Episcopal Press and News
Lay Professionals Search for Greater Visibility
Episcopal News Service. December 12, 1990 [90325]
Sixty lay professionals in the Episcopal Church, representing a wide variety of vocations, met in New York, November 29, to discuss how to present their concerns to next summer's General Convention in Phoenix.
The National Network for Lay Professionals was formed six years ago by a small group of people who shared full-time vocations in church work and decided that they needed more visibility for their work.
The third national gathering of that network took place at the Episcopal Church Center and the Conference Center in Stony Point, New York, where discussions centered on common concerns -- how the church can be nudged into taking the work of lay professionals more seriously, the need for equal employment opportunities, compensation and benefits, education and training, and access to the decision-making structures of the church.
Lay professionals shared their sentiments at informal gatherings and attended professional development workshops on strategic planning for General Convention, communication clarity and dialogue, wellness in the workplace, and worship using the 1982 Hymnal and Book of Common Prayer.
In his welcome to the delegates, Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning shared his concern for peace in the Persian Gulf and asked for their prayers on the eve of his departure on a trip with other church leaders to the Middle East. He urged them to write to members of Congress and to President George Bush in support of the National Council of Churches statement on the Middle East. "I have hope about President Bush," he said. "I do think he listens. I hope he is not locked into a position."
"Religious leaders have to be part of the discussion and debate," Browning said. He noted that Bush listens more than former President Ronald Reagan who, Browning said, listened only to those from the religious right.