8/8/03 FRIDAY #9
Healing Ourselves
Reparative Therapy. The term raises the temperature in a room of conservatives as well as LGBTQ people. "Outrageous!" LGBTQ people cry, "to think that anyone can change anyone else's God given sexuality." "Outrageous!" the conservatives cry, "that anyone consider that they can stand in the way of God's transformative love."
I would submit that both sides are guilty of the same offense. Both ignore the profound complexity of the gifts of sexuality and sexual orientation, and the influences of gender, intimacy, trust, culture, family, and the ongoing understanding of the development and growth of the individual person.
Some examples: If a gay man or lesbian woman has been previously married to a person of the opposite gender and then "comes out" that neither means that the person is bisexual or "healed" of their heterosexuality.
Similarly, if a bisexual person falls in love and marries someone of the opposite gender that may not extinguish his or her attraction to those of the same gender - any differently than the vows of marriage keep anyone else from finding others attractive.
Our transgender sisters and brothers have been patiently teaching us about the difference between gender identity and sexuality. For example, if a man identifies as a woman and feels an attraction to men, that does not make the transgender person a homosexual.
Because of the profound complexity of human sexuality and sexual orientation, many can and do, from time to time, become confused about or unhappy with their understanding of their sexuality and seek help. In my own pastoral counseling, I recall instances of abuse on both sides of this issue. The point of coercion and manipulation addressed in the C005 on Reparative Therapy is exactly the point both sides need to hear. So is the theology of our baptismal covenant to respect the dignity of every human being.
The real challenge ahead is twofold. First, we must work with organizations which offer psychiatric, psychological, pastoral and spiritual therapy - most especially organizations like the Association of Pastoral Counselors or the College of Chaplains - to make a very strong statement about any therapeutic intervention which is based on the premise that homosexuality is inherently wrong or disordered. We can then bring these statements to General Convention 2006 for consideration and affirmation.
Even more importantly, we need to be able to document all statements made about reparative therapy by professional organizations, which include the date of the statement, and we must insist that our adversaries be able to do the same. Indeed, we must take those claims made during the hearing, research them, and be able to prove them false. At one point in the Hearings on Reparative Therapy, besides the intensely emotional testimony on either side of those who claim to have been healed, came dueling professional statements in which the same organization seemed to make conflicting statements. Members of the Legislative Committee - especially my subcommittee on Sexuality - were painfully confused.
The only way to deal effectively with issues of such emotional volatility is to insist on facts. Like the abortion debate in our church, more light and less heat will eventually win the day. The temptation is to fight fire with fire - coercion with coercion - but Jesus teaches us another way.
"There are many paths but one way to God," says Eli Weisel. Ultimately, liberation in Christ means that we each must find our own pathway to healing and wholeness.
Elizabeth Kaeton
Many thanks ….
To all the nominees for election by General Convention who responded to The Consultation’s questionnaire. Thanks for offering yourselves for service at the national level.
And to all who wrote for ISSUES here in Minneapolis, those who were here and those who were watching our work, and commenting on it, from homes far away. Your names on your writing identify you to the whole Church. Share the thanks of all of us!
The Consultation
I WRITE AS CONSULTANT TO THE ANTI-RACISM ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL
In an earlier edition of ISSUES there was a review of the Anti-Racism video shown last Sunday at the Hilton Hotel. I assure everyone reading this, and all others in attendance, that we, too, as members of the committee, were extremely shocked and disappointed with the video that was shown on Sunday evening.
Having made this statement, may I now make the following two assurances: (1) the video shown was significantly different from the "rough cut" video that I, as consultant; representatives of the committee; the staff officer, Jayne Oasin; and the committee chairperson, Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook, were shown; (2) the final product that will be sent to dioceses and provinces will be significantly different from the video that was shown Sunday evening.
Our goal for this video was that it would be liberating, include testimony about how racism and exclusion operate in the Church and society, AND indicate how we as the Church of Jesus Christ must respond to this continuing sin. The video that was shown achieved none of our goals and for this we are deeply sorry and embarrassed.
Since neither the Anti-racism Advisory Committee nor the Social Justice staff officer, Jayne Oasin, had direct supervision of this project from its inception to its completion, we could only trust that the final product would be in accordance with the goals established by the Anti-racism Hearings Task Force to which I was consultant.
We expected that the video would be a faithful record of the hearings in which people courageously shared their stories of the impact of racism on their lives. Obviously, this did not happen. We are now committed to making all necessary modification to change and improve the video.
Edward Rodman
P. S. to Edward Rodman
Get the 3rd edition of the Anti-Racism manual, and us it along side the Blue Book report of the Anti-?Racism committee of Executive Council and Ed Rodman’s ‘Unmasking the Face of Racism’ paper written for The Witness magazine. As Rodman urges in the latter publication, the challenges that have been raised here in Minneapolis can better be understood in a broader context of the ‘unconscious captivity of the church and nation to the funda-mental notion of white supremacy… This, in turn, exacerbates tensions between and among people of color and between them and other targeted persons.’ Use all these materials as you prepare to continue your diocesan and congregational work to address racism in the coming triennium.
Ethan Flad
Unrequited love
I'm so frustrated with the Episcopal church. My past "in-loveness" with our
denomination had led me to a deep-seated suspicion that God Godself was an Episcopalian. How could God not be? We do everything so well, with such panache, so Perfectly. Our buildings are lovely! Our music is gorgeous! We're so intelligent, so bright. We have a three-legged stool! "Frozen" Chosen, they say? Ha! Darlings, we call that "well bred."
Of course in rational moments I've always known that my hubris regarding our oh-so-classy Church could and maybe would cause St. Peter to roll his eyes and bar the gates. But my fantasies persisted.
The scales fell from my eyes and I fell right out of love with our little denom-ination last year after the issuance of the A045 report on women's ordination in dioceses where women still - STILL - cannot be ordained.
I have the dubious pleasure of living in the Diocese of Fort Worth.
The A045 report was a joke. Funny, the report was issued with very little fan-fare and then it just "went away." You can't find links for it on the ECUSA site anymore. It's over. Done. We don't need to talk about it any more.
Thanks, guys.
When the A045 members came through on their last jaunt, I was invited - I did not "ask" to come - to speak to the committee and share my views on what was going on in the diocese.
The meeting was supposed to be a safe, private place for those of us in
opposition to Bishop Iker to share our views, experiences, and feelings.
Instead, the Bishop's henchpeople had to be allowed in, the meeting was not-so-surreptitiously recorded, and the result was a report that mischaract-erized and devalued what those of us in the "opposition" meeting had to say.
The report was all about appeasement. Heaven Forbid we should hurt Bishop
Iker's feelings! Well boo hoo.
The Episcopal Church has left us hanging here in Fort Worth for too long.
Women's Ordination was voted in over 20 years ago, and now we Episco-palians have spent the last couple of weeks championing our latest and greatest cause when we haven't yet brought closure to an issue that supposedly was decided many, many years ago. It's not over, folks.
To the 99% of the dioceses out there for whom women's ordination is a
non-issue I say, "Lucky You!" To you, what happens here in North Texas are
inconsequential skirmishes. But some of us have to live here, and we don't
appreciate being stranded.
The upshot for me personally? God isn't Episcopalian! God doesn't care where I go to church! What a relief! I just wish this Disciples church I'm
thinking about visiting had a prettier liturgy. But it does have some nice
stained-glass.
Amy Spence
Brokenhearted in Fort Worth
Impressions of a 1st time GC observer...
Upon my arrival in Minneapolis I felt blessed and alive as I exited my taxi at the door of Gethsemane Church and was greeted with the joy and energy of the EPF/Witness reception. It was a long flight from Florida and though I was tired, I was excited and looking forward to the days ahead. Little did I know what a "mind-blower" they would be!
As part of EPF's press crew, I quickly learned who met where and what was to happen when. I found the EPF booth in the Exhibition Hall and settled down to sort out the next few days' activities. Sunday's Eucharist service was a magnificent spectacle and very uplifting.
Knowing that the days to come would be filled with much controversy, this day seemed to portend unity in the face of question and uncertainty. Little did I know what was about to take place.
Our Church has moved through a very difficult decision in accepting Canon V. Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. However, there is still so much work to do, so much pastoral care to give. I have to believe that our Lord's hand will rest gently on the heart of every child of our Christian faith. I return to Southwest Florida with concern for the many who will not understand what has happened. I have pledged obedience to my Bishop and will uphold that pledge, but I also feel mixed relief and sadness for those in my diocese who feel marginalized.
The most important lesson I learned from General Convention 2003 is that no one can attend such a powerful gathering and walk away unaffected. It is an experience that has changed my life and added to an even deeper level of love for my Church.
Bonnie Rosendale
I Ask Your Prayers
After the vote on Gene Robinson, a friend of mine from this city joked, "They will never let General Convention come to Minneapolis again."
After all, incredible things happen here. We voted to ordain women here, and now we have welcomed Gene Robinson into our House of Bishops.
The point my friend was making is that those frightened by these changes will do their utmost to shut things back down to a level at which they feel safe.
But safety is not the state to which we are called.
We are called to be risk takers for Christ, to lean on the cross as we screw up our courage to embrace the stranger, the Other, for there is no Other in Christ.
As always, I leave yet another General Convention with the knowledge that not only will things not get better in Fort Worth, they will get worse, I carry with me the knowledge that what I have experienced here is "the church."
This church struggled with a calm grace these last ten days to deal with hard issues being faced by every denomination. Those struggles were intense, passionate and emotional, yet deputies and bishops treated one another with courtesy and respect. After the vote was taken on Gene Robinson, the leadership of both the Houses of Deputies and of Bishops leaned over backward to give those hurting from the vote chances to speak.
It gladdened my heart and it broke my heart.
It gladdened my heart because it gave me a vision of what church discourse should be.
It broke my heart because this vision will not be realized where I live.
Please. As you return home, remember those of us in dioceses where anger reigns and "the national church" is routinely demonized.
Pray for us as we daily pray for you.
Katie Sherrod
8/7/03 THUR #8
A Light in the Wilderness
History crept into the room on little cat's feet after waiting patiently for last minute allegations against New Hampshire Bishop-elect Gene Robinson to be proven false.
Tuesday's vote in the House of Bishops and the subsequent demonstration of dissent took place with classic Episcopalian decorum.
But the explosions of joy in my heart and the hearts of countless others around this church of ours will reverberate in this church long after any who choose to leave over this are gone. This will be true even, perhaps especially, in places such as Fort Worth.
Bishop Geralyn Wolf of Rhode Island told the House of Bishops, "I need Gene Robinson in the wilderness here to enter the conversation so that together we can find a way to the land that God has promised."
I live in part of the wilderness. The gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people in the church in Fort Worth - and yes, they are in Fort Worth just as they are in every other place in our church -- strive to exist under the church's radar screen, and with good reason. The rhetoric alone is toxic enough to poison one's soul. So they worship, tithe, and live and have their being while trying to be visible to those with whom they feel safe, but invisible to the power structure.
