(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 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 ___________________________________ 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.) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 *