International guests find new understanding of Episcopal Church polity

By Matthew Davies, July 07, 2009 [Episcopal News Service -- Anaheim, California] International guests attending General Convention, including almost half of the Anglican Communion primates, spoke of their amazement and gratitude as they gained a deeper understanding of the legislative processes of the triennial gathering and the polity of the Episcopal Church.

"I appreciate the history and openness of debating and coming together for worship," said Archbishop Bernard Ntahoturi of Burundi, one of the more than 70 international guests who will attend the General Convention, meeting July 8-17 in Anaheim, California.

Many of the guests said they were impressed with the size and structure of General Convention, whose legislative body is composed of about 845 deputies and more than 280 bishops.

"It is important to help leaders of the other parts of the Anglican Communion understand how we come to decisions as a church," the Rev. Chuck Robertson, canon to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, told ENS following a July 7 orientation session for the visitors.

The international guests include primates, bishops and provincial secretaries, along with their spouses, from many of the Anglican Communion's 38 provinces, especially those who have "not experienced our General Convention before and have very little understanding about how we operate as a church," said Robertson.

Archbishop Phillip Aspinall of the Anglican Church of Australia, who is among 15 primates in Anaheim -- the largest number to attend a General Convention -- said the initiative to invite international visitors to convention "shows that the Episcopal Church is investing considerably in relationships across the communion."

During the orientation session, the international guests learned about the background and origins of General Convention from Suffragan Bishop Catherine Roskam of New York, the Rev. Lee Alison Crawford of the Diocese of Vermont and Mary Donovan, wife of Bishop Herbert Donovan.

They also heard about the bicameral legislature of General Convention and the historical emphasis placed on the church being governed by the clergy and laity of one house, as well as bishops who sit in another. All international guests will be considered "observers" in both houses.

"It's important to involve the communion in this process," said Bishop James Ochiel of Southern Nyanza in the Anglican Church of Kenya. "In Kenya we do our own business without involving others. The governance is quite different here and the policy direction of the Episcopal Church lies more with the deputies."

The invitations to guests were extended by the Episcopal Church's Partnerships Center, Office of the Presiding Bishop, the Church Pension Group, Trinity Church Wall Street in New York and the Chicago Consultation (a group that supports the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Christians in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion.)

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams begins a busy schedule of meetings July 8 as he arrives in Anaheim to spend two days engaging with convention representatives.

Guests also were invited directly by dioceses in the Episcopal Church, many of which share companion relationships with other dioceses throughout the Anglican Communion.

Bishop Albert Chama of Northern Zambia, dean of the Province of Central Africa, said that the governance of the Episcopal Church clearly shows that "the bishops are not the sole deciders and that the House of Deputies has the upper hand. This is very different polity to elsewhere in the Anglican Communion."

Chama suggested that recent tensions throughout the communion concerning human sexuality issues could be calmer "if we knew more about the Episcopal Church's polity."

Archbishop Henri Isingoma, newly elected primate of the Anglican Church of the Congo, echoed Chama's comments about the importance of understanding how decisions are made. "Sometimes we pick up on a final stage and don't understand the process," he said.

The Most Rev. Idris Jones, primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church, said: "In terms of participation and democratization is this not the model the communion needs? Well, only if you've got an educated electorate."

-- Matthew Davies is editor of Episcopal Life Online and international correspondent of the Episcopal News Service.