(All Synod NEWSlink messages are designed to be displayed with a non-proportional typeface, such as Courier or Terminal. To subscribe to or un-subscribe from this list, see the bottom of this message.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- An electronic daily update of events from the Anglican Church of Canada's General Synod 1995 in Ottawa Ontario ___________________________________ S y n o d N E W S l i n k by tod maffin monday, june 5, 1995 ___________________________________ t h e f i r s t w o r d Good morning. You are waking up to a new Anglican Church of Canada. It is one with a renewed mandate and a sense of transition from an old, inherited structure which wasn't working to a revitalized and energized church. Members of Synod this afternoon voted to accept the overall plan of restructuring the national church. You'll find the plan in this evening's Synod NEWSextra. (This newsletter is a bit late -- as the business of Synod gets more and more in depth, I'm finding it harder to commit time to working on this, much as I enjoy it. Perhaps next Synod, the church will let me come to General Synod and do nothing but electronic networking, but this time around I am first and foremost a member of the Synod, representing the youth of my diocese and serving on the Synod resolutions committee; it's a task I take seriously and one which takes priority over the "hobby" of Synod NEWSlink. I know you'll understand if the issues are somewhat delayed.) ___________________________________ q u i c k t a k e s AND THE FOOD SHALL LEAD THEM?!... On this, the first full day of actual Plenary business, it was somehow ironic that the breakfast menu was serving "Frizzled Ham" on the menu for members. Members who had attended the 1989 General Synod in the Maritimes noted it struck a similar chord to the "Fried Baloney" which was served the day major resolutions got underway. CYBERNUNS? BELIEVE IT! Got an e-mail a couple of days ago from an address called CyberNun. Curious, I inquired further. Sure enough, it's a real address, apparently used by an order of nuns in the U.K. Glad you're with us! NOT EVEN A SPELL-CHECKER WOULD FIX THIS Overheard on the floor of Plenary: "You know, we're only one letter away from 'Preparing the War', not 'Preparing the Way'." (Also noted: A typo in a resolution, commending the federal fisheries ministry for its swift action in the "fist" (not "fish") war.) ANGLICAN DIOCESAN NEWSPAPERS ONLINE?... There's nothing official yet, but I had lunch today with the editor of a diocesan newspaper. We are very excited about the opportunities to get Anglican news distributed in more forms and hope to publish stories from that newspaper each month. From there, who knows? I'll keep you posted as the idea grows wings. "INTEGRITY" MEMBERS TURNED DOWN FOR VOICE AT FORUM Late last evening, one Synod member asked that two representatives from the Integrity Group of gay and lesbian Canadian Anglicans be permitted a voice on the floor of the hearing on homosexuality. This morning, the Primate announced that the officers had denied the request, restating that only members of Synod and the task force were eligible to address the floor. NEW HUMAN SEXUALITY RESOLUTION In Saturday's NEWSextra, I mentioned that there was rumour of an additional motion coming to the floor on same-gender unions. Sure enough, it was given notice to members today. It has not been moved formally on the floor yet. "THAT the Doctrine and Worship Committee, or its successor, initiate broad-based consultations within the Anglican Church of Canada concerning the liturgical recognition of committed monogamous same-gender unions, and report to the next General Synod." OH, YOU MEAN I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAND THE BALLOT IN?... Today's election of the Prolocutor did not quite go as planned. With six nominees on the first ballot, a majority was not reached, so members went to a second ballot. Members voted a second time, with the nominee receiving the fewest votes dropped, then a third time. And then something happened. Ballots from the second vote were found mixed in with the third, forcing members to grudgingly go back to the second ballot. (It should be noted that the third ballot was coloured Episcopal Purple, and the re-count was a sad blue.) In the end, Rendina Hamilton, Chancellor of the Diocese of Kootenay, was elected after six votes on four ballots, a key advisor to the Primate. The Rev. Ben Arreak from the Diocese of the Arctic was elected Deputy Prolocutor. THE LOAVES AND THE ANCHOVIES?! After about two hours