General Convention 2018

How do you re-acclimatize yourself to the way of the world after spending almost two weeks at General Convention? Two weeks of almost daily pageant like Eucharists in multiple languages with profound sermons and congregations that went on for ever; two weeks of seeing so many fellow Episcopalians on the street and in restaurants that you start to believe that our numbers are actually growing; two weeks of hearing discussions on topics that have urgent impact on our lives and our world like climate change, racial reconciliation and peace and justice for us all, and two weeks of recognition that as a church we acknowledge that we haven’t done enough for our sisters and racial minorities and are ready to welcome fully our LGBTQ+, our Cuban family and those who seek asylum in our country.

I came home to my church a bit sleep deprived and ready to answer questions I knew many would have about the convention. I got questions about the prayer book: “we still get to use the current one for awhile, don’t we?” And of course the food: “Did you enjoy the Texas BBQ?” Other concerns were oblique; did we finish all of the resolutions, did I get to sit as a delegate and was it everything I had expected?”

As a first time (alternate) delegate I have to say that it was a bit overwhelming as the biggest convention I have ever attended. There were so many people who were passionate about their issues and so many issues that were so far reaching outside of the immediate church and into the world. But then our church is a part of the world and as a church it is important that our values are addressed on the world stage. Prayer book and Lesser Feast and Fast changes will allow for greater inclusion and flexibility while preserving our rich heritage and services we love.

It was so encouraging to hear eucharists in multiple languages, giving recognition to native Americans, Koreans, people from multiple countries in Africa and the Caribbean. Services addressed God as multi gender and there is now hope that our new generation may have a broader view of the triune God than we have seen.

The Revival was spectacular open to non-Episcopalians and even the protesters on the street with music and uplifting, saving grace imparted in both English and Spanish. And the music was fantastic throughout the week with a special treat having the Choir from Christ Church Frederica and solos from the Rev. Tom Purdy’s daughter Eva stealing the show.

On the way home the airport filled with Episcopalians still feeling the afterglow of the experience. The Presiding Bishop came through and drew a natural crowd around him to hear his words of wisdom. I knew that our plane could almost fly itself with so many clergy on board and the PB himself in first class to Atlanta.

So, yes the convention was exhausting with seemingly endless hours of listening to issue after issue that made little sense on canon changes and doctrine but the intensity of love and caring that was evident for everyone there was carried out into the streets and even into our homeward journeys. People were even polite on the plane! As people of the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement, we have been charged to MOVE. Here’s hoping that we will continue onward.

I thought I knew what to expect by coming here as a deputy to General Convention. After all, I had been to three other conventions as a visitor, but this was my first as a deputy. It’s different coming here as a deputy.

What’s different? Being part of a committee and letting that work seep into my heart and prayers. I served on Committee #06 on the Episcopal Church in Cuba. I thought re-unification would be a slam dunk. It wasn’t. It took enormous work to make this reunification happen but happen it did.

One of the refrains we’ve been hearing from the chaplain to convention is a South African refrain, “I see you.” And that’s what happened on the commission. We saw the people of Cuba; it wasn’t just a matter of hearing.

And there was more. We saw the women at the Hutto Detention Center, many separated from their children at the border, who let us know they saw us when we gathered there for prayer. The only way they could make their presence know was by waving pieces of paper against the windows. It was a mutual seeing.

You’ve heard that the days here are long, but you may not know why. That’s because we take the time to truly see one another. We may not agree with all, but we are doing our best to live into our baptismal covenant, “To respect dignity of every human being.”

And a final word about our deputation. What an honor to serve with these people. They love Jesus and they love our diocese. They serve with good humor and mutual care for one another. We are a diverse group; we have deputies on their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. They bring a wealth of wisdom, grace and enthusiasm for our branch of the Jesus Movement. It has been a privilege to serve with this group from the Diocese of Georgia. Thank you.