"Don't ask, don't tell" has been elevated to a fine art in Fort Worth by clergy who know their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered parishioners are there. They believe the kindest thing they can do is pretend they don't know. But most clergy are oblivious to them even as they worship with them Sunday after Sunday.
It takes a lot of faith to stay in a church when you have to live like that.
When you live like that, you learn to live on mere morsels of hope, to feed your soul on even the tiniest crumbs of decency that fall from the table.
For months now, Gene Robinson has been an icon of hope and joy for my gay, lesbian bisexual and transgen-dered brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ in Fort Worth, and for those straight women and men who stand with them.
In all of the church, they were among the least surprised when last-minute allegations threatened to derail the consent process. They have witnessed too much casual brutality on the part of the "guardians of the truth" to be surprised by such venal tactics. Many were in near despair, for they have seen too many abuses of power by church authorities to trust the church's leaders or the process in issues dealing with human sexuality.
So imagine their amazed joy when the process was carried out as trans-parently as possible, when church leaders acted with integrity and honor.
But even that paled by comparison to the joy they felt when the vote to consent passed.
For one shining moment, hope and joy triumphed over fear.
The hard truth is that the harshness of the reality of their wilderness won't be changed by what happened Tuesday. But that shining moment of Gene Robinson's consent is a light the distance toward which their eyes can turn in hope.
Thanks be to God.
Katie Sherrod
The Consultation endorses…
For Trustees of General Seminary, the Consultation asks you to vote for:
Bishops
Michael Curry
Laypersons
Marge Christie
Priest
Paula Lawrence Wehmiller
And…
For the Board of Examining Chaplains
Bishops
Katharine Jefferts Schori
Laypersons
Cynthia McFarland
Priest/Deacon
Stephen Moore
Faculty
Elizabeth Kaeton
Nayan V. McNeill
And for the Joint Committee to nominate a Presiding Bishop:
Laity; Ruth Redfield ME, Diane Pollard NY, Jane Cosby PA, Michael Allen KY, Connie Ott MIL, Don Betts NB, Sara Knoll, Bettye Jo Harris HI
Clergy: Thomas Brown VT, Jeannette DeFriest Nwk, Mark Harris DE, Claiborne Jones ATL, Richard Tolliver CHI, Ann Fontaine WY, Jim Heaney,
Nedi Rivera CA,
Bishops: Gayle Harris MA, Skip Adams C NY, John Rabb MD, Don Johnson W TN, Ken Prise SO OH, Creighton Robertson SD, Jim Adams W KS, Jerry Lamb N CA
Thank you for your support of these candidates!!
Did You Know…
I think everyone knows by now that the AAC is meeting at Central Lutheran Church. I must say that, being a Lutheran, I was shocked that an ELCA congregation would host such a divisive group. I avoided going over there since I have been here, because I thought that it an unwelcoming congregation. To my delighted surprise I discovered that Central Lutheran Church is a very welcoming congregation. They even state that on their worship bulletins and fly the rainbow flag often.
I learned from one of the staff members at Central Lutheran Church that the Church Council did not know that the AAC was scheduled to meet there until May of this year (2003). It seems that fours years back, a secretary working at Central Lutheran talked to a representative from Aac who booked the space with the promise of phone and internet connection in every room. My understanding is that the secretary no longer works at CLC and the AAC did come through on their promise of phone and internet connections.
Let’s not hold Central Lutheran Church responsible for this dubious deception. Let’s celebrate their commitments to the full inclusion of all God’s people, including Gays and Lesbians.
John Sabine, Organist/Choirmaster, St. Aidan’s Episcopal Church, Alpharetta GA
Vigilance necessary for Church Center Hires
Significant attention has been given in recent months and at this General Convention to the lengthy, drawn-out process of filling the national racial/ethnic desk offices and the women's desk position.
On the latter topic, after an unprecedented two-year break, an excellent hire was finally made earlier this year when the Rev. Margaret Rose was appointed. The process of filling at least two of the vacant racial/ethnic positions, on the other hand, has not yet been brought to a close -- and several resolutions that were brought to Convention indicated the displeasure around the church regarding this unfinished business.
But these jobs are simply the most noticeable ones. It's essential to also recognize that a host of other jobs are either open now or will be coming open soon on the national staff. Most importantly, in the past couple months two of the most powerful positions at "815" have come open. With the retirement of Sonia Francis, a long-time and beloved ECC staff member, the Deputy for Mission job -- responsible for overseeing most of the program work of the church -- has been posted. And the unexpected resignation of Ralph O'Hara as treasurer has turned that critical financial position into an interim one for the time being.
To this pair of Aces should be added the impending departure of Jim Solheim, director of the Episcopal News Service for more than 15 years. The search process to fill this position is expected to be done around the end of the year. Other lower profile jobs may also be in the offing -- as one good example, during our time in Minneapolis the Young Adult Service Corps received lots of deserved attention. But just a couple days into the Convention, Willis Jenkins, a cofounder of the Corps and key trainer of all its young missionaries, tendered his resignation citing differences with the current direction of the program. With brand new appointments already made in several offices in 2003 -- such as the new director of the Washington office of government relations and the new coordinator of the prioritized Interfaith Relations, to name just a couple -- this year could be much more in flux than might be expected.
The END of a PB's time in office is often the time when staff begin to leave their jobs, expecting that a new incoming Presiding Bishop will seek to craft his or her "own staff." Since Bishop Griswold has three years remaining in office, there is a distinct possibility that transition will be ongoing for the entire coming triennium. It will be essential for church progressives to maintain watch over all those changes, and to get qualified progressive candidates, particularly people of color, into the running for all offices -- not just the racial/ethnic desks.
Ethan Flad
No Turning Back, No Turning Back
We all have our little personal selves we keep hidden from J. Q. Public. Perhaps, if we are fortunate, we have at least one person in our lives with whom we are able to share all those deep dark corners. What we so seldom recognize is that no matter how private we are; no matter how much we keep of ourselves to our selves, God knows us – every private thought, every shadowy quarter, every DNA strand.
So many people think that being a homosexual is a choice that one selects. Maybe they think it is an addiction like drugs, alcohol or nicotine. But that does not really make sense – if you think it does then you need to actually speak to someone who is homosexual. There is knowledge, often from a young age, of ‘otherness’; of being outside what is "normal." Rather than one day deciding, ‘oh gee today I think I will try homosexuality for a lark’ it is more of a slow awakening to a reality. It is a deeply personal, difficult and too often guilt-ridden realization. The personal part is much like anyone else’s awakening to their sexuality. The difficult part comes from the realization that you might possibly be something that will cause you to be a victim of discrimination, or worse yet, shunned, assaulted or murdered. The guilt-ridden part assails you because you cannot help yourself from being something that society tells you is not only dreadful but sinful. Therefore you are bad and going to HELL. Then they pound the Bible to prove it.
God created me in that miracle we call procreation. God knew me as I lay in my mother’s womb. God knew me before I knew me. God created me to have brown eyes and brown hair. God created me to be right-handed, with medium stature and small feet. Just as God created 90% of the world’s population to be heterosexual, God created me as a part of that 10% who are not. Sexuality is a vital part of our being, a gift from God. The only choice I had in the matter was whether I chose to accept or deny the gift that God gave to me. I finally chose to accept it. I finally chose not to hide it. I chose to be the full human that God meant for me to be.
Thank God that we are a divine reflection created in that Imageo Deo – thank God that God is not a reflection of us.
Barbi Click, a lesbian in a committed relationship and a faithful Episcopalian, reflecting in Fort Worth as she awaited the outcome of Gene Robinson’s ordeal
Hiroshima Remembered
At 7:30 a.m., Wednesday morning, two hundred people gathered for the Hiroshima Remembrance at the Peace Garden at Lyndale Park. R.T. Rybak, the mayor of Minneapolis, extended his good wishes to the group and read a letter from the mayor of Hiroshima, Tadatoshi Akiba. In his remarks, Lutheran Bishop Emeritus Lowell Erdahl linked the patriotic climate abounding in the U.S. after the dropping of the atomic bomb to the current patriotic fervor gripping the citizens of the US since 9/11/01. Only after years of reflection has he come to realize that war is never the answer.
After a simple reading of the story about Sadako and the Thousand Cranes by Masayuki Kato, participants sang "Cranes over Hiroshima" and hung paper cranes on surrounding trees and bushes. This annual even is sponsored by the Hiroshima Friendship Cities, Inc. and was this year joined by the Episcopal Peace Fellowship which provided a bus for convention goers and added cranes which they had solicited from all over the world.
These are the words we sang as we hung the paper cranes:
"Cranes over Hiroshima, white and red and gold,
Flicker in the sunlight like a million vanished souls.
I will fold these cranes of paper to a thousand, one by one,
And I’ll fly away when I am done."
Edna Shirley and Bobbi Armstrong
Time is short
Only a few more hours of this General Convention, a few more hours to do the work we have been elected to do, a few more hours to complete the plans for the next three years of our life together in the Episcopal Church.
Therefore, let us sleep deep and pray hard and work together carefully… listen, listen, and talk.
Mike Shirley
8/6/03 WED #7
Gains vs. Losses?
With the 20/20 evangelism initiative looming on the horizon, an increasing debate is whether the church will gain or lose members as a result of affirming Gene Robinson's election and/or rites for same-sex blessings. At this morning's press conference, two bishops offered different personal testimonies of potential reactions in the church. Bishop Ed Little (Northern Indiana) reported on an email he received two days ago from a person he confirmed this February. The 50-year old confirmed man's note indicated that he would now leave the Episcopal Church if Gene Robinson is elected. Little warned that this person is just the tip of the iceberg.
Countering Little's testimony at the press briefing were words from the three other speakers. Sandye Wilson, rector of Gethsemane Church here in Minneapolis, and Ian Douglas, professor at Episcopal Divinity School, both spoke of people they've recently met who have expressed to them there new interest in the church due to its growing commitment to the inclusion of LGBT people. Bishop Wendell Gibbs (Michigan) spoke about his own family. Late last night Gibbs was "Instant Messaging" by email with his youngest daughter Amber, 24. The bishop reported that she has felt marginalized and disassociated from the church for many years. Last night, however, she felt different. "I am so proud to be an Episcopalian," said Amber. "I've been waiting a long time to hear her say that," said Gibbs. "My daughter is a very spiritual person, and believes that God is calling all of us to be in service to one another. I characterize her as someone who would want the church to do more. I believe she feels we have let her generation down."
The Claiming the Blessing collaborative strongly believes that these decisions will lead to church growth. "Yes, I believe that some fundamentalists will leave the church," said Susan Russell, the executive director of the Claiming the Blessing collaborative, "but I think lapsed church and unchurched folks all around the country are looking for a place to live out their faith." Russell expresses optimism that Robinson's election and the proposed rite for same-sex blessings will, in fact, live out the 20/20 call. It's a very hopeful sign.
