wfn.org | International peace and justice issues

[ENS@ecunet.org]

For more information contact:
James Solheim
jsolheim@dfms.org
212/922-5385
http://www.ecusa.anglican.org/ens

2000-099

International peace and justice issues high on Jubilee list 
at General Convention

by Genie Carr

     (ENS) Jubilee, the ancient call to care for the poor, 
hungry, the oppressed and all those in need, is the theme 
of the convention--and the morning of July 6 has been set 
aside to explore the theme.

     Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold has chosen three 
Scripture passages for his reflection: Leviticus 25:8-12, 
which directs Israel "to hallow the fiftieth year and… 
proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its 
inhabitants"; Psalm 147:1-7, which says, "How good it is to 
sing praises to our God… [who] heals the brokenhearted, and 
binds up their wounds"; and Luke 4:16-30 where Jesus reads 
from Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon men, because 
he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has 
sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of 
sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to 
proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

     Beginning with a liturgy of the word, the convention 
will break into conversations around tables, then gather 
again for the Eucharist. The Schola Cantorum from the 
Diocese of East Carolina will provide special music for the 
Jubilee Eucharist and Meditation.

     "This morning is essentially an opportunity for the 
convention to set itself free from the usual pattern of 
business," said Rosemari Sullivan. She described it as a 
"mini retreat," a time of prayer, reflection and quiet 
conversation.

Conversations on first day

     Drawing on the Jubilee themes of forgiveness and 
reconciliation, on the first evening convention 
participants will divide into five conversation groups:

     The end-of-life task force has planned a conversation 
on "God, Death and Decisions Near the End of Life," 
featuring Dame Cicely Saunders of England, founder of the 
Hospice Movement. Panelists will include Cynthia Cohen of 
the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University, 
Bruce Jennings of the Hastings Center in New York, David 
Smith of the Poynter Institute for the Study of Ethics and 
American Institutions in Indiana, and Prof. Timothy 
Sedgwick of Virginia Theological Seminary.

     A conversation moderated by the Rev. Titus Presler of 
Boston on "mission in a hurting world" will feature Bishop 
Leo Frade of Honduras, Prof. Kwok Pui Lan of Episcopal 
Divinity School in Massachusetts, the Rev. Marc Nikkel, 
missionary in the Sudan, Edwina Thomas of Virginia who is 
national director-USA of Sharing Our Mission Abroad, Bishop 
Henry Orombi of Uganda.

     A conversation on racism will be led by the Rev. 
Sheryl Kujawa of Episcopal Divinity School in Massachusetts 
and the Rev. Ed Rodman, canon missioner of the Diocese of 
Massachusetts. It was added to the schedule in the wake of 
the controversy with the Adam's Mark chain of hotels and 
allegations of a pattern of racial discrimination. The 
Executive Council decided not to use the Denver hotel as 
convention headquarters. (The hotel has since agreed to a 
settlement.)

     A conversation on the church's role in confronting 
violence, moderated by the Hon. Byron Rushing, a state 
legislator in Massachusetts. Among participants: Owanah 
Anderson, former director of Native American Ministries, 
discussing racial and ethnic violence; Tessie Adams of 
Massachusetts on spousal abuse and stalking; Joseph King 
from Chicago, who will share a personal story on violence 
against youth in urban society; and a participant not yet 
announced who will discuss violence against gays and 
lesbians.

     A conversation is also being planned by the church's 
Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music, moderated by the 
Rev. Bruce Jenneker of Boston, who chairs the commission, 
on the themes of Story, Song and Sacrament.

     In addition, a Jubilee booklet will be given to 
everyone at the convention. The Rev. Lisa Hamilton of 
Connecticut, who is compiling the booklet, said that it 
will "give people an idea of how people and places are 
acting out Jubilee." It will contain ideas from more than a 
dozen parishes, as well as articles and book resources.

Taking action on Jubilee

     A number of resolutions draw on the powerful vision of 
how God's people should relate to each other and all 
creation. 

     The Episcopal Church has taken its Jubilee mandate 
from the 1997 General Convention very seriously, 
establishing programs that move the church towards that 
biblical vision. Resolutions at the 73rd General Convention 
in Denver are designed to further the spirit and action of 
Jubilee.

     The Standing Commission on Anglican and International 
Peace with Justice Concerns, which was created in 1997, is 
bringing a number of matters to Denver, including 
resolutions calling for debt relief for poor nations and 
warning about the potential dangers of globalization on the 
economies of those nations. 

     International debt relief, an effort of many people 
and organizations - conspicuously those working with the 
Jubilee 2000 movement - has already made significant 
progress. "The Convention is a policy-making body, and the 
policy is there. We're neck-deep in implementing the 
policy" that the Episcopal Church and the Anglican 
Communion have established, said Thomas Hart, director of 
the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations, in 
Washington, D.C.

