What is a Memorial?
At particular junctures in our common life, members of the Episcopal Church have come together to call upon its people and leadership to read the signs of the times, to discern the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and to act with boldness to proclaim the gospel in new contexts and situations. One concrete method that call can take is a Memorial to Church. We believe that we have reached one of those critical junctures in the life of our church, and respectfully submit a Memorial calling for the church to recommit itself to the spiritual disciplines at the core of our common life, to go into our neighborhoods boldly with church planters and church revitalizers, and to restructure our church for the mission God is laying before us today. Note that those who have signed the Memorial are endorsing just the text of the Memorial itself. The signers do not necessarily agree with the resolutions.
If you’d like to join the movement and sign the Memorial along with us, email endorse@episcopalresurrection.org with your full name, and also indicate if you are a bishop, deputy, alternate deputy, or other. All Episcopalians are welcome to sign, and you can sign onto the Memorial without agreeing with the resolutions.
En español (Spanish translation).
Ann Kreyòl Ayisyen (Haitian Creole translation).
A Memorial to the Church
To the Deputies and Bishops of The Episcopal Church assembled at the 78th General Convention:
Now those who were scattered went from place to place, proclaiming the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did. So there was great joy in that city. Acts 8:4-6,8
In the eighth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, the newly formed church of disciples of the risen Savior found itself in a new situation. No longer could Christians depend on traditional ways of following Jesus and traditional places in which to do it. Driven out of their comfortable existence praying in the Temple in Jerusalem and waiting for the kingdom to come, they found themselves in new and unexpected neighborhoods, developing new ways of proclaiming the Word. Yet they found that the crowds were eager to hear the Good News of Christ and welcomed it with joy. The very loss of the old ways of being the church gave them opportunities to expand and multiply the reach of Christ’s loving embrace.
Our beloved Episcopal Church is in a similar situation. We must find new ways of proclaiming the gospel in varied and ever changing neighborhoods. Old ways of being the church no longer apply. We can no longer settle for complacency and comfort. We can no longer claim to dominate the political and social landscape. We can no longer wait inside our sanctuaries to welcome those who want to become Episcopalian.
We have a choice before us. We can continue, valiantly and tragically, to try to save all the rights and privileges we have previously enjoyed. We can continue to watch our church dwindle until it someday becomes an endowed museum to the faith of our forebears. We can continue business as usual until we lose our common life entirely.
Or we can lose our life for Jesus’ sake so that we might save it.
We, the undersigned, hold dear the Episcopal Church and believe passionately in the gift this church offers. Washed in the waters of Baptism and nourished from the deep springs of word and sacrament, we experience the power of God’s presence as we open the Scriptures and celebrate the Eucharist. We stand in awe of the mystery of the Holy Trinity and the power of the triune God to love, to forgive, to make whole. We know the joy of serving God through serving others. We long for a world with every unjust structure toppled. We love this church enough to yearn for it to be transformed.
We recognize the importance of this present moment. We join the Task Force for Reimagining the Church in calling for the church to follow Jesus into the neighborhood, traveling lightly. Our deepest hopes and aspirations are not dependent upon any particular act of this Convention. Many essential steps are found in the daily walk of discipleship undertaken by congregations and individuals throughout the church, and we commend the work of many who are helping the church adopt these discipleship practices. This Convention, however, has the opportunity to act on a number of matters that can support God’s faithful people, our parishes and missions, and our dioceses in living out the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.
Specifically, we call upon the people of the Episcopal Church to:
- Recommit to reading scripture, praying daily, gathering weekly for corporate worship, and giving for the spread of the Kingdom, knowing that engaging in these practices brings personal and corporate transformation;
- Share the Good News of Jesus Christ in word and deed, including learning how to tell the story of how Jesus makes a difference in our lives, even and especially to those who have not experienced true transformation;
- Pray and fast for the Holy Spirit to add day by day to those who come within the reach of Christ’s saving embrace;
- Encounter Jesus Christ through loving service to those in need and through seeking justice and peace among all people.