Ethan Flad
USAPIN
The Consultation endorses…
For Executive Council, The Consultation asks you to vote for:
Bishops
Wilfredo Ramos-Orench
Laypersons
RPM Bowden Sr.
Dorothy J. Fuller
Sandra Ferguson McPhee
Priests
Edward W. Rodman
Do you feel surrounded by violence?
Threatened by evil? Are you spiritually drained from battling for peace? Join the Episcopal Peace Fellowship for an explorative introduction to
‘From Violence to Wholeness"
… a spiritual formation and renewal process for personal and social transformation, based on the power of love, a desire for the well-being of all, and a longing to end the cycle of personal, interpersonal, and systemic violence.
Wednesday, August 6,
at Gethsemane Church,
905 4th Avenue South.
$10 - Pre-register at EPF Booth #231
The Two Coolest Items at Convention!
Pre-orders for the beautiful Desmond Tutu doll, made at an Anglican craft market in the Khayelitsha township outside of Cape Town, are being taken by The Witness magazine at Booth #206. Come see the sample; proceeds go to support micro-enterprise development in this South African township and also The Witness. Also available from The Witness is "Music of Resistance, Vol. 1," a 20-song CD of social justice-inspired soul, Latin, Middle Eastern and African music and poetry. Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Suheir Hammad, Gil-Scott Heron, and many more socially conscious artists are featured.
Ethan Flad
Peace Cranes Celebration
Join the Episcopal Peace Fellowship at 7 a.m. Wednesday, August 6, at the Convention Center to board the buses for Minneapolis’ beautiful Lyndale Peace Garden, as we gather to commemorate Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
We will offer you hand-folded peace cranes that have been flown in from all over the country… the peace cranes that say, "This is our cry, this is our prayer, peace in the world."
Bonnie Rosendale
Peace IS Church Business
Earlier this week, in testimony at an open meeting of the National and International Concerns Committee, a deputy spoke against one of the peace and nonviolence resolutions before General Convention this year. He appealed to the separation-of-church-and-state doctrine, claiming that it's not the Church's business to consider resolutions that touch on US foreign policy or the military. The Church should be about God, not politics. Render unto God, and render unto Caesar.
We've all heard this argument before. But as Dorothy Day was fond of pointing out, everything is God's, and nothing, properly speaking, is Caesar's. The Church's first allegiance is to Christ. The Sermon on the Mount trumps party platforms. Commitment to the works of mercy listed in Matthew 25 supercedes commitment to the shibboleth of national interests. If it isn't the Church's business to labor for the end of the unspeakable (and unnecessary!) violence that daily destroys humans and crucifies Christ, whose business is it? How many times must the horrible facts about war be repeated before they sink into our hearts?
There are currently some 30 wars going on in the world. These wars have displaced upwards of 40 million people. - Over 2 million children died in wars during the 1990s. Six million were maimed. Twenty million lost their homes in 2001 alone. Another 300,000 kids, many of them no older than 10 years, were forcibly recruited as "child soldiers."
War is always--always--more devastating to civilians than soldiers. Between 1900 and 1990, 43 million soldiers were killed in wars. During that same time, 62 million civilians were killed. In the wars of the 1990s alone, civilian casualties accounted for 75 to 90 percent of all war deaths.
Most of the 30-odd wars currently raging are in developing countries. The US, the world's largest arms exporter, sells almost half its munitions to those countries. Between 1994 and 2001, the US exported $131 billion in arms, with $59 billion going to developing countries.
Since 1975, the US has spent between 3 and 6 percent of its GDP on defense. That's 15 to 30 percent of each year's federal budget. This year, the US will spend over $1 billion a day on the military, compared to an annual expenditure of $15 billion on state and international assistance and $60 billion on education. In the last 60 years, the US laid out $16.23 trillion on the military, compared to $1.70 trillion on health care.
These dismaying facts barely scratch the surface of the actual and opportunity costs of war. Given the enormity of the suffering, as well as the unequivocal example of Christ's life and teaching, how could it possibly be argued that the Church keep silent about peace lest she offend the separation doctrine? Doing so suggests either a callous willingness to sacrifice millions of human beings for the sake of an abstract (and dubious) principle, or a cynical strategy that seeks the Church's silent acquiescence to state-sponsored violence. Either way, innocents--including Christ--continue to be rent by war.
Kerry Walters
The Consultation endorses…
For Trustees of General Seminary, the Consultation asks you to vote for:
Bishops
Michael Curry
Laypersons
Marge Christie
Priest
Paula Lawrence Wehmiller
And…
For the Board of Examining Chaplains
Bishops
Katharine Jefferts Schori
Laypersons
Cynthia McFarland
Priest/Deacon
Stephen Moore
Faculty
Elizabeth Kaeton
Nayan V. McNeill
Resolution D071: Opposition to H.R. 4, Oppose Federally Sponsored Marriage Protection
I support D071. It is critical that the Episcopal Church speak up when Congress considers its so-called marriage protection grant program, under the guise of welfare reform.
Conservatives in Congress, in their eagerness to promote marriage as a "solution" to poverty, are pushing a $1.9 billion grant program to increase marriage rates among low-income individuals. Republicans have called for a Constitutional Amendment to preempt states from granting civil marriage protections to gays and lesbians.
Can we be a prayerful voice for the voiceless, especially those who found that domestic violence, alcohol abuse or economic debts made it necessary to leave a marriage or to remain single?
This week, we see and hear much of weddings, unions, and blessings. Touring the Minneapolis Rose Garden, I ran into two multicultural weddings; returning to my room, I met a bride's sister carrying a bouquet. ECW workshops and art exhibits remind us of wedding liturgies and logistics. We all know the instinctive joy we feel, smiling at a glimpse of strangers' weddings. I found myself clapping after Boston's gay pride parade, as a wedding party emerging from a local church.
My GLBT friends can now tell me of their trips to Canada and to Vermont to certify their relationships in civil law. My friends and I wait, praying and yearning and discerning, about how these relationships will be treated: within our home state law and in our home faiths.
Yet I am saddened too, because we don't often "see" the weddings of low-income women, nor do we "see" them, when they are single, raising children, struggling as single parents, working several jobs to make ends meet.
When you go home, if you are married, you will remain married as you cross state boundaries, by plane or train or bus or car. Not true if you are gay or lesbian, where only. a handful of cities and private companies have begun offering health benefits to same sex couples. While some GLBT couples can enter into legal covenants to buy a home together, we still lack core protections in civil law. When a partner dies, the law's cruel and "unseen" omission is suddenly visible. We can face poverty and homelessness when a wealthy partner ends a relationship, if no legal covenants are in place.
I hope the committee will add language that will urge Congress to let states work out their own solutions and oppose federal preemption of all marriage definitions. Changes to the welfare rules may be a "back door" vehicle to "reward" a narrow view of "good" marriages. We should speak clearly in this debate at the national level: it's too important to ignore.
Sara Hamlen, Integrity, Legislative Team, Boston, Mass.
8/5/03 Tuesday #6
Gains vs. Losses?
With the 20/20 evangelism initiative looming on the horizon, an increasing debate is whether the church will gain or lose members as a result of affirming Gene Robinson's election and/or rites for same-sex blessings. At this morning's press conference, two bishops offered different personal testimonies of potential reactions in the church. Bishop Ed Little (Northern Indiana) reported on an email he received two days ago from a person he confirmed this February. The 50-year old confirmed man's note indicated that he would now leave the Episcopal Church if Gene Robinson is elected. Little warned that this person is just the tip of the iceberg.
Countering Little's testimony at the press briefing were words from the three other speakers. Sandye Wilson, rector of Gethsemane Church here in Minneapolis, and Ian Douglas, professor at Episcopal Divinity School, both spoke of people they've recently met who have expressed to them there new interest in the church due to its growing commitment to the inclusion of LGBT people. Bishop Wendell Gibbs (Michigan) spoke about his own family. Late last night Gibbs was "Instant Messaging" by email with his youngest daughter Amber, 24. The bishop reported that she has felt marginalized and disassociated from the church for many years. Last night, however, she felt different. "I am so proud to be an Episcopalian," said Amber. "I've been waiting a long time to hear her say that," said Gibbs. "My daughter is a very spiritual person, and believes that God is calling all of us to be in service to one another. I characterize her as someone who would want the church to do more. I believe she feels we have let her generation down."
The Claiming the Blessing collaborative strongly believes that these decisions will lead to church growth. "Yes, I believe that some fundamentalists will leave the church," said Susan Russell, the executive director of the Claiming the Blessing collaborative, "but I think lapsed church and unchurched folks all around the country are looking for a place to live out their faith." Russell expresses optimism that Robinson's election and the proposed rite for same-sex blessings will, in fact, live out the 20/20 call. It's a very hopeful sign.
Ethan Flad
USAPIN
History is a clock that people use to tell their political time of day. It is also a compass that people use to find themselves on the map of human geography. The role of the Africana scholar is to tell his (his/her) people their time of day.
Professor John Henrik Clarke 1915-98
DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS?
Do you know or remember why your caucus/organization was founded, why the Consultation was founded, or why your caucus/organization is a member of that coalition of Consultation member organizations? Do you know or remember your own organization's mission and purpose statements, any of its previous or current goals and strategies, and why we work so hard, stay up so late at night, keep our heads up and never give up, especially at General Conventions?
We stand on the shoulders of so many who have blazed the trail before us and for us. All that our ancestors and forebears endured was so that we could work as they did in the life of our Church and at this particular General Convention. What role are you playing to help our people not be instruments of their own oppression? In what ways are you helping and telling our people their time of day?
Pat Simpson-Turner
UBE Chicago Chapter
The Consultation endorses…
For Executive Council, The Consultation asks you to vote for:
Bishops
Wilfredo Ramos-Orench
Laypersons
RPM Bowden Sr.
Dorothy J. Fuller
Sandra Ferguson McPhee
Priests
Edward W. Rodman
Do you feel surrounded by violence?
Threatened by evil? Are you spiritually drained from battling for peace? Join the Episcopal Peace Fellowship for an explorative introduction to
‘From Violence to Wholeness"
… a spiritual formation and renewal process for personal and social transformation, based on the power of love, a desire for the well-being of all, and a longing to end the cycle of personal, interpersonal, and systemic violence.
Wednesday, August 6,
at Gethsemane Church,
905 4th Avenue South.
$10 - Pre-register at EPF Booth #231
The Two Coolest Items at Convention!
Pre-orders for the beautiful Desmond Tutu doll, made at an Anglican craft market in the Khayelitsha township outside of Cape Town, are being taken by The Witness magazine at Booth #206. Come see the sample; proceeds go to support micro-enterprise development in this South African township and also The Witness. Also available from The Witness is "Music of Resistance, Vol. 1," a 20-song CD of social justice-inspired soul, Latin, Middle Eastern and African music and poetry. Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Suheir Hammad, Gil-Scott Heron, and many more socially conscious artists are featured.
