Committees recommend merging East Michigan and West Michigan; also consider the value of the provinces – Episcopal News Service

(Episcopal Press Service) The dioceses of East Michigan and West Michigan are set to merge to form the combined Diocese of Great Lakes after committees voted May 23 to recommend approval of the plan when the 81st General Convention will meet next month in Louisville, Kentucky.

The General Convention committees on governance and structure voted unanimously in favor of the merger resolution, C025, in an online meeting after hearing testimony from two lawmakers from the Diocese of Western Michigan, based in Grand Rapids. That diocese and the Saginaw-based Diocese of Eastern Michigan first agreed to experiment with a formal partnership in October 2019 that involved shared staff, ministries and governance functions.

“We prayed a lot. We have done our best collectively to trust in the presence and guidance of the Spirit. And in the end, our Building Bridges committee came to the unanimous decision that we are better together,” said the Rev. Jennifer Adams, who chairs the West Michigan deputation, addressing bishops and state lawmakers. governance and structure committees.

The General Convention shares its authority between the House of Bishops and the House of Representatives, and the legislative committees of the two houses, although separate, generally meet for hearings and to discuss and vote on resolutions. Resolution C025 now moves to a full house vote, which will meet in person June 23-28.

“We will be happy to celebrate with you at the convention,” said Texas Suffragan Bishop Jeff Fisher, who chairs the bishops’ committee, indicating that final approval is almost certain.

“It means a lot here, thank you,” Adams said.

If authorized by the General Congress, the new Great Lakes Diocese would hold its inaugural convention in October. The two dioceses follow a canonical process known as “joining”, which applies when there are two dioceses that were not previously one diocese. The state’s two other dioceses, Michigan and Northern Michigan, are not involved in the merger.

A separate resolution, expected before the 81st General Convention, would authorize a canonical “reunion” of Wisconsin’s three dioceses — Milwaukee, Fond du Lac and Eau Claire — after years of discernment over a merger. Wisconsin dioceses voted earlier this month to seek General Convention authorization for their merger, and their formal resolution has not yet been forwarded to the governance and structure committees.

The committees’ May 23 hearing also included testimony on a series of resolutions seeking to breathe new life into a less important but potentially vital layer of church governance: its nine regional provinces.

The provinces are made up of groups from the Church’s 108 dioceses, as well as the Navajoland Regional Mission and the Convocation of the Episcopal Churches of Europe. In addition to fulfilling certain canonical responsibilities, such as appointing Executive Council members, some provinces have sought opportunities for communication and collaboration between dioceses, such as the more localized partnerships between the dioceses of Michigan and Wisconsin.

The Rev. Terri Bays, MLA for the Diocese of Northern Indiana, described the provinces as a sort of “middle ground” for church governance between the diocesan and church levels. As a member of the Province V board of directors, she spoke in favor of resolutions C005, C006 and C007.

Resolution C005 would call on each diocese to “discuss how it will relate to and support the identified ministries of the province of which it is a part.” C006 calls on the Executive Council, the governing body of the Church between General Convention meetings, to consider how the Church can best support the provinces, both administratively and financially. Resolution C007 calls for a Church-wide budget line with money for the provinces. The resolution also requests $80,000 per year for its implementation.

“My experience is that the provinces are a wonderful resource for engaging people in the mission and ministry of the Church,” said the Rev. Nathaniel Pierce, acting assistant for the Diocese of Easton, Maryland. “By not including the provinces more effectively…we are losing the opportunity to involve more people in the overall life of the Episcopal Church.” »

The resolutions, however, encountered some opposition. Randall Marks, a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., testified against the resolutions, suggesting that the provinces were no longer relevant in today’s Episcopal Church and that the requested funding could be better spent on other Church priorities.

“I don’t think they’re necessary anymore.” They were established before we had these communication mechanisms that allowed us all to come together online,” Marks said. Referring to impending diocesan mergers this year, he added: “dioceses must work together organically, outside of the provincial structure.”

The General Convention has regularly debated the purpose and effectiveness of provinces, and in 2015 it passed a resolution creating the Task Force to Study the Provinces to determine whether the provincial structure could be eliminated altogether.

The working group concluded that the provinces still played an important role in the life of the Church and that rather than being eliminated, they should be supported, particularly for their regional networking opportunities. Ellen Bruckner of the Diocese of Iowa, who previously chaired the task force, testified May 23 in support of C005 and C006.

“Most people within the Church have very limited knowledge of what a province can be,” Bruckner said. “We have this structure in place. …It’s probably wise to try to use the structure as best we can before getting rid of it.

Several other resolutions on a range of topics were discussed during the committee hearing:

• A073 would establish a Permanent Commission on Health and Human Welfare, a permanent body to continue and expand the work of the Task Force on Individuals with Mental Illness. Several members of the task force testified in favor, although some committee members expressed doubts about the justification for such a permanent commission.
• D020 was proposed by three lawmakers and would create an AI task force within the Episcopal Church. One nominator, Kevin Miller of the Diocese of Massachusetts, warned that the Church was “already behind” in responding to rapid developments in artificial intelligence, given its potential uses and abuses.
• And the committees welcomed comments on two new diocesan resolutions advocating the gradual reduction of church-wide contributions from diocesan revenues. At least six dioceses are now demanding price reductions. These assessments represent the largest portion of the Church’s budget – about $30 million a year, or 65 percent of the $143 million in revenue the Church expects to collect in 2025-2027.

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at [email protected].