General Convention, continued

Dear People of Christ Church,Our bishops and deputies have continued to meet in Anaheim this week, and General Convention (the every-three-year gathering of representatives from all over the Episcopal Church) ends tomorrow. The big ticket news items have, as usual, been on issues of sexuality. In 2006, General Convention voted in the controversial "BO33" resolution, which essentially initiated a moratorium on consecrating gays and lesbians as bishops. Even with that provision, though, we've continued to see the self-proclaimed "orthodox" leave the Episcopal Church and ally themselves with other provinces. At the time it was passed 3 years ago, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori spoke of BO33 in terms of a time of fasting: a fast, it had to be pointed out, only undertaken by some of our brothers and sisters. But any fast must be only for a temporary period; if you continue to fast, you starve, and with this General Convention, it has come to a close. The bishops and deputies both voted by a margin of 2:1 to officially open the ordination process at all levels, to all individuals are selected in accordance with diocesan discernment processes and the canons of the church. It also reaffirms the Episcopal Church's participation in the Anglican Communion, while acknowledging that the communion is not of one mind on this matter.

In a resolution that affects us closer to home, the House of Bishops also voted (by a 3:1 margin) that bishops, "particularly those in dioceses within 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 this Church." The House of Deputies will vote later today, and will likely approve it as well. This acknowledges what is happening already, but it also gives us some breathing space to have more open discussion and reflect honestly about what we are doing and what we are about. At the next General Convention in 2012, the Church will consider rites of blessing for same gender marriages and unions and whether to have one single liturgy. As Anglicans, of course we have to have an authorized liturgy for everything!

It feels a little odd to celebrate things that have already been happening for some time, but I think the sense of breathing room is what's most important. Bonnie Anderson, the president of the House of Deputies (the body which represents lay people, priests, and deacons), said of the ordination process resolution "It's not an attempt to fly in the face of the Anglican Communion; it's an attempt to deepen relationships with the rest of the communion, because real relationships are built on authenticity."

There's also authenticity in acknowledging that even all Episcopalians aren't in the same place. Change came to the Diocese of Massachusetts first, but there can still be a wide variety of opinions nationally and locally. None of the resolutions adopted mean that any priest, parish, or bishop has to do anything. It is unfortunate that some have left the Episcopal Church, but we can't keep looking back as though it should have been (or even could have been) prevented at any cost.

As for the Anglican Communion? Interestingly, this year there are more international visitors than at any other time--a good corrective to the notion that the American Church just wants to go it alone. One commented that if more people internationally understood how decisions are made in the Episcopal Church that recent tensions might be calmer. Sometimes we pick up on a final stage and don't understand the process," said Archbishop Henri Isingoma, newly elected primate of the Anglican Church of the Congo. For more, see the links listed below and please continue to keep the Bishops and Deputies in your prayers as they wrap up their work.

Blessings,
Sara

+ps:I will be on vacation for three weeks, beginning after Church this Sunday. Please contact our wardens, Jonathan Duce and Marcia Luce, in case of an emergency. The Rev Cathy Venkatesh is on call for pastoral matters; she can be reached through the parish office or Jonathan and Marcia. The E-Crier will continue to be mailed out an announcements-only; please let Kristina know if you'd like her to include anything: office@christchurchwaltham.org.

General Convention

Today is the first day of the national church's gathering in Anaheim, CA, of the General Convention-representatives from all over the church will gather to talk about legislation, policy, and politics from all corners of the church. The Diocese of Massachusetts sends a deputation-eight elected deputies (four priests and four lay persons, plus alternates) and three bishops. When we gather as a national church, each diocese has the opportunity to bring resolutions for consideration to the wider church. I'll re-distribute here some pieces from Tracy Sukraw, the director of communications for our diocese. For links to other news sources, see below.

Tracy writes,
The more than 300 resolutions filed to date span worship and liturgy, economic justice issues, global concerns, Anglican Communion matters, ecumenical and inter-religious relations and church governance. They include requests for rites of blessing for same-gender unions; poverty relief proposals; increased church antiracism efforts, human rights advocacy and environmental policies; continued support for the Millennium Development Goals; peacemaking efforts in world conflict areas; and requests to overturn, nullify or supersede the controversial 2006 resolution B033, which called for "restraint" in electing openly gay bishops.

What it all adds up to, according to the Rev. Jane Gould, a Massachusetts deputy and the rector of St. Stephen's Church in Lynn, is "a chance to offer a vision of who we are and how God invites us into God's mission of love and justice in the world. At our best the particularity of our experience as individual Episcopalians and Episcopal parishes feeds our communal commitments as a church, and then our broad vision inspires and sustains us to stay with the work of the kingdom at the local level." "The advantage of being both democratic and hierarchical is that we can gather the people of the church in public assembly and speak for the church," she said by e-mail.

