(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 wednesday, june 7, 1995 ___________________________________ t h e f i r s t w o r d Apologies to those following Synod NEWSlink on the Internet; somewhere in Vancouver, a very confused mail server apparently decided that 2,000 subscribers was just enough, thank you. It exploded and it decided to not send the June 6 edition. (Those of you on Anglinet, CompuServe, Ecunet, and AOL received it without such a delay.) The updates should be back to normal for Internet subscribers now. ___________________________________ q u i c k t a k e s THE FACE BEHIND THE WORDS The funny thing about using e-mail to communicate with people is you often don't know what they look like. You may be interested to know that Thursday night, those of you who can receive Vision TV on cable of satellite, your humble scribe will be interviewed on the nightly General Synod coverage and you'll be able to see what I look like. (Don't say I didn't warn you.) That's Vision TV, 9:30 p.m. Eastern. THE DANA SIBLEY COUNT CONTINUES For those of you keeping score at home, Dana Sibley has now been seen on the television show five times. RULES OF ORDER WE'D LIKE TO SEE... Rule of order #24: The importance of an issue is inversely proportional to the amount of time it consumes in the course of debate. THE INTERNET'S ONLY "CANADIAN ANGLICAN" MAILING LIST OPENS Bob Chandler from Windsor Ontario has started a new mailing list on the Internet for Canadian Anglicans. In today's Synod NEWSextra, you'll find full details about how to subscribe and what the list is all about. Well done Bob! FRIZZLED HAM BACK AGAIN... On the day that 64 resolutions were on remaining on the floor with 15 hours of Plenary time remaining, it was notable to see that the catering staff had once again placed Frizzled Ham back on the breakfast menu. Coincidence? We suspect not. SYNOD EXTENDS AFFIRMATION TO GAY ANGLICANS A cleansing rain came strong and heavy Wednesday night, following debate on four resolutions on homosexuality. RESOLUTION A-125 That this General Synod affirms the presence and contributions of gay men and lesbians in the life of the church and condemns bigotry, violence and hatred directed toward any due to their sexual orientation. Almost three hours of debate, countless amendments and amendments to the amendments (most of which failed) finally, this motion passed. Synod also agreed to study the issue further. Of course. "WORST PUN OF THE DAY" AWARD When the Rev. Harold Munn from the Diocese of Edmonton was asked to identify himself at Microphone One before entering into debate, he said "I'm Munn, at One." The members groaned. In orders, naturally. A NEW OUTLOOK ON SEEING VISION Those of you following Synod proceedings on Vision TV's nightly coverage this week (9:30 p.m. Eastern) may be interested to know that we members watch it as well on the floor of Plenary, right after night prayers. We ARE hearing your phoned-in comments, and they are giving us much strength. VERBAGE The newest jargon: "Inclusivize", apparently a verb. ACTUALLY, WE WERE KIDDING ABOUT THE RULES OF ORDER THING... In Tuesday's Synod NEWSlink, I typed in the Top Ten list from the youth caucus (Top Ten Rules of Order NOT in the Synod Handbook). Tuesday afternoon, the Primate read them out to the members who, while enjoying the material, were apparently confused, and began operating under some of the phony rules, particularly those about being off-topic. ELECTRONIC NETWORKING MOTION ADJUSTED With 64 resolutions on the floor still to go, and less than 15 hours of Plenary time remaining, it is looking less and less likely that Synod will deal with private members' resolutions -- in particular, the one about the church using electronic networking. The motion I reported about a couple of days ago has been withdrawn, to let a motion from the Diocese of Fredricton (which, coming from a diocese, takes precedence) come to the floor which does essentially the same thing. I'll let you know what happens. (Even if it doesn't make it to the floor, it appears may be elected to the national Information Resources Committee, so you can be sure of a voice promoting the use of electronic networking as one way to communicate better and share resources.) ___________________________________ r e f l e c t i o n s There comes a point in the life of a church when it needs to put itself on the record. When it needs to make clear to a society which, especially these days, is searching for clarity among so many issues, where the church stands. Wednesday evening, the Anglican Church of Canada did just that. Finally, and not without a four-hour agonizing Plenary session steeped in procedure and points of order, we have made a strong statement of affirmation to the gay and lesbians in our churches that they are welcome among us. For too long, we have skirted the issue. "We accept you, well most of you anyway," seems to have been the unwritten statement of the church until now. My view of the church is that it should be a LEADER in society, not a follower. And if we really are one body in Christ, then we sure had better act like it. No wonder society is so messed up -- we can't even decide on whether or not to fully accept each individual. I rejoice with my sisters and brothers in Christ who are gay. And I'm sorry it has taken us so long to get here. Now hopefully we can get out there into our communities as a WHOLE people of God and help be that leader of society which I believe the world so desperately needs right now. ___________________________________ s n i c k e r i n g s Two friends -- a Lutheran pastor and an Anglican priest -- were chatting over lunch about problems with their respective church buildings. The Lutheran explained: "These darn bats just won't go away. We've tried traps, loud noise, poisons, everything but they won't leave." The Anglican nodded knowingly. "Yes, we had that problem too," he said. "But now we just baptize and confirm them and they never come back." ___________________________________ g l a n c e a h e a d THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1995 (all times Eastern) 7:00 a.m. Breakfast 8:30 a.m. Bible Study and Worship 9:30 a.m. Coffee, not to be confused with a HOT beverage 9:45 a.m. PLENARY: The fun continues... - The BAS evaluation commission and resolutions - Final report of the nominating committee - Remaining resolutions 12 noon Box lunch 12:30 p.m. Standing Committees meet 2:00 p.m. PLENARY: Resolutions and Partners' Reflections 5:00 p.m. Eucharist 7:15 p.m. PLENARY: Resolutions 9:15 p.m. Night prayers Evening Council of General Synod meeting; reception NOTE: Thursday is the last full day of the General Synod. The majority of the day is committed to debate on the floor of Plenary. ___________________________________ y o u r t u r n "Here at the Synod Office we're hooked on NEWSlink! We can hardly wait for the printout each morning -- it really is the next best thing to being there! Of course we want and need the official reports, but the extras you provide make the whole thing come alive. The question is, will YOU still be by Friday? Please give our Nova Scotia delegates some STRONG coffee; they need to be awake to watch for arrival of their matching kilts (Cape Breton Tartan)..." -- Jackie Barr Halifax NS, Canada "With over 2000 received the Synod notes on the Internet, and it being on the WWW and the Internet, and being sent out from NWnet to Anglinet --- I am beginning to think that the real story of Synod is the communication miracle that you are accomplishing. Never before has this been done. Church House should be ashamed that they did not think of it, nor did they try it. It was left for a lay volunteer like you to do it, unpaid, undirected, unpaid (sorry about that!), but definitely heralded. The medium really is the message, Tod. You have done well." -- The Rev. Ron Barnes Port Moody BC, Canada Founder, Anglinet (Tomorrow is the last Synod NEWSlink. If you have any comments to make which you'd like to appear in the "your turn" section, now is the time to send them in. Have you found this experiment helpful? Were there things you'd have liked to change? Please let us all know! 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 *