And we call upon those bishops and deputies gathered for Convention to the following actions as specific ways we may enter this time of transition in a spirit of exploration, discovering the gifts that the Holy Spirit has for us in this moment:
- Engage creatively, openly, and prayerfully in reading the signs of the times and discerning the particular ways God is speaking to the Episcopal Church now;
- Pray, read the scriptures, and listen deeply for the Holy Spirit’s guidance in electing a new Presiding Bishop and other leaders, in entering into creative initiatives for the spread of the kingdom, and in restructuring the church for mission;
- Fund evangelism initiatives extravagantly: training laborers to go into the harvest to revitalize existing congregations and plant new ones; forming networks and educational offerings to train and deploy church planters and revitalizers who will follow Jesus into all kinds of neighborhoods; and creating training opportunities for bilingual and bi-cultural ministry;
- Release our hold on buildings, structures, comfortable habits, egos, and conflicts that do not serve the church well;
- Remove obstacles embedded in current structures, however formerly useful or well-meaning, that hinder new and creative mission and evangelism initiatives;
- Refocus our energies from building up a large, centralized, expensive, hierarchical church-wide structure, to networking and supporting mission at the local level, where we all may learn how to follow Jesus into all of our neighborhoods.
Like those early followers of Christ, we find ourselves being scattered out of familiar and comfortable places and ways of being the church. Rather than be ruled by memory and consumed by fear, we can embrace this crisis, trusting that the Lord of Life will give us everything we need to spread the Gospel, proclaim the kingdom, and share the love of God. May God grant great joy in every city and neighborhood into which we go.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Brown Snook
Tom Ferguson
Scott Gunn
Frank Logue
Brendan O’Sullivan-Hale
Steve Pankey
Adam Trambley, and
Bishops
Laura J. Ahrens
Barry L. Beisner
Scott Benhase
C. Franklin Brookhart
Ian T. Douglas
Andrew Doyle
Martin S. Field
Douglas Fisher
Jeff W. Fisher
Robert L. Fitzpatrick
J. Michael Garrison
Mary Gray-Reeves
Matthew Gunter
A. Robert Hirschfeld
Anne E. Hodges-Copple
Nicholas Knisely
Chilton Knudsen
Stephen T. Lane
James R. Mathes
Dorsey W. M. McConnell
Michael P. Milliken
Todd Ousley
Jacob Owensby
Lawrence C. Provenzano
David Reed
Greg Rickel
Sean Rowe
Kirk Smith
Wayne Smith
Cate Waynick
Pierre Whalon
Terry White
George D. Young III
Deputies, Alternate Deputies, and Official Youth Presence
A.L. Addington
W. Frank Allen
Bert A. Anderson
Liza Anderson
Debra Asis
Catherine Bailey
Carolyn Baker
Martha Berger
Kirk T. Berlenbach
Paige Blair
Thomas Blake
Talmadge Bowden
Donald Burr
Diane Butler
Robin Carlo
Sandi Carter
Megan Castellan
Nancy Chalfant-Walker
John Cheek
Ted Clarkson
Brian R. Coleman
Judith Conley
Matthew Cowden
Mark Crawford
Kevin M. Cross
Sean Cox
Anna Doherty
Timothy Dombek
John Drymon
Roderick B. Dugliss
Jennifer Dunn
Tommy Dwyer
Jim Fitzsimmons
Timothy Fleck
Ann Benton Fraser
Candice B. Frazer
Paul D. Fromberg
A. Patrick K. Funston
C. Eric Funston
Evan Garner
Kurt Gerhard
Michael Gilton
Richard Godbold
Sara Shisler Goff
J. Mark Goodman
Sheree Graves
Lenora S. Gregory
Andrew Green
Lowell Grisham
Cliff Haggenjos
Jack Hanstein
David Harvin
Miranda Hassett
Lou Hays
Carrie Boren Headington
Dave Hedges
Richard Edward Helmer
Carlynn Higbie
Raisin Horn
Joseph B. Howard
Kate Huston
Molly F. James
Jane Johnson
Elise B. Johnstone
Andrew Jones
Susan J. Kennard
John E. Kitagawa
Anne Kitch
J. David Knight
Caroline Litzenberger
William Locke
Candyce Loescher
Craig Loya
Christopher McLaren
Andrea McKellar
John A. Mennell
Neal Michell
Barbara L. Miles
Sarah Miller
Kate Moorehead
Daniel Morrow
Diane Murray
Andrew T. O’Connor
Daniel A. Packard
Jim Papile
Nurya Love Parish
Mary Parmer
Joyce A. Paterson
Linda Patterson
Holli Powell
Richard Pryor
David G. Read
Mary Elisabeth Rivetti
Patricia Rome Robertson
Bill Robison
Bruce Robison
Lisa Sargent
Joann Saylors
Anne BR Schmidt
Lynn Schmissrauter
Jane Schmoetzer
Lee F. Shafer
Ben Shambaugh
Melody Shobe
David Simmons
Richard M. Simpson
Mark Sluss
Douglas Everett Sparks
Tom Sramek, Jr.
