Integrity Daily Convention Bulletin

Integrity Daily Convention Bulletin
Monday, June 12, 2006

All weekend the hotels in central Columbus, Ohio, have gradually been filling up with the thousands of people gathering here for this week's General Convention, the 75th Convention of the Episcopal Church. The volunteers who comprise Integrity's official presence have been busy setting up computers and networks, finalizing plans for Friday's Integrity Eucharist and creating the booth which will be our most obvious public presence during the ten days of Convention.

This year, the Consultation, a coalition of the various Episcopal ministries involved in peace and justice issues

(http://www.theconsultation.org/index.html)

have arranged their exhibition space together and created a central common space which will be used for prayers, talks, and book signings as the Convention progresses. The exhibition hall officially opened at 1pm today and already many deputies and visitors have found their way to the Integrity booth to offer greetings and to collect literature and buttons ("Integrity - No Turning Back", and "The Episcopal Church Welcomes Me").

Last night, in one of the very first Convention events, Integrity hosted bishops and deputies at a briefing on the resolutions which Integrity is tracking. This list is available at

http://www.integrityusa.org/gc2006/index.html#Resolutions.

In welcoming the more than seventy attendees, legislative coordinator, the Rev. Michael Hopkins likened the position of the Episcopal Church within the Anglican Communion to that of a gay person within their family. 'We have to be ourselves', he said, as much as 'we want to be a part of this family, it's where our roots, our DNA are, but we have to be ourselves to be part of this family.'

Discussion focused on the use of 'repent' in Resolution A160 responding to the Windsor Report, and the way the term is understood by different people. As Hopkins remarked, 'it's very difficult to use that word in a nuanced way - we have some history with that word. It has been used as a weapon against us for generations.'

Visiting from the United Kingdom, Colin Coward of Changing Attitude saw a dissonance between the Episcopal Church claiming to be a constituent part of the Anglican Communion and at the same time pursuing its agenda of inclusivity.

'The future of the Communion,' he said, 'depends on how your language is interpreted.'

Writer and deputy from the Diocese of Delaware, Mark Harris wondered whether there is alternative language so that the Episcopal Church can hold to what we believe to be true, and at the same time acknowledge that it is provisional.

As the legislative committees start to meet today and the Convention opens in full on Tuesday, it is far from clear what will happen in the next ten days. But it is clear that whatever happens, Integrity members and allies will continue their ministry of prayerful presence and will be ready and willing to continue the conversation with anyone and everyone who wants to engage in dialogue.