Resolutions at Convention

Syd Alexander, Delegate from the Chapel of the Cross

Part of the work of Convention is to sit as a legislative body and consider a wide variety of matters that are brought before the Convention in the form of resolutions. The rules of the Convention encourage the submission of resolutions before the Convention actually meets in order that they may be distributed to all delegates at the pre-convention convocation meetings for discussion. These resolutions are printed in the issue of the Communicant that is published at the time of the Convention. This year there were eighteen. The rules also provide for the late submission of resolutions and each year additional resolutions are submitted at the first session of Convention on Thursday evening. This Convention was no different. By the end of the first session more than 20 total resolutions had been introduced for consideration.

Each resolution is assigned to one of a number of committees for consideration before it may be considered by the Convention as a whole. The various committees met after the end of the first session on the first night of the Convention to receive comments for and against the resolution. This year the committee hearings began at 9 pm and in some cases lasted until after midnight. Each committee has a number of procedural options available to consider when reviewing the resolution before it. The committee may choose to recommend approval of the resolution as originally submitted, may vote to reject the resolution, may offer a substitute, which is often a revised version, or may simply pass on the original resolution to the entire Convention for its consideration without any recommendation. All of these options were utilized by one or more of the various committees at this Convention.

The subject matter of the resolutions this year was varied. We had resolutions supporting the U.N. Goals for development, attacking poverty, dealing with AIDS, and supporting environmental stewardship; a resolution supporting the continuation of the publishing of the Communicant; one supporting the Summit as a budget priority for next year; a resolution against domestic violence; a resolution containing a pledge of nonviolence; a resolution that would replace the Constitutional standard of confirmation with that of baptism in order to vote at parish meetings; and an entire series of resolutions filed in opposition to the recent action of the General Convention affirming the consecration of Gene Robinson as the Bishop Coadjutor of New Hampshire. And there were other resolutions considered as well!

So what did the Convention actually do about all of these resolutions? The answer to this question may found in part in the submissions found elsewhere in this issue and I commend each of those submissions to you for your consideration. Several resolutions were referred to the standing committee on Constitution and Canons for further study. The resolutions that had been submitted in response to the actions taken at General Convention were not referred out by the Committees and were not considered by the Convention as a whole. The Convention affirmed resolutions supporting the goals established by the U.N. for world relief; affirmed support for the Communicant, for nonviolence; voted against domestic violence; affirmed the work of the Diocesan Council in setting budget priorities for next year including strong support for the Summit; and enthusiastically supported the leadership and ministry of our Bishops. The Convention also called for sustained conversation throughout the Diocese and the broader Anglican communion in order that "in the midst of this time of challenge and opportunity we might move forward in mission and faithfulness to God and to one another by Living God's Dream - Making Disciples, Making a Difference."