(All Perspectives messages are designed to be viewed with a non-proportional typeface, such as Courier or Terminal. To subscribe to, or unsubscribe from, this list, see the bottom of this message.) ___________________________________ p e r s p e c t i v e s by tod maffin monday, may 25 1998 ____________________________________ t h e f i r s t w o r d Welcome back from the weekend, and a special welcome to the many people who signed up for our reports on Sunday. I presume the word got out in parish bulletins! :) Much of the formal "business" of the General Synod starts to take place from here on, as members will be starting to spend more time on the Plenary floor voting on motions, etc. Although this post-weekend issue is a bit sparse, you can expect it will pick up as we get into the decisions of the Synod. A few highlights today... first, members will dive into the Licencing of Clergy canon, a topic which has garnered the most requests for more information from our Internet coverage. As well, at 2pm for an hour, members will be debating and likely voting on the commissioning of alternative liturgies for use by diocesan bishops. Check the web site ( http://www.anglican.ca/synod98/ ) for coverage of breaking news as it develops. ____________________________________ q u i c k t a k e s CLOSER TIES TO LUTHERANS APPROVED Synod members have overwhelming approval in principle to a declaration that would see their church and the Canadian Lutheran church move closer to a full sharing of each other's gifts and ministries. They approved for study the "Called to Full Communion" document, one the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada earlier gave its overwhelming consent. (See full news release on this story, following.) GENERAL SYNOD ON TELEVISION TONIGHT The first of our five half-hour television broadcasts begins tonight on Vision TV. Tune in at 7pm (Eastern/Pacific). GET YOUR COMMENTS ON TV TONIGHT! If you have comments about the decisions made thus far at the synod, or have comments about the wider national church, you have a chance to see your comments aired this evening on the television program. Email your comments to voices@anglican.ca with the word "tv" in the subject line. Because of production timelines, your comments must be received by 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific today (Monday). MORE BEER!! Following a page and a half of relatively mundane notes and announcements, this morning's orders of the day (reproduced below in our "Today" section) have this short notice added: "There is the usual Pub tonight in Tomlinson Hall but without wine from either Niagara or Nova Scotia, but perhaps with more beer than the last night." ACYOMYMANIA Saturday morning, members were treated to a very funny short video of "Acronym Anonymous." It featured General Synod coordinator Jamie Tomlinson, who told a small support group "Hello. My name is Jamie. And I'm an Acronymaniac. It started with the Primate's Fund... PWRDF. Then soon, I was using ACC and WWW. And let's not even talk about all the interfaith groups... ICIFRIC..." FIDELITY AND INTEGRITY -- SIDE BY SIDE It's one of the wonderful oddities of the Synod... the Fidelity and Integrity organizations (both at opposite ends of the debate on same-sex unions) happen to have their booths side-by-side in the display area. One Integrity member tells me it was a deliberate placement, to demonstrate that the two groups can communicate and work together. Integrity has been one of the more popular booths, certainly due in part to their available free fans. With the Plenary hall uncomfortably warm for many members, more than a few have availed themselves of the free cooling devices, which have a clever sticker attached reading "Fan of Integrity." WEEKEND TIME-OFF One synod member, the Rev. Alan Perry from Montreal, is writing an excellent daily diary (on the acc-synod98 list). I was off-site during the weekend, so I was delighted to read Alan's description of the Saturday evening plans. "We were treated to a wonderful reception at the McCord Museum of Canadian History, followed by dinner at the Eaton's restaurant on the 9th floor of the department store. If that sounds a little strange, allow me to explain that the restaurant is an art-deco period piece, designed as a replica of the dining room on the ocean-liner "Ile de France". The meal was delicious (and yet another opportunity to talk to new people), and was followed by greetings from several dignitaries and an indescribable show put on by Natalie Choquette -"la Diva", a comic opera character.)" STEVE'S ADVENTURES IN SYNOD-LAND Speaking of other unofficial correspondants, synod member Steve Koning from the Diocese of Calgary has been writing daily dispatches on his observations. You can read his comments online at http://www.agt.net/public/diocese/steve.htm CORRECTION Nick Jesson, director of the Saskatoon Centre for Ecumenism, caught an error in our last issue Friday. The Rev. Telmor Sartison is is Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada (ELCIC), not the Lutheran Church of Canada (LCC). ____________________________________ f o r u m s by Maragaret Shawyer, Daily Report In the afternoon delegates attended one of two forums: In Full Harmony and New Ways of Working. The focus of In Full Harmony was Preparing the Way priority "to clarify Anglican identity, doctrine, liturgy and worship;" the goal: to explore our comprehensiveness and diversity: how our many Anglican voices blend in harmony." In table groups members discussed topics which included: common prayer in Canada; common prayer in the Communion; inculturation; authority, revelation and discernment; scripture and culture; tradition; authority of personal experience; postmodernism: blessing or curse; formation for ministry; shape of future ministry; convenant; ecumenical relations; scriptural basis for ethical decision-making; sexuality; euthanasia; and biotechnology. New Ways of Working focused on Preparing the Way