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[Anglican Communion News Service] The final meeting of the Anglican-Methodist International Commission for Unity in Mission (AMICUM) took place Feb. 22 to March 1, in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, hosted by the Anglican Communion. Members of the Commission worshiped together morning and evening, and the Eucharist was celebrated according to both traditions.

The Commission has after five years completed the phase of work mandated to it by the World Methodist Council and the Anglican Communion, and has now prepared a report for both bodies. As the last three words in its title suggest (Unity in Mission), AMICUM aims to foster the unity of the Church so that the Church can engage more fully in God’s mission of love to the world. The report begins and ends with biblical reflections, on our Lord’s prayer for the unity of his people that all might believe, and on the radical nature of Jesus’ ministry as a mandate for mission.

AMICUM has set out key points of agreement concerning the interchangeability of ordained ministries, and the awareness of each Communion’s need of the other. It sees a common, interchangeable ministry as crucial in making the unity of the Church visible.

The report analyses the place of the apostolic tradition and the nature of the oversight (episkope) in the life of the Church. It explores the history of oversight, and the way it has been exercised in the Methodist and Anglican traditions, and the way it is exercised today.

AMICUM has closely monitored dialogues and agreements around the world, and has drawn lessons and recommendations from these which it now offers to both Communions. The report shows that each tradition has affirmed the authenticity of the other’s ministries, and encourages churches that have not yet entered into mutual agreements to do so.

A toolkit is provided for churches wanting to move into closer co-operation, giving questions for consideration to enable this process to advance.

AMICUM is recommending that the World Methodist Council and the Anglican Consultative Council establish an Anglican-Methodist International Coordinating Committee to oversee and foster relationships between Methodist and Anglican member churches.

The Report will be published during 2014.

The Commission is grateful for the warm hospitality given by the Diocese of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, at the Parish of St John’s Ocho Rios, by the United Theological College, where the Commission worshiped, and by Bishop Howard Gregory. At this meeting AMICUM met the President of the Jamaica Methodist Church, the Rev Everard Galbraith, and the Rev Dr George Mulrain who gave a lecture on Anglican and Methodist relationships in the Caribbean and the Americas.

Present at the meeting were,

Methodists

• The Rev. Professor Emeritus Robert Gribben (Uniting Church in Australia) (Co-Chair)
• Dr. Elizabeth Amoah (Methodist Church, Ghana)
• The Rev. Dr. Wong Tik Wah (Methodist Church in Malaysia)
• The Rev. Professor Sarah Lancaster (The United Methodist Church)
• The Rev. Gareth Powell (The Methodist Church) (Co-Secretary)

Anglicans

• The Rt. Rev. Harold Miller (The Church of Ireland) (Co-Chair)
• The Rev. Canon Professor Paul Avis (The Church of England)
• The Rev. Garth Minott (The Church in the Province of the West Indies)
• The Rt. Rev. Dr. P Surya Prakash (The Church of South India)

Lutheran World Federation Observer

• The Rt. Rev. Walter Jagucki (Great Britain)

Staff

• The Rev. Canon Dr. Alyson Barnett-Cowan (Co-Secretary) (Anglican Communion Office)
• Mr. Neil Vigers (Anglican Communion Office)

[Episcopal News Service – Linthicum Heights, Maryland] El Consejo Ejecutivo de la Iglesia Episcopal  (Executive Council) se pronunció el 27 de febrero contra la violencia armada y el tráfico de las armas de fuego, e instó a los episcopales a “arrepentirse del papel que hemos desempeñado en la glorificación y trivialización de la violencia”.

La resolución “en verdad ascendió desde la base”, dijo Byron Rushing, vicepresidente de la Cámara de Diputados, durante una conferencia de prensa a mediados del último día de la reunión del Consejo del 25 al 27 de febrero en el Centro de Conferencias del Instituto Marítimo de esta ciudad.

La resolución expresa “profundo pesar por la epidemia de la violencia armada” e insta a los episcopales a laborar en pro de “respuestas sociales globales que busquen desarraigar los ciclos de violencia que alimentan los delitos con armas de fuego”. [Esta resolución] viene a reafirmar varias resoluciones anteriores de la Convención General, incluida la Resolución 2000-D004 (Resolution 2000-D004) que expresa “la profunda preocupación de la Iglesia acerca del repetido uso de pistolas y armas de asalto,  de fácil obtención, por niños y contra niños”, y le pedía a los episcopales que buscaran formas de elaborar estrategias comunitarias y de crear santuarios para los niños “de manera que todos puedan llegar a identificar y apreciar, a ellos mismos y a los demás, como los valiosos hijos de Dios que son, y que puedan llegar a conocer la paz en sus vidas y a crear la paz para las generaciones futuras”.

El consejo también reafirmó la Resolución 1991-D088  (Resolution 1991-D088) de la Convención General que convoca a la Iglesia a promover “una política pública de adecuada financiación para brindar servicios comunitarios completos, atención hospitalaria e investigación sobre las causas y el tratamiento de las enfermedades mentales”. La resolución del Consejo dice que los servicios para la atención de la salud mental deberían estar disponibles y ser accesibles “sin estigma, en una variedad de escenarios”, y deberían estar a la disposición de “lo que han sufrido traumas por verse expuestos a la violencia o a ambientes violentos”.

La Resolución 1997-C035 de la Convención General (Resolution 1997-C035) es también notable por su llamado a imponer restricciones en la venta, la propiedad y el uso de armas de fuego, particularmente las que pueden ocultarse con facilidad, y la aplicación de mayores restricciones sobre las armas [que se llevan] ocultas. El Consejo también ratificó la Resolución 2000-B007  (Resolution 2000-B007), que reconoce que la violencia es alentada y activada por la presencia de las armas de fuego y le pide a los episcopales que aboguen por la remoción de pistolas y fusiles de asalto de los hogares, comunidades y vehículos.

La resolución del Consejo insta a los funcionarios electos a convertir el tráfico de armas en un delito federal y a encomendar a los agentes de la ley a que investiguen y procesen a los compradores ilegales, a los traficantes de armas y a todas las redes criminales”.

Finalmente, la resolución insta a los episcopales a “examinar nuestras propias actitudes culturales hacia la violencia mediante campañas en congregaciones y comunidades [y] a arrepentirse del papel que hemos desempeñado en la glorificación y trivialización de la violencia y a comprometernos con otra actitud”.

El Rdo. Stan Runnels, miembro del Consejo proveniente de [la diócesis de] Misuri Occidental, quien votó a favor de la resolución, dijo antes de la votación que la declaración era “de algunas formas prudentemente benévola” y él le pidió al comité de Promoción y Redes de Conexión del Consejo que hubiese futuras resoluciones que fuesen “más específicas, más directas, más precisas” en abordar los problemas  “que son más pertinentes a la violencia de las armas de fuego”, tales como la proliferación de las armas de asalto, los barriletes [o “peines”] de alta capacidad y la concentración de grandes cantidades de municiones.

“Ahora mismo en este país los patos están más seguros que los seres humanos”, dijo, porque al cazador de patos sólo le permiten cinco cartuchos en su escopeta.

En otras decisiones del 27 de febrero, el Consejo también:

* Convino en un enfoque para formular una propuesta presupuestaria para el trienio 2016-2018. El enfoque se basa en la consideración de que el presupuesto es una “declaración económica de la misión”, dijo la Rda. Susan Snook, miembro del comité de Finanzas para la Misión. Los comités, comisiones, agencias y juntas de la Iglesia (committees, commissions, agencies and boards) (CCABs, sigla en inglés) serían consultados para darle  cuerpo a la visión y prioridades del presupuesto.

El plan también propone que se tome una decisión a tiempo sobre la fórmula usada para determinar cuánto dinero se les pediría a las diócesis como contribución a la financiación del presupuesto, y que se colabore con la Cámara de Obispos en un esfuerzo para aumentar el compromiso diocesano con esa solicitud.

Un borrador del presupuesto del Consejo se le dará a conocer a la Iglesia en octubre de 2014, de manera que los miembros de la Iglesia puedan hacer sus comentarios, y sus reacciones puedan ser tomadas en consideración antes de que la propuesta presupuestaria esté terminada en febrero de 2015.

La estrategia presupuestaria sugiere que el Comité de Finanzas para la Misión (FFM, sigla en inglés) y el Comité Permanente Conjunto sobre Programa, Presupuesto y Finanzas (PB&F, sigla en inglés), los cuales reciben la propuesta presupuestaria del Consejo Ejecutivo, deben reunirse juntos al menos una vez durante este proceso. El PB&F considera la propuesta presupuestaria del Consejo mientras prepara el presupuesto trienal para presentárselo a la Convención.

El Comité de FFM convino en octubre de 2012 en que el proceso presupuestario debe cambiarse, aunque un equipo de trabajo especial sobre la estructura de la Iglesia sin duda discutiría los problemas del presupuesto. Ese equipo de trabajo se reunió por primera vez a principios de este mes y debe informarle a toda la Iglesia en noviembre de 2014 y presentar sus recomendaciones en la reunión de la Convención General en Salt Lake City en 2015.

Sin embargo, el proceso del Consejo Ejecutivo de elaborar una propuesta para el presupuesto 2016-2018 debe marchar pareja con el quehacer de ese grupo porque la Regla Conjunta II.10.c.ii de la Convención General dice que el Consejo debe presentar su propuesta presupuestaria al PB&F no menos de cuatro meses antes del comienzo de la Convención General.

Los miembros del Consejo dieron un primer paso en su nuevo proceso el 27 de mayo cuando acordaron basar el [trienio] 2016-2018 en el contexto de las Cinco Marcas de la Misión de la Comunión Anglicana (Anglican Communion Five Marks of Mission). El presupuesto también estará disponible en un formato que identifica los gastos corporativos, canónicos y de programa.

* Oyó comentarios de la mayoría de sus comités acerca de la necesidad de continuar el empeño de ayudar a la Iglesia Episcopal a convertirse en una Iglesia antirracista. La Rda. Gay Clark Jennings, presidente de la Cámara de Diputados y vicepresidente del Consejo, destacó en la conferencia de prensa que los miembros del Consejo suelen participar en ejercicios antirracistas. Rushing dijo que “la gente no pretende resolver cuáles serán las próximas y mejores medidas a tomar al hacer esa labor, pero ciertamente esto sigue siendo una prioridad de la Iglesia Episcopal”.

