The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church just concluded a three day meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Executive Council of the Episcopal Church is an elected body representing
the whole Church. In the course of the three years between convention, known as
the "triennium", the Executive Council will customarily meet once in each of the
nine provinces of the Episcopal Church. It's duty is to carry out programs and policies adopted
by General Convention. It is the job of Executive Council to oversee the
ministry and mission of the Church. It is comprised of twenty
members elected by General Convention (four bishops, four priests or deacons and
twelve laypersons) and eighteen members elected by provincial synods.
A
Message from Executive Council
April
20, 2012
Salt
Lake City, UT
The
Lord is Risen! Alleluia!
The
Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia!
In
this joyous Easter season, Executive Council came together in Salt Lake City for
its final meeting of this Triennium.
It
has been a time of reflection on what we have done, and what we have left
undone. It has been a time to ask whether we have loved our neighbors – Council
members and Church Center staff; bishops, clergy and laity of The Episcopal
Church; our sisters and brothers of the Anglican Communion; sisters and brothers
who chose to leave The Episcopal Church; the poor, the needy and the oppressed –
as ourselves.
Have
we had enough strength and courage for this work, or have we at times shrunk
from the need to stand up and say things that are not only hard to say, but hard
to hear? Have we cherished collegiality more than accountability? Have we used
our structure to empower one part of the church while disempowering another?
Have we been able to overcome fear of the unknown as we face the challenges of
being church in a post Christian world?
The
Presiding Bishop spoke of this in her opening remarks: “We will be more
faithful, and far more effective, in that discernment work if we can let go of
suspicion, assumptions about others’ motives, and power politics – all of which
are based in fear and scarcity. We do know that perfect love casts out fear,
and when we can remember how deeply and completely love dwells within us, the
fear does begin to recede.”
President
of the House of Deputies Bonnie Anderson said, “I want us to change. But I want
us to do it responsibly, with a conceptual framework that will keep us from the
unintended consequences that come from reactive decision-making. I want us to
keep the decision making in the hands of all the baptized and not an elite few.
“
Chief
Operating Officer Bishop Stacy Sauls said in his opening remarks, “The
conversation I long to have with you as the elected leadership of the Episcopal
Church is not about the panic of our declining numbers but about how we
strengthen what is working best out there and make what is strong stronger so
that the strong can serve the less than strong. The conversation I long to have
with you is not about how to get more people in the doors to help us pay the
bills but about how to make more disciples of Jesus to go about changing the
world into God’s dream for it.”
The
opening plenary session began with a frank discussion of Council’s extreme
disappointment with the budget that was sent to PB&F. Council members were
very clear that their disappointment was not simply a reluctance to let go of
the budget but instead a very clear statement that the budget sent to PB&F
is not the budget Council approved. Rather than spend time assigning blame,
Council members moved fairly quickly to a discussion of how to rectify the
situation within the confines of the canons. On Friday, Council passed a memo
outlining their concerns to PB&F.
The
plenary discussion strengthened our realization that while we attempted to save
money by having shorter Council meetings, the amount of work remained the same
or expanded. The result has been longer days with tired and stressed Council
members and staff, resulting in a greater chance of errors occurring.
Having
said that, we want to remind the Church that our work in this triennium involved
much more than just the budget. Much of it is not as visible as the budget, but
is structurally important, just as a lattice is often hard to see but is vital
in supporting the vine as it grows toward the Light. This last meeting seemed an
appropriate time to highlight the scope of our work.
The
Committee on Local Mission and Ministry (LMM) was made up completely of new
members of Council. This meant their initial task was discovering and developing
the scope of their work. They decided that in addition to simply approving the
continued funding of Jubilee Centers they would uphold and celebrate the work
done by the various centers. At this meeting they celebrated the work of All
Saints Cathedral on St. Thomas, whose work with elderly includes home visits,
pastoral care, and work with grandchildren in after school care. LMM also spent
a lot of time on multi-cultural issues with a particular focus on encouraging
the whole church to engage in anti-racism work. This work calls the Church to
continue, individually and corporately, to recognize, name and confront racism
in all its guises.