Molly Stevenson
Patrick Strohl
Nancy Suellau
Richard A. Swan
Greg Syler
Joell Szachara
Dante Tavolaro
James E. Taylor
Paul Van Brunt
Mark E. Waldo, Jr.
Lee Ann Walling
Meredyth Wessman Ward
Doris Westfall
Linda Watt
Diana Wilcox
Mark D. Wilkinson
E. Suzanne Wille
Jeremiah Williamson
William Willoughby III
Brian Winter
Matthew Young
Additional Endorsers
Mark A. Abdelnour
Jimmy Abbott
Walker Adams
John-Magdalene Agel
John Akard, Jr.
Gloriamarie Amalfitano
Wiley Ammons
Anthony Anderson
Christopher J Arnold
Laurie A. L. Atwater
Catherine W. Bagot
Robert R.M. Bagwell
S. Abbott Bailey
Steven M Balke, Jr.
Carolyn Ballinger
Gillian R. Barr
Wendy Claire Barrie
Suzanne H Barrow
Rich Basta
Barbara W. Baxter
Emmetri Monica Beane
M. Edwin Beckham
Nathan Belyeu
Susan Bennett
Alan D. Bentrup
Frank Bergen
Bettine Besier
Margaret Bickley
Tim Boggs
David J. Bolger
Eric Bonetti
Toni Martinez Borgfeldt
Lecia Diaz Brannon
Elisabeth Brauza
Ellen Brauza
Penelope Bridges
Lyn Zill Briggs
Laurie Brock
Sonja H. Bronson
Dewey E. Brown, Jr.
James Logan Brown
Linda Brown
Cameron Brownlow Fields
Susan J. Buchanan
Debra K. Bullock
John Bunton
Sue Bunton
B. Candis Burgess
Grace Burson
Grace Burton-Edwards
Kathy Buskirk
Christopher Butler
Gail Cafferata
Matthew Calkins
Paul Canady
Mary A. Canavan
Michael S. Cannon
Kit Carlson
Molly Carnes
Susan M. Carpenter
R. William Carroll
Lynn Carter-Edmands
Charles Caskey
Constance B.Castillo
Gayle Catinella
Lee Cheek
Jonathan Chesney
Ted Clarkson, Jr.
Anthony FM Clavier
Shawn J. Clerkin
Tamara A. Clothier
Barbara J. Cloud
Rick Cluett
Jamie Coats
David Cobb
Marti Coffman
Brian L. Cole
Patrick Coleman
G. Patterson Connell
Ashley Cook
Sandra Cosman
William H. Coyne
Barbara C. Crafton
Jared C. Cramer
Christine McFadden Crosby
Leeann Culbreath
Randall Curtis
Mark D’Alessio
Terri Walker Degenhardt
Pete Dempesy-Sims
Brian K. Denton
M. Dorian Del Priore
Joseph Dirbas
Edith Craig DiTommaso
Alex Dombos
John Donnelly
Andrew Downs
Katherine Doyle
Lara Dreyer
Christopher Easthill
Frank Edmands
Charles Everson
Elizabeth A. Ewing
Jason Ezell
Beth Ann Jernigan Fain
Curtis Andrew Farr
Donna Farrior
Michael C. Fedewa
Randy Ferebee
Jamie-Sue L. Ferrell
Sara Fischer
Jill Amanda Fisher
Joel Andrew Flint
Jonathan H. Folts
Jason A. Fout
Tom Furrer
Dahn Dean Gandell
Nancy Gault
Mitzi George
Virginia K. Gerbasi
Andrew T. Gerns
Donna Gerold
Greta Getlein
Devin Scott Gillespie
Lance Gilliam
Christine Gilson
Linda Goertz
Lisa A. Goforth
Gary W. Goldacker
Wendy Goldner
Laura B Goodwin
Samantha Gottlich
Ron Gracilla
Marcia Granger
Elizabeth Greenwood
Gale Grey
Karl E. Griswold-Kuhn
Maureen-Elizabeth Hagen
Cynthia J. Hallas
Edwin F. Hallenbeck
Karin Hamilton
Kerry Jo Hanstein
Julia Ayala Harris
Robert L. Hart
Mary-Elise Haug
Gianetta Hayes-Martin
Melissa Hays-Smith
Deborah Heathcock
Patricia Heinicke, Jr.
