wfn.org | Denver preparing to welcome General Convention to the

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

mountains in 2000
February 10, 1998
Episcopal News Service
James Solheim, Director
(212) 922-5385
jsolheim@dfms.org

98-2077
Denver preparing to welcome General Convention to the
mountains in 2000

By James Solheim
     (ENS) While the decisions of last summer's General
Convention in Philadelphia still reverberate throughout the
church, the committee charged with planning the next
convention met January 20-21 to set in motion plans for
Denver 2000.
     A convention which marks a millennium "gives us a
significant opportunity to think of how convention might be
a genuine gathering of the whole church, and a time of
celebration and reorientation of our mission and ministry as
we look to the future," said Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold
in a letter to the Joint Standing Committee on Planning and
Arrangements. He was not able to attend the meeting because
he was conducting the funeral for the former suffragan
bishop in the Diocese of Chicago, Bishop Quintin Primo.
     The committee welcomed the Rev. Barnum McCarty of
Florida, appointed by Griswold and Pamela Chinnis, president
of the House of Deputies, to chair the committee in the next
triennium.

Pinstripes and cowboys
     Tom Osborn, who chairs the local committee, talked
about the diversity of the diocese, "everything from
pinstripes to cowboys." Bishop Jerry Winterrowd said that
the church in Colorado is "healthy and growing." Echoing
Griswold's comments, he said that the diocese was setting a
goal of 10,000 participants in the convention Eucharist,
trying to embrace as many people as possible throughout the
diocese.
     Winterrowd told the committee that the other dioceses
in the province, including Navajoland, will be actively
involved in planning the convention. He promised that it
would be a "Western experience." While planning is still in
the early stages, he said that people in the diocese were
talking about a possible "hospitality experience," with
mountain parishes hosting convention participants. And some
are also talking about "a major youth meeting" that might
coincide with the convention. The bishop said that his
vision is of a convention that could be "a major gathering"
with wide participation-and with "spiritual dimensions for a
new millennium, moving us beyond our divisive issues."

ECW offers to sponsor a forum
     After considerable discussion of the convention
calendar, the committee decided to hold a legislative
session on Saturday but none on Sunday, giving deputies and
bishops a day of rest.
     The committee expressed disappointment with the plans
for the open forums last year and quickly agreed with
Chinnis that "one good one would be best." After some
discussion, the committee accepted the offer by Episcopal
Church Women to provide the speaker and format for a forum,
after consultation with the presiding officers
     During an open discussion on last summer's General
Convention, committee members noted considerable frustration
in the legislative process around the issue of funding. They
deplored the tendency to pass resolutions which have
financial implications without laying the groundwork-and
then expecting to make changes at the convention. Treasurer
Steve Duggan said that it was imperative that the convention
"get out of the habit of last-minute meetings that try to
make major changes in funding." He called it a "travesty"
that leads to making decisions in "a sense of panic."
      Several committee members asked about Colorado's
passage of an anti-gay resolution a few years ago, later
struck down by the state's Supreme Court. Osborn said that
the city was "embarrassed," attributing the passage to
organized efforts in rural and small town areas of the
state.  He said that the bishop was "actively involved in
these issues" and was appointed by the governor to a
commission dealing with the rights of same-sex
relationships. He stressed that the church in Colorado was
"working diligently for the rights of all people." Chinnis
noted that the governor and local gay leaders had met with
the committee that made the final selection of Denver as
site of the convention.
     
California files first resolution
     The Rev. Don Nickerson, secretary of the church and
executive officer of General Convention, said that the
Diocese of California had submitted the first resolution
(C001). It asks the standing commissions on stewardship and
development and constitution and canons "to prepare such
canonical provisions as shall limit the number of diocesan
deputies with seat, voice and vote in approximate proportion
to the percentage of Asking paid by their dioceses to the
national church for the three prior years.."
     "The mission of the church in the new millennium must
not be impeded," the resolution offered in explanation.
Pointing out that some dioceses reserve voice and vote for
parishes which pay their assessment, it said that financial
support for the national church "is an outward and visible
sign of membership and properly required for participation
in General Convention."

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