– Cynthia Taylor+

The Way of Love was made real by Presiding Bishop Curry in his opening sermon for the 79th General Convention of the Episcopal Church as he gave an impassioned call to seven spiritual practices for a Jesus-Centered Life. As your Deputation reflects on our work, we notice how we have lived into these practices as we worked through the Convention.

Turn
The Bishops of the Episcopal Church gathered the convention in a “Liturgy of Listening” during which twelve stories of sexual misconduct in the church, six from women and six from men, were shared in the context of lamentation and repentance. During our legislative work, we moved forward with real changes we hope will turn the church toward being a community of faith that is a safe space for all. Just as we each need to continually repent and return to the Lord, we also need to find was to turn as a church away from sinful actions when perpetrators have been protected.

Learn
Daily scripture reading has been a part of our convention through the worship of convention and as always the lectionary brought before us scripture that challenged us. We also considered the Gospel through the lives of the saints as we authorized for trial use Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018, which added Deaconess Anna Alexander (1865-1947) of the Diocese of Georgia.

Pray
At every session, we paused to pray and sing, and before important votes we paused for silence and then prayer. Prayer reminded us why we are here, gave us chance to intercede for others, and gave room for the Spirit to speak. We Anglicans believe that our prayers shape our belief, in a “middle way” that invites all corners of thought to the table. Robert’s Rules are one incarnation of that invitation because they ensure that the minority speaks and the majority listen. Within the Rules of Order, we practiced humility, patience, and deference that seems so rare, but which is so central to our understanding of God and prayer. As incredible as it may sound, the Rules of Order bolstered a deliberate, prayerful way of doing the church’s work.

Worship
Daily Eucharist kept those of us gathered in convention grounded in worship. The X Choir, an ensemble from Christ Church Frederica on St. Simons Island did a phenomenal job in leading our worship services and the Revival on the Sunday evening of convention. In the context of this ongoing worship, the convention considered revising the Book of Common Prayer but stepped back from authorizing a revision of the Book of Common Prayer. Instead, we authorized some optional texts for Rite II which give strongly Trinitarian and orthodox ways of speaking of God that addressed concerns of many that less masculine language be offered. The Diocese of Georgia Deputation also voted to support offering Marriage Rites, while (as already true in Georgia) not requiring any congregation or priest to use these rites.

Bless
We are called to be a blessing to others and that is exactly what happened at the 79th General convention of the Episcopal Church. We blessed and were blessed in turn by our prayer meeting at the Hutto Detention Center where woman seeking asylum in our country had, in many cases, been separated from their children. We blessed and were blessed in turn, by the Episcopal Church in Cuba with their long awaited reunification with The Episcopal Church.  And we were blessed and were blessed in turn by the many resolutions on social justice ranging from our relationship with Palestine and Israel to our continuing work on racial reconciliation and healing.  We are a church that continually seeks to live into our baptismal covenant to “Respect the dignity of every human being,” knowing that there are mutual blessings to be received when we live into our vows. Like Abraham, we are blessed to be a blessing.

Go
Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burroughs preached a powerful sermon for the closing Eucharist calling bishops and deputies to go out from this convention changed by our time together. During the sermon she recounted how as a member of the Committee on Evangelism and Church Planting, she had gone out to do an Evangelism practice in talking to people about how Jesus is already active in Austin. She was changed in the process by an encounter with a man sitting on a bench in the heat drawing in his journal. He told Bishop Baskerville-Burrows, “Our God is always on time.” She said, “It is almost as if all of Austin was commissioned to teach us about the loving, liberating, life-giving way of Jesus….We are being sent forth by by Jesus who died and rose again! Are you ready? This is a movement and movements move.”

To give motion to the Jesus Movement, we adopted a budget directing spending on $134 million over the coming three years including significant funding for evangelism and church planting.

Rest
Following 12 days that started at 7:30 am and went through our Deputation meeting starting at 9 pm, we had little time for rest during this meeting. But we are not complaining. We came here to represent our Diocese, which we have done to the best of our ability. As we close our business, we not only look forward to Sabbath rest, but we also rest in God, trusting that the Holy Trinity will care for God’s church, where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Savior.

