wfn.org | Executive Council grapples with iss

[ENS.parti@ecunet.org]

February 13, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

97-1686
Executive Council grapples with issues on the agenda of upcoming
General Convention

by James Solheim
     (ENS) The agenda of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council
meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio, January 27-30 was crowded with items
directly related to decisions facing this summer's General Convention in
Philadelphia--money, church structure, program priorities and sexuality.
     The council was in friendly territory. The Diocese of Southern
Ohio has "a tradition of strong commitment to the national church, giving
more than has been asked in financial support," as Bishop Herbert
Thompson, Jr., said in his welcome. 
     In their opening addresses, Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning
and Pamela P. Chinnis, president of the House of Deputies, quickly set
the tone for the meeting in a complementary appeal for a new way to
struggle with the potentially divisive issues facing the church.
     In a nation and a church where civility is under attack, Chinnis
drew attention to the connection between civility and consensus,
expressing a fear that "the civility that depended on shared experiences,
interests and assumptions is stretched to the breaking point--and we feel
very threatened."

Warfare or collaboration?
     Chinnis warned, "If we go to Philadelphia expecting a showdown
with winners and losers, we'll certainly get one, and it will be a colossal
folly resulting from a great shared delusion, a consensus of fear." As a
result, she said, "we will short-circuit the legislative process and
undermine the peace and unity of the church." 
     Chinnis invited council members to consider redefining the
legislative process not as "civilized warfare" but rather as "collaborative
exploration .... Suppose we suspend our convictions long enough to listen
for new clues about the path ahead, allowing for some new consensus
that might embrace our present contradictions." That kind of legislative
process could be "the venue of the Holy Spirit's action within the
church," she said. "Let us struggle to recover the civility of the pure in
heart, knowing it is essential to our souls and to the life of the church."

Reconciliation or division?
     In his address from the chair, Browning said that the Councils of
Advice serving him and Chinnis met recently to "talk about how the
mind of the church could be expressed in the most creative, healthy
possible way through our legislative process." Working with the
assumptions that "we honor the legislative process and trust the working
of the Spirit" and that "our General Convention is more than a legislative
body," participants moved to "a heightened sense of positive expectation
about our convention and a feeling that the decisions made there will be
made carefully and faithfully."
     Browning pointed to "some polarization" around the "tough
issues" facing the convention and even some misguided expectation that
"one clear answer will emerge." The real question for Christians, he
argued, is "Do you choose reconciliation or division?"
     The church confronts three opportunities to make that choice, he
said, on issues of "our understanding of stewardship, of our sense of the
role of the church in our national life, and of our efforts against racism."

A vision of partnership
     Too many church members "have yet to capture a vision of the
partnership we are called to at all levels in the life of the church" and
that is affecting funding for the church's mission, Browning said. He
chided those dioceses that are withholding funds "as a way of making a
political statement." He said that they are guilty of "poor stewardship
based on flawed theology," arguing that "Christian giving is not a sign of
approval but a mark of love" and "withholding funds as a form of protest
is contrary to our received understanding of what it means to live in a
covenant community, a community where reconciliation is the way, not
division."
     Browning expressed "deep thanks for those in our church who
have shown an unwavering commitment to peace and justice issues"
because "without a quest for love, peace, justice and reconciliation,
God's people will sorely suffer."
     He called the "sin of racism ... the ultimate division" and said
that first reports on the church-wide dialogues on racism are
encouraging. "No matter what else we do within the life of our church,
no matter how much we try to reflect the covenant community, no matter
how many positive choices we make, as long as we are victims of our
own racism everything else we do is tainted."
     
Tightening the budget
     Introducing the report of the council's administration and finance
committee, Bishop Don Wimberly of Lexington said that the committee
will recommend to General Convention's committee on program, budget
and finance a unified budget that includes a change in the funding
formula from a graduated one to a flat 20 percent of diocesan income.
     The dioceses now paying more than 20 percent may be asked to
continue that level of support to aid dioceses that will not be able to
make the adjustment to a higher level immediately.
     Treasurer Steven Duggan presented a proposed budget of $120.6
million for the 1997-2000 triennium. To achieve balance, the budget calls
for several cost-cutting measures: increased payout from the church's
endowment, elimination of a subsidy for Episcopal Migrations Ministries,
closure of the church's Philadelphia office, cuts in support for program,
and other "efficiencies" on contracted services, the travel budget and the
pension plan offered to lay church center employees. 
     Since the Episcopal Church Center operates in an "empowering
mode" to assist mission at the local level, Duggan said that it is
"destructive" to keep money at the local level as a protest, ignoring the
"partnership." He also expressed his frustration with a budget that leaves
so little room for the church's "worthy and vital mission activities."
     The proposed budget does not "take into account any new
directions from General Convention or a new presiding bishop," he
warned. The presiding bishop also noted that some of the Blue Book
reports for General Convention call for additional funds that "could
change this budget quite quickly."
      
