Day 7– June 27
Today was the penultimate (next-to-last) day of General Convention. The deputies reported at 7 a.m. and didn’t get released for the day until 9 p.m. You’d think that 14 hours of legislation would have turned us into a bunch of mindless zombies, but the day, though long, had a surprising number of emotional moments.
The first order of business was the election of the Vice President for the House of Deputies. There had to be a lag, if you recall, because the President and Vice President have to be a clergy person and a lay person. Once Julia Ayala Harris was re-elected (a lay person), it was clear that an ordained person had to be elected as Vice President. We had three nominees before Convention, and a fourth candidate entered the ring during Convention. I’ll save you the details, but the Rev. Dr. Steve Pankey was elected. He’s from the Diocese of Kentucky and has worked with Julia Ayala-Harris for several years.
So, what were the emotional moments?
Resolution D074 was “Renouncing the Theology of Slavery held by the Rev. James Craik, 11th President of the House of Deputies.” The Rev. Craik was the 11th President of the House of Deputies back in the 19th century and an opponent of slavery. So far so good. But he wrote a pamphlet arguing against slavery in shockingly racist terms. I wasn’t surprised to learn that since I’ve previously read 19th century abolitionist literature and knew that much of it was wildly racist. Yes, the people who opposed slavery didn’t always believe that African enslaved people were fully human. At any rate, we voted to condemn his teaching. You can read the text of the resolution at vbinder.net. And, no, I won’t quote it here.
On a similar note, Resolution A117 was “Withdraw Rev. William Porcher DuBose from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts Calendar -- Second Reading.” Why was this Sewanee theologian removed from our calendar of saints? Well, his enthusiastic support of the KKK doesn’t paint a flattering picture of his moral compass. The vote to remove him from the calendar resulted in a rapid updating of his Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Porcher_DuBose
A third emotion-filled moment was an acknowledgement of the Church’s support of Indigenous (“Indian”) boarding schools. The following prayer was approved by Convention:
A PRAYER TO REMEMBER THE INNOCENTS
Ohiŋni wičhauŋkiksuyapi kte. "We will always remember them."
Dear Lord, Almighty God, we pray for all Indigenous children who were in residential and boarding schools in Canada and the United States. Some died there; we ask that you give assurance to their descendants that their souls are with you and their ancestors. Some survived there; we ask that you give your healing grace to all who endured hardship while there and are still struggling with those memories. Lastly, we ask you to help us guard our children against harm in this world. All this we ask in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.
Deputies from Navajoland and the Dakotas gave moving testimony about the impact that these institutions had and still have on their people and culture.
Finally, there were a number of wonderful new liturgical offerings. We approved two expansive language versions of Eucharistic Prayer C (the “Star Wars” Eucharistic Prayer which I cheerfully support). Prayers A, B, and D had expansive language versions approved in 2022, so this completed the set. You can find that material here: https://legislation.generalconvention.org/vbinder/...
I was especially happy to see approval of a new Good Friday service. The existing version in the BCP is quite aggressively unkind to the Jewish people, and this allows for a proper re-focusing on the story of Good Friday. That material can be downloaded here: https://legislation.generalconvention.org/vbinder/resolutions/588/supporting_document?house=HD&lang=en
Tomorrow’s the last day of Convention. My Legislative Committee, 14: Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations, has submitted eleven pieces of legislation. All but four are fully approved, and those four have all been approved by the Bishops. With luck we’ll get the last ones taken care of tomorrow in the House of Deputies.