Ethan Flad
Peace Cranes Celebration
Join the Episcopal Peace Fellowship at 7 a.m. Wednesday, August 6, at the Convention Center to board the buses for Minneapolis’ beautiful Lyndale Peace Garden, as we gather to commemorate Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
We will offer you hand-folded peace cranes that have been flown in from all over the country… the peace cranes that say, "This is our cry, this is our prayer, peace in the world."
Bonnie Rosendale
Peace IS Church Business
Earlier this week, in testimony at an open meeting of the National and International Concerns Committee, a deputy spoke against one of the peace and nonviolence resolutions before General Convention this year. He appealed to the separation-of-church-and-state doctrine, claiming that it's not the Church's business to consider resolutions that touch on US foreign policy or the military. The Church should be about God, not politics. Render unto God, and render unto Caesar.
We've all heard this argument before. But as Dorothy Day was fond of pointing out, everything is God's, and nothing, properly speaking, is Caesar's. The Church's first allegiance is to Christ. The Sermon on the Mount trumps party platforms. Commitment to the works of mercy listed in Matthew 25 supercedes commitment to the shibboleth of national interests. If it isn't the Church's business to labor for the end of the unspeakable (and unnecessary!) violence that daily destroys humans and crucifies Christ, whose business is it? How many times must the horrible facts about war be repeated before they sink into our hearts?
There are currently some 30 wars going on in the world. These wars have displaced upwards of 40 million people. - Over 2 million children died in wars during the 1990s. Six million were maimed. Twenty million lost their homes in 2001 alone. Another 300,000 kids, many of them no older than 10 years, were forcibly recruited as "child soldiers."
War is always--always--more devastating to civilians than soldiers. Between 1900 and 1990, 43 million soldiers were killed in wars. During that same time, 62 million civilians were killed. In the wars of the 1990s alone, civilian casualties accounted for 75 to 90 percent of all war deaths.
Most of the 30-odd wars currently raging are in developing countries. The US, the world's largest arms exporter, sells almost half its munitions to those countries. Between 1994 and 2001, the US exported $131 billion in arms, with $59 billion going to developing countries.
Since 1975, the US has spent between 3 and 6 percent of its GDP on defense. That's 15 to 30 percent of each year's federal budget. This year, the US will spend over $1 billion a day on the military, compared to an annual expenditure of $15 billion on state and international assistance and $60 billion on education. In the last 60 years, the US laid out $16.23 trillion on the military, compared to $1.70 trillion on health care.
These dismaying facts barely scratch the surface of the actual and opportunity costs of war. Given the enormity of the suffering, as well as the unequivocal example of Christ's life and teaching, how could it possibly be argued that the Church keep silent about peace lest she offend the separation doctrine? Doing so suggests either a callous willingness to sacrifice millions of human beings for the sake of an abstract (and dubious) principle, or a cynical strategy that seeks the Church's silent acquiescence to state-sponsored violence. Either way, innocents--including Christ--continue to be rent by war.
Kerry Walters
The Consultation endorses…
For Trustees of General Seminary, the Consultation asks you to vote for:
Bishops
Michael Curry
Laypersons
Marge Christie
Priest
Paula Lawrence Wehmiller
And…
For the Board of Examining Chaplains
Bishops
Katharine Jefferts Schori
Laypersons
Cynthia McFarland
Priest/Deacon
Stephen Moore
Faculty
Elizabeth Kaeton
Nayan V. McNeill
Resolution D071: Opposition to H.R. 4, Oppose Federally Sponsored Marriage Protection
I support D071. It is critical that the Episcopal Church speak up when Congress considers its so-called marriage protection grant program, under the guise of welfare reform.
Conservatives in Congress, in their eagerness to promote marriage as a "solution" to poverty, are pushing a $1.9 billion grant program to increase marriage rates among low-income individuals. Republicans have called for a Constitutional Amendment to preempt states from granting civil marriage protections to gays and lesbians.
Can we be a prayerful voice for the voiceless, especially those who found that domestic violence, alcohol abuse or economic debts made it necessary to leave a marriage or to remain single?
This week, we see and hear much of weddings, unions, and blessings. Touring the Minneapolis Rose Garden, I ran into two multicultural weddings; returning to my room, I met a bride's sister carrying a bouquet. ECW workshops and art exhibits remind us of wedding liturgies and logistics. We all know the instinctive joy we feel, smiling at a glimpse of strangers' weddings. I found myself clapping after Boston's gay pride parade, as a wedding party emerging from a local church.
My GLBT friends can now tell me of their trips to Canada and to Vermont to certify their relationships in civil law. My friends and I wait, praying and yearning and discerning, about how these relationships will be treated: within our home state law and in our home faiths.
Yet I am saddened too, because we don't often "see" the weddings of low-income women, nor do we "see" them, when they are single, raising children, struggling as single parents, working several jobs to make ends meet.
When you go home, if you are married, you will remain married as you cross state boundaries, by plane or train or bus or car. Not true if you are gay or lesbian, where only. a handful of cities and private companies have begun offering health benefits to same sex couples. While some GLBT couples can enter into legal covenants to buy a home together, we still lack core protections in civil law. When a partner dies, the law's cruel and "unseen" omission is suddenly visible. We can face poverty and homelessness when a wealthy partner ends a relationship, if no legal covenants are in place.
I hope the committee will add language that will urge Congress to let states work out their own solutions and oppose federal preemption of all marriage definitions. Changes to the welfare rules may be a "back door" vehicle to "reward" a narrow view of "good" marriages. We should speak clearly in this debate at the national level: it's too important to ignore.
Sara Hamlen, Integrity, Legislative Team, Boston, Mass.
8/4/03 Monday #5
Apples and chipped beef
I find it specious that the failure of marriage among heterosexuals is being used to urge people to vote against blessing successful non-marital relationships among homosexuals.
Erik Nelson is a Research Associate for the ultraconservative Institute on Religion and Democracy (an organization that exists to roll back progressivism in mainline churches) argues in the August 2 issue of the AAC's daily Encompass that if the Episcopal Church endorses blessings for relationships other than marriage it would say to young people that they need not marry at all.
Erik cites statistics that say that children from families that are not intact are more subject to poverty and that the cohabitation model of relationships is a failure because it produces unwed mothers. "If the Episcopal Church endorses non-marital unions," Erik states, "it will be blessing the perpetuation of poverty among the most vulnerable of society." Erik concludes, "As a Gen-X Episcopalian let me appeal to those in positions of influence in this church. Do not abandon my generation to a cycle of poverty and dysfunction."
The difficult thing about Erik's argument is that I, a lesbian living for 17 years in a life-long committed relationship, would prefer to be married to my life partner. For sake of the unity of the church I am willing to compromise on this issue and to settle instead for an optional blessing of our non-marital relationship. However, in neither case do I know how a faithful, life-long homosexual relationship could increase poverty, endanger children, or create dysfunction among Gen-Xers.
Jo Belser
A Presence of Hope
As we entered the Convention Hall Sunday morning, we were greeted with the angry presence of those who disbelieve in the reality of God’s love. However, as we crossed the street our hearts were soothed with the balm of bright smiles and the peaceful witness of local young people who expressed the ultimate in God’s love with their rainbow flags and their signs of invitation to the Eternal Banquet. Their joy gives one hope that the Church will begin to heal as we follow the example of our Lord who loves all and invites every human being into His presence.
To those young people of Minneapolis who saw an injustice and embraced us all, we thank you. You are a blessing to us and a reminder of God’s powerful, inclusive love.
Bonnie Rosendale
OPEN MEETING
The Consultation
Today at 12:30
In the worship space
Deputies of Color
Meet tonight at 10 pm
In the Nicollet Room at the Hilton
Don't Lose the Focus on Anti-Racism Training
A couple years ago, a colleague in my hometown asked one of our diocesan leaders what we were doing in our diocese to follow-through on the church's commitment to anti-racism. The response? "Oh, we did that training a couple years ago." Living in a presumably progressive diocese, this was admittedly somewhat of a shock -- supposedly those of us in multicultural, multiracial communities are ready to lead the church in justice and peace initiatives, right? Not exactly. For one, "progressivism" is hard to nail down. For people dedicated to social justice, keeping the church accountable to dealing with ALL issues of oppression can be a maddening challenge. You can liken it to trying to pick a "socially responsible" company -- some businesses have terrible environmental policies, but are strong in terms of their support for affirmative action, for example. So just because one lives in a diocese that has a strong record in LGBT issues and/or women in church leadership is not necessarily an indicator that you can count on institutional racism to be a top priority. Moreover, for some people in the church, a convenient way to say you're doing anti-racism work is to hold up the "multicultural" banner. Our church's growth in Latino and Asian-American communities over the past quarter-century has been significant, and has appropriately complicated our understandings on race, ethnicity, and racism. We can be thankful that our church now must address these issues in multiracial, multilingual, and multicultural ways. But that is too often used as an escape clause -- the commitment to "appreciate diversity" is a convenient excuse for avoiding the power dynamics that still play out in our church and wider society. Ed Rodman points the finger at this conundrum in the "four levels of awareness" he describes in his position paper for The Witness, "Unmasking the Face of Racism." In general, our church has passed some strong, important anti-racism resolutions over the past decade -- ever since the infamous 1991 General Convention in Phoenix, when heated debate over our church's institutional racism prompted us to raise up anti-racism as a top priority. So now that we've had 12 years of "attention" to this topic, where has that ultimately led us? In too many cases, we've seen these "one-off" workshops -- giving the lie that we can "check off" having done that training event.
We can't let that happen. On Sunday night, we had the opportunity to review our church's anti-racism mandate, and to recommit ourselves to being a "church for all races and a church to end racism." Resolution A010 gives us the opportunity to live out that commitment. And on Tuesday morning, the Social & Urban Affairs committee will consider four resolutions addressing racism and discrimination -- A129, C003, D025, and D077. We urge you to support the passage of all four.
Ethan Flad
Humor helps
At the Friday hearing on developing a liturgy for blessing lifelong committed relationships other than marriage, Chairman Frank Wade outlined the procedures for speaking, which included sitting in silence and listening.
He then asked witnesses to be sure "what you say is an improvement on silence."
Now THAT'S a high standard.
Katie Sherrod
The Consultation endorses…
For Executive Council, The Consultation asks you to vote for:
Bishops
Wilfredo Ramos-Orench
Laypersons
RPM Bowden Sr.
Dorothy J. Fuller
Sandra Ferguson McPhee
Priests
Edward W. Rodman
Action for Wednesday, 6 August, 1:00 p.m.
Action: At 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 6 August, observe a moment of silent prayer in the house of Bishops, House of Deputies, and the Triennial on behalf of the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, 1945, and for all persons affected by war and terror.