* Disolvió su Comité de Estrategia de Archivos, el Comité Asesor sobre Jubileo y el Comité sobre Planificación Estratégica, y disolvió también el Comité sobre VIH/SIDA (HIV/AIDS), y transfirió cualquier tarea pendiente a la Comisión Permanente de Salud (Standing Commission on Health). Renovó también sus comités sobre Responsabilidad Social Corporativa; Ministerios Indígenas; Condición de la Mujer; Ciencia, Tecnología y Fe; y el Comité de Préstamos de Justicia Económica ( Corporate Social Responsibility; Indigenous Ministries; the Status of Women; Science, Technology and Faith; and the Economic Justice Loan Committee). Según sus Estatutos (Artículo VIII.2.d), la duración de los comités del Consejo caduca en la segunda Convención General después de su creación, a menos que el Consejo especifique otra cosa.

– La Rda. Mary Frances Schjonberg es redactora y reportera de Episcopal News Service.

Traducido por Vicente Echerri

[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs] Episcopal Church House of Deputies President the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings and Vice President the Hon. Byron Rushing have issued the following letter to deputies on gun violence.

February 28, 2013

Dear Deputies:

In the weeks since the horrific shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the debate about guns in American life and culture has been renewed. Advocates for stricter gun restrictions vow not to let the issue be eclipsed by the next news cycle, and new coalitions of faith leaders and community activists demand that all of us, especially our children, be safe from guns in our homes, communities, and streets.

Since the day when twenty-eight people died in Newtown, more than 2300 people in the United States have been killed by guns. Far too many of the dead are poor, young people of color. They have been dying for years, too often unnoticed, on the streets of Chicago, Baltimore, New Orleans, Newark and scores of other cities and towns. We have not been galvanized as we should have been by the cries of their anguished families and friends. As we work to end gun violence now, we must repent of not having done it sooner.

At its meeting that concluded yesterday, the Executive Council passed a resolution that reaffirms the General Convention’s longstanding support of restrictions on the sale, use and ownership of guns and its commitment to adequate funding for mental health services. The resolution also allows The Episcopal Church to join other faith-based advocates in working to make gun trafficking a federal crime. This will give law enforcement officials the power to investigate and prosecute straw purchasers, gun traffickers and their networks. Most of all, it calls on all Episcopalians to work toward ending the cycles of violence that fuel the epidemic of gun crime.

In what remains of Lent, we hope that deputies will help lead the church to fulfill this resolution.  In the words of the Executive Council resolution, let us “examine our own cultural attitudes toward violence through efforts in our own congregations and communities, to repent of our own roles in the glorification and trivialization of violence, and to commit ourselves to another way.”

Faithfully,

The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings      The Hon. Byron Rushing
President, House of Deputies          Vice-President, House of Deputies

 

La prensa de Buenos Aires destacó la semana pasada la comparecencia ante un juez de la líder de las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, Hebe de Bonafini, en relación con la investigación de un millonario desvío de fondos públicos destinados a un programa de ayuda humanitaria de la organización. Bonafini dijo que ella no tenía conocimiento del fraude y responsabilizó a sus ex empleados. El fraude se calcula en unos 250 millones de dólares. Bonafini es madre de dos hijos desaparecidos durante la última dictadura militar (1976-1983).

La situación nacional de México se agrava por la persistente violencia que se evidencia en varias partes del país. El número de asesinatos sigue siendo noticia de todos los días sin que las autoridades puedan disminuirlos substancialmente. A esos problemas se añade ahora la acusación de Elba Esther Gordillo, de 68 años de edad, la poderosa líder del sindicato de maestros en México que fue arrestada la semana pasada por usar recursos del sindicato para cubrir gastos en una lujosa tienda, adquirir propiedades y pagar cirugías plásticas. Se cree que la cantidad malversada asciende a 156 millones de dólares. Desde hace tiempo llamaban la atención sus cuantiosos recursos que contrastaban drásticamente con los bajos salarios de los maestros.

Natalia Tsarkova, joven pintora de origen ruso ha sido comisionada por el Vaticano para hacer el retrato oficial del papa Benedicto XVI. Varias de sus pinturas se exhiben en los palacios del Vaticano. Preguntada sobre este nuevo encargo la pintora, miembro de la Iglesia Ortodoxa Rusa, dijo que tratará de “capturar la realidad física y la esencia de su vida espiritual” como lo ha hecho en otras ocasiones. Ya el papa ha posado dos veces para ella.

Miguel Díaz-Canel es el nuevo vicepresidente de Cuba y se convierte así en la segunda figura de la cúpula del gobierno. Con 52 años de edad es la primera persona nacida después el triunfo de la revolución que ocupa un cargo en la jerarquía gobernante. El Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos dijo en un saludo protocolar que esperaba el día en que los funcionarios “fueran electos por el pueblo en forma democrática”.

La Fundación Niwano para la Paz de Noruega otorgará su máximo galardón al obispo Gunnar Stalsett, obispo emérito de Oslo en la Iglesia de Noruega, en reconocimiento de su extraordinaria y persistente labor por la paz. La ceremonia de entrega de premios tendrá lugar en Tokio el 16 de mayo. Su vida y su carrera ejemplifican cabalmente qué se necesita y qué se puede hacer para alcanzar una paz justa y duradera, dice el certificado. En su infancia, Stalsett fue testigo de la pobreza y de la discriminación étnica. Fue también secretario general de la Federación Luterana Mundial y obispo de Oslo.

En un largo discurso de adiós, pronunciado ante más de 50 mil personas en la Plaza de San Pedro, el obispo de Roma reconoció que a lo largo de sus casi ocho años de papado tuvo momentos positivos pero también afrontó tempestades. Según la agencia mexicana de noticias, Notimex, en su última audiencia pública, Benedicto XVI aclaró que su decisión de renunciar al pontificado “no significa bajarme de la cruz, ni regresar a una vida privada, pues cuando acepté el cargo en 2005 sabía que iba a servir a la iglesia para siempre”.

En un ambiente festivo y triste a la vez la agencia de noticias informa que sacerdotes, monjas de diversas nacionalidades y con distintos colores de hábitos, familias enteras con niños, jóvenes y ancianos llegaron hasta la gran plaza de San Pedro para despedirse de Benedicto XVI portando banderas además de mantas y carteles con frases de agradecimiento, informó la agencia.

Desde que se supo de su renuncia se ha estado especulando sobre quién será el próximo papa. Algunos dicen que es hora de que haya un pontífice africano o latinoamericano pero esto lo decidirán en pocos días los cardenales reunidos en cónclave. Algunos observadores admiten que “todo es una sorpresa” y que en ocasiones anteriores los vaticinios han fallado. En Londres se están haciendo apuestas en efectivo.

Siguiendo el principio bíblico de Génesis que “no es bueno que el hombre esté solo”, una empresa aeronáutica de Estados Unidos está planeando enviar a Marte a un matrimonio para el año 2018. La pareja no tendría que desembarcar en el planeta rojo sino llegar hasta 100 millas del mismo para hacer observaciones científicas.

VERDAD. Los cielos proclaman la gloria de Dios, y la expansión anuncia la obra de sus manos. Salmo 19:1

[Episcopal Diocese of California] More than two dozen bishops of the Episcopal Church have filed two briefs in U.S. Supreme Court supporting civil marriage equality for same-sex couples. At the invitation of the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, bishop of the Diocese of California and Christopher J. Hayes, chancellor of the diocese, bishops across the Episcopal Church joined a broad range of religious groups, organizations, and leaders in filings in two historic cases pending in the Supreme Court.

The bishops represent dioceses located in the states of California, Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

In one filing, bishops in California unanimously supported a challenge to the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot initiative that ended access to civil marriage for same-sex couples in state. They joined Episcopal bishops in nine other states and Washington, D.C., 29 bishops in all, representing 23 out of 24 dioceses in civil jurisdictions with marriage equality, in supporting a second brief challenging the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which prevents the U.S. government from recognizing same-sex civil marriages in their dioceses.

In 2006, the Episcopal Church General Convention of the adopted a resolution calling on federal, state, and local governments to provide legal protection for same-sex couples and opposed the adoption of laws like Proposition 8 that prohibit same-sex civil marriages or civil unions. The 2009 General Convention authorized “bishops, particularly those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage, civil unions or domestic partnerships are legal, [to] provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this Church.”

The 2012 General Convention called on Congress to repeal DOMA and similar laws.

The bishops who have joined these briefs have engaged in a generous pastoral response, many by authorizing the priests of their diocese to officiate at same-sex civil marriages. Other amici joining the Episcopal bishops on both briefs include the Rabbinical Assembly, which is the international association of conservative rabbis; the Union for Reform Judaism; the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, the professional association of Reconstructionist rabbis; the Unitarian Universalist Association; and the United Church of Christ among others. Groups within the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American, Society of Friends, and The United Methodist Church also signed the brief.

The Episcopal bishops signing the briefs include: In the Proposition 8 case, Hollingsworth v. Perry: the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, bishop of California; the Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves, bishop of El Camino Real; the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, bishop of Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce, bishop suffragan of Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Mary D. Glasspool, bishop suffragan of Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Barry L. Beisner, bishop of Northern California; the Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes, bishop of San Diego; and the Rt. Rev. Chester L. Talton, bishop of San Joaquin. These bishops all serve the Episcopal Church in the State of California.

In the DOMA case, United States v. Windsor: the Rt. Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, bishop of California; the Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves, bishop of El Camino Real; the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Diane Jardine Bruce, Bishop Suffragan of Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Mary D. Glasspool, bishop suffragan of Los Angeles; the Rt. Rev. Barry L. Beisner, bishop of Northern California; the Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes, bishop of San Diego; the Rt. Rev. Chester L. Talton, bishop of San Joaquin; the Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas, bishop of Connecticut; the Rt. Rev. Laura J. Ahrens, bishop suffragan of Connecticut; the Rt. Rev. James E. Curry, bishop suffragan of Connecticut; the Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of Washington (D.C.); the Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, bishop of Iowa; the Rt. Rev. Stephen T. Lane, bishop of Maine; the Rt. Rev. Eugene Taylor Sutton, bishop of Maryland; the Rt. Rev. Joe Goodwin Burnett, assistant bishop of Maryland; the Rt. Rev. James Joseph Shand, bishop of Easton (Md.); the Rt. Rev. M. Thomas Shaw SSJE, bishop of Massachusetts; the Rt. Rev. Gayle E. Harris, bishop suffragan of Massachusetts; the Rt. Rev. Douglas J. Fisher, bishop of Western Massachusetts; the Rt. Rev. A. Robert Hirschfeld, bishop of New Hampshire; the Rt. Rev. Andrew M.L. Dietsche, bishop of New York; the Rt. Rev. Lawrence C. Provenzano, bishop of Long Island (N.Y.); the Rt. Rev. Gladstone B. Adams III, bishop of Central New York; the Rt. Rev. Prince G. Singh, bishop of Rochester (N.Y.); the Rt. Rev. R. William Franklin, bishop of Western New York; the Rt. Rev. Thomas C. Ely, bishop of Vermont; the Rt. Rev. Gregory H. Rickel, Bishop of Olympia (Wash.); and the Rt. Rev. James E. Waggoner, Jr., bishop of Spokane (with respect to the portion of the diocese located in the State of Washington).

