IRD General Convention Blog, July 8 - 17

House of Deputies Calls for Single-Payer Healthcare, Defeat of Defense of Marriage Acts

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 00:56:30 GMT

With a razor-thin majority, the House of Deputies has called for the enactment of a “single-payer” healthcare system that would place all health care into the hands of the government or a single organization. The vote was 50.4 percent to 49.6 percent, a difference of only six votes out of hundreds cast.

Debate alternated between deputies making emotional appeals on behalf of Americans without healthcare coverage, and deputies that questioned the role of the church in advocating specific policy proposals, rather than merely stating end goals.

Deputies similarly supported a resolution, C023, calling for a repeal of Defense of Marriage Acts. A vote by orders was requested, requiring voting deputies to fill out a paper ballot and vote by clergy and lay order, instead of participating in a voice vote.

Deputies from the Dioceses of Albany, Southwest Florida and South Carolina called for defeat of the resolution, saying it violated the freedom of conscience of Episcopalians who opposed gay marriage. Deputies from Colorado, Rochester and Los Angeles supported the resolution, saying that it was a human rights issue, not a doctrinal one.

The resolution passed 59 to 35 in the clergy order with 10 deputations divided and 70 to 29 in the lay order with 15 deputations divided.

Bishops Approve Same-Sex Union Blessings

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:52:22 GMT

The House of Bishops has passed resolution C056, Liturgies for Blessings, that calls the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music to enter into "an open process for the consideration of theological and liturgical resources for the blessing of same gender relationships". Full text of the resolution in its current state can be viewed by clicking here.

Since I was in the House of Deputies covering the passage of political resolutions, anything I write on this would be second-hand information, but I would be remiss not to mention this important development. The House of Deputies is expected to take up C056 tomorrow, and hopefully bishops will be available to take questions at Thursday morning's press conference. I'll post what I'm able to learn first-hand.

Check out Mary Ailes' coverage of C056 action today by clicking here.

Bishops Suddenly Discover Subsidiarity

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 02:15:24 GMT

In a press conference about the proposed budget for the upcoming triennium, deputies and bishops were asked about steep budget cuts for programs that the national church has championed.

“We think there are certain places in the life of the church right now, things that can be done at the diocesan level that don’t need to be done at the church wide level,” said Bishop Alan Scarfe of Iowa.

How convenient that bishops are finally developing a concept of subsidiarity just as there are budget problems. The church that just reported 60 political resolutions about virtually every aspect of life through its committee on National and International Concerns suddenly understands the concept of leaving things to dioceses – but only when national church money can be saved. When, bishops, are issues determined to be left to the dioceses, parishes, or families, independent of your budgetary savings?

Latino Pravda

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:45:33 GMT

EpiscopalLife, the official publication of the Episcopal Church, has attempted to highlight an increasing Hispanic presence at General Convention. They’ve published a supplement to the Convention’s Daily, Perspectivas Latinas, printed in both Spanish and English. Today’s headline? “Latinos entienden D025 como una cuestion de justicia, or, Latinos understand D025 as a justice issue”.

“In regards to Resolution D025, most Latinos/Hispanics rejoice in its passage, and most of us might agree with our international guests from throughout the Anglican Communion, who were impressed with the respectful debate that was had around D025,” Perspectivas Latinas opined.

Nice words about the contentious subject of removing the effective moratorium on practicing homosexual clergy. One problem: Most of the Hispanics in the House of Bishops didn’t “rejoice in its passage”. The Episcopal Church has a strong contingent in Central and South America, including dioceses in Honduras, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, as well as Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Of these overseas dioceses, all except Ecuador Central and Puerto Rico voted against D025 (Litoral Ecuador voted against). During House of Bishops debate on D025, Bishop Geralyn Wolf explained that the resolution was reported out of committee with a recommendation to reject partly because overseas dioceses were not in a place to endorse gay bishops.

Interestingly, for an article about a resolution on gay bishops, the article fails to use the word “gay” once. Quotes about “justice”, “respectful debate”, and “being human” frame a photo of New Hampshire Bishop Gene Robinson marching with a Latina hotel worker during a labor protest from earlier in the week. Hmmm. Way to be fair, EpiscopalLife.

Katherine Ragsdale, the Ultimate Optimist

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:37:03 GMT

As part of IRD’s coverage of General Convention, I’m attempting to cover political resolutions and figures that might be otherwise missed due to intense attention surrounding the gay bishops / same-sex blessings controversies. One of those controversial figures, Dean Katherine Ragsdale of Episcopal Divinity School, has a significant footprint in both the political world (she is the former head of Political Research Associates, a group that monitors the religious right) and is also the first openly gay person to lead an Episcopal seminary. You can read my coverage of Ragsdale’s talk at General Convention by clicking here.

During her lunchtime discussion, Ragsdale shared her view that the financially struggling EDS would rebound due to both her aggressive fundraising efforts and the recruitment of new seminarians from previously untapped sources. In her words, the kind of people who never would have considered a seminary education before “because all they’ve heard of is the rabid religious right.” This thought process is a common one at General Convention, and echoes two other leaders.

The first is Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who predicted a sudden influx of practicing homosexuals into Episcopal pews following his ordination. Surely, a sign of inclusiveness like the elevation of a gay bishop would bring in the crowds. To date, it has not: Episcopal Church figures reveal that since Robinson was installed, average Sunday attendance in the Diocese of New Hampshire has dropped 11 percent. These losses are not caused by the defection of conservatives, who have not had a significant presence in the New Hampshire church in decades. These losses are caused by deaths, a lack of new baptisms, and the inability to evangelize new church members. Clearly, a revisionist voice at the top of the Diocese has not led to the predicted influx.

The second leader was General Secretary Bob Edgar of the National Council of Churches, now at the advocacy group Common Cause. Edgar repeatedly emphasized that his role at the NCC was to “Raise money, raise money, and raise more money” – by building partnerships with secular foundations. It led to a neglecting of the NCC’s main work in favor of secular political advocacy. Sound familiar? Edgar seemed to meet with success at first, gathering in grants from the Tides Foundation and other secular sources. But it didn’t last. As the share of financial support from member churches decreased, the organization was left more and more dependent upon the foundations. When they did not renew their high level of funding, the organization found itself once again in a bad financial spot, and this was before the global economic downturn was even fully realized. The NCC cut 14 staff, dropping the organization (that once had over 100 staffers) to less than 30. Aggressive fund raising from secular sources was no substitute for gospel-centered church funding. You can read IRD's report on the NCC's funding slide by clicking here.

Yesterday’s press conference revealed that Ragsdale’s rosy views are not hers alone. Deputy Graham, a liberal clergyman from Arkansas said (in response to a question about the lack of Evangelism efforts in the church) that he expected a new influx of youth into TEC due to the adoption of inclusive ordination policies towards gays and lesbians. This despite the fact that, as the Episcopal Church has grown more gay-friendly, the age of the average Episcopalian has steadily increased. At what point, exactly, do revisionists like Ragsdale, Robinson, Edgar and Graham expect that pattern to reverse? Just a sampling of how many of the deputies here are thinking.