wfn.org | Episcopal Convention will deal with life and death

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2000-100

General Convention will be asked to deal with life and 
death issues

by Jan Nunley

     (ENS) With the General Convention meeting in the state 
which experienced the tragic shootings at Columbine High 
School a year ago, the lethal combination of guns and 
violence committed by and against young people are at the 
top of the list of national concerns that will be 
considered by Episcopalians. But health care, racism, 
economic and environmental justice aren't far behind.

     A resolution (A058) submitted by the Executive 
Council's international and national concerns committee 
asks parishes to become "circles of peace" in their 
communities by promoting the Institute for Peace and 
Justice's "pledge of non-violence." Another resolution 
(A006), from the Standing Commission on Anglican and 
International Peace with Justice Concerns, calls for a 
prohibition on the export of handguns manufactured in the 
United States. At the same time, the Standing Commission on 
National Concerns wants the convention to reaffirm its 
opposition to the death penalty--particularly for those 
under the age of 18. It also calls for a moratorium on 
executions (A082).

     Domestic violence was high on the agenda of the 
Committee for the Status of Women, proposing a revision of 
Canon 1.19.1 that calls upon clergy to "first work to 
protect and promote the physical and emotional safety" of 
parties in a failing marriage before pressing for 
reconciliation (A056).

     The committee also raised the issue of "trafficking" 
in women and children for forced prostitution, sweatshop 
labor and domestic servitude, asking General Convention to 
urge dioceses to lobby against such practices (A057).

End-of-life issues

     Health care and end-of-life issues took up a 
significant portion of the work done by the Standing 
Commission on National Concerns, successor to the Standing 
Commissions on Health, Human Affairs, and the domestic 
portion of the Standing Commission on Peace with Justice.

     As part of its report to convention, a multi-
disciplinary panel of experts on end-of-life issues 
produced a book, "Faithful Living, Faithful Dying: Anglican 
Reflections on End-of-Life Care," intended for use by 
congregations and the wider church in grappling with 
ethical and theological views on death and how they inform 
the care of those near death. A resolution (A077) commends 
the book to the church and other (A078) asks federal and 
state lawmakers to increase support for hospice and other 
palliative care for the dying.

     The on-going crisis in the American health care 
system, addressed in findings of the end-of-life task 
force, prompted National Concerns to call for an 
association of Episcopal health care groups and 
organizations to put political pressure on lawmakers for a 
better system (A)79). The work of the task force apparently 
inspired the committee to call for another similar task 
force, this one on bioethics and genetic interventions, 
asking for a report for the General Convention in 20003 
(A084).

     The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music has 
submitted supplemental liturgical materials for Ministry 
with the Sick and Dying--including a new Public Service of 
Healing, a rite for ministry in a home or health-care 
facility, and prayers for family and friends when life-
support measures are withdrawn.

Racism work will continue

     As the nine-year-period of anti-racism work authorized 
by the 1991 convention concludes, the anti-racism 
subcommittee of the Executive Council says that the work 
has just begun and it calls for another nine-year 
commitment (A047).

     Racism was also a concern in the report of the 
committee on HIV/AIDS, which pointed out that "the new face 
of AIDS, the second epidemic" is the alarming rise of HIV 
infection among Americans of African and Hispanic descent, 
especially in the South--and among women of all groups 
(A052).

     Responding to a 1997 resolution calling for a study of 
the "theology of work," National Concerns produced an 
interim statement which cautiously questions whether the 
"good intentions" of lobbying, appeals, marches and 
resolutions can truly alter the deficiencies of justice 
that seem built into Western capitalism. The report asks 
the church to address those deficiencies at home, with the 
church's own economic structure as reflected in its 
employment and compensation policies. Another resolution 
(A081) calls for the implementation of a "just wage" at all 
levels of the church, as well as passage of "living wage" 
ordinances at the various levels of secular government.

     Even as Executive Council's Episcopal Ecological 
Network raises the issue of purchasing renewable electric 
energy in a deregulated market (A048), plans have been 
approved that will make this the first General Convention 
powered by sustainable energy sources. An exhibit on the 
convention floor will explain how the winds of Colorado's 
mountains have been harnessed to power the convention.

--The Rev. Jan Nunley is director of communications in the 
Diocese of Rhode Island and a member of the ENS news team 
at General Convention.