We commit ourselves to these practices as we seek The Way of Love and we thank you for the trust you placed in us.

The Georgia Deputation
79th General Convention

The General Convention of the Episcopal Church meeting in Austin, Texas, voted to add Deaconess Anna Alexander (1865-1947) to its calendar of saints. This action comes after long study by the church, which began in 1998, when the Diocese of Georgia recognized her as a Saint of Georgia. Bishop Scott Benhase, the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia said, “I rejoice with the entire Diocese of Georgia that Deaconess Alexander is now a saint of the whole Church. Her life and witness is an inspiration to all who seek to follow Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life.”

Many remarked on Alexander’s holiness of life during her own lifetime as well as for the many lives she changed for the better in raising up the children of the Pennick Community through education. You can learn more about her life at witness at deaconessalexander.georgiaepiscopal.org

Fifty-two years ago, the House of Bishops removed the Episcopal Church in Cuba from the American Church. This precipitous action was done in a climate of fear. Those were the days following the Cuban missile crises. There was an inability to distinguish a church, which had been established by the US in Cuba in 1901, from the communist government. Since then, the church has continued to operate in isolation but has been faithful to the loving, liberating Gospel of Jesus Christ, working under conditions that are hard for us to imagine.

Being a priest in Cuba meant giving up what few privileges existed. Until the visit of Pope John Paul II, just holding on to the Christian faith meant being ostracized from society. They share the love of Jesus without the resources we would consider necessary to be a church. And they persevered.

For those of us who live in the US, who take our faith so lightly, the church in Cuba has much to teach us.

Today, the House of Deputies concurring with the House of Bishops, the Church in Cuba was welcomed home. It was an unanimous action in both houses.

It was an emotional time in both houses (I’m not crying – you’re crying). The Cuban deputation, lead by Bishop Griselda, came to the podium waving both the American flag and the flag of Cuba. A week ago, it seemed that this moment would not come, as there were obstacles to surmount from Constitution and Canons. Between yesterday and today, all obstacles were removed. Both houses sang the Doxology in thanksgiving for this homecoming. Cuba Si. Gracias. Bienvenido.
Cynthia Taylor+
Clergy Deputy and member of the Committee on the Episcopal Church in Cuba

More than 1,000 deputies and bishops are working their way through the more the 400 resolutions to come before the once every three years General Convention of the Episcopal Church. The Diocese of Georgia’s Deputation is fully engaged with the work of this convention from the first committee meeting at 7:30 am until the deputation meeting ends at 10 pm. Following the convention on social media and in news reports can lead to misunderstanding due to the nature of the Convention as reports filter out after each bit of news happens in a multi-step process by which a committee takes action and then either the House of Deputies or House of Bishops takes initial action and the other House then must affirm that resolution.

For example, you may have read that the House of Deputies approved Prayer Book revision. That is true, but with the caveat that the path to possible revision would be a nine year one in which the first three years would be a study, which could lead to no further work. Then you could read yesterday that the House of Bishops approved Prayer Book revision, but that version of the resolution mainly called on the church to fully revise its Spanish language liturgies, while also approving for trial use some alternate language. This has been reported as using gender-neutral language for God. This is true in the sense that the alternate for the opening acclamation “Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” could be given as “Blessed be God: most holy, glorious, and undivided Trinity.” But not true in the sense that no proposal would offer trial use language to substitute for every reference to God as Father, Son, and Lord, for example.

The legislative process is indeed a cumbersome one, but this is intentional. The checks and balances are in place to make room for prayerful discernment. When the General Convention ends, your bishop and deputies will make a report on the actions passed by both houses. In the meantime, we report below on what we are tracking now and where those actions are as of the noon on July 11.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue
Chair of the Deputation

This report appeared in the July 11 edition of From the Field. Additional articles on Deaconess Alexander, the Episcopal Church in Cuba, and Marriage Rites also appear in that electronic newsletter which is online here: July 11 2018 – From the Field.