In
this meeting, Council’s anti-racism committee worked with members to focus on
systemic racism. In our table discussions members recounted instances where they
became aware of how racism permeates the world in which we live, move and have
our being – most of us in positions of great privilege that insulate us from
much of the destructive results of this sin and thus puts us in danger of being
blind to its effect on those less privileged.
The
report of the Committee on Advocacy and Networking around their work on issues
of immigration led the Council into a heated and passionate discussion of how we
tease out the differences between anti-racism training and diversity and
inclusion training. Immigration includes more than issues of racism. How do we
make space for people who come from other countries in our church? How do we
broaden our conversation to address these issues without in any way lessening
our commitment to the peculiar and dire necessity for anti-racism work in this
church and in these United States? It is clear this will be an ongoing
conversation in Council.
A
and N working in collaboration with The Episcopal Church's Office of Government
Relations has moved resolutions on Immigration Reform, Racial Profiling, and
Corporate Social Responsibility. These resolutions empower local, regional,
national and international advocacy on behalf of the disenfranchised and empower
OGR to lobby on behalf of our shared values as Episcopalians in a conflicted,
partisan environment on Capitol Hill. For example, one simple resolution on the
moral dimensions of balanced budgets gave The Episcopal Church the ability to
participate in a dominant national debate in a creative, visible, and
influential way that would not have been possible absent the resolution.
The
Joint Standing Committee on World Mission addressed many major areas of concern.
It worked with the D020 Task Force that developed a process that allowed for the
involvement of the church in responding to the Proposed Anglican Covenant
through the preparation of a study guide. Collated responses from church
leadership at all levels informed the report which is in the forthcoming Blue
Book. The committee engaged in an on-going review of the funding source and
distribution of funds for CETALC (Theological Educational Center of Latin
America and the Caribbean). It followed the formation of a seminary for Latin
America and the Caribbean, heard from missioners, especially the Young Adult
Service Corps, and discussed ways of supporting future missionary efforts. After
the successful Mutual Regional Ministry Conference in February 2010 that
involved all the provinces of the Americas, the committee discussed plans for a
future conference. The committee continued to evaluate the covenants The
Episcopal Church has with our covenant partners in Mexico, Central America,
Brazil, the Philippines and Liberia. Finally, the committee also received
regular reports from Episcopal Relief and Development and worked with the
“Rebuild Our Church in Haiti” campaign.
The
Joint Standing Committee on Finance for Mission dealt with many issues beyond
the budget. They continued consulting on funding for the Archives and tracked
mission funding as well as the larger financial picture of the Church, including
modifications of the budget on an annual basis and financial trends five to
twenty years out. They also have examined the highest and best use of the Church
Center property and reviewed the status of fundraising for Haiti.
In
the absence of committee chair Del Glover, acting chair Tim Anderson asked COO
Sauls to share with the entire Council his report on the proposed effort to
create an Episcopal Church Cooperative. This involves providing high-quality
professional service to dioceses, congregations and other Episcopal institutions
at a lower cost than would be available to these individual institutions by
making use of economies of scale and group purchasing power. This would leave
additional funds for mission and ministry at the local level, thereby furthering
the overall mission of the Church.
The
Joint Standing Committee on Governance and Administration for Mission (GAM) was
formed at the beginning of this triennium and quickly realized there was ample
work to accomplish, which included a comprehensive review and revision of the
By-laws of the Executive Council of the General Convention and the Domestic and
Foreign Missionary Society; the creation of Rules of Order for the Executive
Council; a revision of the Whistleblower Policy for the staff; a call for the
GAM-009 Consultation on Church Structure held in May 2011; and the initiation of
board development training for members of Council. At this meeting, the Council
adopted a new DFMS Employee Handbook, human resources policies, and Policies for
the Protection of Children & Youth from Abuse. The adoption of the Employee
Handbook and policies represents an enormous amount of work on the part of the
Executive Council and staff members John E. Colón, Paul Nix, and Bishop Stacy
Sauls. John Colón, Director of Human Resource Management, was especially
commended for his significant contribution and tireless devotion to the
completion of this important project.
