From July 27 through August 9, I will be in
Minneapolis as part of the deputation from the Diocese of Mississippi for
the Episcopal Church's 74 General Convention. The Convention meets every three
years (you may remember I was part of the Convention in Denver in 2000). Every
diocese elects four "Deputies" and four "Alternates" in each order of clergy and
laity. The eight Deputies (four clergy, four laity) make up the voting members
on the Convention floor for each diocese. [In Mississippi, our deputation is
very intentional about using everyone as a voting member; alternates regularly
swap-in as deputies on any given day throughout the course of the Convention.]
This "House of Deputies" is one of the two bodies that form the General
Convention, the other being the "House of Bishops" in which all bishops of the
Church are given equal voice and vote. General Convention is the principal
legislative and policy-making body for the Episcopal Church, and is actually our
only entity that has national jurisdiction and authority (the Presiding Bishop's
authority is an office of the Convention). In order for something to become law,
policy, or statement from the Convention, it must pass both Houses.
I'm quite certain that this General
Convention will be dominated by the debates over
homosexuality, particularly with regard to a motion for the Church to develop a
rite for the blessing of same-sex unions. Of course, this has been an extremely
controversial and painful matter in our Church over the past several years, and
it does indeed seriously threaten to split the Episcopal Church and the wider
Anglican Communion. You should also note that this debate, along with whether or
not "officially" to allow the ordination of non-celibate gays (in monogamous
relationships), is similarly pressing in other Churches in this day and age,
such as the United Methodists, the Presbyterians (PCUS), the ELCA Lutherans, and
the Disciples of Christ. This Convention will also have to consider whether or
not to approve the election in the Diocese of New Hampshire of an openly-gay man
to be their next bishop.
Of course. General Convention will attend to a great many other matters (which,
frankly, I believe are more central to the Church's life and mission), but these
will be largely buried under the emotionalism and knee-jerk reactivity regarding
homosexuality (both on the "left" and the "right"). Compounding this problem is
the nature of the secular media's reporting. In day-to-day reports, TV and
newspapers are particularly vulnerable to losing the larger contexts of very
complex matters that involve not only the technical and nuanced issues within
Scripture, but also theology, church history, and Church constitution and canon
law. There's also the tabloidism of shocking headlines and yellow-journalism.
And it's not just the "secular" media that is problematic. Various groups within
the Episcopal Church—liberal and conservative—also put their own spin on things
in order to serve their particular agendas. We seem to have scores of such
groups nowadays, and their spokespeople are often quoted. These groups often use
fear and
anger toward their ends—drivers that, to me, are profoundly anti-Gospel.
I urge you to steer clear of all of this! When I encountered various media
reports from Denver's 2000 Convention, I could hardly recognize the Convention I
was attending! Stay rooted in who you are, your faith, what God is doing in your
life, and in the fact that God the Holy Spirit sustains the Church and the
Church is bigger and deeper than any issue. If you want to follow the events and
news of the Convention, I suggest you do so through the internet in one of the
following ways: (1) www.episcopalchurch.org [click on "Episcopal News Service"];
or (2) www.episcopalchurch.org/ gc/ gc2003. which is the home page for the
Convention itself.
In Christ
Shannon+