priority "to provide services to dioceses - information, financial, and administrative." The goal was to allow members of General Synod to explore the effect of changes in communication, provision of services and relationships between the National Office and Dioceses. Topics for discussion included: care for church employees; information to serve your needs; sharing fairly and the Fair Share; website development; Anglican Journal editorial balance; Planned Giving; interim and part-time employees; Anglican Book Centre mandate and ministry; Anglican Appeal; and three year planning cycle. Following the forums members met in provincial caucuses to elect Council of General Synod members for the 1998-2001 triennium. ____________________________________ d e c i s i o n s AGREED that the Nominating Committee will be responsible for arranging balloting and appointing scrutineers in any election where such is required. (A-5) AGREED to amend the Nominating and Election Procedures (Handbook, Appendix G, p. 137) by deleting in paragraph a) the words When a diocese has been represented by an Order for the two previous terms, it shall not nominate a member of that Order and substituting the words A diocese shall not nominate a person who has been a member of the Council for the two previous terms; and by replacing paragraph k) with the words If the first selection from the Orders of Bishops and Clergy is a bishop, the next selection from those Orders shall be made from the Order of Clergy; if the first selection from those Orders is a priest or a deacon, the next selection from those Orders shall be made from the Order of Bishops; and by deleting paragraph (m) in its entirety and relettering the present sections (k) and (l) to be (l) and (m). (A-80) AGREED to amend section 41 d) of the Constitution to increase the membership of the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund from 15 members to 18 members. (A23) AGREED to amend Section 41 g) of the Constitution to change the membership of the Information Resources Committee from from 9 members (and 15 Advisory Board members) to 17 members in total. (A-25) AGREED that Canon V - Archives be amended to reflect the amendment to the Constitution agreed to in resolution A-25. (A-71) HEARD a presentation from Financial Management and Development Taskforce on Proportional Giving. The proposal for the reallocation of funding amongst the dioceses is based on diocesan revenue and consolidates Apportionment and Assessment as requested by General Synod. ____________________________________ t o d a y MONDAY MAY 25 7:00 am Breakfast 8:30 am Bible reflection and worship 9:45 am Video: "Light Moments of Synods Past" Report of the Agenda Cmte Report of the Nominating Cmte (Youth members at large) Report of the Credentials Cmte Report of the Resolutions Cmte: No Debate List: A-140r New Anglican Provinces C-13 Ottawa Hospital Administration C-14 Pamela and John McBeth Motion to elect COGS Resolutions: A-67r Marriage Commissions A-62 Canon XVII Licencing of Clergy A-68 Amendment to Canon XVIII Discipline A-1 Minutes of 1995 General Synod A-72 Amendment to Canon XI Anglican Book Centre A-81 Terms of Reference for Committees B-20 Provincial Prolocutors as members of Synod A-160 Canadian Gov't Development Assistance A-161 Columbia A-162 Cuba A-164 Kenya A-22 Officers of General Synod 11:55 am Anglican Foundation Introduction 12:10 pm Eucharist; bag lunches 2:00 pm Resolutions: A-92/93 Supplementary liturgical material 3:30 pm No debate list 4:00 pm Presentation on Nation and Identity (Bishop Andrew Hutchinson) 5:00 pm Dinner 7:15 pm Panel on Nation and Identity Hearing on Nation and Identity 9:00 pm Night prayers and viewing of Vision TV broadcast ____________________________________ y o u r v o i c e "Thank you for this web site. It is an exciting time as my wife is a delegate at this Synod. The pictures are EXTREMELY good and useful. I can share the images that she is seeing and picture people and the opening worship so that I can better hold them all in prayer. It is also great to share with our children the images of where and what their mother is up to." -- David Greenwood St Luke's, Oromocto, New Brunswick "Thanks for this unexpectedly good coverage of General Synod. I particularly appreciate the availability of full texts of addresses, resolutions and reports, and am hoping you'll find the time to share highlights of debate on some of the more contentious topics coming up next week." -- Ann Jackson Revelstoke, B.C. Diocese of Kootenay "You people are doing a super job. One gets a great sense of what is happening at General Synod." -- Lois De Jean St. George's Church Ste. Anne de Bellevue, QC "General Synod coverage this year is light years from '95 when all we had was text only. I really feel I am a part of all this even though I am not in Montreal. Thanks Tod for continuing to push the technology envelope." -- Marion Jenkins -- Dierctor, Parish Services, Diocese of Huron >> Lift YOUR voice at General Synod! Email voices@anglican.ca and put the words "your voice" in the subject line. (Text may, and likely will, be edited for space considerations only.) If you'd like your comments to reach members on the floor at Plenary, put the word "dispatches" in the subject line. - 30 - Perspectives is written by Tod Maffin, electronic news coordinator for General Synod 1998. It is distributed at about 9am EST each morning on the ACC-SynodNews mailing list on Internet email, on Quest/Ecunet, in America Online's faith centre, and on a variety of diocesan bulletin board systems. This is a read-only mailing list. Any messages sent to the list will disappear into a black hole. To contact the editor, email voices@anglican.ca. To leave this list, send an email to majordomo@ns1.anglican.ca and put the words "unsubscribe acc-synodnews" (without the quotes) in the body of the message. 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 without the written permission of the Anglican Church of Canada.