DAY 5: Saturday, June 11, 2009

Editor’s Note:

The volume of news continues to build. Here are some highlights reported from Saturday’s session.

From Christine Purcell:

Each day here brings so many memorable moments: for me, yesterday’s (Saturday July 11) was the address by Jenny Te Paa, the "ahorangi" or dean of Te Rau Kahikatea (College of St. John the Evangelist) in Auckland, New Zealand.

Dr. Te Paa was one of five international guests invited by Bonnie Anderson, President of the House of Deputies, to observe our 76th General Convention. The other four were from Brazil, South Africa, Ghana, and Kenya – the “true global south”, she said!

Dr. Te Paa spoke, softly and thoughtfully, words of embrace, affirmation, exhortation and gentle advice. You can read them in full at http://ecusa.anglican.org/79901_112408_ENG_HTM.htm, and I strongly encourage you to do so, to gain a sense of how others see us.

One of the great gifts of the way we do business here in the The Episcopal Church is that our process manages to be both egalitarian and transparent. Sure, politics are politics. But there are so many checks and balances – among them our bicameral structure, our strict adherence to Robert’s Rules, our overall commitment to civil discourse, consistently applied. Whatever is decided here, every attempt will have been made to hear all voices with loving respect, trusting that our fidelity to be gracious and generous will, in turn, enable the Holy Spirit’s grace and generosity to cover us all.

From Gina Barrett:

The Committee on Prayer Book, Liturgy and Music is considering several resolutions to do with same-gender blessings. There are two ways the commission can handle this: (1) to change the marriage canons so that marriage becomes a union between two adults rather than between a man and a woman; or (2) to develop a rite blessing same-gender unions. The challenge is to craft a resolution that both the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies will pass because, as you know, a resolution has to pass both in order to be enacted. In testimony two days ago, the majority of people spoke in favor of same-gender blessings. None of the resolutions have come out of committee yet.

Another set of liturgies under consideration is “Rachel’s Tears, Hannah’s Hopes”, designed to respond to pastoral concerns dealing with reproductive issues. One of these liturgies addresses the loss of children through miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion, adoption or inability to conceive. There is also a rite of reconciliation and repentance for an abortion. These rites are beautifully written and, if adopted, will be a wonderful resource for pastors and families struggling with life and death issues.

On a lighter note, today the commission heard testimony on two resolutions that would authorize prayers and rites for the loss of a companion animal. Eight people (two accompanied by service dogs) spoke eloquently in support of these resolutions.

In a session I attended a few days ago, members were considering amendments to newly-written collects and prefaces. I was struck by the care and concern given to each word and phrase, both read and chanted. It was painstaking work (some might say nitpicking), but if praying shapes believing, then great care must be taken. After all, this is our theology in liturgical form.

From Kate Harrigan:

In the past two days we passed two important pieces of legislation that will enhance our lives of faith in our diocese and in our congregations. The first is the Charter for Lifelong Christian Formation, a document that points to guide us in our theology and practice around Christian formation for ALL God’s people, cradle-to-grave.

The second is a resolution encouraging dioceses to develop strategies for lifelong formation. This gives “teeth” to the Charter, as it urges implementation. Thus we have both framework and encouragement to continue and broaden work in which we that we are already engaged, within our diocese.