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An electronic daily update of events
from the Anglican Church of Canada's
General Synod 1995 in Ottawa Ontario
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S y n o d N E W S l i n k
by tod maffin
thursday, june 8, 1995
"From silly devotions
and from sour-faced saints,
good Lord, deliver us."
-- Teresa of Avila
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t h e f i r s t w o r d
Today, this section should really be called the Last Word,
because this is the last Synod NEWSlink which will be
broadcast from Ottawa. General Synod ends Friday at noon,
and so there won't be much on which to report.
I do plan to do one final wrap-up broadcast in the middle of
next week, summarizing some of the ideas you've contributed
on how the church can use electronic networking as part of
its communications strategy. However, as I'm not on Ecunet,
that mailing will only be available on the Anglinet network
and through the Internet mail list. (Ecunet members can
still receive it, but through either of those sources.)
I want to acknowledge the contribution of a number of people
who have been the driving force behind this experiment:
-- John Chapman of Infomatch Internet in Burnaby B.C. who
donated the use of his network's systems to establish
this temporary mail-list server;
-- Ron Barnes, besides being Canada's most enthusiastic
ordained online nut, has been placing the daily messages
into the Anglinet network of diocesan bulletin board
systems (a network he founded);
-- David Bewley, who has come to the Carleton campus each
morning to pick up the disk I leave each night for him,
puts the daily messages into Ecunet;
-- Paul Gibson, who wrote the daily report for members and
kindly allowed me to share his reports with you;
-- and you, for sending notes, offering support, and
upholding Synod members in prayer. We felt your
presence, even if it was "virtual."
So, what happens next? Around the middle of next week, I'll
send out one more message as a wrap-up, and will prepare a
summary of the comments received from my "networking"
question of how the church could be using electronic
networking more effectively.
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q u i c k t a k e s
THE DANA SIBLEY COUNT CONTINUES
For those of you keeping score at home, Dana Sibley has
now been seen on the television show seven times.
WINNER OF THE "HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD" AWARD
From a member of the Diocese of New Westminster caucus:
"Everything has been said, but not everyone has said
it." (Runner up is a member of the Diocese of Rupert's
Land who, when summarizing his point at the microphone,
asked members: "I invite, urgently and humbly, that you
might consider giving your support to pass this motion.")
LECTRONIC NETWORKING APPROVED BY SYNOD
The Synod this evening approved a motion to direct the
Information Resources committee to study electronic
networking and make recommendations for its use in the
implementation of the national restructuring and the
wider communications needs of the church as a whole.
The motion carried unanimously, without debate.
ANGLICANS ONLINE!
One last plug for those of you with access to the
Internet's World Wide Web, you can reach Anglicans
Online! at this address (with your WWW browser):
http://infomatch.com/~haibeck/anglican.html
THE LAST CHAPTER, BUT NOT THE FINAL BOOK
Although this chapter is closing on the church's
potential for electronic networking, a new one is
beginning. This morning, the Synod approved its slate of
national committees and I have been elected to the
Information Resources committee, serving as interim
co-chair for the time being. We are a small committee,
mostly new, with a huge mandate and a solid pool of
experience. (Complete election results in tonight's
Synod NEWSextra.)
OUT OF RESOLUTIONS, BUT NOT OUT OF TOUCH
Though this mailing list is almost all wrapped up,
except for the official close next week, you can still
get ahold of me through my personal e-mail account:
tod@direct.ca. You can also reach me at work using:
todm@haibeck.bc.ca. I can't afford Ecunet (though I
would be happy to accept a complimentary subscription!
)
HEY, THANKS FOR THE CHIPS. UH, IS THE NIAGARA PARTY NEARBY?
You've got to hand it to the Diocese of Toronto for
their tenacity. They tried. They really did try. But
the worst case scenario kept happening for them under
the "If you threw a party and nobody showed up"
hypothesis. First, they were competing with a party
three floors below hosted by the Diocese of New
Westminster (clearly, a mistake of grave proportions).
Next night they tried too, but ended up throwing in the
chips -- literally -- and joining someone else.
WHO NEEDS LAWYER JOKES WHEN YOU'VE GOT ROBERTS RULES?