No flexibility in program budget 
     "So much of the budget is already fixed that planning and
flexibility is limited," Diane Porter, senior executive for program, told a
program committee meeting. The only new initiative possible in the
program area, she reported, is an expanded communications effort
developed in response to diocesan visitations. Staff will be added to the
Sherrill Resource Center at the church center in New York and a new
office of interpretation and public relations created, she said. "We have
more stories than we can manage to tell and we need to place them," she
said. "We need to be more pro-active in telling our story." Bishop Sam
Hulsey of Northwest Texas agreed with the initiative. "If those stories
aren't told, we will get weaker and weaker," he said.
     The program committee introduced a resolution on "Common
Beliefs on Relationships and Appropriate Sexual Behavior." After council
discussion and several drafts, the resolution was passed unanimously as a
council statement and shaped into a resolution for action by General
Convention. The resolution was introduced by Ralph Spence, Jr., of
Montana who argued that a strong statement could be "helpful and
unifying."
     While acknowledging that the church's discussion on sexuality has
revealed "increased ambiguity and tension," the statement said that it was
"the church's responsibility to offer the values and guidance that enable
individuals to avoid or heal relationships which are exploitative and
hurtful and to seek and create relationships which are life-giving and
grace filled." 

Structure recommendations discussed
     Betty Gilmore of Texas, who chairs the Structure Commission,
summarized the recommendations the commission will introduce to
General Convention. The mandate of the commission had been enlarged
since the 1994 General Convention asked for a review of the
effectiveness of the church's organizational structure. She praised the 12
"diverse but committed, focused individuals" on the commission and said
that it was "nothing less than a miracle" that they were able to agree on
the full report. "There were no winners or losers in our consensus
report," she said.
     Members discussed the recommendations in small groups, and
responded to the committee with comments, especially on the proposals
for more accountability in the role of Executive Council and the creation
of a new staff position for an executive director to serve both the
presiding bishop and the council.

A case study in healing
     Council members joined diocesan leaders at Church of the Advent
in Cincinnati, a parish still recovering from a painful split when the
former rector and half of its members left in the spring of 1994 to begin
a new non-denominational church. 
     After Evensong, dinner and a humorous if slightly irreverent race
through the history of the diocese by the drama group, "Friends of the
Groom," the council gathered for reports by lay leaders of Advent who
held the parish together.
     According to Dr. John Saccarelli, one of the reasons cited for the
departure of the former rector was that the Episcopal Church had become
"idolatrous" and had failed to discipline those who were deviating from
Scripture and church doctrine. 
     Stockton Wulsin, the only vestry member who stayed, described
his "lonely decision" and how deeply his family was affected. In a
marked departure from the bitter animosity that accompanies most other
separations by unhappy congregations, Bishop Thompson presided over a
special service of "divorce" and invited other parishes in the diocese to
send "ambassadors" to Advent on the first Sunday after the split.
"Something new was born, a new sense of hope," said Wulsin in
describing the slow healing process. "It's amazing what God has done,"
said the Rev. Angelo Puopolo, Jr., who stepped in to serve as priest-in-
charge and is now the rector. "We were cracked--but the light of God
shines through the cracks."

A time of transition
     During the final plenary, Suzanne Lawson, an observer from the
Anglican Church of Canada, said that she sensed a "prevailing concern
about transition" in the time leading up to General Convention, and a
certain "ambivalence" during the meeting. "It seems that engagement in
the issues is becoming more difficult," she said. And listening to the pain
at Advent Church only "pointed to the harsh realities of transition," she
added.
     Lawson observed that most members seemed to realize that the
complexion of the council will change as new people are elected at
General Convention. But the vital question, she contended, is "How does
the Episcopal Church exert its leadership in this obvious time of
transition?" 
     
In other action the council:

     þ heard a progress report from Bishop Cal Scofield of Southeast
Florida, co-chair of the Joint Nominating Committee for a new presiding
bishop;
     þ passed a resolution objecting to advertising of alcohol on
television;
     þ passed a resolution introduced by John McCann of Lexington
calling for a mediation effort on issues of sexual misconduct;
     þ expressed support for the up-coming Justice, Peace and
Integrity of Creation National Summit;
     þ shared excitement over the new possibilities for mission if both
the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
pass the Concordat of Agreement on full communion.

--James Solheim is director of news and information for the Episcopal
Church.