The
East Tennessee Episcopalian June/July
2000 |
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73rd General Convention of the Episcopal Church to be held in July Every three years the Diocese of East Tennessee helps chart the future of the Episcopal Church by sending clerical and lay deputies to the denomination's triennial convention. Begun in 1785 the Episcopal Church's first convention adopted a bi-cameral system comprised of a House of Deputies -- half clergy and half laity representing each diocese -- and a House of Bishops, which includes active and retired bishops of the church. The 73rd General Convention of the Episcopal Church will meet this July in Denver, and diocesan deputies are preparing for it by wading through reams of written materials and meeting in retreat. The deputies also attended a two-day provincial synod meeting at Kanuga Conference Center. This pre-convention meeting of southeast dioceses afforded the deputies and first alternates an opportunity to hear presentations from Dr. Pamela Chinnis, president of the House of Deputies, the Rev. Rosemari Sullivan, executive officer and secretary of General Convention and staff members from the Episcopal Church Center in New York. "Our deputies take their responsibilities very seriously and are busy preparing for their time in Denver. With all the written materials we've received already, it's a lot like cramming for college finals," said Canon Alice Clayton, chair of the deputation. Four clerical and four lay deputies and four alternates in each order are elected at the annual diocesan convention the year before the next General Convention. Deputies to the 73rd General Convention are Clayton, Church of the Resurrection, Loudon; Linda Dietrich, All Saints', Morristown; Jim Morris, St. Francis of Assisi, Ooltewah; and Jim Shearouse, St. Alban's, Hixson, in the lay order. Deputies in the clerical order are the Rev. John Talbird, Good Shepherd, Lookout Mountain; the Rev. Carter Paden, St. Peter's, Chattanooga; the Ven. Michael Doty, Diocesan House; and the Rev. Suzanne Smitherman, St. Paul's, Kingsport. Alternates are Georgia Knazovich, St. John’s, Knoxville and the Rev. Craig Morgan, St. Luke's, Cleveland. J. Douglas Overbey was elected deputy but was unable to attend. Running concurrently with General Convention will be the Episcopal Church Women Triennial meeting. Betty Morris, St. Francis, Ooltewah, Nancy Tanner, St. John's Cathedral and Kathy Varner, All Saints, Morristown are the ECW representatives from this diocese. In preparation for the upcoming convention, Bishop Charles vonRosenberg and the deputies met for a retreat at Church of the Resurrection, Loudon, for a time of team building and discussion of the various issues that will be on the agenda in July. Following this retreat, the Bishop observed "The Diocese is blessed with wonderful deputies to General Convention. They are not of one mind on issues, but they are committed to one Church and to living in relationship to the one Lord. Those matters of unity, therefore, are far more important than particular issues which may tend to divide us." Many of the issues before the convention will be like "déjà vu all over again" - sexuality, full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and church structure. New issues and initiatives have also emerged in the 186 resolutions that have been filed so far. The issues concerning sexuality have to do with the ordination of homosexuals who are in life-committed relationships and the blessings of homosexual unions. In a resolution adopted by the 1997 General Convention in Philadelphia, the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music was asked to "continue to study the theological aspects of committed relationships of same-sex couples" and to include recommendations of "future steps for resolution of issues related to such committed relationships." In its report to the next General Convention, the Commission urges the church to facilitate "genuine and respectful encounters between heterosexual and homosexual parishioners" and concludes that each diocese should determine the resolution of such as ordination and blessing same-sex relationships. One issue that is expected to come before the convention early is the revised proposal for full communion with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. At the 1997 General Convention, bishops and deputies approved a Concordat of Agreement between the two denominations but the proposal failed by a few votes at the ELCA's Churchwide Assembly a few weeks later. Since 1997 the Lutherans -- working with Episcopal representatives -- rewrote the Concordat, and at their Assembly meeting in August 1999 in Denver, adopted "Called to Common Mission: A Lutheran Proposal for a Revision of the Concordat of Agreement." This document now comes before the bishops and deputies for their consideration. An issue dealing with structure that has caused some early debate is the proposal by the Standing Committee on Structure to discontinue the existing system of provinces. This issue was also on the agenda for discussion at the Province IV meeting at Kanuga in early June. In addition to these issues, the convention will consider more than 200 resolutions covering such subjects as a proposal to double Episcopal Church membership by 2020, establishing "The Alleluia Fund--Build My Church" to assist dioceses with new church development, establishing an Episcopal Youth Corps, and amending the Book of Common Prayer to adopt the readings and psalms of the Revised Common Lectionary. For additional thoughts on General Convention from Bishop vonRosenberg, please refer to his column in the May issue of The East Tennessee Episcopalian. Copies of that column may be obtained from the diocesan website at www.etdiocese.net. Following the General Convention, deputies will be available to speak to church groups on their experience in Denver. To schedule such a conversation, contact the following from your area:
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