Ah... there's nothing more relaxing than to watch two
lawyers scrap it out on the floor of Plenary. When a
motion on the floor was amended, and the amendment had
financial implications, the Synod assessors were in a
quandry about whether the AMENDMENT had to go in front
of the Expenditures Committee for review, or the full
motion, if the amendment passed and was incorporated.
Still with me? Great. First, the assessors said it
must. Then the Chancellor confirmed it must. As did the
Chair. Then, incoming Prolocutor Rendina Hamilton said
it didn't... [At the time of this writing, the debate
was still going on outside with a small group of 267
lawyers shouting "Does so," and "Does not" to each
other.]
TODAY'S MENU -- THE BATTLE CONTINUES
So far, we've been given Frizzled Ham for breakfasts on
heavy-business days. Purely coincidental, the catering
staff claim. But the featured desert tonight convinced
me there is a plot afoot. The desert? Fruitcakes and
nuts. What exactly are the Carleton Food Services
people trying to tell us anyway? I don't think I'm
being *that* paranoid... Hey -- is that the face of John
Lennon in my mashed potatoes?
CEREMONIAL GUARD KEEING US WELL PROTECTED... FROM THEM
All through Synod, we have been felt quite safe on
campus, as the Parliament's Ceremonial Guard is staying
in the residences (having had their base closed). For
the first half of Synod, we mingled and shared dining
space. Yesterday, large barricades were erected in the
dining area with signs reading "All Anglicans keep out."
(Actually, I think they said "Ceremonial Guard only.")
Food Service staff were even posted to make sure we
didn't infect their area. Was it coincidental that
Synod debated a motion about closing military bases on
the same day this happened? Hmmm....
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d i d y o u k n o w ?
Did you know that the members of General Synod don't
actually elect people to the national committees?
Members (and some non-members of Synod) are nominated to
specific committees, then a sessional Nominations Committee
locks themselves in a room for two days and selects the
makeup of the committee. They ensure the committee makeup
is even by gender, ordained/laity, geography, expertise,
etc. All together, the committee has a list of 18 criteria
which it uses to gauge the committees' makeup.
Then, the Nominating Committee presents their slate of
committee membership to the General Synod. Members are
asked for input as to balance and other issues and the
committee returns to make adjustments.
Finally, the Synod gets to vote on adopting the entire slate
of committees or not. This year, the Synod adopted the
committee's second report, adopting the comments received.
This Synod, more than 300 people were nominated for 63
positions. Overall, the new structure provides for fewer
committees (seven) with fewer members.
(Tonight's Synod NEWSextra lists all the committees and
their membership.)
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s n i c k e r i n g s
A newly consecrated bishop, and an old bishop were going
into a church, and the old bishop told him "Now remember,
bishops don't reverence the cross". (This is where you bow
your head when the acolyte carring the cross walks by.)
Well, the new bishop was aghast. "I may be a bishop now,
but I still know where I stand in the pecking order! The
cross is a symbol of Our Lord, and I bow to show respect for
him. I'm not so big-headed that I'm not going to show
proper reverence for Jesus!" The old bishop said "Well,
okay, but if you do, your hat will fall off."
-- Submitted by Michael Leach
Toronto ON, Canada
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g l a n c e a h e a d
FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 1995 (all times Eastern)
7:00 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Worship
9:00 a.m. Plenary: No-debate list and final resolutions
11:00 a.m. Closing Eucharist
12 noon Lunch
Afternoon Members leave for home
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y o u r t u r n
"I echo the Rev. Ron Barnes' gratitude to you for the
incredible service you have given the Canadian church in
providing us with Synod NEWSlink and Anglicans Online! on
World Wide Web. Your ministry can leave no doubt in the
minds of any about the leadership of anglican youth. May
God continue to bless you and us through your ministry."
-- Bob Chandler
St. Matthew's, Windsor
Diocese of Huron
[Ed: And now, it's my turn. Twice per day throughout this
Synod, I have ported my laptop to the Commons Lounge and
plugged in to my Internet e-mail box. Each time, I have
been overwhelmed by not only the volume of your comments,
but the support I've received from you -- some with notes
of prayers, some with simple words to "keep going." Your
comments have energized me through this experiment. They
have told me that people *are* out there, they really *do*
want this kind of resource available, and I was honoured to
have been able to bring it to you.]
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