The Archive

Executive Council meeting in Salt Lake City

UPDATE: report from Episcopal News Service.

Ohio Bishop Mark Hollingsworth questioned why council could not correct the “mistakes and errors” in the version of the draft budget council forwarded to the church’s Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance (PB&F) in January. He asked whether council could send that group a revised version.

Jefferts Schori and the Rev. Canon Gregory Straub, executive officer and secretary of the General Convention, said canons prevent the council from revising the budget

The Rev. Winnie Varghese of the Diocese of New York said she would, for the second time in a row, speak against the budget at convention because twice now “the final document does not reflect what the body asked for or decided [and] I find that an incredibly difficult position to be in.”

The Rev. Gay Jennings of the Diocese of Ohio said that “we did send a budget that had mistakes in it, so to me it’s a matter of the integrity of Executive Council” because the budget sent to PB&F “was not what some of us believed was adopted.”

Jefferts Schori said that PB&F “is fully aware of what the issues are and I think there’s a piece of this that is our ability to let it go.” She later agreed with Bruce Garner of the Diocese of Atlanta that a “memo of information” from council to PB&F “would be entirely appropriate.”

The Executive Council is meeting in Salt Lake City, UT. Opening speeches by the Presiding Bishop, the President of the House of Deputies and Chief Operating Office. Katie Sherrod is live tweeting the meeting @KatieSherrod3 as is Lelanda Lee @LelandaLee. Most are using #excoun as a hashtag.

From the Presiding Bishop:

The difficulties that this body has experienced in the past triennium are not the fault of any one person, structure, or decision. They are a symptom of collective grief. We have three days together, which I hope will be used for forgiveness, a search for understanding, and letting go. I want to thank all of you for the persistence to stay the course, even when the dynamics have been painful. Let’s see what healing we can find in the next 72 hours, and then carry that will toward healing out into the larger church. Your willingness to endure these difficulties has been sacrificial, both as a faithful act of holiness, and as a sacramental act on behalf of others

From the President of the House of Deputies:

We don’t yet know how to transform the Episcopal Church into what God is calling us to be in the future. I believe that we will not find the tools we need at the top of the church’s hierarchical pyramid—in my office at Christ Church in Michigan, or at 815 Second Avenue in New York—but in the expertise of networks like Episcopal Relief and Development, Episcopal Service Corps, Forma (an association for Christian educators), provinces with active networks and others working collaboratively in dioceses and congregations.

At this General Convention, we have the opportunity to make the fixes that we have the know-how to accomplish. Let’s allocate money to grassroots proven Christian formation programs, youth ministry, young adult service corps. Mission? It happens most effectively on the local level. Where the people are – in parishes and faith communities – the people who are DOING the mission and ministry. What if we supported them with our budget?

I believe that understanding and respecting the difference between technical fixes and adaptive challenge will help us proceed with restructuring logically, making good use of the know-how that we already have.

More importantly, however, understanding adaptive challenge should help us approach the essential work of restructuring with humility, respect for what we don’t know, and deep caution about the danger of unintended consequences and false choices.

If we approach restructuring thinking that the job is simply about being efficient, we run a grave risk of diminishing the voices of laypeople and clergy. If we approach restructuring thinking that the job is simply about saving money, we run the risk of more budget processes—like the one we recently endured together—in which mission priorities take a back seat to number crunching.

From the Chief Operating Officer:

Here’s where I think the life is in this particular paradox for us right now. To begin with, it is in having a conversation. That ought to be what communities like this one are good at, isn’t it? We need to have a conversation about, given the inherent paradox of trying to lead a Christian community, what are the structures that will help us and how are our resources most faithfully deployed. The conversation I long to have with you is about that. The conversation I long to have with you as the elected leadership of the Episcopal Church is not about the panic of our declining numbers but about how we strengthen what is working best out there and make what is strong stronger so that the strong can serve the less than strong. The conversation I long to have with you is not about how to get more people in the doors to help us pay the bills but about how to make more disciples of Jesus to go about changing the world into God’s dream for it.

Katie Sherrod’s twitter stream is below– read up from the bottom:

Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

Breaking for lunch

21m Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

We have so much work to do — Council rededicates itself to this work.

21m Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

Council member Bettye Jo Harris just spoke — a cry from the heart from a grandmother about her fears for her grandson, a young black man.

28m Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

The rest of it 14 Respect each group’s working on its own stuff 15 Support our allies 16 Act as allies with no conditions attached.

28m Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

14 Respect each group’s working on its own stuff 15 Support our allies 16 Act as allies with no conditions attached.

29m Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

11 Accept being corrected with humility 12 Stand in solidarity with the marginalized 13 Honor the risks taken by the marginalized

30m Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

7 Use appropriate language 8 Confront inappropriate language 9 Ask questions don’t assume 10 Take risks

34m Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

4 Build relationships with the marginalized 5 work to equalize and share power 6 work for policies that support the marginalized

35m Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

Ann Fontaine’s How to be an ally 1 listen without judgment 2 seek to learn from our allies 3 identify and work to change prejudices

58m Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

Council now reflecting on how our anti-racism work has or has not affected our relationships on the Council and our work.

1h Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

table discussions now

1h Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

Let these reflections undergird our work at this meeting.

1h Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

We need to explore the racism right in front of us.

1h Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lack” — Lack did not know her cells were being taken, much less used by researchers all over the world.

1h Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

Tuskegee Experiment was systemic racism.

1h Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

Two thirds of people serving life sentences are non-white.

1h Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

Banking system is another, especially in marketing of subprime loans.

1h Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

Criminal justice system is example of systemic racism.

1h Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

Reviewing definitions of individual racism, institutional racism, systemic racism

1h Katie Sherrod ? @KatieSherrod3

Clear that Council is not finished with budget discussion — group is organizing to send message as KJS suggested. More as it develops.