It's Over

We finished our business ahead of schedule this afternoon. The House of Deputies is still at work, but should finish by 6 PM tonight, making this the first General Convention in a long time at which all legislation was acted upon before the closing bell.

In the next few days, I will be writing a reflection letter to the Diocese that will go out on the web and on the E-pistle mailing list. I understand that our deputation will also be preparing a letter which will be posted in the next few weeks.

All in all, it was a good convention. We took some necessary steps forward towards full inclusivity, but did so in a way that was respectful to the our conservative members and to the wider Anglican Communion. Those issues aside, we also made some important changes in structure which will effect us on a more local level, such as changing our health insurance plans, adopting new disciplinary canons, affirming youth, campus ministry, evangelism, and Native American programs.

Going back to some of my earlier cautions of the last few blogs, I want to include here a few paragraphs from the letter that the Presiding Bishop sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury today. As always, the press has been creating misleading headlines about what we did here, and she wanted to set the record straight. According to Episcopal News Services:

"The letter to Archbishop Williams outlined Resolution D025, which was adopted at this General Convention, explaining that Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and President Anderson understood Resolution D025 to be more descriptive than prescriptive in nature. It stated that some are concerned that the adoption of Resolution D025 has effectively repealed Resolution B033 but reiterated that is not the case. The letter continued, “This General Convention has not repealed Resolution B033. It remains to be seen how Resolution B033 will be understood and interpreted in light of Resolution D025.”

"The letter also states that the Episcopal Church “is deeply and genuinely committed to our relationships in the Anglican Communion.” It also says, “In adopting this Resolution, it is not our desire to give offense. We remain keenly aware of the concerns and sensibilities of our brothers and sisters in other Churches across the Communion. We believe also that the honesty reflected in this resolution is essential if indeed we are to live into the deep communion that we all profess and earnestly desire.”

"The letter expresses the profound appreciation of the Presiding Officers that Archbishop Williams, 16 Anglican Primates, and lay and clergy leaders of the Anglican Communion attended the General Convention and stressed the importance of finding ways to communicate directly about different cultural and ecclesial contexts."

The future looks hopeful, for our Church nationally, and more importantly, for the mission opportunities that await us, in spite of (or maybe because of) the financial constraints we are under.

I was proud to represent you as your bishop and to be part of this historical meeting.

The last picture I am posting is just for fun. The fact that we were able to have a good time together is a sign of health, as our chaplain reminded us. Since the creation of the Episcopal Church in 1789, there have been ten bishops named Smith.
Five of them now serve. One will be retiring soon, so this is the last time there will be so many for the foreseeable future. Here we all are. From left to right--
Andrew Smith, Connecticut; Kirk Smith, Arizona, Michael Smith, South Dakota; Dabney
Smith, Southeast Florida; Wayne Smith, Missouri.

Laura and I are headed for the Northwest for a few weeks of vacation. I will be back in the office around the middle of August. During that time both Epistles and this blog will be "on hiatus". I hope that you all have a restful and cool summer!

Catching our breath

Today was rather quiet compared to the last two. After the important decisions we have made, it was as if everyone was being rather thoughtful and taking the measure of what we had done. Sure, there was plenty of legislation to plow our way through. The House of Bishops approved the budget in about 45 seconds with no debate--maybe we just didn't want to deal with the pain we know it will cause. An estimated 35 staff people in NYC will lose their jobs, some of them long time colleagues and friends. As the Presiding Bishop reminded us, we believe in resurrection after death, and that will surely happen to the church as well. There is a lot that is dying, old ways of doing business, communicating, organizing. The church that is emerging will look a lot different than it does now, both in structure and in mission. And maybe, just maybe, we can now get beyond the controversies that have preoccupied us for so long to do the real work of the Kingdom. There was a bright spot tonight. Several hundred delegates, mostly young, gathered for a U2-Eucharist, using the music of the the rock star Bono. I stayed for a while, although the volume levels are a bit too high for these old ears. But as you can see from the video, everyone was having a great time.

Another historic day

There was good news and bad news today. Let's begin with the bad: At a joint session with the House of Deputies we received the final draft of the budget. We were warned it would be painful, and it was. Many staff people will be cut, all programs will be reduced, and lots of great projects will be left unfunded. I was particularly disappointed that money for our partners in Mexico was reduced by 29%. The newspaper we partner with, Episcopal Life, will also be greatly affected. On the other hand, the larger church has finally instituted some cost saving measures I have advocated for years, such as reducing travel for face to face meetings and increasing the use of electronic communication. Some programs that had to do mission, such as Hispanic ministry, youth, and church planting were actually increased. Still there was considerable anguish. Before our session began, we all stood to sing, and I took a video of the members of our deputation. The House of Bishop's spent a long time later today fussing over the wording of a substitute resolution having to do with blessings of same gender unions. We started this process yesterday, and for short time we decided to try an alternative way of dealing with this highly charged issue, rather than word-smithing amendmend after amendment. But when the ad hoc group came back today, all they had done was to rewrite the original resolution. At one point, I found myself voting with the conservative members, not over content but over process. I still believe the church has to find a better way of dealing with controversial topics than a win-lose legislative answer. Let's take a page from non-western cultures who solve problems in a family way in which all are included. Since that effort came to nothing, I was glad to vote "yes" on the roll-call that approved the resolution. Our willingness to at least explore ways of blessing such unions will no doubt result in additional disapproval from the Anglican Communion and from the more conservative dioceses here. The situation has certainly changed with the fact that five states now recognize gay/lesbian marriage with an estimated 15 more to come in the next few years. Assuming that the House of Deputies concurs with us tomorrow, the operative words of the resolution are: "Resolved, that bishops, particularly those in dioceses with civil jurisdictions where same gender marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of the church; and be it further resolved, that this Convention continue to honor the theological diversity of this Church in regard to matters of human sexuality." This passed 104 to 30. I will be discussing the implications of this with the clergy when I return, but it is clearly a step forward towards a more inclusive church.