Sarah Ann Henderson
Robert Hendrickson
R. Christopher Heying
Mary Ann Hill
Robert Hirst
Timothy Hodapp
Beth Borah Hoffmann
Meghan Holland
Meredith L. Holt
Stephen C Holton
Robert C. Hooper III
Kenneth W. Howard
Miguelina Howell
Kurt Huber
Katherine Huff
Jennifer L. Hughes
Nathan J.A. Humphrey
Jeff Huston
Jordan Hylden
Jason Travis Ingalls
Elizabeth Jameson
Ethan Jewett
June Jo
Karen Johanns
David S. Johnson
Scott Jones
Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski
Janet Smee Kaiser
Verdery D. Kassebaum
Kenneth J. Katona
Carol Lynn Keane
Mary Kate Kell
Laura Kelson
David Kendrick
Russell Kendrick
Jan Ketcham
Rowena J. Kemp
Mike Kinman
Erin C. Kirby
Debbie Knapman
Melissa B. Kneuer
Walter Knowles
William Knutson
Jack Koepke
Nina Kohl
Joseph Kovitch
Lonnie Lacy
Irene Lawrence
J. Dean Lawrence
Scott Lee
Everett C. Lees
Gray Lesesne
Sally Lindsay
Victoria Logue
H. Lee Lowery
Louise J. Lusignan
Scott MacDougall
Laird MacGregor
Shannon MacVean-Brown
Benjamin B. Maddison
Kate Malin
Trawin E. Malone
Chas Marks
Terry Martin
Jamie Martin-Currie
Kamron Massumi
Nicholas Mather
Beth Maynard
Cody Maynus
David M. McCain
Stephen McCollum
Marla McGarry-Lawrence
Victoria Geer McGrath
Justin McIntosh
Andrea McMillin
Christine T. McSpadden
Michelle Meech
Elizabeth Marie Melchionna
Chuck Messer
Mark A. Michael
Sarah Midzalkowski
Mary L. Miers
John F. Miller
Richard Miller
Susan P. Mills
Darren Ryan Miner
Paul Moberly
Thomas A. Momberg
Jean Mornard
Michael Mornard
Helen Mosher
Jane Johnston Mumey
Frances Murchison
Linda Spencer Murchison
Jeffrey S. F. Nelson
Keith W. Oglesby
Susan Ohlidal
Hugo Olaiz
Kyle Matthew Oliver
Derek Olsen
Marjorie K. Oughton
Pat Pankey
Lisa Parker
Rodger Patience
Janice Paxton
Sherilyn Pearce
Sharon Ely Pearson
Donald J. Pellioni
Jennifer Pedrick
David Peters
Joan Phelps
Betsy Jennings Powell
James Prendergast
Travis Prinzi
Day Smith Pritchartt
Ashley Proctor
Alison Quin
Sarah Raven
Michael D. Reddig
Hipolito Fernandez Reina
Katie Nakamura Rengers
Robert Rhodes
Anne Marie Richards
Susan Richardson
Joey Rick
Daniel Velez Rivera
Jason Roberts
Mollie M. Roberts
Rebecca Roberts
Deborah Bell Rodahaffer
Jennifer Lashmet Rogers
Nicholas Roosevelt
Patricia Ross
Debbie Royals
John Henry Rule
Margaret Holt Sammons
Hugh L. Sawyer, Jr.