Explanation -- 6 August 2003 is the 58th anniversary of the use of an atomic bomb at Hiroshima during the Second World War. It is the day of the beginning of the atomic age. From that day several years later it has been the custom to remember the victims of Hiroshima and of Nagasaki, which was bombed on 9 August 1945, as well as to pray for no further nuclear weapon usage.
General Convention 1985, in a resolution of a verifiable bilateral nuclear freeze, resolved "designate the first Wednesday of each month as a day of action and reflection on peacemaking." (Source -- "Cross Before Flag" of the Episcopal Pearce Fellowship.) This Wednesday 6 August, 2003, is the first Wednesday of August.
At 1:00 p.m. in the city of Minneapolis, the civil defense sirens will sound, a long-standing practice to test the readiness of the civil defense alert system. As the sirens of civil defense are sounded , this is an opportune time to pray for peace and the victims of war.
Both the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies are scheduled to adjourn for lunch that day at one o’clock. It is a simple procedure to invite people to pray at this time as the sirens go off. The sirens are a reminder of the potential danger we all live with in this nuclear age.
Kerry Walters
Headstrong Daughters Celebrate At Caucus Breakfast
"My first impression of the Episcopal Church was that it was a place of radical hospitality and profound hospitality," said the Reverend Bonnie Perry of the Diocese of Chicago, keynote speaker at the Episcopal Women's Caucus Breakfast Sunday.
"Imagine my surprise," she said as the audience laughed, when she discovered this was not the case in the whole church. But it was the case in enough places and at enough times, she said, that it gives us all glimpses of the Kingdom of God, and keeps us all working to make her first impression a reality for the whole church.
Two newly created awards were announced. The Magdalene Award is given "to lift up and celebrate a ministry that would not ordinarily be well known. The recipient of this award is a woman whose unflagging dedication and leadership transcends cultural standards, strengthens and builds up the disciples of Christ, and provides for them through her own resources and witnesses to the power of the resurrection." The first recipient of the Magdalene Award is attorney Sally Johnson, for her years-long work on Title IV.
The Joseph Award is given "in the spirit of Mary's spouse to a man who has been a faithful companion to women on our journey of faith." The recipient of this award is "one who defies conventional wisdom and cultural standards in order to confront prejudice and obey the Spirit of the God of incarnate love, liberation, justice, reconciliation and peace." It was given posthumously to Brian Bucklee, late husband of past EWC president Sally Bucklee, Brian Bucklee was the unanimous choice of the board because of his "self-sacrificing love [and] his ministry and companionship with Sally to further the ministry of Jesus Christ through the mission of our work."
The Caucus also honored the recently retired Jane Holmes Dixon, bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Washington. Life memberships were given to Bishop Dixon and to Mary Adelia McLeod, retired bishop of Vermont, as well as to the Reverend Barbara Schlachter, for her work on the Caucus' Angel Project; and to past president Lyn Headley Moore. Ginger Paul, the outgoing president, also was honored with a life membership. She was given a crystal bowl that engraved with a quote from Sirach: "Keep strict watch over a headstrong daughter, else, when she finds liberty, she will use it."
The Reverend Elizabeth Morris Downie is the new president, the Reverend Ann Vandervoort is the new secretary and the Rt. Rev. Jane Holmes Dixon is a new board member. The Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows continues as vice-president and the Hon. Byron Rushing continues as treasurer.
Perry was introduced by Caucus Board member, the Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, who gave her the ultimate Gen-X accolade: "She kicks butt."
And now, let us all go forth and do likewise.
Katie Sherrod
What Price Youth Presence?
Bureaucracies are strange creatures. Church bureaucracies are almost bizarre.
The Convention Planning Team, in its wisdom, decided to have our next General Convention 2006 in Columbus, Ohio, a wonderful choice. However, enticed by the offer to save $150,000 to hold it June 12 - 20, they cut the deal and then came to this convention for approval.
A pragmatic choice with noble intentions. Except, of course, for the priorities we say we have to have more Youth involved in our church.
General Convention sent a message a negative vote of a near 25% margin. My hope is that the Youth presence can make that message even stronger. My fantasy is that they will begin to lobby the House of Bishops to defeat the resolution for General Convention 2006, and that we will support them in their efforts. In that way, the well intended but misinformed bureaucrats will reconsider their decision, even if it costs us the money we 'saved.'
If the presence and participation of young people in the life of our church is a priority, what are we willing to spend to ensure our goal?
Elizabeth Kaeton
Wolf and Lamb
At the Saturday morning worship, the Rt. Rev. Michael Curry preached about the mountaintop, where the lamb will lie down with the wolf. Then he quoted comedian Dick Gregory saying that "when the wolf lies down with the lamb, the lamb ain't gonna get much sleep that night."
Katie Sherrod
8/2/03 ISSUES SATURDAY #4
The Consultation endorses…
For President of the House of Deputies, The Consultation asks you to vote for
Louie Crew
Ordination of Non-Celibate Gays and Lesbians in the Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church has already decided that non-celibate homosexuals living in faithful and committed sexual relationships may be ordained. In 1994 ten bishops brought a Presentment (ecclesiastical indictment) against
The Rt. Rev. Walter Righter for teaching ‘a doctrine contrary to that held by this Church’ and for violation of his ordination vow to ‘conform to the Doctrine…of the Church’ after he ordained to the deaconate a non-celibate homosexual man who was living in a same sex partnership.
In May 1996 the Court for the Trial of a Bishop (made up of nine bishops) issues its opinion. It stated, ‘The Court finds that there is a no Core Doctrine prohibiting the ordination of a non-celibate, homosexual person living in a faithful and committed sexual relation-ship with a person of the same sex…’
The Court then said: ‘The Court would remind the Church that there are ways we could order our life less ambiguously. General Convention has authority to pass Canons which are binding, and could, perhaps, adopt resolutions which clearly declare themselves to be mandatory, and which call for specific penalties when they are disobeyed.’
Since the Court issued its opinion, there haven been two General Conventions and a third is upon us. No resolution to amend the Canons to prohibit the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals has been proposed at any of these Conventions, nor has any mandatory resolution with specific penalties been adopted. The decision in the Bishop Righter case has not been overruled by an act of General Convention.
Sally Johnson
Almighty God, grant us grace fearlessly to contend against evil, and to make no peace with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice among people and nations.
Adapted from
the Book of Common Prayer
Practice Nonviolence:
A Thought for Saturday
"Being human means actively
loving our adversaries and identifying
our own blind spots."
A principal of Mohandas Gandhi
Episcopal Women's Caucus launches web site.
The Episcopal Women's Caucus new web site is at www.ewc-ecusa.org. People were able to register online for the Caucus General Convention breakfast tomorrow (until July 29, after which they can make reservations at the Caucus booth #205 in the Exhibit Hall). People also can contact the Caucus General Convention Legislative Team about concerns, suggestions or offers of help with legislation of interest to the Caucus.
Visitors to the site can become members of the Caucus, learn the Caucus' mission statement and history and read excerpts from RUACH, the Caucus quarterly journal. The site is still being tweaked, so suggestions are welcome.
Katie Sherrod
"We belong together," says Margaret Lawrence to parishioners of St. Paul’s, a vibrant, predominantly black congregation. They are reconsidering a painful shared ministry with three, weak white parishes. Margaret is not afraid to live in uncomfortable or hostile territory, and she has long held to walking the road together.
The words are a theme in Margaret’s pioneering journey to becoming a distinguished child psychiatrist. As a young, religious, black woman, she entered a medical field dominated by white men with no use for her or for spirituality. It must have taken courage, independence, and ego strength to withstand the assaults of blatant and cruel discrimination she suffered not only where she grew up in Mississippi, but also in New York’s universities, medical schools and hospitals. She remained focused and independent. Refused pediatric residency at Columbia’s Babies Hospital because she was black, she worked at Harlem Hospital, serving the young urban families and troubled children there. Her firm conviction, learned in her own life, was the inner strength that victims can summon in the face of adversity. She was firm with those she counseled, outlining clear and practical expectations and responsibilities. In true pastoral tradition, she spent years and years with patients, black and white, adults and children, well-to-do and poor. Child psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, Margaret has called herself a psychoanalytically-oriented community child psychiatrist. She was an outspoken activist for medical care for the poor, better working conditions for hospital staff, and an end to racism.
Margaret remains an uncompromising and articulate voice against racism, militarism and other forms of violence. Parishioners at St. Paul’s are not surprised if she stands boldly after hearing a violent psalm and publicly questions the priest whether it holds any valuable lesson.
Margaret remains "the radical reconciler." The Episcopal Peace Fellowship will award Dr. Margaret Morgan Lawrence the Sayre Peace Award.
Janet Chisholm
EPF RECEPTION
TODAY, 4-6 PM, GETHSEMANE CHURCH, 905 FOURTH AVE. SOUTH
Tickets at EPF booth #231
Opening Closet Doors
The thing that most frightens people about New Hampshire Bishop-elect Gene Robinson isn't that he's a gay man living in a committed relationship.
What frightens them most is that he doesn't lie about it. Robinson has set the bar pretty high for the rest of the church, and many may never forgive him for it.
Honesty is hard work.
What's more, honesty scares people.
Robinson's honesty has blown the doors off too many closets for comfort.
Closets come in all shapes and sizes, and hide all sorts of things.
The one we hear the most about is sexuality - and not just lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered sexuality. Heterosexual closets aren't pristine.
Pedophilia lurks in many more heterosexual closets than otherwise.
Also lurking in straight closets is adultery, incest and who knows how many fetishes, both benign and toxic.
Then there are the closets that hold abuses of power, fraudulent uses of power, criminal abuses of power. Next come the closets full of financial misconduct - fraud, embezzlement, theft, etc.
There are the closets that hold alcohol and drug abuse, including abuse of legal drugs, and closets that hold domestic violence, verbal as well as physical.
When closet doors begin to be opened around issues of sexuality, those hiding issues in their own closets get nervous.
If we begin telling the truth about sexuality, what's next?
The fear of having one's vulnerabilities exposed underlies much of the argu-ment against giving consent to the consecration of Robinson.
But the Christ who hung naked on the cross calls us to a terrible vulnerability. Let us embrace it.
It is one of the most powerful evangelism tools we have.
Katie Sherrod
An Invitation to a….
New Community Celebration Bishops and deputies of color invite everyone at General Convention to a celebration of ethnic and cultural diversity in our Church. Tonight, 6 - 10 pm, Grand Ballroom, 4th floor of the Marriott City Center. The event is free - music and hors d’ oeuvres and cash bar!
Locally Grown and Organic Dinner
The Episcopal Ecological Network (EpEN) invites you to a Minnesota-grown, organic dinner on Monday, August 4th at 5:30pm at Church of the Gethsemane (9th Street & 4th Avenue South). Come and enjoy the rich bounty of fresh food, share some peaceful time with a friend, and hear Bishop Mark MacDonald, Alaska.