[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs] Bishops of The Episcopal Church will gather for the House of Bishops spring retreat meeting March 8 – 12 at Kanuga Conference Center in NC.

The theme of the gathering will be Godly Leadership in the Midst of Loss. Meditations will be offered by various bishops on different aspects of loss. There will be daily meditations, reflection, daily worship and, at the concluding Eucharist, the bishops will renew their vows.

The bishops will gather for discussion on topics such as gun violence, and a business meeting will be held on March 12.

As in previous years, the spring meeting of the House of Bishops is a retreat and therefore not open to the media. Daily Accounts will be issued. There will be an over-the-phone media conference at the conclusion of the meeting on Tuesday, March 12. Pre-registration required; to register contact Neva Rae Fox, publicaffairs@episcopalchurch.org.

[Anglican Communion News Service] Anglicans from the Diocese of Botswana on Feb. 24 celebrated the diocese’s 40th anniversary and bade farewell to their bishop in a special thanksgiving service held at the Holy Cross Cathedral in Botswana’s capital city, Gaborone.

Thousands of jubilant Christians and many high level dignitaries, including the president of Botswana, His Excellency Lt. General Ian Khama Seretse Khama, and Archbishop of York John Sentamu attended the event.

“The church is called to challenge violence, injustice and oppression,” Sentamu said during his sermon. “We are also called to work for peace and reconciliation. Jesus died on the cross because he was challenging injustice, violence and oppression.”

He added: “All the power given to Jesus, in heaven and on earth has been given to the church to set free the oppressed and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Outgoing Bishop Trevor Mwamba wished the diocese well as he leaves for the United Kingdom. He said: “In your love and generosity, I have been transformed. I am much richer than [when] I came and may the Lord strengthen, guide and inspire you for the next 40 years.”

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, in a message read on his behalf by Sentamu, congratulated the Diocese of Botswana on its achievement.

He said, “This is a significant moment in the life of the Diocese of Botswana. It’s an opportunity not only to look back with thanks to all those who have contributed to make the Anglican Church in Botswana to be where it is today but also to celebrate the role of the church.”

“May the Diocese of Botswana continue to grow from strength to strength. I pray that you all be richly blessed, both as individual disciples and as Christian communities, as you seek to follow Christ and witness to the gospel in the world today.”

The first bishop of the diocese, the Rt. Rev. Shannon Mallory, described it as a “momentous” occasion. “It’s one of the most wonderful moments of my life,” he said. “It’s a fulfillment of a dream to see the diocese thriving as it is; my heart is overflowing with joy and thanksgiving to see the cathedral filled with people from all parts of the world.”

Pointing to huge trees within the cathedral yard, Mallory added: “It’s just hard to believe that it has been 40 years. All these trees were tiny little things when I left and this gives me a thrill that I never thought I would have.”

Young people turned out in large numbers. Ben Chebani, a young congregant at the cathedral who had drifted away from the church and later came back, said, “I guess this is the nature of the Anglicans. There is so much vibe and life.”

“I had grown out of the Anglican Church but I was challenged and renewed myself and came back to the church. Many people who are here today had gone to far away places but could just not afford to miss this event,” he said.

Archbishop Albert Chama of the Church of the Province Central Africa also joined other Christians in congratulating Botswana Anglicans. “It’s a great joy for us to join you in the great celebration of the 40th Anniversary of this diocese. We thank God for your ministry and missions.”

The service, which was also attended by the Rev. Canon Kenneth Kearon, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, included the dedication of large stained glass windows in the Lady Chapel of the cathedral honoring the Anglican Communion.

[Lambeth Palace] The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, is delighted to announce the appointment of the Reverend Dr Jo Bailey Wells as his new Chaplain, based at Lambeth Palace. Her primary focus will be for the spiritual life at Lambeth Palace and for supporting the Archbishop’s pastoral and liturgical ministry.

Speaking about her new position, Dr Jo Bailey Wells said:

“I am honoured and delighted to be joining Archbishop Justin’s team at Lambeth as he takes on a heavy but exciting mantle. I look forward to supporting him personally and pastorally – above all by praying for his flourishing in that role – and so to facilitating the wider flourishing of God’s people in God’s church.”

The Reverend Dr Jo Bailey Wells was ordained in 1995. Her ministry thus far has focused on nurturing faith, mentoring vocations teaching Old Testament and training leadership – in Cambridge, in the United States and in South Sudan. Previous positions include Dean of Clare College Cambridge and most recently Director of the Anglican Episcopal House of Studies at Duke Divinity School in North Carolina. She holds degrees from Cambridge, Minnesota and Durham and has written two books, God’s Holy People (Sheffield: 2000) and Isaiah: A Devotional Commentary for Study and Preaching (BRF: 2006).

Speaking about her appointment, the Archbishop said:

“Jo is an outstanding speaker, scholar and pastor, with a very wide experience of the Anglican world. I am delighted that she has been agreed to come and work with me at Lambeth.”

[Episcopal Public Policy Network] Before he became one of the thousands of unaccompanied immigrant children who left their homes last year to make the solitary journey across some of the world’s most dangerous borders in search of safety, Mario was a high school student in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. San Pedro Sula is one of the most violent cities in one of the most dangerous countries in the world, and at age 16 Mario found himself a recruiting target for one of many local gangs. He tried staying home from school to avoid the gang’s recruiters, but the recruitment strategy soon escalated to threats of physical violence. Unwilling to join the gang, yet unable to avoid recruitment and imminent violence, Mario decided to risk his life in search of a future by traveling alone from Honduras to the United States southern border, where he was apprehended by Customs and Border Patrol.

While blame often falls on migrants themselves when violence occurs at our southern border, the truth is that violence at the border is not just a consequence of a broken migration system but also a fundamental cause. Violence throughout Central America pushes children like Mario to risk the almost certain violence of undocumented migration to the United States for the certain violence of home. And he is not alone. Last year more than 14,000 children made the same calculation, and it is estimated that this number will rise to nearly 20,000 in 2013.

This rise in children arriving at our border fleeing violence comes at a time when overall apprehensions of migrants at the southern border are at a 40-year low, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. In the ongoing debate over how our broken immigration system should be reformed, this fact has been cited as evidence that further militarization of our southern border must be the first step. This Lenten season, however, as we reflect upon the intersection of violence and public responsibility, and as we remember the 40 days and 40 nights Jesus himself spent in the desert, let us consider the possibility of a border that responds to human need.

Anabel left her two young children in Guatemala in order to travel to the United States in search of a better life. Like the majority of unauthorized immigrants seeking entry into the U.S., she relied on a human smuggler or “coyote” to help guide her through the deadly dessert between the U.S. and Mexico. When they arrived in an isolated area, her guides beat her, raped her, stole her supplies, and left her in the dessert to die. She survived by drinking water from cattle basins and was eventually found, near death, by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. Agents held her overnight, locked in a single cell, and denied her requests to go to the hospital or receive any treatment for her injuries and rising fever. Her wounds were cataloged the next day in a Santa Cruz County sheriff’s report, but she was never asked if she had been sexually assaulted. Anabel was only able to receive hospital treatment after her deportation to Nogales, Mexico.

Through Anabel’s story, we see again that violence is both a cause and a consequence of migration. Violence forces migrants from their homes, while the increased militarization of our border and criminalization of all migrants under our immigration laws creates a “funnel effect “, pushing desperate migrants into the Sonoran desert where they are vulnerable to attack, rape, trafficking, and death.

In 2010, the members of the House of Bishops traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona, to bear witness to the complexities of the border, to speak with the communities affected by migration and violence, and to reflect upon the necessity to balance security with the migratory nature of our world. As our Bishops wrestled with these tensions 3 years ago, our Senators and Representatives wrestle with them today, as they consider comprehensive immigration reform. As our lawmakers seek a solution to our nation’s immigration system and as we reflect upon the violence we see in our communities and in our world, let us pray for peace at our border. Let us reflect upon the suffering faced by those who cross the dessert and pray for a solution rooted in the respect for the dignity of all people, on all sides of this issue and on both sides of the border.

Prayer for the Human Family from the Book of Common Prayer:

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work though our struggle and confusion to accomplish you purposes on ear; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Photo: Lambeth Palace

[Lambeth Palace] The Archbishop of Canterbury paid homage to the Queen at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday 26th February in a ceremony dating back to the Reformation in the 16th century.

The Most Reverend Justin Welby made an oath to acknowledge Her Majesty to be Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

The Archbishop was accompanied by the Lord Chancellor Chris Grayling and Clerk of the Closet the Rt Revd Christopher Hill, Bishop of Guildford.

[World Council of Churches] The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit expressed “profound thanks” on 27 February for the ministry and witness of Pope Benedict XVI as he officially completed his service as head of the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict had announced his departure earlier in the month, effective 28 February.

“On the occasion of your resignation from the Apostolic See of Rome and the Petrine ministry, we in the ecumenical movement pause to recall your many contributions to the life of the Church and the world, and to wish you well as your ministry of prayer and meditation continues,” said Tveit in his letter.

Remembering Benedict’s engagement with the WCC Commission on Faith and Order as a Catholic professor of theology in 1971, Tveit honoured Benedict’s contributions to Christian unity.

“In looking from an ecumenical perspective over your entire service to the church, the World Council of Churches is grateful for your devotion to the quest for Christian unity as a pattern for the unity of all humanity,” he stated.

In his letter, Tveit mentioned Benedict’s “partnership in ministry” from which, he said, the WCC has benefited. He also expressed thanks for the pope’s support to Catholic representatives in WCC events, the Joint Working Group between the Roman Catholic Church and the WCC, the Faith and Order Commission, the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism, as well as in independent initiatives such as the Global Christian Forum.

