I
have a new appreciation for why it is difficult for an institution to reform
itself.
I
also have realized anew why it will be the “lower” levels of the church that
will renew, reform, and reenergize this sacred body.
Throughout
this General Convention, I have served on Committee 5 – Governance &
Structure. The work of that committee
has been very demanding, with meetings each morning and each evening. Some of those meetings were specially-called
meetings, conflicting with other scheduled events and obligations. That work continues but, sadly and
reluctantly, I have removed myself from its deliberations.
There
are good and gifted people of well-meaning intentions on the committee. Many of them are very wise and know the
structure and its many nuances very well.
Some are leaders in the church today.
But
therein lays the problem. I reached my
limit after two-hours of meeting last night (again, a specially-called meeting,
not on the schedule). We had met for
nearly four hours that morning, going to great lengths to hammer-out the
essential principals of a comprehensive resolution. A drafting group was to devise a resolution
which the committee could approve that night.
However,
last night we slowly – but not methodically – went through the lengthy
resolution. After two hours with no
breaks, we were less than one-fifth of the way through the resolution. Less than one-fifth of the committee was
deeply immersed in wordsmithing the
resolution – going sentence-by-sentence through the lengthy resolution,
debating, discussing ad nauseum the
legal fine points of words or phrases.
Some
30 members of the committee were sitting quietly as five members attempted to
put a very fine point on each sentence.
One
thing I have learned in my 28 years of ordination is that two of the most
precious resources we have are time
and energy. The work of this committee was not good
stewardship of either the time or energy of its members. But, I should say, I could be wrong. That is my perspective.
I
had watched, since the beginning of convention, how the committee had
squandered precious time and failed to reach decisions on important matters on
which it was expected to act. Time began to get away.
I
was honored to be appointed to the Governance & Structure Committee by the
Reverend Dr. Gay Jennings, President of the House of Deputies. President Jennings appointed many gifted
members to this committee, and I suspect she felt good – and maybe still does –about
her appointments. However, we were not
good stewards of the task before us.
Two
things occur to me:
·
The
task presented to the Committee on Governance & Structure was a daunting
and maybe impossible one. We were
expected to take the intricate work of the Task Force on Reimagining the
Episcopal Church – done over three years of intense focus – and the massive
structure of the Episcopal Church, and then redesign it in just a few days. This was with a committee – bishops and
deputies – of 45 people.
·
The
structure of General Convention – with its many interests, motives and voices –
is not well-suited to reimagine
itself. The many canons, rules of order,
personalities, and other variables make this undertaking impossible. It cannot streamline itself. It cannot make itself more efficient. Unless
there is a change of heart, or
it is willing to let go of some sacred idols. Nothing will happen until
that time comes.
The
report of the committee is set for a special order of business at 5:00 p.m.
this afternoon. No doubt, there will be
lengthy and detailed resolutions offered.
I suspect, though, that the floor of General Convention will become
another wordsmithing exercise and
that whatever ultimately emerges from the bicameral legislative process will
remind us of the futility of an institution reimagining itself.
The genuine, transformative renewal of the church will come from congregations, dioceses, and provinces. To think that it can come from anywhere else, especially the top-down, is folly.
More
later.
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