The House of Bishops in Action

Here's a video of the House of Bishops in action (maybe that is too strong a verb!). The 150 of us sit together at tables, with the Presiding Bishop on a platform with the officers. The audience (when we are open to the public) sits around us. When we wish to speak, we raise a card with a number of our table to be recognized by the chair. I have at my table Thom (Idaho), MacPhearson (W.Louisiana), Lee (Virginia), Barbara Harris (Mass, retired), Alexander (Atlanta). The going can be either tedious, when a hour or more is spent fussing over a sentence or two, or fast paced, as when it is hard to keep up reading the legislation that is being considered. Three more days to go!

Don't believe everything you read!

Before I left Arizona, I cautioned people to be very careful about what they read or see in the media, which often does not fully understand how the church works, or is spinning events to fit an agenda. A case in point was the action yesterday. As I cautioned after the vote on DO25, this does NOT overturn the earlier BO33 of the 2006 Convention. It is far more subtle than that. What it does do is to reaffirm that the ordination process (including that of bishop) is open to all people. In essence, BO33 remains in effect until the time it is tested by the election of another openly gay or lesbian bishop. It is an importanted and needed step, but it does not "repeal" any earlier legislation. About the only media source that got this correct was the New York Times, and I commend their coverage. Other papers, including the LA Times and even our own supposedly in-house Episcopal Life overstated the case with headlines such as "Church Clears Way for Gay Bishops." I suspect that this incorrect reporting may cause many of the bishops to go slow when it comes to action on the question of same gender blessings. An important resolution on that topic which was passed by the House of Deputies was argued over and then postponed by our House this afternoon. I suspect that it may be replaced with a more pastoral and less legislative response. Maybe something like a gentleman's or gentlewoman's agreement that different bishops make the pastoral response to blessings they feel is necessary without a general policy being made--we will see.

No pictures, but breaking news!

This afternoon we had our first controversial action. Deputies passed resolution DO 25 which essentially reaffirmed that the ordination process (including that of bishop) was open to all people. This was a movement away from the "restraint" of last convention's famous B033. Although BO33 was not exactly overturned (it will take an election of an openly gay person to make that happen, which frankly is not likely to happen anytime soon), this resolution was a defacto repudiation of that stance. When it came time for House of Bishop's to act, we concurred with the House
of Deputies 99 to 45.

I voted yes on this, in spite of what some inaccurate earlier reports said. It is time for us to be clear about who we are as a church in spite of the fact that it may make things harder for us in the Anglican Communion. The good news is the language of this resolution was thoughtful, considerate, and moderate in tone. I believe that even most of the my more conservative colleagues can live with it, even thought they may not have voted for it.

Tomorrow we will tackle blessings of same sex unions. I suspect that will be be a tighter and more difficult race. Please keep us in your prayers!

Weekend Update July 13

I have discovered that I have not had nearly enough time to update this blog. There is almost no break in the day, and even meal times are taken up with meetings, so now I will have to play catch up a bit. A friend remarked that Convention goes through three stages--introduction, confusion, and resolution. During the weekend it was almost business as usual in the sense that committee meetings and legislative session continued, but we did not seem to be accomplishing a whole lot, and the controversial topics have yet to be addressed. Here are some of the important legislation that was passed, however. 1. We reinstated the MDG spending in the budget. That comes to about a million dollars a year. Instead of simply reinstating the 0.7%, Convention increased this asking to a full 1%. Dioceses and parishes will be asked to do the same. 2. Pension benefits are now extended to all lay church employees who work over 1000 hours a year. 3. We adopted a new denominational health plan which should save a lot of money to most Dioceses. 4. We also adopted a new strategy for Hispanic mission, yet it is unclear if we can afford the price-tag of 3.5 million. If we can, Arizona will benefit directly from this. The one change the routine came yesterday morning at the United Thank Offering Ingathering service which is the main festival Eucharist of the Convention. All the bishops put on their "rochetes and chimeres" (red and white robes) and process into the hall. I've included a short video of the Presiding Bishop in procession along with the two previous PBs, Bishops Griswold and Browning. About 8000 were in attendance. I especially enjoyed this service since my old parish in Los Angeles sent a busload of parishioners to attend. Seeing everyone was a bit like old home week. Today Laura is with other bishop spouses doing a work project at a low income trailer park. This afternoon we expect some more heated discussions in HOB, and I will try to report on that shortly.