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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
tuesday, june 6, 1995
___________________________________
t h e f i r s t w o r d
I have been absolutely overwhelmed by the volume of comments
from my request yesterday for comments about the use of
electronic communications in the church.
For those of you following the progress of my motion to
commit the church to an immediate study of its potential, I
don't have much to report this evening. The motion is still
on the list for debate, but we're nowhere near it yet.
Thanks for your comments (close to 100 at this point!) and
please keep them coming. Use the word "networking" in the
subject header. I'm sorry that I'm not able to respond
personally to each one AT THIS POINT, but I plan to over the
coming weeks. Most of you made excellent points -- some
quite detailed -- and I will do my best to make sure the
church hears your voice.
___________________________________
q u i c k t a k e s
RESTRUCTURING VOTE COMPLETE
Synod today voted to adopt the proposed committee
structure with relatively few changes. There are, in
short, fewer committees with fewer people on them and
broader mandates, in the scope of the overall refined
priorities decided on yesterday. The Council of General
Synod proposal to replace the National Executive Council
was basically gutted by a straw vote and reshaped to
much more closer reflect the existing NEC. The reshaped
Council was a close vote, especially among Bishops. It
allows for one rep for each diocese, four officers, and
two youth.
FROM THE "YOU COULDN'T PAY ME ENOUGH" DEPARTMENT
Some memorable "campaign" speeches from various Bishops
during the election to the Council of General Synod
(those not really wanting to get on):
- Bishop Hannen of Caledonia: "There's nothing good that
can be said about me, so please don't vote for me."
- Bishop Crawley of Kootenay: "Being elected would be a
matter of life and death for me -- if I'm elected, my
wife would kill me."
Neither were elected.
TOP TEN RULES OF ORDER NOT PRINTED IN THE SYNOD HANDBOOK
10. The time of the coffee breaks shall be determined
to be such a time when an amendment to a motion in
debate is proposed to be amended on the floor.
9. All pizza deliveries to be made directly to the
Primate.
8. No resolution shall make it to the floor with less
than six strata of subsections.
7. Due to technical difficulties, no member shall
appear on camera when awake.
6. The morning coffee shall in no way resemble the
heated beverage of the same name.
5. No member of Synod shall for any reason speak on
the topic on the floor for debate.
4. The time of speaking will be limited to three
minutes except when the speaker is off-topic.
3. During Session, seating in the campus bars and
lounges will be on a first-come, first-served basis
only.
2. Should the members of Synod understand the motion
up for debate, it must be promptly amended in order
to extend debate.
1. Under no circumstances may anyone speak directly
into the microphone in such as way as to amplify
their voice.
A NIGHT OF BALLET, CELLO DUETS, AND NATIVE STORYTELLING
Apparently, nobody from the Diocese of Ottawa sleeps.
The hospitality committee outdid itself this evening,
with a sparkling evening of laughter, tradition, and
heritage. We were treated to the red carpet treatment
-- bussed across the river to Quebec and to the Museum
of Civilization. What a magnificant building with a
million-dollar view of the back of the Parliament
buildings, sitting atop a lush green stand. A wonderful
dinner, as well. And a refreshing, recharging break for
members before jumping back into business tomorrow.
WOULD THE DELEGATION FROM NOVA SCOTIA KINDLY SNORE QUIETER?
During a vote on somethingerother, members from the
Diocese of Nova Scotia were somewhat asleep at the
wheel. Most of the diocese left their hands up for the
counts of BOTH those in favour and those opposed. (In
penance, the Synod may require them to perform "I'm a
little teapot" in matching kilts.)
OFFICIAL CHURCH REPORTS OF SYNOD PROCEEDINGS
Some of you have been receiving "Synod NEWSreport", the
General Synod Daily Report, with this mailing. You will
receive all eventually, I hope, but my schedule and the
schedule of the church staff person preparing those
reports, don't match up very well. When we're able to
connect, we swap disks, but sometimes that's a day late
or in a batch. Your patience is appreciated.
DIOCESE OF OTTAWA NEWSPAPER FIRST TO JUMP INTO CYBERSPACE
I hinted yesterday that a diocesan newspaper may likely
get online. Today, I'm pleased to give more details.
The Diocese of Ottawa's newspaper, Crosstalk, will be
getting on the World Wide Web -- hopefully before the
Synod ends. Its URL address will be:
http://infomatch.com/~haibeck/a_ottawa.html
Check that site in a couple of days. Hopefully, the
Ottawa newspaper will be only the first among many.