John S. Scannell
Anjel Scarborough
Larry Scofield
Matthew R. Scott
Stephen Secaur
Deb Seles
Patricia Shaler
Nancy Barnes Shaw
Casey Shobe
Sara Short
Paul Skeith
David Sibley
Jay Sidebotham
Susanna Singer
Kara Slade
Letitia L. Smith
Michael-Francis Smith
Barbara Snyder
Stephanie Spellers
Lauren R. Stanley
Kathleen Henderson Staudt
Susie Stevens-Briody
Jim Strader
Nancy Baillie Strong
Bradley Joseph Sullivan
Margaret Hastings Sullivan
Charlie Sumners
Melanie J. Sunderland
Deb Taylor
Mary Z. Taylor
Matthew Taylor
Tammie Taylor
Steve Teague
Adam Thomas
Allisyn Thomas
J. Eric Thompson
Jeffrey D. S. Thornberg
Ann M. Tillman
Brian Tillman
Christine W. Tillman
Michael R. Tippett
Lisa A. Tolliver
Colette Clarke Torres
Tommy Townsend
Jane Trambley
Megan Traquair
Joel Turmo
Stephen P. Turner
Joy Twelves
Craig D. Uffman
Peter E. Van Horne
Keith Voets
Gina Volpe
Peter M. Wallace
Thomas Allen Wallace
Lori Walton
Timothy Watt
Edward Watson
Edwina Waddell Webster
Amy Doyle Welin
Christopher Wells
Jason Wells
George Werner
Lisa Wharton
Andrew D’Angio White
Richard Whittaker
John Mark Wiggers
Hannah Wilder
Mary Lee Wile
Neil Alan Willard
Aprille Williams
Anisa Cottrell Willis
Barbara Wills
Thomas Edward Wilson
C. Matthew Wise
Erin Wolf
Cyndie Woodbury
Karekin Yarian
Chris Yaw
Tim Sean Youmans
Marek Zabriskie
Dwight Zscheile
Vicki Zust
En español (Spanish translation).
Ann Kreyòl Ayisyen (Haitian Creole translation).
this is sorely needed, especially as our churches gather people from a variety of traditions, we nee to be equipped to share the Gospel. Being a welcoming and inclusive church still requires a story–as I like to say, being rooted but not “root bound.”
If we wander into the streets, we will find God there already doing His work. He needs our hands and hearts as visual pointers for the unchurched. We do not build up the church with programs, but by listening to the voice of the one who leads us. Corporate worship is integral to the health of the community, but it will look different in the future, if we are to survive. Praying…
I am drawn deeply to the ‘spirit of this memorial. I am neither deputy nor alternate, but a local vestry member of a very vital ministry at Sts. Peter & Paul / Sts. Pedro y Pablo Episcopal Church (on 82nd Avenue) in Portland, Oregon.
We serve the people of our street’s vicinity weekly a breakfast to anyone who walks in, every Saturday morning and we continue to provide a place for Rahab’s Sisters (the women of the street right outside our doors) for over 10 years.
May the Spirit do its most peculiar work in this upcoming General Convention.
As a fellow laborer, giving all to grow our church, I applaud and wholeheartedly support this efforts. Count me in.
I am a first-time lay deputy from Delaware. How do I sign on? I don’t want to be part of the machinery; I want to be part of the mission.
Hi Lee Ann, if you’d like to sign on, email endorse@episcopalresurrection.org with your full name, and also indicate if you are a bishop, deputy, alternate deputy, or other. Thanks!
Thanks I figured that out and I am now on the list.
Does recovering our commitment to stewardship have any role in this initiative? I keep noticing its absence from the conversation, and the anxiety and scarcity we seem to have embraced.
Carol,
I’m one of the co-authors of the memorial. This is a great question. The practice of financial stewardship for the church has been transformative in my life. You’re right that neither the memorial not the resolutions really address this issue head on. But I am serving on the Stewardship & Development legislative committee and I’m very interested in bringing these issues to the fore to the extent that legislation can effectively address them. What issues that are important to you should we be thinking about?
Might one sign if one isn’t attending the General Convention? I am ‘Just” a member of my beloved Episcopal Church, although I am making my way out of it. I’ve given my time, money, talents, worked the “fields” of God’s People, served on a stewardship committee as well as on a Vestry. I never saw people treated so horribly as on that Vestry by both the Rector and the Senior Warden. I am sure had they explained that one was to only vote their way, they’d have gotten a Vestry full, anyway. I’ve taught children, adults, started a centering prayer praxis and am a Daughter of the King as Prayer is my calling yet my church has left me as I never see a face different from mine, money goes back into the coffers to improve the looks not improve God’s Kingdom, Bishops vote whichever the way the wind in the Diocese blows rather than leading. Leading requires us to hurt, at times and to help God’s People learn the Way. Leading isn’t about popularity: much to do! Who visit the sick? Sits with the dying? Allows members to choose the way they are called to serve best?
