July 25, 2012
My dear friends,
A little over a week ago I returned from our Church’s triennial General Convention held in Indianapolis, Indiana. With the benefits of a few days perspective, let me share with you my impressions of this 77th General Convention.
As usual, the secular press’s accounts of what transpired stood in rather stark contrast to what I experienced. It could be that either I am just missing something or that the subtle complexities of our church and our faith do not lend themselves easily to interpretation by contemporary journalism.
The topic that gathered the most media attention, though not nearly the same time and energy of the General Convention deputies, was the approval of a liturgy for the blessing of same gender relationships. As I have tried to tell this diocese over the past year or so, the Standing Commission on Prayer Book, Music and Liturgy had been asked by the last General Convention to take a look at all the liturgies that were being used for such blessings and present a single one for the church to study and use, if desired, on a trial use basis. Since blessings of same sex relationships have been taking place in our church for almost 30 years, there were dozens of liturgies and other resources available throughout the church.
The Standing Commission’s charge was to develop a standard liturgy that would be used for the blessing of life-long, monogamous same sex relationships in dioceses where this practice had been authorized by the bishop. Thus, the “new thing” was the development of a single rite, not the liturgy for the blessing of these relationships.
For reasons that I have shared with this diocese over the past 12 years, I do not intend to authorize this liturgy for use in Mississippi. However, I will be encouraging the study of the resource materials that are a companion to this liturgy. Other resources will also be suggested. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the use of such liturgies it is essential that our discussions are grounded in a theological, sacramental and pastoral context and not tied to the shrillness of our society’s current debate on this issue.
One final note is important here. This is not a change in the Prayer Book, but rather a supplemental liturgical rite. Our Book of Common Prayer continues to define for us the nature of marriage and its theological underpinnings. Approximately 50 years ago the church made a “pastoral exception” to the traditional theology of marriage by providing for divorce and remarriage. (Had I been at General Convention in those days, I probably would have voted against that change as well!) I believe that we can understand the liturgy for the blessing of faithful, monogamous, life-long covenanted relationships in our time as something similar.
The issue that truly dominated this year’s General Convention was the almost universal agreement for the need to re-imagine and reorganize the structures of the church. While no one pretends that a major reorganization of the church will solve all our problems, there is an increasing awareness that the top-down bureaucratic model that worked in the 1950’s, symbolized by the church center’s office building in New York City, no longer works in the “flattened” world of this century. While several very dramatic individual proposals for change were narrowly defeated, we did create a task force that will present a comprehensive plan for reorganization and reform to either the next regular General Convention in 2015, or a special called Convention prior to 2015.
My take from all of this energy is that we are in the midst of a major change in the way we organize ourselves as a church. The networking of congregations and dioceses will become the norm for resourcing the church while the Presiding Bishop and his/her staff will become increasingly focused on matters that individual dioceses cannot do alone, e.g. ecumenical and Anglican Communion matters.
Related to the reorganization conversation was the development of the budget for the triennium. I was pleased that the budget reflected priorities in youth, young adults and new church starts. We reversed the trend in recent years, as the old saying goes, “to eat our seed corn.”
As I reported in the Mississippi Episcopalian, last month the Anglican Covenant has become an increasingly moot issue as more and more churches from around the Anglican Communion, including the Church of England, have rejected it as improper or inadequate. I was pleased that General Convention chose not to act, thus leaving open the conversation with our global Anglican partners.
One of the more surprising actions (one with which I was quite pleased) was the almost universal reaffirmation of baptism as the normative requirement for the reception of Holy Communion. I chaired the committee that reported out a proposal to reaffirm this traditional understanding of the relationship between the two sacraments, and to acknowledge that, for pastoral reasons, this “communion of the unbaptized” was taking place in some churches. The House of Bishops, unanimously voted to strike my carefully constructed, pastorally sensitive language, and reaffirm baptism as normative, period. I was shocked, but delighted, by their action.
Two of our deputies were elected to significant church positions – Dr. Anita George was elected to the Church’s Executive Council (equivalent to the vestry of a local church) and Canon Kathryn McCormick was elected to the board of the Church Pension Fund. Both are now in positions to significantly impact in different ways the life of this church. Our prayers go with them in their new responsibilities.
The House of Deputies elected the Rev. Gay Jennings as its new President. Gay was a significant resource for is in Mississippi immediately following Hurricane Katrina. She will serve us well.
In addition to the above actions General Convention considered more than 600 resolutions (a sure sign that something needs to change!) delighting some and infuriating some. Most have already faded into a deep corner in the archives, but stand, nonetheless as General Convention’s “position” on a particular matter. Unlike the aforementioned issues, most of these others were given neither the time or energy for careful, reflective conversion. Such is the challenge of a General Convention that tries to do its best with a structure designed in the 18th century. I think we can do much better.
Finally, the spirit of this 77th General Convention was, for the most part, extraordinarily upbeat. There was a clear understanding of the challenges this church faces in an increasingly post-Christian culture, but accompanying that clarity was a genuine desire, with God’s grace and guidance, to creatively and with hope engage the future God is giving to us.
The daily eucharist, where thousands gathered for extraordinary music, prayer and preaching was always the highlight of the day for me and brought me back, again and again, to why I do the things I do. Our common worship, particularly when we gather at the altar together, both defines us as God’s people and nurtures us as God’s servants being sent into God’s world. May be never forget whose we are.
Your General Convention deputies and I will be at St. James’, Jackson on Saturday, August 11, to give a detailed report to the wider diocese, to answer all questions and engage in conversation about our two weeks in Indianapolis. I invite any and all who wish to be a part of this discussion to join us. Advance registration, for purposes of planning for lunch, are important. We expect to conclude no later than 2:00 p.m.
In Christ’s Peace,
The Rt. Rev. Duncan M. Gray, III