TWO STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT
Synod members gave the nod to a rule where people
serving on a national committee who miss two consecutive
meetings without being excused by the committee, are
automatically bounced from their committee. (The
assessors are still ruling, though, whether such members
may pass Go or collect $200.)
YUM YUM, BEER IS GOOD.
Late this evening, members returned from the Ottawa
entertainment and most hit the sack quickly. A few
meandered to a campus pub which had closed the till,
turned down the lights, and locked the door. Until they
saw the Anglicans coming. When told by the first two
that more were on the way, the bar staff -- apparently
able to look a gift horse in the eye -- remained open
for another hour and a half.
TWO MINUTE WARNING
I've had some questions about how long Synod lasts and
how long Synod NEWSlink will publish. Synod lasts until
this Friday (June 9) morning. For members, most of
Friday is just wrap-up -- no business is planned. The
last day of Synod business, for all intents and
purposes, is Thursday. Synod NEWSlink's last edition
from Ottawa will be released late Thursday night/early
Friday morning. Then, I fly back home to Vancouver, and
plan to do one more overall wrap-up release on the
Sunday. So if you have anything you'd really like in
"your turn", you may want to start getting them in now.
___________________________________
r e f l e c t i o n s
Since nobody appeared to object too loudly about my use of
"reflections" to type in the text of a speech I delivered to
Synod 1992, I thought I'd give you a taste of some comments
I made on the floor today.
Up for debate was a motion to guarantee two youth
representatives a seat at the national Council of General
Synod. Here's what I said in the course of that debate:
(some of you will recognize the anecdote from my description
of this past Sunday)
-----
"I want to share with you a humbling experience I had last
Sunday. I was billeted in a small suburb of Ottawa and
visited the local parish for Sunday service.
As the offertory was being offered, a young girl -- couldn't
have been more than four or five -- ran to the front with a
change purse. And began emptying out her purse. Coin by
coin.
And it was very humbling. I reflected on how little I had
put in the plate. [Laughter from the Synod members.]
She didn't do it because it was liturgically appropriate.
She didn't do it because it said so on page 205 in red.
She did it because she didn't know any better. She felt it
in her heart, and she acted.
There is a certain wisdom in innocence.
We need dreamers in our church. We need people not affected
by the adult world of taxes and cellular phones and the
"proper way" of doing things.
Because this is about more than simple representation, it's
about our shared future."
___________________________________
s n i c k e r i n g s
A pro-lifer and a pro-choicer were arguing about when life
begins. The pro-lifer said life begins at conception. The
pro-choicer said life begins at birth. An Anglican Bishop
overheard the argument. He said to them both: "I'll tell
you when life begins. It begins when your dog dies and your
last child leaves home."
-- (I'm sorry, I've lost the name
of the submitted ofthis... :( )
___________________________________
g l a n c e a h e a d
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 1995 (all times Eastern)
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
7:30 a.m. Eucharist
8:30 a.m. Bible study and worship
9:45 a.m. Coffee
10:00 a.m. PLENARY: Close committee nominations,
resolutions
12 noon Lunch
1:30 p.m. Anglican Video broadcast
2:00 p.m. PLENARY: Resolutions
4:00 p.m. Bible study groups, reflection
5:00 p.m. Religious orders reception
5:00 p.m. Dinner
7:15 p.m. PLENARY: Nominating Committee report,
resolutions (including BAS Evaluation)
9:15 p.m. Night prayers
9:30 p.m. Vision TV's SYNOD broadcast aired
Evening Reception
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y o u r t u r n
"Shalom. The coverage from G.S. 95 Ottawa has been
excellent. It would be wonderful to receive summaries of
diocesan synods sent from a central point, especially now
that G.S. has been restructured. Then the local conditions
go national and dioceses would be more aware of what IS
being attended to. Then have an opportunity to link or
exchange ideas and solve similar problems or launch
programs. Shalom."
-- Ruth Lorenson
Garden City NY, USA
"Tod, thanks for a great information source. I really enjoy
your views of what is happening [as biased as they must be
sometimes ;-)] Keep up the good work, it is much
appreciated. P.S. keep drinking the coffee!"
-- Dr. Kent Stobart
Manitoba, Canada
(Like to add your own thoughts? Just e-mail tod@direct.ca
with the words "your turn" in the subject header. Please
put your name and city in the message body.)
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