into Plenary today, a young and slightly confused pizza delivery person stumbled onto the floor of Synod with a small Pepperoni pizza addressed to the Primate. "Members of Synod never cease to amaze me by their generosity and inginuitity," Archbishop Peers remarked, and took under advisement a request from the floor to distribute the pizza evenly as represented by diocese and not provincial caucuses. GREMLINS INVADE SYNOD No-one is quite sure where the information sheet -- which was distributed to members, outlining live television coverage of tonight's human sexuality forum -- came from. I reported from that sheet that it was to have been carried live on Vision. It wasn't the case (as many of you who tuned in probably discovered). Next Synod, perhaps... ___________________________________ d i d y o u k n o w ? Synod members who want to propose a motion don't just stand up on the floor and move it. Did you know that a lot happens behind the scenes before Synod members ever see the motion? First, members must submit their motion, with an explanatory note, to the Resolutions Committee. That committee doesn't actually debate the MERITS of a resolution, just ensures it meets certain criteria like being national in scope and not an embarassment to the church. Once approved by Resolutions, the motion is sent to the Expenditures Committee to determine what, if any, financial implications of the motion would occur as a result of its passing. From there, it's to the Agenda Committee who schedules the motion for debate on the floor. Unless the motion was distributed before the Synod to members, it is only at this point do members even HEAR about the motion. It is then printed and distributed to members for voting. And did you know that whether or not motions from actual members even hit the floor for debate at all is in doubt. Motions are classified into three priority categories: 1. Motions from committees 2. Motions from dioceses 3. Motions from individual members So a motion coming from an individual member is given the lowest priority and comes last on the agenda. If Synod runs out of time before dealing with the motion, the motion simply disappears. (This is a change from previous times, when all motions not dealt with are handed off to the National Executive Council for implementation; last time, the Synod sent dozens of motions to NEC). ___________________________________ r e f l e c t i o n s This evening, the forum on Human Sexuality went on. (Overall, I found it a helpful forum of listening to other points of view, though I doubt anyone changed their mind.) The Primate, Archbishop Michael Peers, joined our diocese (the diocese of his birth) and sat across from me at the table. Having met the Primate before on several occasions, I've grown to respect and like Archbishop Peers a great deal. He and I swapped jokes, chatted occasionally, and so forth. Much as anyone would with any other member of Synod. It's a far cry from an experience I had several summers ago. Back in 1991 (or thereabouts), I was priviledged to attend the Worldwide Anglican Encounter in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. It was an amazing gathering of the Anglican communion -- young and old alongside every vibrant colour of skin among our churches. The conference theme was on Women's Rights and injustice around that issue in church and society. Like this General Synod, there were bishops coming out of the proverbial wordwork. One notable absent bishop: the Presiding Bishop of the U.S. (their equivelant of the Canadian Primate). He did eventually fly in for a day and made a brief appearance -- I can't remember if he spoke or not -- but I recall specifically the reaction of the American delegates: complete and utter awe. Or perhaps terror. Or perhaps overwhelming adoration. It was hard to tell, but they certainly did act as if they were in the presence of royalty. It's a difference I found quite apparent between the American and Canadian churches, and one which surprised me. I've been active in youth ministry in my diocese for a number of years, so I've met my share of bishops -- perhaps it's a case of "you've met one, you've met them all", but they are all human. I got to thinking about this in particular this afternoon, when the General Synod decided to work with the Lutheran Church in Canada (it's late, I've forgotten the full title and am too lazy to track down which binder it's in, so bear with me) to establish stronger links between our two churches. It's almost as if we have as much to learn about churches in our own Anglican communion