The Acts of Convention

House of Deputies

The House of Deputies Committee on Structure presented its Report #26 on Resolution C095 (Structural Reform) and moved adoption of a substitute.

Original Text of Resolution

(C095)

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That there shall be a Special Commission on Missional Structure and Strategy, the composition of which shall be at the discretion of the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies and the members of which shall be appointed jointly thereby not later than thirty days following the adjournment of this 77th General Convention. The Special Commission shall be charged with presenting a plan to the Church for reforming its structures, governance, administration, and staff to facilitate this Church’s faithful engagement of Christ’s mission to proclaim good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed, and the acceptable year of the Lord (Lk. 4:18) in a way that maximizes the resources available for that mission at all levels of this Church; and be it further

Resolved, That the Special Commission shall endeavor to issue its report and recommendations along with resolutions necessary to implement them, including proposed amendments to the Constitution and Canons of this Church, so that they might be considered by a special General Convention prior to the convening of the 78th General Convention in 2015, but in any event, not later than February 1, 2015; and be it further

Resolved, That the General Convention request the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget, and Finance to consider a budget allocation of $100,000 for the implementation of this resolution.

Committee Substitute

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That this General Convention believes the Holy Spirit is urging The Episcopal Church to reimagine itself, so that, grounded in our rich heritage and yet open to our creative future, we may more faithfully:

• Proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
• Teach, baptize and nurture new believers
• Respond to human need by loving service
• Seek to transform unjust structures of society
• Strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth; and be it further

Resolved, That this General Convention establish a Task Force under the Joint Rules of Order, whose purpose shall be to present the 78th General Convention with a plan for reforming the Church’s structures, governance, and administration; and be it further

Resolved, That this Task Force shall be accountable directly to the General Convention, and independent of other governing structures, to maintain a high degree of autonomy; and be it further

Resolved, That the Task Force shall have as many as 24 members, appointed jointly by the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies by September 30, 2012. The membership of the Task Force shall reflect the diversity of the Church, and shall include some persons with critical distance from the Church’s institutional leadership; and be it further

Resolved, That, in order to be informed by the wisdom, expertise, and commitment of the whole body of the Church, the Task Force shall gather information and ideas from congregations, dioceses and provinces, and other interested individuals and organizations, including those not often heard from; engage other resources to provide information and guidance, and shall invite all these constituencies to be joined in prayer as they engage in this common work of discernment; and be it further

Resolved, That the Task Force shall convene a special gathering to receive responses to the proposed recommendations to be brought forward to the 78th General convention, and shall invite to this gathering from each diocese at least a bishop, a lay deputy, a clerical deputy, and one person under the age of 35. It may also include representatives of institutions and communities (e.g., religious orders, seminaries, intentional communities); and be it further

Resolved, That the Task Force shall report to the whole Church frequently, and shall make its final report and recommendations to the Church by November 2014, along with the resolutions necessary to implement them, including proposed amendments to the Constitution and Canons of the Church; and be it further

Resolved, That the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance consider adding $400,000 to the 2013-2015 triennial budget, to enable this Resolution to be implemented energetically and successfully, “…for surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Deputy Emerson of Nebraska moved to amend the substitute resolution.

Proposed Amendment

After “The membership of the Task Force shall reflect the diversity of the Church,” add “including age, race, ethnic origin, national origin, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity and expression”.

The Secretary announced that we had reached the time set for the election of Executive Council. He proposed that debate be postponed until a ballot could be taken, with debate to resume after the election.

Deputy Cunningham of Southern Virginia moved to suspend the rules in order to continue debate and move to the election after the debate on Resolution C095 completed. The President asked the indulgence of the House to go forward with the election of Executive Council as she was scheduled to address the House of Bishops during the time allotted for the election.

House of Deputies

Deputy Johnson of Mississippi moved to table the Special Order to a time certain to be determined by the Secretary in order to complete debate on Resolution C095.

Motion defeated

Continuation of Debate on Resolution C095

Deputy Dyer of Connecticut moved the previous question on the amendment and the main motion.

Motion carried

Debate terminated

A vote was taken on the amendment.

Motion defeated

Amendment defeated

The President called on the Chaplain for prayer before the vote was taken on the main motion.

A vote was taken on the substitute resolution.

Motion carried

Substitute resolution adopted

(Communicated to the House of Bishops in HD Message #192)