Remembering his meetings with Benedict XVI in Rome, 2010, and at the Day of Prayer for Peace in the World in Assisi, 2011, Tveit said, “Our conversations have left me with a conviction of the importance of strengthening already strong relations that enable Christians of many backgrounds to pray together, work together and rededicate ourselves to unity in faith.”

Read WCC general secretary’s letter to Pope Benedict XVI

More information on cooperation between the WCC and the Vatican

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway.

[Episcopal News Service – Linthicum Heights, Maryland] During its Feb. 25-27 meeting here, the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council adopted several resolutions, which are summarized below.

Advocacy & Networking for Mission and Finances for Mission

Direct Treasurer as to how to vote on a series of shareholder resolutions in keeping with Episcopal Church policies as previously stated by General Convention (A&N001).

Direct Treasurer as to abstain on shareholder resolutions dealing with genetically modified organisms and labeling of products that contain genetically modified ingredients (explanation notes that General Convention has not articulated a policy on genetically modified organisms beyond calling for a study of the issues) (A&N002).

Instructs Treasurer to vote in favor of all shareholder resolutions asking companies to review and amend criteria for (i) investment in; (ii) continued operations in; and, (iii) withdrawal from specific high-risk countries (A&N003).

Express profound sorrow at the epidemic of gun violence, and urge Episcopalians to work toward comprehensive social responses that seek to stem the cycles of violence that fuel gun crime; reaffirm General Convention Resolution 2000-D004 expressing “deep concern about the repeated use of easily available hand guns and assault weapons by and against children, and call upon Episcopalians to seek ways to develop community strategies and create sanctuaries for our children, so that all may come to identify and value themselves and others as the precious children of God that they are, and that they may come to know peace in their lives and to create peace for future generations”; reaffirm General Convention Resolution 1991-D088 calling the church to advocate for “public policy and adequate funding to provide comprehensive community-based services, hospital care and research into the causes and treatment of mental illness” and emphasizes that mental-health services should be available and accessible without stigma in a variety of settings, including those who have suffered trauma from exposure to violence or violent environments; support public-policy initiatives, such as the bipartisan “Excellence in Mental Health Care Act” pending in Congress that seek to allow community-based mental healthcare providers the same opportunities to access federal funding as allowed to providers of physical healthcare; ­­reaffirm General Convention Resolution 1997-C035  urging restrictions on sale, ownership and use of firearms, particularly those that are easily concealable, and enactment of tighter restrictions on concealed weapons; reaffirm General Convention Resolution 2000-B007 acknowledging that violence in our communities is encouraged and enabled by the presence of guns and calling for Episcopalians to advocate for the removal of handguns and assault weapons from homes, communities and vehicles; urge elected officials to enact a clear and effective statute making gun trafficking a federal crime and empower law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute straw purchasers, gun traffickers and their entire criminal networks; urge Episcopalians to examine our own cultural attitudes toward violence through efforts in congregations and communities, “to repent of our own roles in the glorification and trivialization of violence, and to commit ourselves to another way” (A&N004).

Affirms church’s commitment to pay equity in total compensation, including benefits, and non-discriminatory employment practices for women; acknowledge that the sin of racism is present in discriminatory employment practices which cause Black, Latina, and Native American/Indigenous women to fall below all women’s pay relative to men’s pay, endorse the observance of Equal Pay Day on April 9, encourage all Episcopalians to strive to transform the workforce and economic systems that perpetuate unequal pay (A&N005).

Affirm the prophetic witness of 77th General Convention in calling for a just peace for Israelis and Palestinians through Resolution B019, which, building upon 30 years of resolutions, declares “this Church’s support for a negotiated two-state solution in which a secure and universally recognized State of Israel lives alongside a free, viable, and secure state for the Palestinian people, with a shared Jerusalem as the capital of both,” and establishes strategies for the pursuit of that witness; affirms and celebrates recent recommendation of council Economic Justice Loan Committee to invest $500,000 in the Bank of Palestine in response to recommendation of Resolution B019 (the first such positive investment made by this church in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territories) and urge dioceses and other church entities prayerfully to consider similar investments; affirm that it is the church’s policy to engage in constructive corporate engagement policies toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict adopted by the Executive Council in October 2005 and implemented by council Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility in the intervening years; affirm that the church does not support boycott, divestment, and economic sanctions against the state of Israel nor any application of the church’s corporate engagement policies toward such ends; affirm that the church’s policy derived through General Convention Resolutions A010 (2006), A103 (1994), A149 (1991), and D008 (1991), and council’s resolve “Guiding Principles for Governmental Legislation” (February 1995); that all foreign aid from the U.S. government – including aid to Israel and the Palestinians, and to all others in the region and elsewhere – should be comprehensively and transparently accounted to the American people and held to the same standards of compliance with all applicable laws, as advocated during the last two triennia through more than a dozen letters to the Congress sent by the Presiding Bishop and other bishops and the Office of Government Relations, and embodied in the “Religious Statement on Foreign Assistance Reform,” (February 2009) adopted by an interreligious coalition co-chaired by the Episcopal Church and repeatedly communicated to the President and the Congress in the intervening years; affirm that this policy should be applied through such advocacy toward its universal adherence rather than targeted for selective application to some recipients and not others; create a B019 coordinating committee by March 15 to assure effective and thorough implementation of the policies adopted by the 77th General Convention through the resolution B019 and referred to multiple interim bodies, membership to include: presiding bishop, resident of the House of Deputies (or their designees) who shall appoint a convener from among the coordinating committee members: chair of council Joint Standing Committee on Advocacy and Networking for Mission (or designee), chair of Standing Commission on Anglican and International Peace with Justice Concerns (or designee), chair of Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations (or designee), one member of the House of Bishops’ Theology Committee (or designee) as appointed by presiding bishop; such staff as may be designated by presiding bishop, committee can consult with outside experts and shall report to the Executive Council to be included as part of council’s triennial Blue Book report for 78th General Convention (A&N008).

Finances for Mission

Establish Trust Fund 1054 as an investment account for All Saints Episcopal Church, Minot, North Dakota (FFM011).

Establish Trust Fund 1055 as an investment account for Grace Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan (FFM012).

Make available $185,000 of undistributed accumulated income and appreciation calendar year 2013 from one or more of nine specific trust funds to provide financial assistance to the Episcopal Church in South Carolina (FFM013).

Authorize $250,000 line of credit to the Episcopal Church in South Carolina for the calendar year 2013 (FFM014).

Approve modifications to the 2013 budget for the Episcopal Church (FFM015).

Authorize use income distributed during 2012 from Trust Fund No.809, up to $349,911.36 available in income from dividends in 2012, for educational and theological programs (including continuing education and individual scholarships) as recommended by the Commission on Theological Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (CETALC) at its meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August 2012 (FFM016).

Executive Council shall propose a budget to the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance of the 78th General Convention for the triennium 2016-2018 based on a framework of the Anglican Communion Five Marks of Mission and that the budget also be made available in a format that identifies corporate, canonical and program expenses (FFM017).

Governance and Administration for Mission

Disband council’s Archives Strategy Committee, Jubilee Advisory Committee and Committee on Strategic Planning, and disband the Committee on HIV/AIDS, with any remaining work being transferred to the Standing Commission on Health (GAM003).

Renew following Executive Council committees: Corporate Social Responsibility; Indigenous Ministries; the Status of Women; Science, Technology and Faith; and the Economic Justice Loan Committee (GAM004).

Local Mission and Ministry

Affirm 12 Episcopal Church congregations or programs as Jubilee Ministries, including Christ Episcopal Church and Christ Episcopal Church Community Center. Toms River, New Jersey; Center City Christian Outreach, Well of Life, Springfield, Missouri; Student Supplemental Feeding Ministry. Miles City, Montana; St. Christopher’s Food Pantry and Soup Kitchen. El Paso, Texas; The St. George’s Feeding Ministries, Fredericksburg, Virginia; Project Education South Sudan, Denver, Colorado; St. Andrew’s Refugee Ministry, Des Moines, Iowa; St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, Honolulu, Hawaii; Trinity Episcopal Church, Hamburg, New York; Trinity Neighborhood Resources, Spokane, Washington; Loaves and Fishes Family Center Reading Club, Belmont, Michigan; St. Paul’s Saturday, Dowagiac, Michigan (LMM002).

World Mission

Express appreciation for recent appointments made on behalf of the Presiding Bishop including the Rev. Honey Becker, Diocese of Hawaii, Minister of Hospitality, Diocese of

Jerusalem; Ms. Natalie Finstad, Diocese of Massachusetts, Director “Be the Change” Program, Diocese of Kajiado, Anglican Church of Kenya; the Rev. Ted Gaiser, Diocese of Massachusetts, Business Advisor, Diocese of Colombia; the Rev. Ellen Hanckel, Diocese of Southwestern Virginia, Seminary Professor. Bishop Gwynne College, Juba, Episcopal Church of Sudan; Mr. Charles Nakash, Diocese of New Jersey, Mission Teams Co-Coordinator, Diocese of the Dominican Republic; the Rev. Patricia Powers, Diocese of Southwest Florida, Mission Advisor, Diocese of Brasilia, Anglican Church of Brazil; the Rev. Lara Shine, Diocese of Nebraska, Special Appointment, Diocese of Twic East,

Episcopal Church of Sudan and Diocese of the Dominican Republic; the Ven. Graham Smith, Diocese of Chicago, Dean of St George’s College, Diocese of Jerusalem; (WM004)

Express appreciation for recent Young Adult Service Corps appointments made on behalf of the Presiding Bishop, including Mr. Ryan Abrams, Diocese of East Carolina, Diocese of Costa Rica, Anglican Church of the Central American Region; Ms. Ashley Bingaman, Diocese of Virginia, Diocese of Haiti; Mrs. Carrie Diaz-Littauer, Diocese of New Jersey, Office and Project Manager/Administrator with the World Student Christian Federation, Geneva, Switzerland; Ms. Grace Flint, Diocese of Kentucky, St John’s Cathedral,

Diocese of Hong Kong; Mr. Jared Grant, Diocese of Western North Carolina, Hope Africa, Diocese of Lesotho, Church of the Province of Southern Africa; Mr. Andrew Joyce, Diocese of Kentucky, Episcopal Church in the Philippines; Mr. Douglas Knight & Mrs. Jennifer Knight, Diocese of Arkansas, Asian Rural Institute, Nippon Sei Ko Kai; Ms. Jennifer Korwan, Diocese of Atlanta, “Be the Change-Kenya,” Diocese of Kajiado, Anglican Church of Kenya; Mr. Benjamin Locher & the Rev. Elizabeth Locher, Diocese of Washington and Virginia respectively, Diocese of Central Tanganyika, Anglican Church of Tanzania; Ms. Holly Milburn, Diocese of Lexington, Hope Africa, Diocese

of Cape Town, Church of the Province of Southern Africa; Mr. Brian Orlay, Diocese of New York, International Communications and Marketing Development Advisor with the Carpenters Kids Program, Diocese of Central Tanganyika, Anglican Church of Tanzania; Mr. Cameron Spoor, Diocese of Texas, Assistant Teacher & Resource Center, Diocese of Grahamstown, Anglican Church of Southern Africa; Ms. Katherine Young, Diocese of Northwest Texas, Experience Program Trainee with “Let Us Walk Together Project,” Diocese of Tohoku, Nippon Sei Ko Kai (WM005).

