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THE STRUCTURE of GENERAL CONVENTION
MANY PARTS, ONE BODY How the Episcopal Church Works JAMES DATOR WITH JAN NUNLEY ISI:J Church Publishing '!I --- ©2016. The Archives of the Episcopal Church, DFMS. CHAPTER THREE THE STRUCTURE of GENERAL CONVENTION OVERVIEW '-VTilliam White's original plan of 1782 envisioned for the government W of the church in the United States a unicameral, triennial conven tion, representative equally of the clergy and laity ofthe church. The "con tinental representative body" (as well as all other representative bodies, from the parish vestry up) was "to make such regulations, and receive such appeals in matters only, as shall be judged necessary for their continuing one religious communion."1 But all governments were to govern mini mally, because, White stated, the least government is the best.2 The "Fundamental Principles of 1784" were concerned only with the organization of a General Convention.3 These principles provided that there should be a convention (Article I) composed of lay and clerical mem bers from each state {Arci~e mor association ofStates (Article ill), delib erating together but voting separately by orders, both orders concurring before a measure might be passed (Article IV). A bishop, if any, .was an ex officio member of the convention (Article V), and the church should ad here to the doetrines and liturgy of the Church of England (Article IV). 1. William White, The Czse ofthe Episcopal Churches in the United States Consilkred, ed. Richard G. Salomon (Philadelphia: Church Historical Society, 1954), 26. 2. Ibid., 27. 3. Perry,]ou1711lis, 1:12-13. 54 ©2016. The Archives of the Episcopal Church, DFMS. -
Report to the 80Th General Convention of the Task Force On
REPORTS TO THE 80th GENERAL CONVENTION TASK FORCE ON THEOLOGY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCACY Membership Ms. Sarah Lawton, Chair California, VIII 2021 The Rt. Rev. Prince Singh, Vice-Chair Rochester, II 2021 The Rt. Rev. Andrew Dietsche New York, II 2021 Ms. Ruth Frey New York, II 2021 The Rt. Rev. Anne Hodges-Copple North Carolina, IV 2021 Prof. Brant Lee Ohio, V 2021 The Rev. Deacon Guy Leemhuis Los Angeles, VIII 2021 Ms. Lallie Lloyd Massachusetts, I 2021 Dr. Dora Mbuwayesango North Carolina, IV 2021 The Rev. Jose Rodriguez-Sanjuro Central Florida, IV 2021 Dr. Reuben Varghese Washington, III 2021 The Rev. Susanne Watson Epting Iowa, VI 2021 The Most Rev. Michael Curry, Ex Officio North Carolina, IV The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, Ex Officio Ohio, V Mandate 2018-A056 Create Task Force on the Theology of Social Justice Advocacy as Christian Justice Resolved, the House of Deputies concurring, That the 79th General Convention direct the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies of The Episcopal Church to appoint a Task Force on the Theology of Social Justice Advocacy as Christian Ministry, consisting of three (3) bishops, three (3) presbyters or deacons, to include both orders, and six (6) lay persons, who represent the diversity of the Church, to be tasked in this triennium to consider scripture, approved liturgical resources, other theological texts and previous actions of General Convention to summarize the ways in which The Episcopal Church understands the work for social justice as essential mission and ministry of the Christian Church; and be it further Task Force on Theology of Social Justice Advocacy REPORTS TO THE 80th GENERAL CONVENTION Resolved, That the Task Force study how The Episcopal Church currently fosters theological understanding and leadership for social justice, and recommend ways to foster theological and practical conversation across the Church on this topic; and be it further Resolved, That the Task Force be directed to report its findings and recommendations to the 80th General Convention; and be it further. -
Are Resolutions of General Convention Binding? by Deputy Sally Johnson, Diocese of Minnesota Chancellor to the President of the House of Deputies
White Paper: Are Resolutions of General Convention Binding? By Deputy Sally Johnson, Diocese of Minnesota Chancellor to the President of the House of Deputies The question of whether resolutions of General Convention are binding is one that is asked in a variety of contexts. It may be a question of whether it is worthwhile to consider resolutions if they will not be binding. Or it may be a question of what the difference is between a Canon and a resolution in terms of whether clergy or church organizations are required to follow the Canon or resolution. Or, it is sometimes a question of whether a clergy person can be disciplined for violation of a General Convention resolution under our ecclesiastical disciplinary system contained in Title IV of the Canons. There is nothing in the Constitution, Canons, Rules of Order or even General Convention resolutions giving guidance or instruction on the question of whether resolutions of General Convention are mandatory. So, we must look elsewhere for things that may help us. As with many questions of a legal or quasi-legal nature the answer is, “It Depends.” It depends on the type of resolution. It depends on the context the question is being asked in. It depends on the exact language of the resolution. There is no official list of types of resolutions but the following list is one I find helpful in considering this and other questions. Generally, there are four types of resolutions considered by General Convention. Resolutions that: Change the governing documents including the Constitution, Book -