I spoke in favor of Resolution D016 because it calls for confession of and repentance from the sins of gender-based discrimination, harassment and violence, especially how they have denigrated and devalued women’s ministries in our church. It calls for our church to collect, review and publish research regarding discrimination and violence. This resolution also calls for the creation of a Task Force for Truth & Reconciliation regarding such sins. The writers of the resolution are hoping for an adapted process similar to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from South Africa and processes developed by our Lutheran and Methodist neighbors.

My personal story speaks to the fact that this Truth & Reconciliation Task Force is needed. My spouse, The Reverend Guillermo Arboleda, and I are exactly 22 days apart in age. We met in Divinity School as evangelicals looking for tradition. I convinced him to get confirmed in the Episcopal Church with me. We got convinced to join The Episcopal Church not because the liturgies were to my preferences or adequately inclusive but because of the Anglican via media. People assured us that when Anglicans disagree, we make room for all points of view and cling to the essentials necessary to keep everyone under a “Big Tent.”

Since our confirmation, my husband and I have done much together: graduation from Duke Divinity School with the same honors, nomination for ordination, internships in similar places, ordinations to the diaconate and priesthood in the same Diocese. I love my husband and he’s a great priest. We have felt the love in Georgia, by people of all stripes and conditions. Thankfully, my bishop, canon and the Diocese of Georgia have so far been very helpful in keeping our experiences and compensation equitable.

But already two years into our priesthood, I worry about our remaining forty or more years in ministry. When I consider the reports from the Church Pension Group and The Reverend Helen Svoboda-Barber and others on gender-based discrimination in hiring practices and compensation (addressed by Resolution A091), I see that we have systems of subconscious injustice.

Looking at that resolution, you can see that women face discrimination in hiring and compensation. You can see that only twenty two (22) percent of senior clergy roles are filled by women (and forty (40) percent of priests are women), twenty (20) percent Head-of-Staff clergy are women, less than ten (<10) percent of bishops are women. Forty-three (43) percent of female clergy have applied for rector/vicar positions but never been chosen whereas only eighteen (18) percent of male clergy have applied for rector/vicar positions but never been chosen. Hiring and compensation is just the tip of the iceberg and only one of the many facets of injustice, most of which cannot be discussed in polite company.

After the service of lament at General Convention, I wonder when (not if) I’ll face discrimination or, God forbid it, something worse. My husband and I worry that, even though we have the same credentials, my husband will (and probably already has) unjustly benefitted from the church’s unconscious bias and that I will hit a ceiling in the ways I can serve God and the church because of nothing but my gender identity. I worry about the women and girls of the present and our future.

Well-meaning churchfolk have advised my husband, “You should reconsider becoming part of a clergy couple, because being yoked with a woman-priest is going to stunt your career.” I was warned by a well-meaning, senior woman priest that the church “will chew [me] up and spit me out.” I could tell other stories, but this shows you that there is an ugly underbelly that needs to be healed by the love of Jesus. And these stories are most appropriately channelled into the forthcoming truth and reconciliation process itself. Overall, this has been made clear to me: being a woman in this church is full of love and joy but it is also difficult and sometimes dangerous. As an individual, I have done my personal healing work but I am at a loss about how to uproot this danger.

But together, with careful and concerted effort, the we and the Task Force can take the next step and move the needle. One Task Force from General Convention 79 can’t do everything but it can start the process of building a gospel-based Truth & Reconciliation commission. We can repent and turn to God, confess our sins and grow reconciliation and our Anglican Big Tent.

I — and the other “liberal” and/or female deputies I have talked to — do not want a “gender crusade” against older white men or “conservatives”. We want a fair and bipartisan movement toward a more just church, one that doesn’t blame, shame, or leave anyone behind. I want to have my own biases challenged in favor of a win-win Gospel. I want all of our biases addressed as we keep and grow the Anglican Big Tent. I want all peoples participating in courageous dialogue and constructive proposals. We need a generous, consensus-building approach that invites people on “thick ice” and the people on “thin ice” to dismantle injustice and proclaim the gospel together.