We can’t fail if we truly put God and God’s Mission first and serve God and God’s People always. I pray this results in real, prayerful and loving connection from which can only bloom justice and peace: the Way of Christ.
Lord, teach me to love as You love.
Colette,
We would be happy to have you sign on. Many of those listed above will not be at General Convention. Just send an email to endorse@episcopalresurrection.org.
I am also sorry to hear of your experience in your local church. I pray that leads you to a local Episcopal congregation that can help feed you.
Peace, Adam
Why have no Communion Partner bishops signed this? Bishops like Greg brewer, bill love, Ed little and dan martins. It would seem like a good fit.
Sincerely,
David Virtue DD
Yes, I would very much like to see several, if not many, other bishops, add their support to this memorial.
I would love to endorse the Memorial to the Church. As the President of Forma and the Ministry Developer for Young Adults and Youth in Arkansas I have seen how networking among local congregations and a focus on forming Christians creatively can make a huge difference in the life of the church.
Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and on those in the tombs bestowing life! Alleluia!
Over the next several days I will be writing a series of blog posts on Episcopal Resurrection: an action movement, which grew out of a prayer movement, which grew out of a General Convention. At the 77th G.C., a group of people came together to form the Acts 8 Moment, dedicated exclusively to fostering prayer within and for the church, and especially to undergird the General Convention with prayer. Several people who came to know each other in the Acts 8 Moment felt a sense of calling to work together to find practical ways to call our church to recommit to spiritual disciplines, in order to find its life in Jesus. They gathered at the Bexley-Seabury in April of this year, where they drafted A Memorial to the Church along with some enabling resolutions, which are intended to help the General Convention incarnate through legislation a vision for a renewed and revitalized Episcopal Church.
Today’s post is about the Memorial. Then for each of the next nine days, I will be writing a post on one of the nine enabling resolutions.
A Memorial to the Church
I can’t help but chuckle at the irony inherent in the fact that in Convention-speak a call for resurrection requires a memorial. Yet on a deeper level, perhaps that paradoxical language is exactly right, because before one can be raised from the dead, one first has to die. And in the case of a church, I would argue, before it can experience resurrection, it first has to realize that it is dead (as I have argued elsewhere, institutional churches can shuffle onward a zombie-like state for years before allowing themselves to be laid to rest).
The Episcopal Church is not alone in being dead in its current form. Nor is it unique in the history of the larger Church. Faith must be discovered anew by each successive generation. So the institutional Church, if it would remain the Body of Christ, must continually be dying, at least in part, in order to be reborn. In a forthcoming article and book, I have suggested that the rapidly increasing rate of change in the culture and the exponential rate of schism in the Church (now exceeding the growth rate of newly baptized believers) will soon require us to rethink/rebirth pretty much everything about how we “do church.” We will have to learn how be lean yet sufficient, experimental yet honoring of tradition, grounded yet nimble, practical yet visionary. I believe that the Memorial and the resolutions will help us to move intentionally in that direction.
You can read the complete text of the Memorial here, but essentially it boils down to this: We as a church must lose our life for Jesus’ sake so that we might save it. Our beloved Episcopal Church is in very much the very same position as the early Church. Just in the experience of the earliest disciples, the old familiar ways of being the people of God are falling away. Our safe and comfortable “temples” are in the process of crumbling. Eventually, no stone will be left on stone. We can try valiantly to rebuilt the old structures and an in the process become ecclesiastical fossils, or we can follow the Holy Spirit out into the world and become part of Christ’s radical conspiracy to incarnate the realm of God.
I have signed on to the Memorial. I invite and encourage you to prayerfully consider becoming signers as well. To add your signature, send an email to endorse@episcopalresurrection.org. And then feel free to share it with others. Signing doesn’t necessarily mean that you agree with the resolutions, only that you share the vision of the Memorial.
I personally support all nine of the enabling resolutions. I have written to my bishop and my diocese’s G.C. delegation and have encouraged them to prayerfully consider supporting them as well.
I will be discussing one of the resolutions each day over the next nine days. If after reading them, you decide to support them, too, I will offer some suggestions how you can help.
In any event, I urge you to pray for our church, that we might be ever more effective in proclaiming resurrection and in sharing the riches of God’s grace with the world.