Dear friends,

Posted By: The Rev. Canon Peter Stube

I greet you from the 76th General Convention in Anaheim.  To be with so many diverse people from every part of the country and 17 other countries is an amazing experience.  There are several languages that are the heart language of deputations: English, Spanish, French, Dakota to name a few. Worship together is diverse, joyful, creative and delightful.  I find myself dreaming about what you all might find meaningful as well.

WYS ain’t WYG

Posted By: The Rev. Canon Matthew Stockard

Newspaper coverage is interesting to those of us who are actually in the rooms while legislation is being debated. This week, Episcopalians in both Houses of this body took up some pretty interesting stuff. There is an amazing evangelism project which will provide support to developing and supporting Latino churches. We’ve updated disciplinary procedures and rules. Yesterday, we dealt with a serious budget crisis which will bring about drastic and dramatic changes in the ways in which ministry is undertaken in this church. We also watched and sought to care for shocked people in our midst as some church center staffers realized their jobs are coming to an end. In the midst of such pain, our church recommitted itself to mission in numerous ways, and yesterday the House of Deputies carried a provincial acceptance of the recent Anglican Covenant.

D025 – what it is and what it isn’t.

[View resolution D025 in its final form here]

D025 reaffirms resolution A159 of the 2006 General Convention – it affirms our commitment to the Anglican Communion, of which we are a constituent member, and which is a rich tapestry of ministries and networks as well as personal relationships. It isn’t a huge Church, like the Roman Catholic Church, but is an aggregation of independent national Churches.

Some early reflections from Bishop Daniel on Resolution D025

Yesterday afternoon (July 13) the House of Bishops took up Resolution D025, a multilayered resolution which I hope you will read in its entirety before you continue reading these reflections. [View the final version of the resolution here] The resolution reaffirms our Church’s continuing and deep commitment – spiritual, financial and missional – to life and relationships in the Anglican Communion. It goes on to reaffirm that we continue to be governed by the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church as our Anglican polity requires. The resolution also points to and gives thanks for the ministry of lay and ordained gay and lesbian people in this Church as well as this Church’s understanding that the call to ordained ministry comes from God and in the mystery of that reality, notes that the call to ordained ministry may come to any baptized person.

An Honest Orthodoxy

Posted By: The Rev. Canon Matthew Stockard

Members of the House of Deputies took a good bit of time this week for intentional discussion about the B033 resolution which was carried at General Convention 2006. That now historic resolution indicated that the 75th General Convention would receive and embrace The Windsor Report’s invitation to engage in a process of healing and reconciliation; and called 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.