Wednesday
night the Class of 2015 said farewell to the Class of 2012 with a lighthearted
roast that revealed hitherto unknown talents of some of our members. The Class
of 2012 was treated to an “EC Cruise” led by “Captain Gregory Straub,” who was
played by a Council member who will remain unnamed to protect him from being
besieged by talent scouts.
On
Thursday Council heard reports from the Rt. Rev. James Cowan, bishop of British
Columbia and liaison to Council from the Anglican Church of Canada, and from
Lelanda Lee, elected representative from Council to the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America.
Bishop
Cowan reminded us of the need to listen respectfully and deeply to one another
and to “the many.”
He
asked, “Where are the voices of prophecy in your midst? Personally, I as a
bishop, need to remember that prophets are annoying as I seek to maintain an
institution, but are necessary to reforming the institution.”
He
also said he wants to take home with him the Council’s process of anti-racism
training.
Lelanda
Lee reported on attending a meeting last week, where for the first time, three
other ELCA Full Communion Partners also were present from the Reformed Church in
America, the Presbyterian Church USA, and the Southern Province of the Moravian
Church. Lee noted that unlike the other ecumenical partners, she is the only
layperson among them, a reflection of The Episcopal Church's commitment to the
ministry of the laity. Her point in sharing specific information from the ELCA
meeting and these other churches was to highlight the fact that our churches
share many concerns and trends in common.
Council
also heard a comprehensive report from Elizabeth Lowell about work being done
around creating a Development Office for The Episcopal Church. Major challenges
include the time to do appropriate cultivation of possible donors; finding
people who can ask for those major gifts, and obtaining most effective
development software.
As
that plenary session ended, in a moment of personal privilege one Council member
mused - given current data on the number of people with no church affiliation -
on what would happen if we all committed to spending as much time and money
developing evangelism and stewardship skills as we do fundraising skills.
As
always, we ended around the Lord’s Table, gathering not just for solace but also
for strength, not just for pardon but also for renewal.
Council
passed resolutions on the following topics:
•
Declares Council's support for Senate Bill 1670, End Racial Profiling Act of
2011, which is designed to enforce the constitutional right to equal protection
of the laws by eliminating racial profiling through changing the policies and
procedures underlying the practice, and stands in solidarity with the suffering
of the victims of the harm caused by racial profiling, their families and their
communities.
•
Urges the Congress to adopt Senate Bill 1925 to reauthorize the Violence Against
Women Act that includes new protective measures for Native American women.
•
States Council's support of the work being done by Children’s Defense Fund’s
“Cradle to Prison Pipeline” campaign and similar campaigns directed at breaking
the cycle of disproportionate incarceration of children and youth of color
targeted by Zero Tolerance rules.
•
Reaffirms the importance of ongoing Anti-Racism Training for the church, and
commits Council to participate in Anti-Racism Training at its regularly
scheduled meetings on a periodic basis.
•
Reaffirms the commitment of the church to the Rebuild Our Church in Haiti
campaign, thanking the Episcopal Church Foundation for its early leadership in
administering the campaign, which will now be part of the development effort of
the DFMS staff.
•
Recognizes a new companion diocese relationship between the Dioceses of
Southeast Florida and Haiti.
•
Reaffirms the Executive Council Committee on Indigenous Ministries, restating
its mandate and committee composition.
•
Reauthorizes the continuing Executive Council's Committee on Corporate Social
Responsibility and the Economic Justice Loan Committee.
•
Adopted some cleanup amendments to Council's bylaws.
•
Adopted a new Employee Handbook resulting from more than two years of intensive
work on the part of the present Joint Standing Committee on Governance and
Administration and the former Administration and Finance Committee.
•
Addresses the need to plan for partnership conversations with Province IX,
IARCA, and Mexico, so that such conversations might serve as model for other
partnerships.