This promises to be an evening of richness and blessing. Tickets are $25, and are available at the EpEN booth (the one with the windmill), or at the door. Foremost among EpEN priorities is to support and encourage local, sustainable farmers and healthy agricultural practices. This dinner will show others how to begin or continue efforts in their own area. Our partners in this effort include Church of Gethsemane and Land Stewardship Project, a Minnesota organization which works tirelessly for small farmers.
Food is being provided by Nathalie Johnson and Parsons. Bishop Mark MacDonald will share a few words about the interdependence between all parts of our world, and the impact of our actions here and when we return home. There will also be displays about the work of EpEN, and more information about the producers of our food, and ways you can begin your own locally-grown meal.
Wanda Copeland
Schism, again, and again, and again
Schism is a word much bandied about in the corridors of the Episcopal Church these days. Perhaps the following reminders would inform the discussion.
We can’t be sure that all Judean Christians accepted the decision reported in Acts 15 about Gentile followers of Jesus and the keeping of Torah. It is clear that the Councils of Nicaea, Constantinople, and Chalcedon resulted in divisions between the "Orthodox" who wrote our histories and those parts of the Church which could not accept the decisions of the councils. You might want to search out a Coptic Christian and ask about their perception of the division.
As Every Voice News reminded us in their Issue 1, the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches divided from each other in 1054. Closer to our time, the Methodists, Christian Scientists, and Reform Episcopalians split from their Anglican roots for what were seen as good and sufficient reasons.
Some of us believe that the Gospel imperatives about loving all in God’s image are more persuasive than some trumped-up unity which comes at the cost of redemptive love toward some of the "least of God’s beloved".
Ron Miller
The Episcopal Church:
Giving Atheists Hope!
On Tuesday night, Integrity president Michael Hopkins and a friend were at a local restaurant. As they prepared to leave, a fellow at the bar noticed Hopkins' clergy collar and demanded, "Are you folks part of that Episcopal thing in town?!" Chastised, Hopkins and his colleague fessed up. "Well," declared the man, "I'm an atheist!" But he went on, "I have to say that what you folks are doing is giving me hope." Indeed with the Vatican drawing a line in the sand this week, demanding that Catholics "fall in line" against same-sex unions, it's evident that the Episcopal Church can now seize an evangelical opportunity to millions of disaffected people of faith.
Ethan Flad
It is time
It is time to adopt the Revised Common Lectionary, for many reasons. The options it offers for more in-course reading of the Hebrew scriptures permit the preacher to present a broader understanding of these books. And these stories are great tales of God’s love for all sorts of people.
Passages from both Testaments which include women as principal figures are important additions to the proclamation of the Word, and use of this lectionary is a practical positive expression of the unity of Christians. It is time.
Mike Shirley
Last Chance to Buy Tickets to The Witness/EPF Reception
Don't forget!
Today from 4-6pm at Gethsemane Episcopal Church is the big event. Tickets at $40 are available at Booths #206 or 231, and are disappearing fast. Steve Charleston is keynote speaker, and Barbara Harris, Margaret Lawrence, and Barbara Ramnaraine will be honored, among others.
Ethan Flad
8/1/03 #3
It’s not about sexuality!
It’s about honesty and transparency
in the life of our Church.
Be Prepared
Today is a crucial time in the life of our church. We will be talking today and much of tomorrow about sexuality in the life of our leaders and members. To be able to most effectively be part of these discussions, every one needs to do their homework.
Claiming the Blessing, available at the Integrity booth #229-230, is one of the must-reads for knowing what is going on in this discussion.
The Witness Position Papers, especially on conflict by L. William Countryman, and on justice by Elizabeth Kaeton, available at the Urban Caucus/Witness booth #206 and lots of other places around the halls, will inform your consideration as well.
If you have not seen these, and read them, and prayerfully listened to their wisdom, you are not ready to be part of this discussion.
The consent process for the consecration of Canon Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire is about honesty in the life of the church and transparency in our decision making. The discussion we are involved in as a church around sexuality needs to have the same honesty and transparency that we have seen in Canon Robinson’s life.
So do your homework, reading and praying and listening to the Spirit. The God who called you into relationship calls you to renew the relationship in every moment of our life together. This Minneapolis moment is ours to serve the God who calls us to a life of honesty and transparency.
Mike Shirley
An observation
People have complained that this Convention is dominated by issues of sexuality. One can understand why, when the Miscellaneous Resolutions Committee is listed on the board at Miscellaneous Relations. At least it provided some levity in the general heaviness of business.
Katie Sherrod
Every individual will receive from God the amount of indulgence he has himself given to his neighbor.
Augustine, quoted by Defensor Grammaticus
Visit The Consultation booth, for our platform statement and discussions of many other ISSUES. Watch for members of our team who will be distributing free copies of ISSUES daily during the Convention. And look for ISSUES and our Platform online at www.theconsultation.org.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From the cowardice that shrinks from new truth,
From the laziness that is content with half-truths,
From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,
O God of Truth, deliver us.
-An ancient scholar
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
An Object Lesson
Deputies and bishops were greeted Wednesday morning with a stark reminder of the ugliness of hatred.
Bullhorn in hand, Dan Holman of Keokuk, Iowa awaited them in front of the Convention Center as they arrived for morning Eucharist. "There are no sodomite bishops in the Bible!" Holman shouted. "Homosexual marriage is an abomination!" Holman's wife, Donna, stood beside him holding a banner that read AIDS IS THE CURE.
Holman isn't an Episcopalian, but sees himself as a missionary "called by God" to protest "satanic" elements in the ECUSA. The Church, he believes, has been seized by "sodomites," "humanists," and "apostates," and "no longer follows God." Divine wrath awaits unless Episcopalians clean up their acts--a reformation, by the way, that would mandate executions for gays and lesbians. Harsh-sounding, perhaps, but Holman believes it's better to punish the body than lose the soul. To emphasize his point, he breaks into a polka-inspired tune of his own composition: "In Heaven there are no queers/That's why we warn them here."
It's easy (especially if you're not gay or lesbian) to write off the Holmans of the world as laughable crackpots. That's a mistake. Dan Holman and his kind are living examples of the utterly corrupting effects of religiously justified hatred and intolerance. Holman's shenanigans expose with stark clarity the social and spiritual dangers of presuming to wield the righteous sword of God: victims are reviled and abused, victimizers are corroded by their own hatred. Everyone--including God--loses. Everyone--including God--is diminished.
That's why the Holmans of the world ought to be taken seriously. That's why Dan Holman's presence at General Convention ought to be embraced by deputies and bishops as an opportunity for dialogue, prayer, and self-examination.
Kerry Walters
FEELING GREEN?
This General Convention is the second gathering to be powered by Wind Energy. Our electricity is coming to us via a new wind turbine on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Using the "Green Tag" process, the Episcopal General Convention is putting an equivalent amount of green electrons into the energy stream. For more informationon our provider go to www.NativeEnergy.com
Wanda Copeland
Women's Caucus Breakfast
The Episcopal Women's Caucus breakfast will be at 8 a.m., Sunday, August 3 at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. The keynote speaker is the Rev. Bonnie Perry, rector, All Saints', Chicago. The Rev. Perry served on the Special Committee in Denver that produced Resolution D039s dealing with committed relationships other than marriage. In addition, the Caucus will honor the recently retired Rt. Rev. Jane Holmes Dixon, the second female elected bishop in the Episcopal Church of the USA.
Reservations can be made at the Caucus booth, number 205 under The Consultation Banner in the Exhibit Hall. Tickets are $15.
Katie Sherrod
The only justice we have
is the justice that we do.
Jubilee Ministries are not an option; they are an obligation. The prophet Micah says: "the Lord REQUIRES that we do justice." Jubilee Ministry is God's work in the world as a catalyst for social change and as a means for understanding social problems and their remedies. Jubilee Ministries are life-changing for those who are served AND for those who serve. It is a vehicle for us to take our faith "on the road", to test drive the love of Christ in the world, to touch, feel, smell and understand poverty, crime and abuse in their social contexts. Hundreds of thousands of expressions of God's justice begin and continue daily in Episcopal efforts across the nation and the world under the banner of Jubilee Ministries.
The only justice that we have, is the justice that we do! Program, Budget and Finance are our fences/barriers and our bridges. Budget and finance determine who gets how much and when. If God REQUIRES that we do justice, PB&F does not have the option to create barriers but must build bridges. The Program, Budget and Finance Committee is struggling with $8 million dollars more in requests than they have to distribute. Who gets on the cutting room floor and who is given the bridge is critical.
Episcopalians are blessed with God's abundance. And, God requires that we do justice. This then requires that our financial leaders find a way to fund all of our work. The only justice that we have is the justice that we do. We need financial bridges to get to the promised land. Don't let Jubilee Ministries lose their footing.
Joyce Caggiano
Director, Episcopal Community Services in Michigan
Treasurer, Episcopal Community Services in America
Last Supper Test
In a column that appeared July 31 in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, George Will used his space as a bull-horn for the views of the Truro letter signers. They are Bishop Gethin Hughes of San Diego and other bishops (many of them retired) who are telling deputies and fellow bishops not to address the need for a rite of blessing for same-sex couples or others who cannot marry until the whole Anglican Communion agrees that General Convention has permission to start down that path.
He might as well say that we Jesus-people shouldn't start down the road to do justice and love mercy until everyone has agreed to strike out in the same direction. If church people had waited for all Christians to agree that integration was good before starting down a road with Jesus toward a non-racialist world, then we'd still be at the starting gate of that road instead of joyfully craning our necks for the next mile post on our way.
Anyway, the idea that you can't craft a liturgy until there is "settled theology" about what is being celebrated doesn't pass the Last Supper Test. Liturgies aren't about ideas, they're about relationships among people and God. You start with the relationships, not with the theology. It took two thousand years for Christian people to come to a multiplicity of "settled theologies" about the eucharist, and plenty of Christians might agree that there is nothing about a good liturgy that leaves them in a settled place.
Everyone with eyes to see and ears to listen has witnessed the love of God expressed in the committed relationships of gay or lesbian couples. The church needs to get to work creating a liturgy of blessing to keep us on the track of knowing that God will bless who God will bless, not to celebrate our unanimity or uniformity of theology.
David Lyle
Reaching Toward Wholeness available
Reaching Toward Wholeness, the report of the Executive Council Committee on the Status of Women, is available at the Episcopal Church Center booth just as you enter the Exhibit Center. Pick up a copy to see how far women have come and how far they have to go.
An Invitation to Think
Among the items being handed out at the Convention Center entrance is a startling invitation:
You are cordially invited to the
Memorial Jazz Funeral of
Earnest Knighton Jr.
Born 1946 - Executed October 31, 1984.