[Ian Douglas] submitted two resolutions, one which not only restores the 0.7 percent line item in support of the Millennium Development Goals (established as a church priority in 2006 but eliminated in the current draft budget) but also ups it to 1 percent. His other resolution, in part, invites the Episcopal Church to devote Lent 2010 to penitential reflection on the brokenness of the global economic order and its reformation in the light of the Gospel.

Other Massachusetts resolutions coming before the General Convention are a request from Bishop Bud Cederholm that parishes be required to report on annual energy consumption in church properties; diocesan resolutions asking for a trial feast day for saints Andronicus and Junia; gender-neutral terminology in the church's marriage canon; and an amendment to include the category of gender identity and expression in the canon on access to the ministry discernment process. A resolution submitted by Byron Rushing [whose name you may recognize as he serves as a state representative] calls the church to support the enactment of laws prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and expression and treating as hate crimes any physical violence inflicted on that basis.

Many will be paying close attention to what the church does on matters of sexuality, but as you can see from the list above, there is a lot more going on than just that. One positive sign of the wider communion "getting on with it" is a recent letter to the American Church written by Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul of the Sudan, underscoring the importance of partnership between the two churches. Archbishop Bul made headlines during last year's Lambeth conference for declaring in a press conference that Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire should resign. Despite his disagreement with American attitudes toward sexuality (which, incidentally, were not mentioned in the text), he concluded the letter with prayers of blessing for the Episcopal Church and the Church of the Sudan, and hopes for continued help in surviving the conflict there. In her opening address, Bonnie Anderson, the head of the House of Deputies (that's the house that is half lay people and half priests/deacons) quotes our own Byron Rushing as saying, "The church does not have a mission, God's mission has a Church." Thanks be to God that we are each part of that mission!

Blessings,
Sara+

General Convention Links
The official General Convention Hub from the National Episcopal Church, which has lots of articles and video, and the site from the Massachusetts Deputation both offer regular updates on goings-on, as well as Episcopal Life, which offers more traditional articles than blog entries.

For the full text of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's opening address, click here, and for for the article on Bishop Bul, click here. Finally, if you only read one thing, see the opening address from Bonnie Anderson, the President of the House of Deputies, here.

July Pastor's Corner

Dear People of Christ Church,

This month’s issue crept up on us suddenly, and it occurred to me that last year I don’t think we even had a Fieldstone Crier in July; it’s a testament to just how much is going on that we didn’t want to skip the whole summer. The lunch program is up and running—thanks to our collaborative with other Waltham churches, free lunches are available to any child in our city under the age of 18, no questions asked, at an additional site in the city. In addition to the McDonald site where we’ve focused much of our energies, additional volunteers are also needed at the Whittemore school from July 6 to 31 during summer school (lunch is served 12-12:30; arrive 15 minutes early and stay 15 minutes later), so let me, Mike Balulescu, or Becky Phillips DeZalia know if you’d like to volunteer. There’s a lot to do—you’ll read more about B Safe on page 1 and Waltham history days below. Sarah Staley’s piece on page 3 concludes our series of “This I Believe” essays we wrote as part of our Lenten education. It’s been wonderful to hear each other’s stories as part of that series—thanks to everyone who participated.

It’s wonderful to see all of these signs of new life. I am so blessed to be the rector of such a growing church (yes, officially rector—the bishop signed the paperwork, so we are all set!). We have accomplished so much together in the last four years. I am so grateful to each of the parish leaders that have worked so hard over these last years, too, to get us where we are—I still remember what a gift it was to begin as priest in residence with Jim Hewitt and Marcia Luce as wardens back in 2005 (and to work again with Marcia as warden with Jonathan for these last 2 years). Chuck McCullough and Suzanne Hughes have managed our finances over these years with such grace and skill, and each and every vestry or committee member and pledger has been part of our success. Of course, there is still so much to do and we are not exactly on financial high ground, but we have traveled far together, and I am thankful to each of you for it. I’ve always had in the back of my mind the hope that I would be able to stay on in a more permanent way but to have it be officially settled is a great feeling. Deeper than a feeling—it’s a great vocation that we have been called into together.

Being the church isn’t so much about feelings as it is about who we are and what we do when we leave. A church I know has written in the bulletin after the dismissal, “the worship is over; the service begins.” The word “ecclesia” —Greek for “church” —means “called out.” We aren’t just called in to be church only on Sunday morning, we are called out to be the people of God in the world every day of our lives. Being a Christian is about proclaiming and practicing the truth that Jesus is Lord—not our national leaders in politics or government, not our own desire for esteem or comfort, but Jesus—the self-giving Beloved of God who lived his life in the service of peace and unconditional love for everyone.

Thanks be to God!

Blessings,
Sara+