Express appreciation for mission companions who faithfully completed their term of service, including the Rev. Oge Beauvoir, Diocese of New York, Coordinator of Leadership Education/Training Program in the Diocese of Haiti, appointment began Dec. 24, 2004, and ended June 30, 1012 (Beauvoir is now bishop suffragan in Haiti); the Rev. Michael Dresbach & Mrs. Mona Dresbach, Diocese of Massachusetts, Diocesan Manager – San Cristobal and Accountant – Catedral de San Lucas respectively, Diocese of Panama, assignment began July 30, 1999, and ended March 31, 2012; Ms. Angela Galbreath, Assistant to Partnership Program, Diocese of Haiti, assignment began Aug. 26, 2010, and ended Nov. 30, 2012; Dr. Gerry Hardison, MD & Dr. Nancy Hardison, PHD, Diocese of San Diego, Medical Director at Maseno Mission Hospital and Instructor at St Philip’s Theological College respectively, Diocese of Maseno North, Anglican Church of Kenya, assignments began Jan. 1, 2002, and ended June 30, 2012; the Rev. Christopher Morck & Mrs. Patricia Morck, Diocese of Massachusetts, Psychological & Pastoral Associate and Coordinator & Diocesan Librarian respectively, Diocese of Central Ecuador, assignments began Oct. 9, 2006, and ended Sept. 30, 2012; the Rev. Heather Mueller, Diocese of Hawaii, Warden of St George’s College, Diocese of Jerusalem, appointment started Jan. 1, 2011, and ended Jan. 31, 2012; the Rev. Robert North & Mrs. Karen North, Diocese of Chicago, Development Consultant & English Teacher respectively, Diocese of Nzara, Episcopal Church of Sudan, assignment started July 28, 2011, and ended Oct. 31, 2012.; the Rev. Suzanne Peterson, Diocese of Iowa, Public Policy & Advocacy Officer of the Province & Bishop’s Correspondence Manager; Province of the Church in Southern Africa, assignment started Sept. 17, 1988, and ended Jan. 31, 2013;  Mr. Peter Prewandowski, Diocese of Western Massachusetts, Primary Teacher at Canon Andrea Mwaka Primary School, Diocese of Central Tanganyika, Anglican Church of Tanzania, assignment started April 9, 2003, and ended March 31, 2012; the Rev. Robert Snow & Mrs. Ellen Snow, Diocesan Administrator & Deacon and Diocesan Coordinator of & Assistant to the Bishop respectively, Diocese of the Dominican Republic, assignment started Jan. 1, 1999, and ended Sept. 30, 2012; the Rev. Pamela Strobel, Provincial Financial Admin & Parish Priest, Diocese of Boga, Anglican Church of Congo, appointment started June 20, 2011, and ended June 30, 2012. Ms. Susan Williams, Assistant to the Director at Bella Vista Children’s Home, Diocese of Panama, appointment started Aug. 1, 1997, and ended Jan. 31, 2013 (WM006)

Express appreciation for Young Adult Service Corps volunteer companions who faithfully completed their term of service, including Ms. Erika Almquist, Diocese of Massachusetts, Community Health Coordinator, Diocese of El Salvador, appointment began Sept. 21, 2011, and ended Oct. 31, 2012; Ms. William Brooks, Diocese of Virginia, International Communications & Marketing Development Advisor, Carpenter’s Kids, Diocese of Central Tanganyika, Anglican Church of Tanzania, appointment started Oct. 17, 2010, and ended Aug. 31, 2012; Ms. Brittany Kathleen Clark, Diocese of Tennessee, Diocese of Hong Kong,  appointment started July 20, 2011, and ended on June 30, 2012. Ms. Nicole Groome, Diocese of Virginia, Asian Rural Institute, Nippon Sei Ko Kai, appointment began Sept. 7, 2011, and ended Oct. 31, 2012; Ms. Karen Langley, Diocese of Oklahoma, Assistant Project Coordinator, Itipini Project, Diocese of Mthatha, Church of the Province of Southern Africa, appointment began on Aug. 14, 2011 and ended Aug. 31, 2012; Mr. An Ngo, Diocese of Utah, Communications Officer, Diocese of Mexico, assignment began Sept. 2, 2011, and ended Oct. 31, 2012 (WM007).

Recognize the continuing companion diocese relationship between the Diocese of Western North Carolina and the Diocese of Durgapur for a period ending on Feb. 27, 2016, unless extended or terminated by mutual consent (WM008).

Editors’ note: This story was corrected Feb. 28 to remove reference to the Episcopal Peace Fellowship’s Palestine Israel Network having issued “A Prophetic Challenge to the Executive Council.” The network only publicized the document.

[Episcopal News Service – Linthicum Heights, Maryland] The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council Feb. 27 began its part in the church’s 2013-2015 triennial advocacy for peace with justice in the Middle East.

Council passed a resolution, by a voice vote with two members dissenting, affirming what it called General Convention’s “prophetic witness” expressed in Resolution B019 that bishops and deputies passed in July.

Resolution B019 reaffirmed the church’s official policy, based on resolutions passed at previous conventions, committing to a two-state solution in which a secure and universally recognized state of Israel lives alongside a free, viable, and secure state for the Palestinian people, with a shared Jerusalem as the capital of both.

A section of the controversial Israeli barrier is seen between the Shuafat refugee camp (right), in the West Bank near Jerusalem, and Pisgat Zeev (rear), in an area Israel annexed to Jerusalem after capturing it in the 1967 Middle East war. Reuters photo/Ammar Awad

It also affirmed positive investment “as a necessary means to create a sound economy and a sustainable infrastructure” in the Palestinian Territories. It called on the church to support “Jewish, Muslim, and Christian study on peace with justice in the Middle East,” and produce an annotated bibliography of resources.

Resolution B019 was assigned to council’s Advocacy and Networking committee (A&N), as well as the church’s Standing Commission on Anglican and International Peace with Justice Concerns, the Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations and the House of Bishops’ Theology Committee.

A&N committee chair Lelanda Lee of Colorado told her colleagues while proposing council’s resolution that it was only the first time they would engage what she called “the difficult subject” of Middle East conflict.

Council’s resolution also:

* “affirms and celebrates” the recent recommendation of the Executive Council Economic Justice Loan Committee to invest $500,000 in the Bank of Palestine. That decision was made in response to B019’s call for “positive investment as a necessary means to create a sound economy and a sustainable infrastructure in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.” The resolution said the decision is the first such positive investment made by the Episcopal Church in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and the resolution urges dioceses and other church entities “prayerfully to consider similar investments;”

* affirms that it is the church’s policy to engage in the constructive corporate engagement policies toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict adopted by the Executive Council in October 2005 and implemented by its Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility since;

* affirms that the church does not support boycott, divestment and economic sanctions against the state of Israel nor any application of the church’s corporate engagement policies toward such ends;

* affirms that it is the church’s policy that all foreign aid given by the U.S. government – including aid to Israel and the Palestinian Authority – should be “comprehensively and transparently accounted to the American people and held to the same standards of compliance with all applicable laws,” as advocated during the last two triennia through more than a dozen letters to the Congress sent by the Presiding Bishop and other bishops of this church and the Office of Government Relations, and embodied in the Feb. 2, 2009 “Religious Statement on Foreign Assistance Reform,” adopted by an interreligious coalition co-chaired by the Episcopal Church and repeatedly communicated to the President and the Congress in the intervening years.

* affirms that the foreign-aid accountability policy “should be applied through such advocacy toward its universal adherence rather than targeted for selective application to some recipients and not others;” and

* calls for a B019 coordinating committee be appointed by March 15 to assure the effective and thorough implementation of the policies the resolution advocates.

Council’s action came after extensive conversation in A&N and World Mission, that included participation by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and President of the House of Deputies the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings.

In mid-January 14 Episcopalians and Anglicans issued what they called “a prophetic challenge to Executive Council,” pressing council to intervene in the implementation of the church’s policies on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Specifically, the signers of the letter challenged council to “immediately move forward with our church’s corporate engagement policy so that our financial resources are not being used to support the infrastructure of this suffocating occupation.” Secondly, it asked council to “immediately tell the U.S. Congress that the church supports an Oct. 5, 2012, letter from 15 ecumenical voices who called for “accountability of Israel’s use of foreign aid from our government.”

Jefferts Schori and Jennings said at the time that the letter was extremely unhelpful and disregards due legislative processes.

A number of people later signed on to an accompanying “petition of support.”

During her comments to the committee meeting on Feb. 26, Lee said that the council resolution arose out of its responsibility to carry out General Convention’s policies and, especially, to respond to a convention resolution assigned to it. She noted that the committee had received the challenge and petition, as well as a Diocese of North Carolina convention resolution.

Lee did not allow representatives of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship’s Israel Palestine Network, the group that hosted the council challenge, to speak during the committee meetings and they did not address the full council.

She told the council Feb. 27 that her committee did not take testimony or comments from visitors because it determined that “indeed we are not General Convention and we are not a legislative committee that holds legislative hearings; that we are not the appropriate place to have one set of representatives or another set of representatives come and make presentations to us,” she said. Instead, the members talked among ourselves as the board of directors of the [Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society],” she said.