Truth-telling and reconciliation takes concerted effort. We need a group dedicated to making reconciliation possible to everyone on the national and local level. I want to be able to confidently share this reconciling work, to show that the Jesus Movement is good news to the women and young girls in our congregations and those looking in from the outside. Let’s make things right, together!

_______________________________
1. Clergy Compensation Report put out by the Church Pension Fund (CPG)
2. Called to Serve: A Study of clergy Careers, Clergy Wellness, and Clergywomen, pages 14-15, by Paula Nesbitt

The Rev. Kelly Steele:

My husband, The Reverend Guillermo Arboleda, and I got confirmed together in the Episcopal Church because of the Anglican via media. Since then we’ve done everything at the same time: graduation from seminary with the same honors, nomination for ordination, internships, ordinations to the diaconate and priesthood in the same Diocese.

My bishop and canon have been, thankfully, very helpful in keeping our experiences and compensation equitable, as we are the same age with the exact same credentials. But already two years into our priesthood, my husband and I worry about our remaining decades in ministry. He’s been warned that his career “would suffer because he’s yoked with a woman-priest,” and I’ve been warned that the church “will chew me up and spit me out.”  

I worry about what awaits me and the women around and after me, and the data backs this up.

I don’t want a “crusade” that pushes older, white men or conservatives off of our Episcopal island. I want to have my own biases challenged in favor of a win-win situation. I want all of our biases addressed as we keep and grow the Anglican Big Tent, the via media. I want all peoples participating in courageous dialogue and constructive proposals. We need a generous, consensus-building approach that invites oppressors and the oppressed to dismantle injustice together. Truth-telling and reconciliation takes concerted effort and we need a group dedicated to making reconciliation possible to everyone on the local level.

One Task Force can’t do everything but it can start the process. Thank you.

The Rev. Canon Frank Logue:
I am Frank Logue from the Diocese of Georgia, rising in support of D016. I was grateful to read this January the Letter to the Episcopal Church from President Jennings and Presiding Bishop Curry saying “our church must examine its history and come to a fuller understanding of how it has handled or mishandled cases of sexual harassment, exploitation and abuse through the years.”

As our Baptismal Covenant states, we are to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ by both word and example. The Church universal as well as our Episcopal Church have sinned in our treatment of women and girls in our church. This resolution seeks to get our actions, our example, in line with our words. We gathered last week to lament and to pray in a beautiful liturgy carefully crafted and lovingly offered by our bishops which contained painful stories which are but the tip of the iceberg. But we all knew that liturgy, powerful as it was, would only be a good start if we are to begin to repent and change in deed as well as with our words. We must match those words with a powerful example of truth-telling, confession, and reconciliation.

Sunday has been a busy day at General Convention. Many bishops and deputies, including some of our deputation, attended the rally for Bishops against Gun Violence. An even larger contingent was among the more than 1,000 Episcopalians who gathered at the Hutto Detention Center in Taylor, Texas to protest the treatment of refugees and especially the children of refugees. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry reminded us of Alexander de Tocqueville’s observation in the 19th Century that America is great because America is good, and then he powerfully preached that we can only be great as a nation today if first we are good, good for ALL persons.

The afternoon legislation saw voting that included re-electing Gaye Jennings as President of the House of Deputies and electing members of the Board of Directors for the Church Pension Group. Debate regarding Resolution B012, Marriage Rites for the Whole Church was begun and slated to continue on Monday.

No matter which resolution passes both houses during this General Convention (A068 or A069 or another yet-to-be-created resolution), I support a careful process of prayer book revision. I also think The Episcopal Church is not ready for this revision process. There must be a way to allow for immediate trial use liturgies while also being patient with the discernment and deliberation process. Also, we should focus on discipleship and evangelism – the growth of the church – rather than enter the schismatic waters of prayer book revision.