as well! On a side note, Brazil reminds me of a couple of other quick reflections. At each of the Eucharists we shared at that conference, I recall the music during the sharing of the bread and wine. In *my* part of Canada, at least, we play quiet, reflective hymns (Abba Father always seems to crop up for some reason; must be legislated somewhere). The Brazilians, by contrast, played fast-paced, spirit-charged, "fun" music -- I mean more than toe-tapping material, this was "Get out and DANCE" material! Mind you, that makes me think of Hymns and the proposed new Hymn Book, but it's late and I have likely rambled on long enough for this evening. I'm not even sure if tonight's reflection made any sense, in fact, so it's a good thing I'm not ordained and subjecting parishioners to sermons like that!___________________________________ s n i c k e r i n g s Archbishop Lewis Garnsworthy used to describe the difference between a Suffragan and a Coadjutor bishop in this way: Every morning, when arriving at the Synod offices, the Suffragan pokes his head into the Diocesan bishop's doorway and says, "Good morning, my Lord!" The Coadjutor bishop does the same but says, "Good morning, my Lord. And how are you feeling today?" -- Submitted by Richard Tanner Barrie ON, Canada P.S. I'm running out of snickerings... if you have a good Anglican joke (I especially like Bishop jokes) please e-mail them to me at tod@direct.ca ___________________________________ g l a n c e a h e a d TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 1995 (all times Eastern) 7:30 a.m. Breakfast -- can they beat Frizzled Ham?!... 8:30 a.m. Bible study and worship 9:45 a.m. Coffee 10:00 a.m. "Preparing the Way": Enabling Resolutions 11:30 a.m. Provincial Caucuses meet to elect members to the Council of General Synod (CGS) 12 noon Lunch 12:15 p.m. Eucharist 2:00 p.m. Business in plenary - Election of CGS members-at-large 3:30 p.m. Hearing: Proposed new Hymn Book 5:15 p.m. Close of resolutions Dinner Dinner off campus 5:45 p.m. Buses leave for the Museum of Civilization 7:15 p.m. Banquet hosted by the Diocese of Ottawa 10:00 p.m. Buses return to Carleton HIGHLIGHTS: Now that the overall plan for restructuring the church is passed (see tonight's Synod NEWSextra), we work tomorrow on the "nuts and bolts". First up: A motion to change the membership on the National Executive Council. We may NEVER get home... :-) ___________________________________ y o u r t u r n ** SPECIAL "YOUR TURN" TONIGHT ** Thank you for all the wonderful comments you've been sending in about Synod NEWSlink. I'm delighted you're enjoying it and I'm having fun preparing it throughout the day. Now I'd like to ask you to help me a bit... I have mentioned the motion I hope to move on the floor about the church using electronic networks to better facilitate communication and sharing of resources. Here's where you come in. If you have the time, I would be encouraged to hear your thoughts on how the church could use new technologies to reach people outside the church or to help us inside the church communicate better. Even if all you want to say is "We, as a church, need to pay attention to this," I would strongly encourage you to do it now. Send your message to tod@direct.ca and PLEASE use "networking" as your subject header. This will help me sort through the messages and make sure yours is printed for review here at Synod. Please sign the bottom of each message with your name, parish, diocese, and city. Thanks! I'll keep you updated on what's happening with your comments. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTACT INFO: Synod95 is a read-only mailing list; any messages you send to the list will be politely returned. If you'd like to contact the editor, e-mail tod@direct.ca. SUBSCRIPTION INFO: To subscribe to Synod NEWSlink, send an e-mail message to "synod95@infomatch.com" with the words "subscribe synod-list" in the message body. To leave the list, send an e-mail message to "synod95@infomatch.com" with the words "signoff synod-list" in the message body. Or visit our website at: http://infomatch.com/~haibeck/as_basic.html THE LEGAL STUFF: You are encouraged to distribute this text to people known to you, provided no automated mailing list software is used to perform this forwarding function. No fee may be charged for distribution of this text, nor can this text be bundled with other information or programs if a fee is charged for such package. The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Anglican Church of Canada or any sane person for that matter. * END OF TEXT *