wfn.org | Retired bishops may still vote, aft

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July 17, 1997
Episcopal News Service
Jim Solheim, Director
212-922-5385
ens@ecunet.org

GC-02-08

Retired bishops may still vote, after bishops defer decision

By David Skidmore and Genie Carr

PHILADELPHIA (July 17, 1997) - Retired bishops in the Episcopal Church may continue to vote on church matters.

A perennial proposal to restrict retired bishops by limiting voting to bishops "with jurisdiction" was referred back to a committee for further study. 

As bishops wrestled with the issue of who should vote, several compromises were suggested that would have allowed retired bishops to vote only under certain circumstances. None of the compromises was accepted.

The issue of allowing retired bishops to vote has been a thorny one for several decades.

Bishop Walter Dennis, suffragan of the Diocese of New York, said any limitations run counter to the church's history and the vows bishops take at their ordination. 

In an interview following the session, Dennis said bishops vow "to participate in the councils of the church" without distinction, whether they are active or retired. He also noted that retired bishops "have always voted in the American church."

As one of nine active African-American bishops in the church, Dennis said he also was concerned about disenfranchisement of bishops of color. If the vote is denied to retired and inactive bishops, he said, "there won't be but two black bishops voting" given the lack of black candidates being elected bishops.

After a lengthy debate the resolution was referred back to the bishop's Committee on Privilege and Courtesy for additional study and recommendation.

The proposed amendment would have ensured all bishops seat and voice in bishops' meetings, but limited voting to bishops with jurisdiction as well as assistant and suffragan bishops, and bishops coadjutor (bishops elected but who have not yet taken office). 

Lutheran Concordat one step closer

Earlier today, the bishops quickly adopted two resolutions (A019 and A020) containing the constitutional changes required to enable implementation of the Concordat of Agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

Both resolutions were amended to clarify that the resolutions, being constitutional matters, would take effect on January 1, 2001, after adoption on second reading at the 73rd General Convention, said Bishop Edward L. Lee, Jr. of the Diocese of Western Michigan

At the committee meeting where the amendment was adopted, members emphasized the amendments in no way change the agreement but only spell out, for the sake of clarity, what the members of the Lutheran-Episcopal dialogue and the Lutheran-Episcopal Joint Coordinating Committee had understood all along.

The bishops also discharged two resolutions referring to the concordat, one (C011) because its purpose had been to clarify the constitutional nature of the agreement, the other because it dealt with Lutheran confirmation and was considered beyond the scope of a committee of the Episcopal Church.

The entire Concordat of Agreement regarding full communion with the ELCA is expected to be sent to the deputies Friday for action.

Appointments approved

Also, the bishops elected members to several boards and approved the presiding bishop's appointments to other boards:

( General Theological Seminary - Bishops Leopoldo Frade, Honduras; Sam Byron Hulsey, Northwest Texas;

( General Board of Examining Chaplains - Bishops Robert L. Ladehoff, Oregon, and Arthur E. Walmsley, Connecticut (retired); the house will vote on other, non-bishop members when ballots are available on Friday; and 

( Executive Council - Bishops Robert H. Johnson, Western North Carolina; Keith L. Ackerman, Quincy.

( Church Deployment Board - Clifton Daniel 3rd, East Carolina; Creighton L. Robertson, South Dakota; and Frank N. "Neff" Powell, Southwest Virginia;

( Board of Theological Education - Paul Marshall, Bethlehem; C. Wallis Ohl, Jr., Northwest Texas; and

( Archives - Larry Maze, Arkansas; James H. Ottley.

Other actions

The bishops also:	

( adopted a resolution (A205), designating the last Sunday of Epiphany of each year World Mission Sunday and urging appropriate mission networks to aid in its celebration;

( adopted a resolution (A200), requesting the presiding bishop to designate one Sunday a year as Theological Education Sunday;

( adopted a substitute resolution (C027a) to urge the Church Pension Fund to "study future pension needs of those who have been or these who will be ordained later in life and report to the 73rd General Convention"; and

( adopted - with an amendment - a resolution (B014a) commending corporations that have returned to doing business in South Africa and Namibia as those countries' policies have changed. The resolution added an acknowledgment of the imperative of the church to serve as an advocate in the rebuilding of the infrastructure of those countries.

In addition, the presiding bishop introduced the new bishop of the Spanish Episcopal Reform Church, Carlos Lopez, who brought greetings to the bishops.

 - David Skidmore is communications director of the Diocese of Chicago, and Genie Carr is a freelance writer living in Winston-Salem, N.C.