Reorg? Nah

Yesterday afternoon the House of Deputies (HoD) took up the first 3 resolutions from the Committee on Governance and Structure. These resolutions mainly dealt with the Executive Council, CCABs, and the budget process. After a LENGTHY explanation from the committee chairs we entered into what was supposed to be 15 minutes of questions for the committee, before actually deliberating the resolutions. The question time was extended and all this (presentation and questions) took over an hour. A lot of the questions centered on a canonical change that gives Executive Council (38 people elected either at General Convention (20) or from each province (2 each) who act as the Board of Directors in between GC. They are charged to inact what GC approves plus a bunch of other stuff. The Presiding Bishop chairs their meetings with the President of the House of Deputies as Vice Chair. They have their own committees and commissions (which are not the CCABs of General Convention – Commissions, Committees, Agencies, and Boards). And then their are other staff as well, with reporting lines blurred at times. The Exec Council also prepares the draft budget presented to the GC.

The Task Force on Reimagining the Episcopal Church (TREC) had recommended shrinking the size of the Exec Council, but the committee on structure proposed keeping it the same size.And they added a power to the Exec Council they do not currently have – with a 2/3 vote they can fire staff that reports to the Presiding Bishop (who is chair of the Exec Council). A strange power to give to a board, IMHO.

You know, just typing all that was boring. I know church governance can be a snoozer, and part of the issues I have with GC is how self important all this is, and I look, often, for Jesus in the midst of it all. Yet we need to be organized in some ways and the polity of the Episcopal Church gives voice to all the orders of ministry in our church – lay, deacons, priests and bishops. This is a good thing and we need to be careful to preserve it.  So this stuff is needed and necessary. But I doubt most of you reading this, or if you have made it this far, care for these details. So let me just climb on my soap box and then move on.

In 2012 I joined with several other bishops and deputies in a movement to try to streamline our governance, make GC shorter and more efficient, and address concerns of how we govern at the national level. The movement caught fire as many dioceses sent resolutions to GC to figure out the first steps. So in 2012 we passed unanimously a resolution to establish TREC and gave them carte blanche to come back with recommendations to accomplish all that. It was an impossible task but they worked really hard, had creative ways to receive input from across the church, and produced a slew of resolutions to make significant change, hoping to move from a 1950s model of church governance to one that works more horizontally and is much more “nimble” (a word we all grew weary of).

The legislative committee on governance and structure has been working on these recommendations, and others. But what I have seen so far doesn’t address major change at all. Most of the ideas from TREC are not being pushed forward or are watered down so much they won’t matter. It is a HUGE missed opportunity and, as another member of our deputation said, a great example of how impossible it is for an organization to reorg itself.

The one good thing I have seen so far is cutting the CCAB’s (see above) down to just two – one on Constitution, Canons, and Structure, and one on Liturgy and Music. That is pretty big. We have TONS of CCAB’s and while they have good people on them who work diligiently to accomplish their work, many have outlived their purpose and mainly generate resolutions for GC that keep them in business. For instance a resolution FROM a CCAB directing that same CCAB to study something or implement something manages to keep that CCAB going. Eliminating those will greatly reduce the number of resolutions  at GC as well as save lots of money. Instead of CCABs, we will have Task Forces that will have a definite purpose and which will be dissolved when that work is done or at the next GC, unless extended by the next GC, as the Task Force on Marriage has been. I like this, but already deputies are protesting eliminating their own “pet” CCAB.

There is much more coming on structure so stay tuned – if you can! Today the HoD takes up the marriage resolutions approved by the bishops  as well  as continuing the structure debates..