The committee discussions included a presentation from Harry Van Buren, a consultant to council’s corporate social responsibility committee. He explained how the committee has had a dialogue in the past with multiple companies whose activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories have been cited as problematic by some observers. Van Buren also discussed shareholder resolutions that that committee has initiated or joined at the council’s behest.

Donna Hicks, convener of the Palestine Israel Network’s advocacy work group Israel/Palestine Action Group, and network member Newland Smith attended the committee meetings and council’s plenary sessions. Smith served on the General Convention committee that drafted B019 and said he objected to that resolution.

Hicks said she was “disappointed but not surprised” by council’s resolution “because there’s a tension between the way [the leadership] of the Episcopal Church is seeing Palestine-Israel and the way numbers of us who are more activist see the issues.”

For instance, she said, B019’s called for education, pilgrimage and interfaith dialogue are part of the “patchwork quilt of doing the work” but, Hicks said she does not hold out much hope for those activities.

“I don’t see how that’s going to help end the occupation and for me that’s the key,” she said.

Smith said he wished council’s resolution had responded directly to his group’s challenge.

He and Hicks “have felt really isolated” during council’s three-day meeting and he hoped that future conversations “would truly be open and that all would be welcome at the table.”

During this triennium, Hicks said the church ought to encourage the sorts of pilgrimages to Israel and Palestine that will “open people to the political side of things.” She said she hoped the church would specifically support pilgrimages by young people, people of color and those people who have not been to the Middle East. Education, interfaith dialogue and the development of the bibliography ought to be encouraged for those people who are interested in those activities, Hicks added.

For those who want to be take a more activist position, “I would invite the wide church not to try to silence us and shut us down,” she said.

– The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is an editor/reporter for the Episcopal News Service.

[Episcopal News Service – Linthicum Heights, Maryland] Las oficinas denominacionales de la Iglesia seguirían en el Centro de la Iglesia Episcopal en Nueva York si el Consejo Ejecutivo acepta una recomendación recibida el 26 de febrero de parte de un grupo de ejecutivos de la Sociedad Misionera Nacional y Extranjera (DFMS, por su sigla en inglés).

De cuatro principales escenarios analizados, “la misión reconciliadora de Dios se promueve mejor” permaneciendo en el 815 de la Segunda Avenida en Manhattan y consolidando las operaciones en el centro denominacional de la Iglesia mediante la liberación de más espacio para alquilarlo a arrendatarios de afuera, que los 3,5 pisos que tenemos al presente alquilados, dice un informe dirigido al Consejo. Esta opción obraría “en el mejor interés económico de la organización, tanto desde el punto de vista del efecto presupuestario como de los fines de la inversión a largo alcance”.

La DFMS, la entidad corporativa de la Iglesia, alquila al presente 2,5 pisos al Ad Council y un piso a la Misión Permanente de Haití ante las Naciones Unidas. El centro denominacional tiene nueve pisos de espacio para oficinas.

El estudio comenzó en febrero de 2012, cinco meses antes de que se reuniera la Convención General, cuando el Comité de Finanzas para la Misión le pidió a la gerencia de la DFMS que estudiara la posible relocalización de la sede de la Iglesia.

La Resolución D016 de la Convención General, aprobada en julio pasado, decía que “es la voluntad de esta Convención mudar el centro denominacional de la Iglesia” de ese edificio.

El informe apuntaba que el grupo cree que “la verdadera energía subyacente en [el empeño] de examinar la localización del centro denominacional atañe menos a su localización y más al modo en que realmente funciona”, añadiendo que los firmantes “no podrían estar en mayor acuerdo sobre la necesidad de reformar la manera en que la Sociedad Misionera Nacional y Extranjera funciona y sirve a las necesidades de la Iglesia, particularmente en lo que concierne a fomentar, alentar y sostener la misión a nivel local en asociación con el liderazgo local”.

Definiendo el deseo de relocalizarse como “sólo una máscara de la auténtica reforma que se necesita y se exige”, el grupo cuestiona “¿cuánto tiempo, nos preguntamos, habría de pasar antes de que las quejas sobre el aislamiento del centro de la Iglesia en Nueva York se convirtieran en quejas sobre el aislamiento de la Iglesia en alguna otra ciudad?”

“Quizá más que cambiar la ubicación de nuestra ansiedad comunitaria de un sitio a otro, nos resultaría de mayor provecho a largo plazo si hiciéramos uso de nuestro mejor criterio para tomar una decisión racional y estratégica que favorezca más el compromiso de la Iglesia con la misión de Dios y luego exponer claramente esa decisión a la Iglesia”.

El obispo Stacy Sauls, encargado de operaciones de la Iglesia Episcopal, le dijo al Consejo que la pregunta sobre la relocalización del centro denominacional suele hacerse cada cierto tiempo. La primera vez fue aproximadamente ocho años después de que el edificio se estrenara, y el tema al parecer se repite con el mismo intervalo, señaló él.

Sauls, el tesorero y director de Finanzas Kurt Barnes, el subjefe de operaciones y director de la Misión Sam McDonald, el director de Recursos Humanos John Colón y el asesor legal Paul Nix, son miembros todos ellos del Grupo de Supervisión Ejecutiva, compuesto por 10 personas, que llevó a cabo el estudio en la pasada primavera.

El estudio consideró Chicago, Atlanta, Washington, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Minneapolis, Detroit, Miami, Filadelfia, Boston, Charlotte, Ft. Lauderdale y Cincinnati, al igual que otras localidades en Nueva York, como alternativas al centro denominacional que se inauguró hace 50 años.

La firma internacional de bienes raíces Cushman & Wakefield asesoró el estudio y la Diócesis de Los Ángeles sufragó los honorarios de su trabajo.

“Creemos que la mejor alternativa es vender la propiedad”, había dicho John Cushman, el presidente de la firma de bienes raíces, a los comités de Finanzas para la Misión y Gobierno y Administración para la Misión, horas antes ese mismo día. Esa conclusión parte, afirmó él, del sentir que la propiedad y la administración de bienes raíces “no está en consonancia con las competencias fundamentales de la Iglesia”.

Más tarde en el día,  Nat Rockett, vicepresidente ejecutivo de Cushman & Wakefield, dijo ante todo el Consejo que no es inusual que su firma llegara a una conclusión diferente a la del Grupo de Supervisión Ejecutiva, porque la firma de bienes raíces atendió a una serie de factores diferentes y limitados.

Después de que se presentara la recomendación, el Consejo debatió la conclusión durante una sesión ejecutiva en la segunda jornada de su reunión de invierno de tres días de duración. La sesión se celebró a puertas cerradas en parte porque la discusión del informe del grupo conllevaba información de bienes, tal como la prevista tasa de alquiler por pie cuadrado en el mercado inmobiliario del edificio de 11 plantas y su presunto valor en el mercado de bienes raíces. Esa información también estará ausente de la versión del informe que se espera se publique aquí el 27 de febrero.

El consejo no tomó ninguna decisión sobre la recomendación y [los comités] de Finanzas para la Misión y Gobierno y Administración para la Misión elevarán el informe en la reunión del Consejo del 8 al 10 de junio.

El Grupo de Supervisión Ejecutiva llegó a su conclusión unánime, dice el informe, luego de analizar cinco “consideraciones de la misión”, incluidas la unidad de la Iglesia, las asociaciones de la misión, la continuidad de los servicios prestados, la promoción de la justicia y la maximización de los recursos financieros para la misión. La consideración global, según Sauls, fue la mayordomía desde el punto de vista de la administración económica de los recursos de la Iglesia para la misión.

La unidad de la Iglesia se fortalece más cuando la oficina matriz de ésta es accesible a sus miembros, dijeron ellos. Nueva York responde mejor a ese objetivo porque el 80 por ciento de los episcopales (casi 567,00, en base a la asistencia dominical promedio en 2011) asiste al culto en las zonas horarias del este y la ciudad está más al alcance por vía aérea de los episcopales que vienen de fuera de los Estados Unidos, según el informe.

Una serie de importantes asociaciones misionales se verían negativamente afectadas si el centro denominacional se mudara a otra ciudad, dice el informe, porque tal traslado significaría una mayor separación entre la DFMS y socios tales como el  Grupo de Pensiones de la Iglesia, Ayuda y Desarrollo Episcopales, la Iglesia de la Trinidad de Wall Street, las Naciones Unidas y el Observador Anglicano ante la ONU, las agencias de reasentamiento [de inmigrantes y refugiados] incluido el Ministerio Episcopal de Migración, la Fundación de la Iglesia Episcopal, la Asociación Nacional de Escuelas Episcopales y los  Colegios y Universidades de la Comunión Anglicana.

Mudarse de Nueva York tendría “un impacto muy negativo” en seguir brindándoles servicios a la Iglesia y al mundo porque el 73 por ciento del personal de Nueva York (75 de los 102 empleados) probablemente no estaría en disposición de irse de la ciudad. El informe calcula que costaría $2,6 millones los costos de compensaciones laborales y mudanza. Si bien podría ahorrarse dinero por los reducidos costos de empleo en otras ciudades, esos empleados que sí se mudaran con el centro denominacional tendrían sus salarios congelados, en tanto los trabajadores de reemplazo serían contratados conforme a las tasas al uso [en el lugar], presumiblemente más bajas. En consecuencia, existiría una estructura salarial de dos niveles que podría tener un efecto negativo en la moral del personal, dice el informe.

“Cuestionamos la prudencia de tal disrupción en el preciso momento en que la Iglesia está reformándose para tener un foco misional cada vez mayor y cuando más se necesita el personal que facilite, anime y lleve adelante las iniciativas que se están aplicando como partes del Presupuesto de las Marcas de la Misión, tal como fuera adoptado por la Convención General de 2012”, dicen los redactores del informe.

El informe agrega que el Ministerio Episcopal de Migración (EMM, sigla en inglés) podría verse amenazado por ese traslado porque es improbable que muchos miembros de su personal fuesen a abandonar Nueva York, ya que allí abundan los empleos relacionados con el trabajo de reasentamiento. Si una pérdida significativa de personal afectara la capacidad del EMM de ofrecer los servicios por los que recibe subvenciones gubernamentales, el ministerio tendría que cesar.

El informe expresa preocupación respecto a irse de Nueva York debido a las leyes que podrían encontrarse en otras partes. Las parejas casadas del mismo sexo se verían obligadas a elegir entre sus empleos y el mudarse a una jurisdicción que no reconoce sus matrimonios, sugieren los firmantes. Nueva York reconoce los matrimonios de personas del mismo sexo.