March 21, 2021 Sermon
Kerry Mansir March 21, 2021 Christ Church Gardiner Lent 5 In the parish news a couple of weeks ago, I shared the story of the Philadelphia 11 in honor of Women’s History Month. The Philadelphia 11 are the women who, in July of 1974, were ordained to the priesthood at Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia. This was remarkable because just a year before, at the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, women had been denied ordination to the priesthood. And nothing had changed regarding women’s ordination in that year. But these eleven women, and others like them, were tired of waiting. They had tried the legislative routes within the church, but they were weary of being put off so that the Church could continue to “study the matter.” Choosing to be ordained without the blessing of General Convention carried great risk in that the women could be deposed, in other words, permanently barred from the priesthood in the future, and possibly any role in the Church at all. Their ordination was an historic moment in the Church. Knowing the story of these women is important to understanding our church history. But as one of you pointed out to me, the press release from July 31, 1974 that I shared in the parish newsletter failed to name any but two of these women. The news release did name the three male retired or resigned Bishops who performed the ordination, the male Harvard professor who preached the sermon, and several of the male Bishops who opposed the ordinations, including the Presiding Bishop at that time. -
Roman Catholic Womenpriests and the Problem of Women’S Ordination
TRANSGRESSIVE TRADITIONS: ROMAN CATHOLIC WOMENPRIESTS AND THE PROBLEM OF WOMEN’S ORDINATION Jill Marie Peterfeso A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Religious Studies. Chapel Hill 2012 Approved by: Laurie Maffly-Kipp Julie Byrne Todd Ochoa Tony Perucci Randall Styers Thomas A. Tweed ©2012 Jill Marie Peterfeso ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT JILL MARIE PETERFESO: Transgressive Traditions: Roman Catholic Womenpriests and the Problem of Women’s Ordination (Under the direction of Laurie Maffly-Kipp) Although the Roman Catholic Church bars women from ordained priesthood, since 2002 a movement called Roman Catholic Womenpriests (RCWP) claims to have ordained approximately 120 women as deacons, priests, and bishops in Europe, North America, and Latin America. Because the women deliberately break Canon Law—and specifically c. 1024, which reads, “Only a baptized man can validly receive sacred ordination”—RCWP acknowledges that its ordinations are illegal, but the group claims nonetheless to perform valid ordinations because they stand in the traditional line of apostolic succession. They retain the modifier “Roman” to signal their lineage within Roman Catholic tradition, yet RCWP’s stated goal is not simply to insert women into the existing Church structures, but rather to “re-imagine, re-structure, and re-shape the priesthood and therefore the church.” This dissertation investigates the -
Week One of General Convention #79 the Wyoming Delegation Has
Week One of General Convention #79 The Wyoming delegation has wrapped up week one of General Convention in Austin. Members are attending committee meetings, worship services, making exhibitor connections and networking across the greater Episcopal Church during the 79th Triennial Convention. The Episcopal Church’s General Convention is held every three years to consider the legislative business of the church. General Convention is the bicameral governing body of the Church, comprised of the House of Bishops, with upwards of 200 active and retired bishops, and the House of Deputies, with clergy and lay deputies elected from the 110 diocese and three regional areas of the Church, at more than 840 members. Four clergy and four lay delegates, along with one of each alternate are in Austin through July 13th. Youth representatives arrived Monday and will spend several days getting a feel for a General Convention. Episcopal Church Women (ECW), and the National Altar Guild Association, are also hosting their triennial convention in Austin during General Convention. For full coverage of General Convention events and happens, click on the following link: https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/tag/general-convention-2018/ Here are some highlights from the Episcopal News Service (ENS): Are you ready for a Revival!? Presiding Bishop Michael Curry brought a rousing “God is love and gives life” message to Episcopalians and others gathered here during a revival to standing ovation after standing ovation every time he told the crowd to live. “The only reason to be born is to live,” said Curry. “God wants us to have life … God wants all of his children to have life… “God wants you to live. -
Midwestern Journal of Theology 8.1 (Fall 2009): 84-95 the Cross: New Religions, New Theologies and the Only Difference in a Pluralistic Society
