Legislation for discussion within the World Missions Committee

At General Convention I will be following the business of the World Missions Legislative Committee. Below is a list of the resolutions that will be discussed by World Missions Committee; the House of Initial Action for each resolution is the House of Deputies.

A039 International Relations: Wall Around Palestine

A124 Structure Foreign Lands Task Force

A125 Bishops Anglican Communion Task Force

A128 Missionaries Funding Missionaries

A129 Bishops Mission Orientation in the New Bishop's Conference

A130 Covenant with Brazil

A131 Covenant Committee Gathering

A132 Covenant Committee Reporting

A133 Canons Amend Canon I.1.2(n)(11)

A134 Missionaries Mission Partners

A136 World Mission EPGM Funding

A189 Anglican Communion Mission Cooperation in the Americas

A190 Covenant Commendation of The Episcopal Church in the Philippines

C001 Canons Adding Gender Identity to Canons

C007 Ordination Process Consent to Episcopal Elections

C010 Consecration of Bishops Repeal of GC2006 B033

C015 Consecration of Bishops Consent to Episcopal Elections

C024 Ordination Process Consent to Episcopal Elections

C033 Ordination Process Affirming the Canonical Process

C036 Consecration of Bishops Repeal of GC2006 B033

C039 Consecration of Bishops Reaffirmation of Conformity to Canon III.1.2

C045 Liturgy Inclusion of All Persons in Life of Church

C046 Canons Amend Canon III.1.3

C053 Mission Strategy Continuing Support for MDG's

C054 Consecration of Bishops Regarding GC 2006 B033

C061 Canons Amend Title III.1.2

D007 Peace Sudan Peace and TEC Partnership

D013 Anglican Communion Ministry and Witness

D020 Covenant Provincial Acceptance of Anglican Covenant

D021 Equality Baptized Entitled to All Sacraments

D022 Equality Consecration of Qualified Candidates

D025 Anglican Communion Commitment and Witness to Anglican Communion

I will post more information on each of these resolutions shortly. At this time, however, notice that two of the resolutions deal explicitly with the repeal of Resolution B033 from the 2006 General Convention. Resolution B033 reads:

Title: On Election of Bishops

Topic: Bishops

Committee: Special Legislative Committee

House of Initial Action: Bishops

Proposer: The Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson Jr. (Upper South Carolina)

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Resolved, That the 75^th General Convention receive and embrace The Windsor Report’s invitation to engage in a process of healing and reconciliation; and be it further
Resolved, That this Convention therefore call upon Standing Committees and bishops with jurisdiction to exercise restraint by not consenting to the consecration of any candidate to the episcopate whose manner of life presents a challenge to the wider church and will lead to further strains on communion.

I will be prayerfully considering how to vote on the resolutions that concern the repeal of B033. While the consensus of Lexington's deputation, and that of many respondents to online Deputy Forums (official and unofficial), and the language of the organization Integrity has been to "move past B033," I have yet to discern what that means for me, and how I will vote.

Many of the other resolutions that I will follow in the World Missions Committee concern human rights issues, Millennium Development Goals, Canon III.1.2, addition of gender identity to the canons, and the inclusion of all of the baptized in all the sacraments of the church (which I wholly support - so what to do with B033?).

To read the full text of these resolutions, visit http://gc2009.org/ViewLegislation/view_Legislation.aspx.

EpiscopalLife online - website address

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/episcopal_life.htm

Post-Evangelical Christianity

The following is an article that was discovered by a lay deputy to this Convention and is circulating through the online forums and discussions of deputies and bishops.

Leave comments if you feel so moved - I'd love to read reactions.

Link: http://www.alternet.org/story/140321?page=entire

America's 'Emerging Church:' Will a New Post-Evangelical Christianity Reflect More Tolerant Views?

By Rev. Howard Bess, Consortium News. Posted May 29, 2009.

Christian publications are abuzz with talk about the "emerging church," which seems to be more science and gay friendly.

In the last half of the 20th century, Evangelicalism swept the American religious scene.

This period of American religious history will go down as the age of Billy Graham. He may have been light on theological prowess, but he was a spell-binding preacher and an organizational genius.

His call to Christ was supported by the establishment of new colleges, new seminaries, parochial schools, home schooling, new publishing companies, new magazines, radio and television networks, and new ministries such as Campus Crusade, World Vision, Youth for Christ, and Pioneer Boys and Girls.

Evangelicalism changed the face of America. Predictably the change is not permanent and the next phase is setting in.

