The Acts of Convention

House of Deputies

The House of Deputies Committee on Churchwide Leadership presented its Report #4 on Resolution A147 (Pilot Board for Episcopal Transitions) and moved adoption with amendment.

Original Text of Resolution:

(A147)

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That a pilot Board for Episcopal Transitions be appointed for a period of six years commencing at the adjournment of the 79th General Convention; and be it further

Resolved, That the pilot Board be composed of up to twelve persons appointed jointly by the Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies; at least two members will have served as a Transition Consultant in an episcopal search within the past three years; at least one member will have served on an episcopal search committee in an episcopal search process within the past three years; at least two members will be bishops, two will be priests or deacons and two will be lay persons; at least one member will be experienced in collecting and analyzing data; and at least one member shall be a current or former diocesan chancellor; and be it further

Resolved, That the pilot Board working in collaboration with and helping resource the Office of Pastoral Development shall be responsible for:

• revising existing resources and creating new resources to assist dioceses in the discernment, nomination, search, election, and transition processes for episcopal transitions;
• establishing a process and developing resources by which individuals may seek support in discerning a possible call to the episcopate;
• gathering and analyzing data regarding diversity in episcopal transitions, developing processes and resources to encourage diversity in the episcopate;
• recruiting, training and evaluating Transition Consultants and missional review consultants;
• encouraging electing dioceses to contract for the services of a Transition Consultant throughout the episcopal search and election process;
• formalizing and expanding recruitment and training for Transition Consultants;
• standardizing and monitoring the contracts used by Transition Consultants with electing dioceses;
• establishing a process to review the performance of each Transition Consult, including the use of individual performance records for each Transition Consultant and to provide for their collection and analysis.
• establishing a process for electing dioceses to provide individual performance evaluations based upon objective standards for the Transition Consultant(s) who served the electing diocese from which the work of each Transition Consultant can be evaluated.
• providing ways in which one or more Transition Consultants can participate in the maintenance of the Raising Up of Episcopal Leadership - A Manual for Dioceses in Transition and evaluation of the effectiveness of the episcopal election process.
• developing guidelines for reference, background, medical, and psychological screening of persons considered for nomination for episcopal elections and guidelines for the dissemination, evaluation, and record keeping of the screening information gathered.

And be it further

Resolved, That the pilot Board report semi-annually to the Executive Council and triennially to the General Convention; and be it further

Resolved, That if the General Convention chooses to not establish the pilot Board, the General Convention refer the above proposals of this Resolution to the Office of Pastoral Development for review and appropriate action; and be it further

Resolved, That the amount of $100,000 be appropriated for the organization and initial resources of the pilot Board, to include two meetings per year.

Committee Amendment:

Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring, That a pilot Board for Episcopal TransitionsTask Force to assist the Office of Pastoral Development be appointed for an initial period of sixthree years commencing at the adjournment of the 79th General Convention; and be it further

Resolved, That the pilot Board Task Force be composed of up to twelve persons appointed jointly by the Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies; at least two members will have served as a Transition Consultant in an episcopal search within the past three years; at least one member will have served on an episcopal search committee in an episcopal search process within the past three years; at least two members will be bishops, two will be priests or deacons and two will be lay persons; at least one member will be experienced in collecting and analyzing data; and at least one member shall be a current or former diocesan chancellor in consultation with the Bishop for Pastoral Development. Membership of the Task Force will represent the diversity of all the baptized within the Church and will consider particular gifts and experiences that will be beneficial to the work of the Task Force; and be it further

Resolved, That the pilot Board Task Force working in collaboration with and helping resource will concentrate its work on assisting the Office of Pastoral Development shall be responsible for in:

• revising existing resources and creating new resources to assist dioceses in the discernment, nomination, search, election, and transition processes for episcopal transitions;
• making available through open-source and digital networks, the variety of materials for use by individuals, dioceses, and consultants in the discernment, nomination, search, election and transition processes for episcopal elections;
• establishing a process and developing resources by which individuals may seek support in discerning a possible call to the episcopate;
• gathering and analyzing data regarding diversity in episcopal transitions, developing processes and resources to encourage diversity in the episcopate;
• recruiting, training and evaluating Transition Consultants and missional review consultants;
• encouraging electing dioceses to contract for the services of a Transition Consultant throughout the episcopal search and election process;
• formalizing and expanding recruitment and training for Transition Consultants;
• standardizing and monitoring the contracts used by Transition Consultants with electing dioceses;
• establishing a process to review the performance of each Transition Consult Consultant, including the use of individual performance records for each Transition Consultant and to provide for their collection and analysis.
• establishing a process for electing dioceses to provide individual performance evaluations based upon objective standards for the Transition Consultant(s) who served the electing diocese from which the work of each Transition Consultant can be evaluated.
• providing ways in which one or more Transition Consultants can participate in the maintenance of the Raising Up of Episcopal Leadership - A Manual for Dioceses in Transition and evaluation of the effectiveness of the episcopal election process.
• developing enhancing guidelines for reference, background, medical, and psychological screening of persons considered for nomination for episcopal elections and guidelines for the dissemination, evaluation, and record keeping of the screening information gathered.

And be it further

Resolved, That the pilot Board Bishop for Pastoral Development report semi-annually to the Executive Council and triennially to the next General Convention; and be it further

Resolved, That if the General Convention chooses to not establish the pilot Board, the General Convention refer the above proposals of this Resolution to the Office of Pastoral Development for review and appropriate action; and be it further

Resolved, That the amount of $100,000 $250,000 be appropriated for the organization and initial resources of the pilot Board Task Force, to include two meetings per year.

Point of Order

Deputy Linares of Puerto Rico informed the House that the Spanish translation of Resolution B007 appeared to be wrong.

The President moved to delay consideration of Resolution A147 until the translation was corrected.

Motion carried

Consideration postponed

The President was informed that Deputy Linares was speaking about Resolution B007, not Resolution A147, so debate resumed on Resolution A147.

Deputy Hallanan of the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe moved to amend the resolution.

Proposed Amendment:

Restore "6" and remove "3" in the first resolve clause.

A vote was taken on the amendment.

Motion defeated

Amendment defeated

A vote was taken on Resolution A147.

Motion carried

Resolution adopted with amendment

(Communicated to the House of Bishops in HD Message #118)