And don't worry - you haven't missed it. Mr. Knighton's funeral happens nearly every night of Convention. You can join the New Orleans jazz funeral procession at Nicollet Mall at 13th Street and march with it to the Episcopal Church of the Gethsemane at 905 4th Avenue. There, at 11 a.m. Friday and Saturday, at 1 p.m. Sunday and at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, you can see EARNEST, A Staged Reading in Two Acts. The funeral procession starts 20 minutes before each performance.
EARNEST was written by the Rt. Rev. Joe Morris Doss, former bishop of New Jersey; and his son, Andrew Doss. The play was born out of Bishop Doss' experience as one of Mr. Knighton’s attorneys working on his death penalty appeals in Louisiana. It is directed by Bryan Cole and performed by ex-convicts and those who work in the prison system. Dick and Jane's Big Brass Band and the TCC Gospel Choir under the direction of Robert Robinson provide music.
Admission is free, but donations are accepted. Proceeds benefit the four sponsoring organizations: the gray space Performance Company, The Church of the Gethsemane, Volunteers of America MN and The National Episcopal Church Prison Ministries. A panel discussion follows each performance. For more information, call 612-799-2734
Katie Sherrod
Why support the H.R.40 Resolution?
H. R. 40 is a bill in Congress introduced by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan. This bill calls for a Commission to be established ‘to examine the institution of slavery, de jure and de facto economic discrimination against African Americans, and make recommen-dations to Congress on appropriate remedies.’
Supporting the H. R. 40 Resolution submitted by the Peace and Justice Commission of the Diocese of California would indicate Episcopalians at the General Convention support social justice for those most marginalized economically and socially in our society. The Episcopal Church has a history of leadership in social justice areas.
What better way in the 21st Century can we show that people of faith can support a process that will aid reconciliation and healing in our country? Many of you may have seen the documentary of Bishop Tutu on the Truth and Reconciliation Committee in South Africa. General Convention participants have an opportunity to support a similar process in our country by voting for the H. R. 40 Resolution.
Sheila C. Sims
Co-Chair, Peace and Justice Commission
Diocese of California
7/31/03 #2
Another deck of cards
Toward the end of the United States’ invasion and destruction of Iraq this year, the Department of Defense developed a "deck of cards" listing officials of the former administration of Iraq targeted for search and destroy by the military. News reports proudly posted those whose faces were on the cards, faces who were either captured or killed. We played games with death, and took great glee at the downfall of these officials, happily connecting their names and faces with their card suit and rank.
Now there is an Anglican Communion Deck of Cards, developed by David Virtue, a person at General Convention with a press pass. On the Orthodox Anglican web site (www.orthodox Anglican.org/Virtuosity) are listed church members with a corresponding suit and rank. The subtitle says "People for whom to pray in the Anglican Communion," search and destroy deck of cards, of persons to be sought out and killed. This list is the "trivialization of hate" as one member of the Episcopal Women’s Caucus has stated.
Louie Crew -- First Sodomite is the Queen of Spades, Bishop Barbara Harris is the 10 of Spades, Bishop Paul Moore is the 4 of Hearts, Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold is the Ace of Diamonds, Archbishop Desmond Tutu is the Jack of Diamonds, Bishop Clark Grew is the 3 of Diamonds, Presiding Bishop Ed Browning is the 10 of Clubs, and Bishop-elect Gene Robinson is the 6 of Clubs.
The Anglican Deck of Cars is a revolting and hateful creation. It can easily become, like the Pentagon Deck of Cards, a list of people to search and destroy, putting everyone on the list at risk as targets for harm and death. It is a sad day when individuals go to such lengths to vilify persons with whom they disagree. It is antithetical to our Baptismal Covenant and the mission of the Church, which is to "restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ."
Surely we can do better. Surely we can at least be Christ-like in our disagreement without posting threats on the web or using the tools of the military or hate-mongers to express our disapproval. The images of God in these saints of the Church have been disfigured by this mockery and threat -- we have all been harmed as a result.
David Selzer
Book signing: Friday at noon at the EPF booth (#231) with Kerry Walters, author of Jacob’s Hip: Finding God in an Anxious Age, and editor of EPF’s quarterly journal.
Visit The Consultation booth, for our platform statement and discussions of many other ISSUES. Watch for members of our team who will be distributing free copies of ISSUES daily during the Convention. And look for ISSUES and our Platform online at www.theconsultation.org.
Deputies of Color Meeting
10 p.m. Thursday at the Nicolet Room of the Hilton Hotel
Bishop Martin Barahona will meet with interested persons
at the Episcopal Urban Caucus booth #206
on Thursday from 1:30 to 4:30.
Spread Non-Violence!
Introductory workshop: "From Violence to Wholeness" Thurs, July 31st and Wed August 6; 1 - 5 p.m. at Gethsemane Church. Sign up at EPF Booth (#231) $10 - Space is limited.
The Consultation endorses…
For the Board of Trustees for the Church Pension Fund, The Consultation asks you to vote:
For the term ending 2006;
Laypersons
Barbara Creed
Cecil Wray
For the term ending 2009;
Bishops Priests Laypersons
Gayle E. Harris Samuel G. Chandler James E. Bayne
Robert H. Johnson Lynn Jay Joon D. Matsumura
Wayne P. Wright Robert Sessum David R. Pitts
V. Gene Robinson
Apples and Spaghetti
One of the favorite conservative arguments against developing a liturgy for blessing same-sex unions is the old "slippery slope" argument.
It goes like this: "Oh sure, it starts out optional but then it will be forced down our throats, just like the ordination of women."
The problem with this argument is that it's not even comparing apples to oranges. It's more like comparing apples to spaghetti. One is canonical, the other liturgical.
The ordination of women involved a canonical change. Unlike resolutions, canons are binding. The only reason there was ever any confusion about the canon on ordination was that the House of Bishops took unilateral action at the 1977 Port St. Lucie bishops' meeting and passed the infamous so-called "conscience clause." This was after the 1976 Minneapolis General Convention at which the canon on ordination was amended to make it "equally applicable" to women and men. This "gentlemen's agreement" - because then all the bishops were men -- was never adopted by the full General Convention.
But it did serve to give opponents of the ordination of women a veritable fog machine with which to fuzz up the issue. It was to clarify that the canon on ordination was binding, not permissive, that another amendment was passed at General Convention in Philadelphia.
[And even so, since Philadelphia, not one thing has changed for the three bishops who still refuse to ordain or license women in their dioceses, so obviously, despite their cries of persecution, they aren't being coerced on that issue.]
The issue of blessing same-sex unions is a liturgical issue, not canonical. The resolution asks for authorization of an optional liturgy for blessing of committed relationships other than marriage for inclusion in the Book of Occasional Services.
In Denver in 2000, General Convention overwhelmingly recognized that committed relationships other than marriage exist in the church and that they can and should be, as stated in Resolution D039, "characterized by fidelity, monogamy, mutual affection and respect, careful, honest communication and the holy love which enables those in such relationships to see in each other the image of God."
Since we acknowledge these relationships exist, and we expect them to meet these standards to the glory of God, why then deny those in such relationships a public rite to celebrate that reality and to support them as they strive always to be faithful to God and to each another?
A priest seeking to pastorally support a couple seeking such a rite would be able to find it. Those who choose not to use it will never even have to look at it, just as now there are liturgies in the Book of Occasional Services that priests simply never have occasion to use. But if they find they have a need, for instance, to do a public service of healing, or to commission a lay ministry, or prepare a vigil on the eve of baptism, the liturgy for doing so is there for their use, in common with other priests who have had similar needs.
For a people of common prayer, making an optional liturgy for the blessing of committed relationships other than marriage in the Book of Occasional Services available to those who choose to use it as a pastoral tool makes common sense.
Katie Sherrod
D014 - Japanese-American Internment in World War II:
A Call for Accountability
Resolution D014 is sponsored by the Episcopal Asiamerican Ministry (EAM) Advocates, church leadership from the West Coast, and the Japanese Convocation of EAM, this resolution highlights the need for continuing education about Japanese-American internment and calls upon national leadership to remain accountable to all citizens, regardless of their national origin and heritage. It further commends the church to the ongoing work of reconciliation in response to this dark period in our nation's history.
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW: The Japanese American Incarceration During World War II
On February 19, 1942, ten weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which gave to the Secretary of War and the military commanders the power to exclude any and all persons, citizens and aliens, from designated areas in order to provide security against sabotage, espionage and fifth column activity. Shortly thereafter, all American citizens of Japanese descent were prohibited from living, working or traveling on the West Coast of the United States. The same prohibition applied to the generation of Japanese immigrants who, pursuant to federal law and despite long residence in the United States, were not permitted to become American citizens. American citizens and their alien parents were removed by the Army, first to "assembly centers," temporary quarters at racetracks and fairgrounds and then to "relocation centers," bleak barrack camps in desolate areas of the West. The camps were surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by military police. Departure was permitted only after a loyalty review in consultation with the military, by the War Relocation Authority, the civilian agency that ran the camps. Many of those removed from the West Coast were eventually allowed to leave the camps to join the Army, go to college outside the West Coast or to whatever private employment that was available. For a larger number, however, the war years were spent behind barbed wire; and for those who were released, the prohibition against returning to their homes and occupations on the West Coast was not lifted until December 1944."
"This policy of exclusion, removal and detention was executed against 120,000 people without individual review, and exclusion was continued virtually without regard for their demonstrated loyalty to the United States. Congress was fully aware of and supported the policy of removal and detentions; it sanctioned the exclusion by enacting a statute which made criminal the violation of orders issued pursuant to Executive Order 9066. The United States Supreme Court held the exclusion constitutionally permissible in the context of war, but struck down the incarceration of admittedly loyal American citizens on the ground that it was not based on statutory authority."
"All this was done despite the fact that not a single documented act of espionage, sabotage or fifth column activity was committed by an American citizen of Japanese ancestry or by a resident Japanese alien on the West Coast."
"No mass exclusion or detention, in any part of the country, was ordered against American citizens of German or Italian descent. Official actions against enemy aliens of other nationalities were much more individualized and selective than those imposed on the ethnic Japanese."
"The personal injustice of excluding, removing and detaining loyal American citizens is manifest. Such events are extraordinary and unique in American history. For every citizen and for American public life, they pose haunting questions about our country and its past."
(Quoted from Personal Justice Denied, Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation & Internment of Civilians, 1982)
Warren Wong
Women - Power - Authority
The Executive Council Committee on the Status of Women points out that "Women make up 25 percent of the clergy in the Episcopal Church but less than 5 percent of the House of Bishops. Very few women are called as rectors of large churches. In some dioceses, women, lay or ordained, hold few leadership roles. Yet the Church membership is almost 70 percent female. What do power and authority have to do with these realities? What happens when women claim their God-given power and use it in the name of Jesus Christ?"
Power is defined as "the capacity and ability to effect change." Authority "legitimizes the exercise of power."
