's not a level 
playing field yet and may never be."

Budget process refined

     Treasurer Steve Duggan took council members through the 
budget that will be presented at this summer's General 
Convention, pointing out "how the numbers have changed and how 
that represents a change in emphasis" in the church's mission. In 
showing the income in the last triennium, he said that, when the 
figures are adjusted for inflation, "we are about nine million 
behind where we should be." The proposed budget for the triennium 
totals $139,385,000.

     "We are still far short of what we need to accomplish the 
mission we're called to do," he added. "We are back from the 
disastrous place of five or six years ago--but we shouldn't be 
complacent." While the income from investments has compensated 
for a decrease in diocesan contributions, he said, "We are in a 
good place to go forward in the new triennium" because the trends 
are "very positive."

     Duggan said that the $250 million net worth of the church 
"has been rising dramatically" because of investments. "We are 
still a wealthy church, especially when compared with the rest of 
the world," he added.

     The Rev. Jim Boyle described the recent court decision 
holding a diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada liable for 
sexual abuse in residential schools it operated for indigenous 
children, in cooperation with the government. He said that the 
church is facing 300 similar lawsuits involving hundreds of 
millions of dollars. "Our first goal is healing and 
reconciliation for those who have been damaged" and with Canadian 
First Nation people. "Many aboriginal members of our church are 
torn," he said. The second goal is survival of the church, even 
though that might mean a dramatic change in its present 
institutional form.

     The council passed a resolution expressing its solidarity 
with the Canadians "as it seeks healing and reconciliation with 
aboriginal peoples who have been damaged through their 
residential schools experience and as it deals with the human and 
financial pain resulting from recent litigation." 

In other action, the council voted to:

     *endorse the decision by the Immigration and Naturalization 
Service to order Elian Gonzalez returned to Cuba and his natural 
father;

          *adopt a mission statement, "The Episcopal Church in 
Service to Refugees and Immigrants";

          *approve a one-time grant of $300,000 to help the 
National Council of Churches in its "financial recovery and 
renewal";

          *express to the government of Israel its opposition to 
the building of a mosque next to the Church of the Annunciation 
in Nazareth;

          *monitor the progress toward implementation of the 
canon opening the ordination process for women in all dioceses;

          *support a network of diocesan administrators by 
providing a line item in the church's budget.

--James Solheim is director of the Episcopal Church's Office of 
News and Information.