Members briefed on status of diocesan property disputes, strategy

The Episcopal Church's Executive Council agreed November 15 to contemplate an 'Anglican regional convocation of the Americas" to better equip churches for "mutuality and interdependence in God's mission.'

The council, the church's governing body between General Conventions, asked Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson to appoint a working group to investigate the possibility of the convocation.

The group would consult with the Anglican Church of Canada, the Anglican Council of Latin America (Concilio Anglicano Latino Americano or CALA), and the Province of the West Indies. The other major convocation of Anglican provinces consists of churches in the Global South.

The decision to pursue an American Anglican convocation was one of the actions the council took as it concluded its four-day Chicago meeting. Its gathering is to be followed November 15-18 by a joint meeting of 23 Episcopal Church commissions, committees and boards. Both meetings are at the Chicago Marriott O'Hare hotel.

The Executive Council carries out the programs and policies adopted by the General Convention and oversees the ministry and mission of the church. The council is composed of 40 members, 20 of whom (four bishops, four priests or deacons, and 12 lay people) are elected by General Convention and 18 (oneclergy and one lay) by provincial synods, plus the Presiding Bishop and the president of the House of Deputies.

The meeting opened the 2007-2009 triennium for Executive Council, although it occurred at the end of the 2003-2006 triennial calendar. The majority of the meeting was spent in orientation and organizational matters.

Full story, photographs, and a full list of the resolutions passed by council:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79758_ENG_HTM.htm.

Article by Mary Frances Schjonberg - Episcopal News Service