GOOD NEWS

The House of Deputies concurs with the House of Bishops on Resolutions A054 and A036 that provide for marriage equality. Thanks be to God and to the bishops and deputies at General Convention. May God bless the Episcopal Church.

PRAYER FOR THE 78TH GENERAL CONVENTION OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Almighty and everliving God, source of all wisdom and understanding, be present with those who take counsel at the 78th General Convention for the renewal and mission of your Church. Teach us in all things to seek first your honor and glory. Guide us to perceive what is right, and grant us both the courage to pursue it and the grace to accomplish it; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A FIRM "NO" TO THE ANGLICAN COVENANT AT GC 2015

As a member of the No Anglican Covenent Coalition, I support Resolution D022 which has been submitted to General Convention 2015.

Resolved, the House of _______ concurring, That the 78th General Convention of The Episcopal Church affirm our common identity and membership in the Anglican Communion, neither the present nor any desired future nature of which is properly described by the Anglican Communion Covenant; and be it further

Resolved, That the 78th General Convention direct The Episcopal Church’s members of the Anglican Consultative Council to express our appreciation to the 16th meeting of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC16, Lusaka 2016) for the gift of inter-Anglican conversation and mutuality in God’s mission engendered by the Anglican Communion Covenant process.

The previous GC declined to vote a firm "No" to the covenant, and now it's past time to lay the Anglican Covenant to its final rest and give it the decent burial it so richly deserves. The courageous dioceses in the Church of England and other churches in the communion voted the covenant down, so, for all intents and purposes, it is dead, and I hope General Convention will add its signature to the death certificate.

Many thanks to Lionel Deimel for his major effort to formulate the resolution and gather the support of a sufficient number of deputies to submit the resolution to GC.