“Queremos dejar aclarado que nosotros, como gerencia, aplicaremos todo lo que deba hacerse para servir a la Iglesia, y además, que creemos que todo el personal de la Iglesia pondrá su mejor empeño al mismo fin”, dicen los firmantes. “Sin embargo, sí nos preguntamos  sobre el efecto que tendría en nuestra voz profética el indiscriminado despido de personal a fin de reemplazarlo con mano de obra más barata, a falta de alguna razón persuasiva, si no perentoria, para hacerlo”.

“Como líderes en la Iglesia, tenemos una particular preocupación sobre los efectos de nuestro testimonio respecto a la cuestión de la igualdad matrimonial cuando algunas personas casadas empleadas por nosotros se verían obligadas a optar entre sus empleos y el que sus matrimonios sean reconocidos”.

Y varias de las ciudades que se han contemplado [como posibles sedes] se encuentran en estados en que rigen “leyes migratorias regresivas, leyes que prohíben la igualdad matrimonial y leyes que alientan la violencia armada”, dice el informe.

“¿Qué dice el lugar donde localizamos nuestra oficina matriz acerca de lo que creemos?, preguntan los redactores.

La recomendación del informe pide también que se negocien acuerdos por escrito con todas las agencias asociadas que al presenten ocupan gratuitamente 1,5 plantas del centro denominacional “para compartir más equitativamente costos, riesgos y recompensas y, lo que es más importante, para ampliar las asociaciones misionales”. Esas agencias incluyen Ayuda y Desarrollo Episcopales, la Asociación Nacional de Escuelas Episcopales, Colegios y Universidades de la Comunión Anglicana, la Oficina del Observador Anglicano ante las Naciones Unidas, la Sociedad de la Biblia y el Libro de Oración Común y el Club de Publicaciones de la Iglesia [Church Periodical Club]. La DFMS le brinda también varios servicios a estas agencias, incluidos servicios bancarios y de contabilidad, administración de beneficios, correo, teléfono e infraestructura de información sin costo alguno.

De esas siete agencias, la DFMS sólo ha suscrito un acuerdo con Ayuda y Desarrollo Episcopales, la cual ocupa casi la mitad del espacio cedido a las agencias.

“Lo que nunca antes hemos hecho, lo tomamos conscientemente en cuenta  y se lo informamos por completo a la Iglesia, que estos acuerdos tienen un costo real — un costo real de funcionamiento y un costo desde el punto de vista de pérdida de réditos de lo que, de otro modo, sería un espacio alquilable”, dice el informe.

El informe señala también que el Consejo resolvió en octubre de 2008 que cualquier agencia nueva que se instalara en el centro denominacional pagaría un alquiler negociado “a menos que existieran razones imperiosas para no cobrar el alquiler” Los redactores [del informe] recomiendan cobrarles a las agencias por el espacio y hacer una subvención para compensar el cargo, en todo o en parte. Esto “haría más claro para todos la realidad de que el arreglo actual tiene costos reales que corren por cuenta de la DFMS y ayudaría a todas las partes a entender los costos reales de sus  ministerios y planificarían en consecuencia”, afirma.

El informe advierte que al menos cuatro agencias (Ayuda y Desarrollo Episcopales, la Fundación de la Iglesia Episcopal, Colegios y Universidades de la Comunión Anglicana y el Observador Anglicano ante las Naciones Unidas) probablemente no se irían de Nueva York si la DFMS se mudara. Por consiguiente, se enfrentarían con [la necesidad de] tener que alquilar espacio.

“Esto nos conduce a una pregunta sencilla: si nuestras agencias afiliadas están dispuestas a pagar las tasas del mercado a terceros, ¿podrían estar dispuestas a compartir los costos con la entidad que los ha albergado gratis durante tantos años?”.

Las  subvenciones en este trienio compensarían completamente el alquiler que se cobrara, pero en el futuro, el informe sugiere que la compensación del alquiler debida a esas subvenciones podría ser de menos del 100 por ciento y podría negociarse de manera diferente con cada agencia, “dependiendo de las diferencias en circunstancias y de los objetivos de la asociación”.

El forjar tales acuerdos “distribuiría el riesgo de la propiedad del centro denominacional entre varias entidades en lugar de concentrarlo solamente en la DFMS”, dice el informe.

El informe reconoce que parte del interés en relocalizar el centro denominacional se afinca en el deseo de eliminar pagos de deuda del presupuesto de la DFMS. El presupuesto incluye pagos sobre dos préstamos  y una línea de crédito para gastos de funcionamiento para la cual no hay saldo.

Un préstamo es por un espacio de estacionamiento en Austin, Texas, que se compró como un sitio probable donde relocalizar los Archivos de la Iglesia Episcopal. Los ingresos de esa operación cubren el interés sobre el préstamo y ha permitido el reembolso de parte del capital, dice el informe

El segundo préstamos, que asciende a $37 millones, se pidió en 2004 para pagar una extensa remodelación de la sede central de la Iglesia luego de que el Consejo decidiera no relocalizar las oficinas denominacionales. Gran parte de ese trabajo tuvo que ver con la reducción de asbesto. Según el informe, el préstamo fue renegociado en 2010 y debe renegociarse de nuevo en 2016.

El saldo del préstamo a fines de 2012 era de $32.642.800 y el pago de la deuda anual asciende a $2.684.519. El préstamo está asegurado por valores sin restricción en la cartera de inversiones, no por el edificio mismo.

Debido a que la tasa de interés es del 3,69 por ciento y la DMFS espera (basándose en la experiencia) ganar anualmente un 8 por ciento sobre sus inversiones, sería más prudente invertir los réditos de la venta del centro denominacional en lugar de liquidar el préstamo, dice el informe.

El informe incluye también un detallado análisis del eventual impacto financiero a lo largo de 15 años de elegir cada uno de los cuatro escenarios.

En otro asunto del pleno, el 26 de febrero, el Consejo:

* autorizó una línea de crédito de $250.000 a la Iglesia Episcopal en Carolina del Sur.

* Escuchó un resumen de la 15ª. reunión  del Consejo Consultivo Anglicano a fines del año pasado en Auckland, Zelanda, que presentó Josephine Hicks, la miembro laico de la delegación de la Iglesia Episcopal. El período de tres reuniones de Hicks terminó con la reunión de Auckland.

* Recibió una actualización sobre la recuperación de la Diócesis de Haití luego del terremoto.

– La Rda. Mary Frances Schjonberg es redactora y reportera de Episcopal News Service.

Traducido por Vicente Echerri

Executive Council members, including Bishop David Bailey (center), the Rev. Silvestre Romero, Liza Anderson, Nancy Koonce (back to camera) and the Very Rev. Chris Cunningham (back to camera) discuss visions for the church’s 2016-2018 budget. ENS photo/Mary Frances Schjonberg

[Episcopal News Service – Linthicum Heights, Maryland] The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council Feb. 27 took a stand against gun violence and gun trafficking, and called on Episcopalians to “repent of our own roles in the glorification and trivialization of violence.”

The resolution “really bubbled up from the grassroots,” Byron Rushing, vice president of the House of Deputies, said during a press conference in the middle of the last day of council’s Feb. 25-27 meeting at the at the Maritime Institute Conference Center here.

The resolution expresses “profound sorrow at the epidemic of gun violence” and urges Episcopalians to work toward “comprehensive social responses that seek to stem the cycles of violence that fuel gun crime.” It affirms a number of previous General Convention resolutions, including Resolution 2000-D004 that spoke about the church’s “deep concern about the repeated use of easily available hand guns and assault weapons by and against children,” and called for Episcopalians to seek ways to develop community strategies and create sanctuaries for children, “so that all may come to identify and value themselves and others as the precious children of God that they are, and that they may come to know peace in their lives and to create peace for future generations.”

Council also reaffirmed General Convention Resolution 1991-D088 calling the church to advocate for “public policy and adequate funding to provide comprehensive community-based services, hospital care and research into the causes and treatment of mental illness.” Council’s resolution says mental-health services should be available and accessible “without stigma in a variety of settings,” and should be available to “those who have suffered trauma from exposure to violence or violent environments.”

General Convention Resolution 1997-C035 is also noted for its call for restrictions on sale, ownership and use of firearms, particularly those that are easily concealable, and enactment of tighter restrictions on concealed weapons. Council also reaffirmed Resolution 2000-B007, which acknowledged that violence is encouraged and enabled by the presence of guns and called for Episcopalians to advocate for the removal of handguns and assault weapons from homes, communities and vehicles.

Council’s resolution urges elected officials to make gun trafficking a federal crime and empower law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute straw purchasers, gun traffickers and their entire criminal networks.”

Finally, the resolution urges Episcopalians to “examine our own cultural attitudes toward violence through efforts in congregations and communities [and] to repent of our own roles in the glorification and trivialization of violence, and to commit ourselves to another way.”

The Rev. Stan Runnels, council member from West Missouri who voted for the resolution, said before the vote that the statement was “in some ways safely benign.” He asked council’s Advocacy and Networking committee for future resolutions that would be “more specific, more direct, pointed” to address the issues “that are most germane to gun violence,” such as proliferation of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and mass large quantities of ammunition

“Right now in this country ducks are safer than human beings,” he said, because a duck hunter is only allowed to have five shells in his shotgun

In other action Feb. 27, council also:

* agreed to an approach to formulating a proposed 2016-2018 triennial budget. The approach is based on the consideration that the budget is a “financial statement of mission,” Finances for Mission committee member the Rev. Susan Snook said. The church’s committees, commissions, agencies and boards (CCABs) would be consulted to help flesh out budget vision and priorities.

The plan also calls for an early decision on the formula used to determine how much money dioceses would be asked to contribute to the funding of the budget, and to work with the House of Bishops in an effort to increase diocesan commitment to that asking.

A draft version of council’s budget would be released to the church in October 2014 so that church members can comment and their feedback can be considered before the budget proposal is completed in February 2015.

The budget approach suggests that FFM and the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance (PB&F), which receives Executive Council’s proposed budget, ought to meet together at least once during this process. PB&F considers council’s proposed budget as it prepares a triennial budget to present to convention.

The FFM committee agreed in October 2012 that the budget process needed to be changed, even though a special task force on the structure of the church no doubt would discuss budgeting issues. That task force met for the first time earlier this month. It is due to report to the wider church in November 2014 and to bring its recommendations to the 2015 meeting of General Convention in Salt Lake City.

