Rejoicing with Navajoland 6/25/24

Betsy Wiesmore, Jonah Kendall, and Sue Bolen getting ready for the morning session.

Dear friends,

Greetings from Louisville! The days are staying full around here, as many of our deputation members once more had meetings at 7am for their respective committees. Morning Prayer was said in the Convention Center – still a delightful way to begin the day for many of us!

At 10:30am, the House of Deputies welcomed in our bishops again to sit for a joint session on the work of the nominating committee for the selection of the next Presiding Bishop. Following a long and intentional process of understanding the canons of the Church, the hopes, dreams, and even biases that the committee might have coming in to the process, and receiving over 6,000 responses from across the Church to a survey about the next Presiding Bishop, the committee published the profile for the position. Strong leadership, adaptive thinking, deep personal faith, and a love of preaching were highlights of what the committee sought in potential candidates. The House of Bishops will vote tomorrow on their choice, and the House of Deputies will have to confirm the choice.

We broke early for lunch and were greeted by the chaplain at the resumption of business at 2pm, who prayed to our “Creator Spirit” – sounds like a certain rector’s recent sermon, praying to the Holy Spirit!

Chaplain of the House of Deputies, the Rev. Lester Mackenzie, leading the House in prayer and singing!

We then moved to the election of the House of Deputies. For a long time, this was a practically ceremonial in nature, as there hasn’t been a contested election for this office in recent memory. The incumbent, Julia Ayala Harris, won reelection after besting two worthy challengers in Zena Link and the Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton.

Then, after a short batch of testimony mostly in favor of it, the budget for the next triennium passed easily in the House of Deputies.

The House also considered numerous resolutions on Title IV of our canons both in the consent calendar and on the floor. This is a moment in which our structure has served us well in the last year or so. In surprisingly quick fashion for this Church, after a considerable amount of displeasure has been voiced regarding the fairness and results of the process for bringing complaints against clergy for the sake of misconduct, sweeping changes have been approved already at this Convention to add more clarity and accountability to the process, more expedited timelines for the completion of tasks throughout the process, more protections for the rights of those bringing complaints to the Church, and more responses at the end of the process potentially to include a “restorative covenant” between parties when the hopes of healing, repentance, forgiveness, restitution, amendment of life, and reconciliation are possible. 

Mmmmmm coffee!

After a brief recess (read: more coffee!), we enjoyed hearing from the Episcopal Church Women who celebrated their 150^th anniversary this year! To use their phrase, “Serving women and girls from 1871”! Then, we voted to expand the boundaries of the Diocese of Hawaii to include Guam and Saipan, which previously had comprised the Episcopal Church in Micronesia – yes, we have Episcopal Churches in many places! At Hawaii’s last diocesan convention, they affirmed their unanimous support for the resolution and the desires of those Episcopalians in Guam and Saipan. There are close historical and economic relations between these places, and the union of our friends was warmly confirmed with applause in the House.

We then heard testimony on a topic familiar to many in Idaho – condemning the banning of books in D039 Condemning Censorship. This resolution aims to encourage dioceses and local parishes to work broadly to support the reading of and access to books affirming the experiences of the LGBTQ+, racial minority, and other marginalized communities. D039 passed easily in the House.

C009 Petition of the Episcopal Church in Navajoland to become a Missionary Diocese was the highlight of the day, as the resolution was passed with affection, joy, and multiple roaring standing ovations in the House of Deputies. This resolution is a long time coming and allows for our friends in the Navajoland Area Mission to become a missionary diocese – a hope that the deputation from Navajoland said “our ancestors had prayed for,” and was a “longing” of so many, especially the hope for an indigenous bishop. Navajoland has congregations in Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico and will now have the ability to elect their own bishop, have more autonomy over the formation and calling of their clergy, and enjoy the privileges that all dioceses have across the Church. Our own Ron Braman reminded our deputation and others that this resolution is a great moment of social justice in the Church, and we rejoice with our Navajo friends in Christ – in Navajo, the Diné – at the formation of their own missionary diocese!

Also heard on the floor today and passed with great majority were the following:

D031 Addressing the Ongoing Harm of Coercive and Abusive Christian Ministries

D011 The Prohibition of Assault Weapons

And several courtesy resolutions recognizing the work of GC81’s language interpreters in ASL, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Mandarin, offering gratitude for the Join Nominating Committee for the next Presiding Bishop, offering gratitude for the candidates for the next Presiding Bishop, giving thanks for the ministry of Episcopal Camps and Conference Centers and the importance of the 95+ camps and conference centers of the Church (we had our Paradise Points shirts on!), expressing appreciation for the Episcopal Church Women, recognizing the generous contributions to the United Thank Offering (over $1 million awarded for 2024 projects), commending the work of Episcopal Communicators, and giving thanks for the life and witness of Krisita Jackson.

Overall, it was a much more productive day in the House of Deputies. The House of Bishops has been busy, and soon, the deputies will have many resolutions coming that require a response – some of the more notable ones being about the Book of Common Prayer as well as the resolutions regarding Israel and Palestine. Much more coming!

Grace to you and peace,

Dennis