     "There is some feeling that we pass these things every 
three years and they sit on the shelf," Hart said. The 
issue of international debt relief may be a startling 
exception. It has gathered no dust. Congress has agreed 
that the U.S. ought to accept debt relief, thereby 
encouraging other creditor nations to follow suit. Hart 
said, "Exactly zero debt relief has happened," but movement 
is surging "to get the final check" written.

People-centered development

     Some would say that everyone, including poor nations, 
should pay off debts. The church's reply, according to 
Hart, is that, after some countries spend 30 percent to 40 
percent of their gross national product on debt service, 
they have little left for education, economic development, 
improving the infrastructure or health care. In the spirit 
of Jubilee, in the words of the world's Anglican bishops 
meeting at Lambeth in 1998, "If my bowl is full and yours 
is empty, I must share what I have."

     Resolution A001 on Diocesan International Education, 
Advocacy, and Development Programs lays the issue at the 
feet of the local church when it urges that "all dioceses 
accept the challenge affirmed in the 1998 Lambeth 
Resolution I.1.15(k) 'to fund international development 
programs, recognized by Provinces [Anglican], at a level of 
at least 0.7% of annual total diocesan income.' "

     Hart said that the debt of poor nations is most often 
the result of "a combination of bad lending and bad 
borrowing by leaders." And sometimes even our attempts to 
help relieve the debt can have the opposite effect. 
Resolution A002 on Ethical Guidelines for International 
Economic Development calls for recognizing that danger. 
Among other things, it emphasizes "…People-centered 
development. If development assistance is offered, the 
beneficiaries set priorities and conditions. Maximum use is 
made of local resources. Applied technologies are 
appropriate for the setting."

Globalization huge issue

     Madeleine Trichel, the executive director of the 
Interfaith Center for Peace in Columbus, Ohio, chairs the 
Standing Commission on Anglican and International Peace and 
Justice Concerns. She said that the commission was "very 
concerned with globalization. … We thought the resolution 
might be the one that has the most long-standing impact, in 
the way the church relates to the other parts of the 
Anglican Communion."

     She warned that sometimes "we have done things out of 
the goodness of our hearts that haven't worked out for the 
people we're trying to help." She noted that the bishop of 
Haiti has used the example of tons of rice sent to Haiti by 
the United States. The rice did relieve hunger--but it also 
caused local rice prices to plummet, destroying the 
region's small rice farms. "We want to work in 
partnership," Trichel said, "instead of, for example, 
sending medical equipment that nobody knows how to use."

     Trichel said that Episcopal Peace and Justice Network 
will be making available its report on globalization, which 
focuses on the maquiladoras, or assembly plants, in Mexico 
and Central America.

Stability in South Africa

     Other resolutions will deal with stability in South 
Africa. While making great strides toward the Jubilee ideal 
of freedom, it still carries a heavy burden--the effects of 
apartheid. Experts from archbishops to economists argue 
that the country needs international help to rebuild, maybe 
even something similar to the Marshall Plan that rebuilt 
Europe in the wake of World War II or the New Deal that 
helped lift America out of the Great Depression.

     Trichel said that it is too easy for nations to "focus 
on the crisis itself, especially with military aid or 
economic aid. It seemed to the standing commission that 
there ought to be guidelines and attention to what happens 
afterward." Western countries had an impact on the 
continuation of apartheid and on its demise, she said, so 
now we ought to ask, "What's the next step? What's the 
responsible way to help people continue to rebuild their 
lives?" She said that is the wider context of the 
resolutions.

     One resolution (A003) "urges the government of the 
United States to increase aid and private investment in 
South Africa specifically targeted to improve the education 
system and other programs to lift the poor out of their 
poverty." Another (A005) calls on the U.S. government "to 
apologize to the people of South Africa for our long 
complicity in supporting the apartheid government and our 
long delay in instituting economic sanctions to support the 
democratic movement."

     The Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief will 
celebrate its 60th anniversary of providing emergency 
relief and development with an evening of entertainment at 
the General Convention on July 10 featuring the classical 
vocal ensemble Chanticleer, singer Judy Collins and 
musicians from the Aspen Music Festival and Opera Theatre. 
The presiding bishop will make introductory remarks and his 
wife Phoebe will be the keynote speaker at a special 
luncheon on July 7.

     Since its founding in 1940 the fund has distributed 
over $100 million, touching the lives of people in more 
than 100 countries on six continents.

Among other international peace and justice resolutions are 
those that call for:

     *The United States "to prohibit the export of 
handguns" (A006);

          *Creation of a "strong Episcopal Youth Corps (to) 
bring much skill to places most in need throughout the 
Anglican Communion" (A007);

          *Establishment of "safe spaces" in the U.S. and 
other parts of the Anglican Communion, "for lesbians and 
gays to tell their stories and be heard with love and care" 
(A009); and

          *Efforts by the U.S. government "to work with 
other governments to find ways both to make affordable 
drugs available and to provide for continued research and 
development of AIDS-related medicines" (A008).

--Genie Carr is a freelancer from North Carolina who is a 
member of the ENS news team at General Convention.