Episcopal Press and News
Under One Roof Participants Told to Seek Justice for Others
Episcopal News Service. July 10, 1990 [90173]
ST. LOUIS, June 17 -- More than 200 Episcopalians from across the country, representing 10 social justice and specialized ministry networks, concluded four days of meetings here with what one participant called "a renewed conviction to work for justice within the church as well as within the world."
The second meeting of "Under One Roof: In Church and Society" (UOR) was a sequel to a similar 1987 event that drew more than 550 Episcopalians from 16 organizations. Although the size of this meeting was almost half of the 1987 meeting, most participants felt that the smaller gathering was no less enthusiastic. "I think a lot of the people here are new," said the Rev. Sarah Motley of Princeton, New Jersey, one of the planners of the conference. "I think that represents new blood and new energy."
The three-day meeting was a whirlwind of workshops and plenary sessions that sought to educate as well as motivate participants about the possibilities for involvement in social justice issues. "The whole reason for 'Under One Roof' is to bring people together -- not necessarily to draft a statement or plan strategy," said Eric Scharf, a conference coordinator.
"I was heartened by the reports of activities happening in local communities in the areas of social justice and pastoral ministry," said Scharf, who is administrator for the National Episcopal Coalition on Alcohol and Drugs (NECAD).
"I feel content that it provided the various organizations a way to speak about overlapping issues and gave people the opportunity to prepare for General Convention," said Marge Christie of the Episcopal Women's Caucus and a member of the UOR planning committee.
"I was disappointed that the conference was half the size [of the previous UOR conference], and I hoped that this is not a symbol that it would mean half commitment on the part of people who are involved in social justice issues in the church," said Louie Crew, a professor at Rutgers University and a founder of Intregity. Crew said he felt that most of the people at the conference were "already converted" and hoped that any future conference would include a larger variety of groups in the church.
In an opening address to the conference on the theological basis for advocacy, Bishop Frederick Borsch of Los Angeles told the participants that "any theology of advocacy begins with the Bible."
Borsch recounted scriptural stories to illustrate that the biblical witness is one of "including the marginalized into the kingdom." He said that the question on the minds of most religious people is not "Who is my neighbor?" but rather, "Who is not my neighbor? We want to know who we can set outside of our circle of concern," Borsch said.
Borsch insisted that advocacy groups have a responsibility to oppose a "culture dominated by a preoccupation on individual rights" in favor of a vision of the wider community. He also charged the conference participants to see beyond the needs of their own constituencies. "I hope that advocacy groups, however just and right their cause may be, will not merely advocate for themselves -- but for others, particularly those who have no advocates."
State Senator Roxanne Jones of Philadelphia roused the conference in an address on the political basis for advocacy. "We have got to regroup our efforts to work for justice. We need to get out of our pretty church buildings and get to work," she said. Jones recounted how she had struggled to get off the welfare rolls to become the first black woman to sit in the state senate of Pennsylvania.
Jones suggested that her own experience of community organizing and demonstrating for welfare rights was a testament that "you can do anything you want to do." She echoed Borsch's sentiment that advocacy in the political realm is primarily concerned with the welfare of others. "1 learned several important lessons on welfare," said Jones. "I learned how to share with other people and how to get along," she said
. In a separate address, Gretchen Eick, the executive director of an ecumenical lobbying organization known as IMPACT, told participants to gather their individual concerns and put their faith "into action." Eick reminded the conference, "We are not in advocacy work because we are Democrats or Republicans -- but because we are people of faith.
Throughout the conference a variety of workshops presented opportunities for participants to explore new areas of interest -- including workshops on apartheid, AIDS, prison ministry, homelessness, poverty, alcohol and drugs, homosexuality, the environment, the politics of General Convention, racism, the Middle East, Central America, and the politics of the post-Cold War world.
Although the workshops provided light for individuals, there was not an overwhelming sense of heat among so large a gathering of activists. One exception was the large contingent of Integrity, an organization of gay and lesbian Episcopalians.
Members of Integrity challenged the church to "stand with" gay and lesbian Episcopalians in the wake of the controversial ordination of an openly gay priest in the Diocese of Newark. Some members of Integrity feared that General Convention might provide the scene for a "backlash" concerning the acceptance of gay and lesbian Episcopalians.
Several members of the Diocese of Newark expressed anger that the presiding bishop and his Council of Advice had adopted a statement in February "disassociating" themselves from the December ordination of the Rev. Robert Williams.
Although the 1991 General Convention was clearly on the minds of everyone at the conference, participants did not unite behind goals or strategies to take to Phoenix. Nevertheless, by the end of the conference more than a quarter of the participants had signed informal petitions that were circulated.
One petition called for the Episcopal Church to establish a registry for "tax resisters" who wish to withhold tax support of the military. A second asked General Convention to exhort members of the church to take part in "radical and nonviolent political action" aimed at sharing the earth's resources.
The closing Eucharist at Christ Church Cathedral returned to a theme often repeated during the entire conference: Work for justice because it is right, not out of any self-righteousness. Verna Dozier, a lay theologian with the Alban Institute in Washington, DC, charged the advocacy groups in her sermon: "We will not necessarily be popular, but let us never fail to be loving."
Dozier told the participants of "Under One Roof II" that the motivation behind advocacy is not human kindness, but rather the love of God. "Our very insistence on how worthy we are separates us from God," she said. Yet, she insisted that social justice followed directly from the knowledge that humans are loved by God.
Dozier also criticized religious people who try to "spiritualize" the power of the Gospel, ignoring its message to seek justice. "John the Baptist gave specific directions for changing the system -- within the system," she said.