However, Executive Council’s process of developing a proposed 2016-2018 budget must run concurrently with that group’s work because General Convention Joint Rule II.10.c.ii says the council must give its proposed budget to PB&F no less than four months before the start of General Convention.

Council members took a first step in their new process Feb. 27 when they agreed to base the 2016-2018 on a framework of the Anglican Communion Five Marks of Mission. The budget would also be made available in a format that identifies corporate, canonical and program expenses.

* heard comments from most of it committees about the need to continue the effort to help the Episcopal Church become an anti-racist church. The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, House of Deputies president and vice chair of council, noted during the press conference that council members routinely participate in anti-racism exercises. Rushing said “people are not trying to figure out what are the next best steps in doing that work, but certainly this remains a priority of the Episcopal Church.”

* disbanded its Archives Strategy Committee, Jubilee Advisory Committee and Committee on Strategic Planning, and disbanded the Committee on HIV/AIDS, with any remaining work being transferred to the Standing Commission on Health. It also renewed its committees on Corporate Social Responsibility; Indigenous Ministries; the Status of Women; Science, Technology and Faith; and the Economic Justice Loan Committee. The duration of council committees expire at the second General Convention following their creation, unless otherwise specified by council, according to its bylaws (Article VIII.2.d). 

 – The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is an editor/reporter for the Episcopal News Service.

[Episcopal News Service] As the implementation of the Patient Care and Affordable Health Care Act begins to take shape, congregations in Louisiana and Ohio are fighting to continue meeting the needs of the medically uninsured. That includes pushing government officials to sign on to the expansion of Medicaid under the plan, slated for full deployment in 2014.

The Affordable Care Act is designed to help the uninsured buy insurance through a government-subsidized program. In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states had the right to reject expansion of Medicaid, the joint federal-state health insurance program for lower-income Americans. But the court upheld a provision in the health-care act mandating that the uninsured buy some form of health insurance or face paying a penalty.

Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota and Maine are among those states that have Medicaid expansion.

The Affordable Care Act is a signature program of the Obama administration and is widely supported by Democrats. In states that accept the Medicaid expansion option, the federal government pays the full cost to implement the program for three years, after which states are required to pay 10 percent of the costs.

How Medicaid expansion will affect medical ministries in states that have opted in, however, remains a question.

The impact will be different in every state, said Matthew Ellis, executive director of National Episcopal Health Ministries.

“There are so many variables. It’s not just the provisions of the [health-care act], it’s also some personalities and political views involved.”

The Episcopal Church, through General Convention legislation, has called for universal access to health care, and 94 percent of the church’s domestic dioceses participate in the denominational health plan. Resolution A040, approved by General Convention in Indianapolis in 2012, directed that “every member of the Episcopal Church make a moral commitment to health care for all, by actively supporting health care reform in the United States.”

Uncompensated health-care costs increase denominational health and insurance costs, said the Very Rev. Tracey Lind, dean of Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland and a member of the board of trustees of the Church Pension Fund.

Recently, Lind was part of a strong lobbying effort in Ohio led by the Greater Cleveland Congregations, a coalition 40 churches, synagogues and mosques, that contributed to Gov. John Kasich’s decision to add Medicaid expansion to next year’s budget.

“Medicaid expansion is vital, not only because it provides health insurance, but because it brings the uninsured into primary health care and out of emergency rooms,” Lind said. “The economic impact will bring tens of thousands jobs and millions of dollars to the state, because health care is one of the principal economic drivers.”

Members of Greater Cleveland Congregations met with Kasich and legislators in late January to underscore the importance of Medicaid expansion to the state and their congregations, said Lind. “It got clear very quickly that we could have an impact on health care in Ohio when it came to Medicaid.”

For example, she said, there are empty nesters aged 45-60 in her congregation who have been laid off since the last recession. Unable to find jobs, they have run out of severance benefits, saving and investments; are uninsured; and are too young to qualify for Medicare, she said.

“There are uninsured members in all the congregations in the greater Cleveland area,” she said.

During a press briefing in early February, Kasich a Republican, outlined Ohio’s $63 billion state budget, including funds for the expansion, according to news reports.

“It makes sense for the State of Ohio,” said Kasich, adding that the expansion would cover some 366,000 uninsured Ohioans.

Within recent weeks eight other Republican governors, including Jan Brewer of Arizona, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Rick Scott of Florida and Chris Christie of New Jersey have reconsidered adding portions of the expanded care to their state budgets.

Not so in Louisiana, where St. Anna’s Medical Mission was one of 19 New Orleans health-care providers to send Gov. Bobby Jindal a letter asking him to reverse his rejection of Medicaid expansion in the state. A Kaiser Family Foundation study calculates that one-fifth of Louisiana’s population lacks health insurance.

Jindal, a Republican, has said the expansion would be “too costly” and allow the government to intrude into people’s private lives.

“It would be a burden on Louisiana’s budget,” Jindal wrote in a Jan. 28 opinion piece in The Washington Post. After 2016, states would be required to pay 10 percent of the costs for Medicaid expansion, which would total some $3.7 billion over the first decade, he wrote.

St. Anna’s, which is a mission of St. Anna’s Episcopal Church, was established in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

At that time, New Orleans resident Diana Meyers, St. Anna’s community wellness director and registered nurse, began to see the need for on-site health care and mental-health counseling for residents in the city’s devastated neighborhoods.

The ministry works with local clinics to provide basic health screenings, testing and medical advocacy, and it directs patients to clinics where they can establish a primary-care routine for themselves. This safety net of clinics attempts to keep patients from using local hospital emergency rooms for routine treatments, like for coughs or the flu.

“The health-care layout has changed dramatically since the storm in a good way,” Meyers said. “There are more neighborhood clinics, and they’re working together.”

However, the “Katrina effect” of generous financial donations to assist recovery has almost dried up, so continuing to provide indigent health care depends on working together, said Meyers.

The rejection of Medicaid expansion would not immediately affect St. Anna’s because it is working on different options to strengthen and maintain its partnerships with local clinics, she said. But, in the long run, government-subsidized health insurance would reduce some of the burden on St. Anna’s and similar clinics, she said.

“We don’t have a continuous funding stream,” said Meyers. “With no large donations, corporate or foundations, we go hand to mouth.”

St. Anna’s previously has explored applying for Medicaid grants, but doing so would involve large bureaucratic costs and creates “a moral dilemma” for the nonprofit organization that has a $250,000 operating budget and treats everyone free of charge (though they do have a donation box), Meyers said.

“Do we treat everyone for free, or do we begin to charge [a] co-pay for Medicaid? People have a hard time understanding there is no free health care, everyone charges,” she said.

– Mario Villafuerte is a Shreveport, Louisiana-based freelance journalist and a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral. 

 

[Washington National Cathedral – Press Release] Washington National Cathedral will convene religious leaders, policy makers, victims of gun violence and people of faith as a leader of the national Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath, March 14–17. The weekend is organized in partnership with Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence.

The program begins Thursday, March 14, with a discussion of effective gun prevention strategies in use across the country. Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, D.C. Police Assistant Chief Patrick Burke and emergency room expert Dr. Arthur Kellerman will bring their diverse expertise to the discussion moderated by the Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.

The weekend culminates on Sunday morning at a worship service at which the Very Rev. Gary Hall, dean of Washington National Cathedral, will preach. Panel discussions and an interfaith service on Saturday featuring faith leaders, members of Congress and gun violence prevention advocates will highlight how faith-based efforts can inspire changes in public policy. To support the weekend’s nationwide Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath, the Cathedral and its partners will offer spiritual and educational resources for use by hundreds of houses of worship across the country.

“This is a critical moment in the life of our nation. The faith community has seen the tragic results of inaction, and we cannot stand by any longer,” said Dean Hall. “No one should be at risk from gun violence in a schoolroom, in the workplace, on our city streets, at a shopping mall, a movie theater—or anywhere else. This weekend of programs offers time to reflect, unite and act to curb the epidemic of gun violence in our midst.”

Working in partnership with Bishop Budde, Hall has been a national voice for action since the tragic shooting in Newtown, Conn. Hall has spoken regularly on the topic of gun violence from the pulpit while also working with policy makers, community leaders and other faith leaders to find solutions and maintain momentum. Hall was the only faith leader invited to participate in a press conference with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) unveiling a new proposed federal ban on assault weapons.

Hall went on to say, “On this Sabbath weekend, we will gather with community leaders, lawmakers, advocates, and survivors to pray, remember and ready ourselves to act. This will be the cross lobby at work.”

Details on specific panels and participants will be announced in the coming weeks.

[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs -- Press Release] Episcopal Church Chief Operating Officer Bishop Stacy Sauls, in consultation with the Executive Oversight Committee, presented its report, Locating the Episcopal Church Center For Missional Strategy, to the Executive Council on February 26.

“I had been asked to head this research and present the report to the February 2013 Executive Council meeting,” Bishop Sauls stated.  “The review and gathering of information extended for six months, and the conclusion received the unanimous support of the Executive Oversight Committee.”

The public report is available here. 

 

Christopher Hartley. Photo/EDS

[Episcopal Divinity School – Press Release] Episcopal Divinity School is happy to welcome Christopher Hartley as its new vice president of institutional advancement. Hartley has been the interim director of institutional advancement at EDS since June 2012.

Hartley brings more than 20 years of experience in the development field to EDS, most recently as the interim director of marketing communications at The Greater Boston Food Bank. Prior to that position he was executive director of institutional advancement for the MGH Institute of Health Professions, where he oversaw fundraising, marketing, and public affairs for the 1,000 student graduate school in health sciences founded by Massachusetts General Hospital.

There he developed the school’s first integrated strategic marketing plan across publications, advertising, and online platforms and received a number of awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District 1, including a 2010 Gold Communication Award for website design.

Hartley began his career in nonprofit fundraising in Los Angeles, where he headed development for a local food bank and for Project Angel Food, a community organization providing hot meals to homebound persons living with HIV and other critical illnesses.

“I’m thrilled to be working for an organization that has been at the forefront of so many social justice and inclusion issues since its founding,” said Hartley. “EDS is a vibrant, contemporary community with a rich history, and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

Episcopal Divinity School was founded in 1974 from a merger of Philadelphia Divinity School (founded 1857) and Episcopal Theological School (founded 1867). Located just outside Harvard Square, EDS is a member of the Boston Theological Institute, a consortium of ten eminent theological schools, seminaries, and departments of religion.