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By Lucy Chumbley
Washington Window
Vol. 75, No. 6, May 2006

"We are going to do some things very differently this time," said the Very Rev. George Werner, president of the House of Deputies and vice chairman of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council of the upcoming General Convention (June 13-21, Columbus, Ohio). "We are Brigadoon. We rise from the mist every three years."

Addressing a group of Episcopal Communicators during that group's annual convention in Sarasota, Fla., April 19-22, Werner said some procedural changes are being made to facilitate conversation at the tri-annual convention and conduct business more efficiently.

"If you want to get close to God's truth, you've got to bring all the voices to the table," he said, explaining that representatives from the 38 provinces and 164 countries that make up the Anglican Communion have been invited to sit in on legislative sessions.

Also, at the start of the convention, deputies from around the Episcopal Church USA will be invited to take part in a round table discussion with people from different dioceses to listen to one another's views and concerns.

"I believe in conversation," Werner said, stressing that no two people from the same diocese will be at a table together.

Recognizing the sensitive and sometimes distressing nature of some of the legislative processes and decisions, Werner said there would be more than one chaplain this year.

Four chaplains "who represent many different things" have been asked to serve, he said, explaining that "they will be in different parts of the house, working together."

The lead chaplain will be the Rev. Canon Dena Harrison, canon to the ordinary in the diocese of Texas. Other chaplains will be the Rev. Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, chaplain at Syracuse University, NY, the Rev. Matthew Gunter of Chicago and the Rev. Silvestre Romero, a Hispanic translator from the diocese of El Camino Real.

With sensitive issues concerning the church's relationship with the Anglican Communion on the table, Werner said he and Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold "have made a commitment that anything dealing with the Windsor Report, Anglican Communion, etc. must come before the House before the election of the presiding bishop."

A potential controversy at this convention is the possible election of a female Presiding Bishop, Werner said. The Rt. Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Bishop of Nevada, is among the nominees and is the first woman selected as a nominee for Presiding Bishop.

If she is elected, Werner said: "I think most of the provinces in the Anglican Communion would find a way to deal politely with that. Moses didn't only bring all the commandments to the promised land, he brought all the people. I think we will all be poorer if we get broken up because of that or because of something like it."

Other controversy at this year's General Convention will include a continuation of the debate on the church's stance on same sex relationships, Werner said, adding that having a strong sense of community will enable people to move forward.

"It's always we, not I," Werner said. "Everybody gets something, everybody gives something up." He described the church today as "one person wanting to go back 50 years to a church that never was; another wanting to go forward 50 years to a church that never will be."

While he expects sexuality issues will dominate the headlines once again, Warner said "the issue of cleaning up Title III [canons - church laws - on ministry] and the Title IV changes [canons on ecclesiastical discipline] is huge."

Also looming large will be an affirmation of the United Nations' Millenium Development Goals, which will call for all of the church's parishes to commit 0.7 percent of their budgets to the realization of these goals, and the consecration of six bishops.

"The consecration of bishops could be a walk in the park, or it could be the most difficult of all," he said, explaining that the bishops "very probably" will be voted on in the order in which they were elected.

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