Midwestern Journal of Theology 8.1 (Fall 2009): 84-95 The Cross: New Religions, New Theologies and the Only Difference in a Pluralistic Society Viola Larson Board Member Voices of Orthodox Women and Theology Matters Sacramento, California Abstract Viola Larson points to the trend in religious movements, Christian and otherwise, of viewing Christ’s sacrifice as simply an example of suffering for others. The article proceeds to outline the need for the doctrine of atonement and illustrates how this doctrine keeps Christianity orthodox. Larson demonstrates the doctrine of atonement from Scripture and engages several views on atonement from history. Ultimately, Larson contends that without a proper doctrine of the atonement of Christ on the cross, evil is allowed to run rampant in any religion, including Christianity. 1 Recently, in her address to the 2002 Covenant Conference,106F Anna Case- Winters, Professor of Theology at McCormick Theological Seminary, suggests that for our atonement, “‘The incarnation’ would be enough!” She also advocates for the theological position of Abelard, the medieval scholastic who held a position of atonement referred to as moral 2 influence or example.107F That is, the death of Christ on the cross becomes an example of the willingness to suffer for others and for that reason Jesus Christ is followed and loved. Other proponents of this view of the cross and salvation were Socinus, a sixteenth century theologian who 3 also denied the Trinity108F , and Friedrich Schleiermacher the father of nineteenth century liberal theology. Pelagius is seen as an early anticipation of this view, since he believed humanity capable of living up 1 The Covenant Network is an independent group within the Presbyterian Church USA whose members advocate for the ordination of homosexuals and for Progressive Theology. -
The Word – November 2017
St. Alban’s Episcopal Church he word November 2017 Volume 16, Issue 9 From the Rector October 2017 Volume 16, Issue 8 In last month’s newsletter I posed the question, “are you going to church, or are you the Church?” I followed that question with the statement that “Church isn’t a place, it’s people.” That statement became very real to me as I attended a workshop on church growth (Invite -Welcome -Connect) in October. I was accompanied by your Senior Warden Linda Cummings and parishioners Debbie Rosse and Kate Wettstein . The workshop facilitator challenged us to look at our current methods of inviting others to church, making them feel welcome and then making them feel “connected” – part of the church. At the workshop, the Invite -Welcome -Connect facilitator shared an anecdote with us. During a break at a workshop she was leading, one attendee from a smaller church came up to her and confided that she “really didn’t want her church to grow” because she liked her church just the way it is. We all have differing levels of comfort with change, and change in our church can be very difficult for some. But churches should never be content to just exist. Churches must be thriving, active in the community, and raising up disciples to share the Good News. But that will never happen if the invitation and the welcome are taken care of by a committee. We are all responsible for inviting and welcoming to church people hungry for the Good News of God’s love. -
In 1848 the Slave-Turned-Abolitionist Frederick Douglass Wrote In
The Union LeagUe, BLack Leaders, and The recrUiTmenT of PhiLadeLPhia’s african american civiL War regimenTs Andrew T. Tremel n 1848 the slave-turned-abolitionist Frederick Douglass wrote in Ithe National Anti-Slavery Standard newspaper that Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, “more than any other [city] in our land, holds the destiny of our people.”1 Yet Douglass was also one of the biggest critics of the city’s treatment of its black citizens. He penned a censure in 1862: “There is not perhaps anywhere to be found a city in which prejudice against color is more rampant than Philadelphia.”2 There were a number of other critics. On March 4, 1863, the Christian Recorder, the official organ of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, commented after race riots in Detroit, “Even here, in the city of Philadelphia, in many places it is almost impossible for a respectable colored per- son to walk the streets without being assaulted.”3 To be sure, Philadelphia’s early residents showed some mod- erate sympathy with black citizens, especially through the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, but as the nineteenth century progressed, Philadelphia witnessed increased racial tension and a number of riots. In 1848 Douglass wrote in response to these pennsylvania history: a journal of mid-atlantic studies, vol. 80, no. 1, 2013. Copyright © 2013 The Pennsylvania Historical Association This content downloaded from 128.118.152.206 on Wed, 09 Jan 2019 20:56:18 UTC All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms pennsylvania history attitudes, “The Philadelphians were apathetic and neglectful of their duty to the black community as a whole.” The 1850s became a period of adjustment for the antislavery movement. -
AWTS: Beverly Wildung Harrison Papers, 1927-2013