Church historians and sociologists are now talking about post-Evangelicalism. The most popular buzz term is the emerging church. Change is constant and the American religious scene is not static.

Talk about the emerging church is appearing in significant journals and periodicals. To keep up with what is happening, I spend a lot of time reading. I have my favorite publications. I read Christian Century, Context, and Christianity Today to name three.

I also read an array of other periodicals that represent a broad diversity of perspectives. The emerging church is becoming a common topic.

Scot McKnight, Professor of Religious Studies at North Park University, has been studying the phenomenon that is pervasive, but as yet little noticed by the general public. He calls the change ironic.

This new breed of Christian is a product of Evangelicalism and appears to be carrying on the Evangelical tradition; but serious scholars are asking "Is this a subsection of Evangelicalism or is it something quite different?"

The developing ironic faith takes the believer to a fork in the road. Will the believer abandon the Christian faith altogether or will the believer redefine the meaning of being a Christian?

Dr. McKnight identifies eight characteristics of the emerging church. In condensed form I am sharing his observations:

First, emergents cannot accept the idea of Bible inerrancy. Verbal inerrancy will not stand modern critical examination in the study of languages. To assign fixed inerrancy to ancient documents written in the Hebrew and Greek used thousands of years ago stretches credibility.

Second, emergents have come to believe that the gospel that they have been taught is a caricature of the message of Jesus, rather than the real thing. Increasingly they are putting other Biblical writings in the background and have shown increasing interest in what Jesus said and did.

They ask "If we are followers of Jesus, why do we not live and preach his message?" In short, they are looking for a much more radical Christianity than they have found in the Evangelical (and mainline) churches.

Third, exposure to science in public education, universities and personal studies has led emergents to disown the conclusion that when the Bible and science appear to collide, science must take a back seat to the Bible.

In this conflict, emergents are not abandoning the Bible, but are raising critical questions about the Bible's nature and content. This new bread of Christian remains quite committed to the Bible but they are very open to new ideas and understandings.

Fourth, emergents have become disillusioned by the clay feet of church leadership. It is not just the Jim Bakkers and the Jimmy Swaggarts, but the rank and file of church leadership.

Emergents compare what Jesus had in mind and what is going on in churches, and they see a need to start over. They want a fresh start with serious intent to follow Jesus.

Fifth, our public schools and our nation in general are insisting that we be truly multicultural. The churches' teaching, that people not like us, are doomed, is not acceptable to emergents. They want a much broader definition of what it means to be accepted in the family of God.

Sixth, emergents are insisting that God be understood as totally gracious and loving. The angry, vengeful God that is sometime presented in both Old and New Testaments is not acceptable.

Seventh, acceptance of homosexuals in the family of God is common. Being pro-gay or anti-gay is not the issue. Emergents recognize that sexuality is far more complex than is generally recognized. To live in harmony with gay and lesbian friends and family members is a part of the emergent's perspective.

Eighth, echoing the first named characteristic, emergents recognize the role that language plays in their understanding and practice of the Christian Faith. Theology is language bound. Language is a limited tool of communication.

If theology is language bound, it is also culturally shaped. To be rigidly exclusive does not make sense to emergent Christians.

In writing about the people who are leading the emerging church, I have served as a reporter. I want my readers to be aware of what is happening.

See more stories tagged with: religion, science, evangelical, christianity, emerging church, post-evangelical

Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.

Websites to follow

General Convention 2009
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/gc2009.htm

The Unofficial Anglican Pages of Louie Crew (Louie is a legend - if you have time, please peruse his website.)
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~lcrew/rel.html
Pay special attention to his blog. Wonderful stuff: http://queereye4lectionary.blogspot.com/

An explanation of the GC theme, "Ubuntu":
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/gc2009_96805_ENG_HTM.htm


More to come.

Preparing for General Convention

As I prepare for my role as a lay deputy at General Convention in Anaheim this summer, I hope to post information and thoughts pertaining to the foci of the Convention and the resolutions that will go before the legislative body.

I am blessed by the opportunity to serve my church, diocese, and Church as a young lay deputy. I learned at the Province IV Synod meeting at Kanuga in early June that I am part of the the smallest minority at Convention: not only are under-35's in the minority, but of the 800 or so deputies (clergy and lay) attending the Convention, only 2% are under age 25. Wow! I pray that my youth will not be a hindrance; I have hope that my youth will be beneficial.

I ask that you keep me and the other deputies in your thoughts and prayers as we prepare for Convention. Over 1000 pages of reading---------------- and counting!