I went to divinity school as a new Christian and a non-denominational evangelical and became an Episcopalian at St. Joseph’s, Durham. There, I encountered The Book of Common Prayer, 1979 (BCP) and its people bravely living the Way of Love among the students and homeless by praying the Daily Office and eating family-style breakfast together. Like many of my millennial seminary classmates, I felt myself drawn to tradition but with an eye toward inclusion. Using the ’79 prayer book, I simultaneously felt nurtured by words that were not my own, ancient prayers that nourished me, yet these same words grated against my ears and smacked of a dying colonial and privileged legacy. Language like “thou” and “thee” and the exclusively male language for God troubled me, but I also grew to trust the many saints praying in the ’79 BCP. I fell in love with the Episcopalians and their prayer book and adopted it as my own.

Learning to love The Episcopal Church meant, for me, learning to love a church with flaws and internal disagreements. The Church is filled with fallible humans, after all, and always requires forgiveness. I fell in love with and joined the Episcopal Church not because the liturgies were to my liking, or “adequately inclusive”, but because I saw that I needed catholicity and a Communion more than I needed inclusive language. I saw that Anglicans try to invite everyone under a “Big Tent”, a via media, a tent that stands for unity against the increasing polarization of our world and the schisms in the church. To me, The Episcopal Church is trying to honor its ancient wisdom while dealing constructively with its colonial and privileged legacy, all while enlarging healing relationships between historically privileged and oppressed groups. But this means that being in the Anglican Communion comes with a heavy responsibility. Being in Communion means that I walk the Way of Love and do not always get what I want or deserve in order to stay in relationship with others. It means that when we seek to enlarge our liturgical Tent, we need to move with careful discernment and generosity to keep everyone within the tent as it grows.

No matter what prayer book revision resolutions pass during General Convention, I consider generosity of spirit, gentleness, and kindness paramount. We need to seek diplomatic ways to keep and enlarge our Big Anglican Tent while also encouraging, for those who need them, the immediate trial use liturgies (Ex: Resolution D078). As a Big Tent Communion, we need to carefully deliberate, so that one day we, together, might make a new prayer book that reflects all of us, with nobody left behind.

I hope that the appropriate bodies will create resources in these next three years to prepare for deliberation. For example, we need time to create an annotated ’79 prayer book that has footnotes about our worship, scriptural, historical and liturgical notes to aid understanding about where our prayers come from (I hear that Fr. Willoughby from Savannah is working on one). We can’t deliberate the future without first understanding our past and present story. And for Anglicans, our story is etched very precisely into our prayer books. If such an annotated BCP was disseminated widely, laity and clergy alike could study and discern and make informed choices about what should change and what should remain. Common prayer, maintaining the Big Tent, requires precision and patience with history, current complexities and coming cultural shifts. As someone who intentionally stepped away from congregationalism and joined the Anglican Way, I hope we will champion being in Communion over special interests, prioritize catholicity over polarization and equally uphold justice and mercy. I hope we demonstrate kindness above all else.

As I stated, I would rather us be focused on grassroots discipleship and evangelism rather than prayer book revision. Studying the prayer book we have with the above-mentioned recommendation would help with this. It is well known that revision of our common prayer brings much internal debate which easily grows into outright strife and, sometimes, schism. With a Presiding Bishop like the one we have, I believe we should not lose this wave of courage starting to swell in the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement. That is where our focus should be, no matter how discipleship and evangelism takes shape on the local level. Growing in spiritual depth (discipleship) and articulating the Gospel in enticing ways (evangelism) are dominical mandates, Jesus’ own priorities for his Big Tent.

My prayer this week has been this one from Bishop Steve Charleston, and it seems appropriate to these issues facing us:
“God bless the church: our traveling tribe, our motley crew, caravan of the conflicted and courageous, stumbling toward paradise, the hurt and the hopeful, wounded healers, singing along the way.

“Life within her tents is never easy, but life without her would be darkness beyond our imagining.
“Bless the church, dear God, your quarreling brood, your stubborn flock, your love living for love, yours dream of what might be.”

Amen.