If you want to learn the realities of women with power and authority in the Church, come to a Power Lunch at 1 p.m. on Friday, August 1 in the Regency Room of the Hyatt Hotel. The Very Rev. Tracey Lind, cathedral dean, Cleveland; Ms. Diane B. Pollard, Executive Council member; and The Rt. Rev. Jane Holmes Dixon, recently retired bishop suffragan of Washington, will participate in a conversation moderated by Ms. Sally Bucklee, chair of the Executive Council Committee on the Status of Women and former president of the Episcopal Women's Caucus.
Tickets are $20 and can be purchased during convention from Cindi Bartol (VA) or Marge Christie (Newark) in the alternate deputy section. Checks should be made payable to CSW.
Katie Sherrod
7/31/03 #1
ISSUES first appeared as a daily commentary on events at the 1967 General convention. Conceived in the living room of the late theologian William Stringfellow, ISSUES began as a voice for three organizations concerned for the mission and renewal of the Church; the Church Society for College Work, the Overseas Mission Society, and the National Industrial Mission. At succeeding General Conventions, a shifting group of organizations and movements in the Church have banded together to create ISSUES and to collaborate on a common commitment to call the Church to its witness in the name of Christ.
Under the banner of The Consultation, leaders of the organizations listed on the center masthead have met to think together about this 74th General Convention. They agree on a range of concerns urgent for the mission and witness of the Church, and have presented them as a platform to put before the Convention. Needless to say the organizations - and those affiliated with them - do not coincide on all matters, but they strongly agree that the concerns raised herein must be an important part of our deliberations here in Minneapolis. Look for ISSUES at The Consultation booth, for our platform statement and for discussions of these and other ISSUES. Watch for members of our team who will be distributing free copies of ISSUES daily during the Convention. And look for ISSUES and our Platform online at www.theconsultation.org.
Mike Shirley
TEMAS
The Consultation booths
Episcopal Ecological Network - 203
Episcopal Network for Economic Justice - 204
Episcopal Women's Caucus - 205
Episcopal Urban Caucus - 206
Episcopal Church Publishing Company
The Witness
Cristosal
Episcopal Asiamerica Ministry Advocates
Integrity - 229-230
Episcopal Peace Fellowship - 231
Union of Black Episcopalians - 232-233
under The Consultation banner
in the Exhibit Hall
The Consultation
Integrity
Episcopal Urban Caucus
Episcopal Peace Fellowship
Episcopal Women's Caucus
Union of Black Episcopalians
Episcopal Ecological Network
Episcopal Society for Ministry in Higher Education
Episcopal Church Publishing Company
Episcopal Network for Economic Justice
Episcopal Asiamerica Ministry Advocates
Associated Parishes for Liturgy and Mission
Province 8 Native American Ministries Network
OPEN MEETING
OF
THE CONSULTATION
TODAY AT 12:30
IN
The Worship Space
Please join us today at the first Open Meeting of The Consultation. We will be building our Agenda for this Convention based on our Platform. Your presence indicates interest, and will help make your voice heard as we further God's mission to do justice, make peace and be accountable.
IMMIGRANT WORKERS
FREEDOM RIDE
Inspired by the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, thousands of immigrant workers will board buses in August from 8 cities across the U.S., heading for Washington, D.C., then to New York City. There they will hold a massive rally on October 4 to push for federal legislation to legalize their status, have a clear road to citizenship, reunify their families, and have a voice on the job.
Joined by a coalition of unions, churches, synagogues, and mosques, immigrant and civil rights organizations and others, immigrant workers will undertake this cross-country pilgrimage to acquaint people with the realities of their present working conditions and status, and also to allow the country to appreciate their great courage and persistence, and the huge contribution they make to the well-being of the nation.
Last March, encouraged by the actions of two dioceses on opposite sides of the country (long Island and Los Angeles) the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church formally endorsed this Freedom Ride and its aims. But let us be clear here: this support is not for an issued "out there," interesting but optional. The waiters, busboys, housekeepers, desk clerks, bartenders and bellhops who make pleasant our stay here as deputies and visitors are the very people who need our support, not to mention the gardeners and maids many of us employ at home! Moreover, this pilgrimage will have the strong support of the fastest-growing segment of the Episcopal Church: our Latino churches.
Watch for hearings on the Freedom Ride resolution introduced by the Diocese of Los Angeles, C028. Check at the ENEJ booth #204 under The Consultation banner and here in ISSUES. Attend and give your support.
Check out the Freedom Ride website at www.immigrantworkersfreedomride.com for the times and details of the route so that, when it passes through your city, you can be on hand together with your church and community to cheer them on.
P.S. Speaking of worker support, the following hotels are union: Hilton, Radisson, Millennium, Crowne Plaza Northstar, Marquette, and Residents Inn. Hyatt, Doubletree, and Marriott are NOT.
Dick Gillett
Tonight at 7
at St. Mark's Cathedral
INTEGRITY Eucharist
Bishop Gayle Harris, preacher
Integrity President
Michael Hopkins, Celebrant
Richard Clarke and Tim Strand, organists
and a massed choir of Minnesotans!
From the Convention Center, go west on Grant four blocks to Willow, left on Willow two blocks to 15th, then right along the park past the Women's Club to the Cathedral on the left.
GET YOUR TICKETS ASAP FOR WITNESS/EPF RECEPTION
A must-attend "two-for-one" event for progressives at General Convention:
this year, The Witness magazine and the Episcopal Peace Fellowship are
combining forces to co-sponsor a reception on Saturday, August 2nd, 4-6pm at Gethsemane Episcopal Church. The keynote speaker will be Bishop Steven Charleston, and awardees will include Bishop Barbara Harris, Margaret Morgan Lawrence, Tom Goldtooth from the Indigenous Environmental Network, Barbara
Ramnaraine from the Episcopal Disabilities Network, and Voices in the
Wilderness, the Iraq solidarity organization.
Tickets are $40 and are in very limited supply; they may be purchased at
Booth #206 (EUC/Witness) or #231 (EPF). N.B.: both organizations have
traditionally sold out their individual events, so tickets for this joint
gathering will disappear quickly!
Ethan Flad
Wilkommen, Bienvenue, Welcome!
In our conversation and in our Platform we in The Consultation are striving to help create a climate in our church where all people feel God's welcoming embrace. One of the ways that welcome is heard occurs around mother tongues, the way we first heard love and welcome in our hearts and heads. For me, that word is in Swedish, so coming to Minneapolis, where Swedish is spoken and taught, is like coming home for me.
In our publications we are also trying to reflect this sense of mother tongue welcome. We have offered our Platform in both English and Spanish, and will from time to time print articles in languages other than English in this publication. The name of our news sheet is ISSUES. From time to time you will see other capitalized 65 point words, that name in other languages.
Mike Shirley
OUTRAGEOUS!
In 1976, when General Convention last met in Minneapolis, an amendment to the canon on ordination was passed making it "equally applicable" to females and males. At long last, women could be ordained priests in the Episcopal Church. In the years since, most Episcopalians have come to so value the ministries of ordained women that people cannot imagine the church without them.
Now comes General Convention 2003 and a return to the site of that great historic decision. One might think that this would be the perfect occasion to showcase ordained women in our worship.
One would be wrong.
Of the ten liturgies of General Convention only two will have women celebrants - the Rt. Rev. Catherine S. Roskam and the Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori - and only one will have a female preacher - the Rev. Rosemari Sullivan.
It will be good to see these women at the altar and in the pulpit. How much more appropriate it would have been if the number of female celebrants and preachers had reflected the actual percentages of women in ministry. Their glaring absence is outrageous
Katie Sherrod
Let our voices be heard!
The Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music Committee of General Convention has taken up Resolution C005 on developing rites for committed relationships for couples for whom holy matrimony is not available. The committee has scheduled a block of at least two hours to hear testimony about the proposal at 7:30 p.m., Friday, August 1 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel Greenway Ballroom.
The committee needs to hear from deputies who have seen the need in their own dioceses for a rite for couples who cannot marry. To testify, look for the sign-up sheet at the Greenway Ballroom, which the committee will make available starting two hours before the 7:30 p.m. meeting. Seated deputies and bishops receive precedence to speak first. Other persons, including alternate deputies, will only be able to address the committee if time remains in the two-hour meeting. Alternate deputies who want to testify should try to arrange to have seated deputy status, at least temporarily, at the time of the meeting.
The following morning on Saturday, August 2 at 7:30 a.m., the committee will receive testimony about a competing proposal to not address the pastoral need for a liturgy for couples who cannot marry until some future Lambeth Conference decides that there is consensus throughout the Anglican Communion about the place of gay and lesbian people in the life of the Church. Who will speak for us against this idea?
David Lyle
The Consultation endorses…
For the Board of Trustees for the Church Pension Fund, The Consultation asks you to vote:
For the term ending 2006;
Ms. Barbara Creed
Mr. Cecil Wray, Esq.
For the term ending 2009;
Bishops
Gayle E. Harris
Robert H. Johnson
Wayne P. Wright
Priests
Samuel G. Chandler
Lynn Jay
Robert Sessum
V. Gene Robinson
Laity
James E. Bayne
Joon D. Matsumura
David R. Pitts
HOT TOPICS AT GC ADDRESSED IN
POSITION PAPERS BY THE WITNESS
Tonight -- Wednesday evening at 8pm -- a series of public "conversations"
will be sponsored by the General Convention on key themes for the coming days. These conversations will include dialogue about the 20/20 initiative, interfaith relations, war & peace, and creating healing and reconciliation.
These position papers, written by theologians and journalists, are all available at two booths -- The Witness/ Episcopal Urban Caucus (#206) and the Every Voice Network/ Claiming the Blessing (#9-11). At the latter booth, related curricula from EVN's new LEAP initiative (Liturgy, Education, and Action for the Parish) can also be obtained.
These papers are available, individually or as an entire packet, for free:
* The Charge of Cultural Imperialism is a Ruse (by Mark Harris)
* Dealing with Conflict as Anglicans (by Bill Countryman)
* Justice and Reconciliation (by Elizabeth Kaeton)
* Unmasking the Face of Racism (by Ed Rodman)
* A Theology of Work (by Jim Lewis)
* Heterosexism (by Katie Sherrod)
* Globalization and Economics (by Kevin Jones and Jennifer Morazes)
* Against the Idolatry of Preemption and Preemptive Strikes (by Mark Harris)
* 20/20: Grassroots? Inclusive? And Where's the Money? (by Pat McCaughan)
* Examining the ECUSA Budget (by Kevin Jones)
Get these papers as you prepare for the evening conversations, the Friday night open hearing on same-sex blessings, the PB&F hearings, and the legislative committee debates.
May, 2003
As we prepare for General Convention 2003, ISSUES is currently raising th funds needed for printing and publishing in Minneapolis. The Platform of The Consultation will appear here in mid June 2003, as the first edition of ISSUES 2003.
We commend the sites of our member groups to your attention, under the 'Who we are' section above. And thanks for checking here! Come back from time to time!