The Archives of Women in Theological Scholarship The Burke Library, Columbia University Libraries, at Union Theological Seminary Finding Aid for Beverly Wildung Harrison Papers, 1927 – 2013 Finding Aid revision and completion by Tracy Riggle Young, 2014 Processing by: Patricia E. LaRosa, 2007 Summary Information Creator: Beverly Wildung Harrison 1932 -2012 Title: Beverly Wildung Harrison Papers, 1927-2013 Inclusive dates: 1927-2013 Bulk dates: 1970-2000 Abstract: Beverly Harrison was the first Caroline Williams Beaird Professor of Christian Ethics at Union Theological Seminary. Contents include lectures, notes, course materials and correspondence related to teaching; research notes and manuscripts on the topics of feminism and womanism, sexual and economic ethics, liberalism and church and society. Included are materials from participation in the American Academy of Religion and Society of Christian Ethics; personal correspondence with former students, colleagues and family members; materials related to her retirement in Redbud Spring, North Carolina, photographs and memorabilia. Size: 80 boxes, 10 OS boxes, 9 Records Cartons, 54.5 linear feet Storage: Onsite storage Repository: The Burke Library 3041 Broadway New York, NY 10027 Email: [email protected] AWTS: Beverly Wildung Harrison Papers, 1951-2013 2 Administrative Information Provenance: Beverly Wildung Harrison donated her papers to the Archives of Women in Theological Scholarship in June 2001. Transfers of papers during her retirement and following her death in December 2012 were arranged by Carter Heyward and friends. In January 2014 a donation of papers was made by Harrison’s former student, Marvin Ellison, who earned his PhD from UTS in 1981. These papers have been added to this collection as a separate sequence. -
Saints Alive Fall 2019 Special 125Th Anniversary Issue
SAINTS a special edition looking at the rich historyAlive! of All Saints Brookline Volume 21, Number 4 Fall 2019 1 Rector’s Reflection Have you seen the Hereford stone? When our church building was under construction, Daniel Dulaney Addison, our first rector, visited Hereford, England, where he was given a stone from the original Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Ethelbert, built in the 11th century. It was placed in the outer wall of the Resting Chapel, where it remains. It’s a remarkable and tangible reminder of the incredible long story we are a part of: the story of God’s never-failing love. A story that continues to be lived out across the globe. As I live and work in this community, I am constantly humbled and amazed by the works of faith undertaken by this community, both now and in the past. I am heartened by the rock-solid faith of women and men throughout time who live mostly ordinary lives of joy and tragedy, of faith and struggle; who, in all kinds of circumstances, gather together to break bread, share the cup, and move forward in hope. As we pause this year to look back with gratitude at our first 125 years, and imagine with hope what our next 125 might be, I give thanks for all that has brought us safely thus far, and for you who are even now writing the next chapter of the story. May we be found to be as durable, and as faithful as our Hereford stone. In peace, Richard+ From the Editor Marianne Evett In 1894, a group of 24 Episcopalians began meeting to worship at the Beaconsfield Casino in northwest Brookline and petitioned Bishop Lawrence to start a church. -
A Primer on the Government of the Episcopal Church and Its Underlying Theology
A Primer on the government of The Episcopal Church and its underlying theology offered by the Ecclesiology Committee of the House of Bishops Fall 2013 The following is an introduction to how and why The Episcopal Church came to be, beginning in the United States of America, and how it seeks to continue in “the faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Rooted in the original expansion of the Christian faith, the Church developed a distinctive character in England, and further adapted that way of being Church for a new context in America after the Revolution. The Episcopal Church has long since grown beyond the borders of the United States, with dioceses in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador (Central and Litoral), Haiti, Honduras, Micronesia, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Venezuela and Curacao, and the Virgin Islands, along with a Convocation of churches in six countries in Europe. In all these places, Episcopalians have adapted for their local contexts the special heritage and mission passed down through the centuries in this particular part of the Body of Christ. “Ecclesiology,” the study of the Church in the light of the self-revelation of God in Jesus Christ, is the Church’s thinking and speaking about itself. It involves reflection upon several sources: New Testament images of the Church (of which there are several dozen); the history of the Church in general and that of particular branches within it; various creeds and confessional formulations; the structure of authority; the witness of saints; and the thoughts of theologians. Our understanding of the Church’s identity and purpose invariably intersects with and influences to a large extent how we speak about God, Christ, the Spirit, and ourselves in God’s work of redemption.