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Convention Notebook: Official Youth Presence; Traces of the Trade nominated for Emmy
Teen deputies are engaged in work of the church
From advocacy in various committee meetings to speaking to the House of Deputies and the Episcopal Church Women Triennial, the 18 members of the Official Youth Presence have been deeply engaged in the work of the church from the time of their arrival in Anaheim.
"They are passionate about their church," says Bronwyn Clark Skov, program officer for Lifelong Christian Formation and Youth, who is leading the support team for the young people. They don't think as a bloc, she says – they represent a range of viewpoints. But even when they disagree, they are united in being "mobilized for evangelism and mission in the world."
The young people, all of them 16 to 18 years old, have seat and voice, but no vote, in the House of Deputies. (Resolution D066), now pending debate and vote in the House of Deputies, would begin the process of amending the canons of the church to give the youth representatives the right to vote as well.)
Although they report that they are having some trouble getting online to post, the young people maintain a blog that includes occasional reports on their experience at convention.
The young people are:
Province I: Lilianna Watson (Connecticut) and Amy Esposito (Rhode Island)
Province II: Daniel de los Cobos (Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe) and Austin Roe (Long Island)
Province III: Carolyn Chou (Pennsylvania) and Grace Aheron (Southwest Virginia)
Province IV: Michael Sahdev (Southeast Florida) and Zach Brown (Upper South Carolina)
Province V: Elizabeth Anderson (Michigan) and Lucky Middaugh (Western Michigan)
Province VI: Elizabeth Overbo (North Dakota) and Abby Levis (Iowa)
Province VII: Megan Alban (Western Missouri) and Adolpus King (Texas)
Province VIII: Clemente Aguirre (Oregon) and Jacqueline Bray (San Diego)
Province IX: Joshua Howel (Puerto Rico) and Esther Monge (Puerto Rico)
Traces of the Trade nominated for Emmy award
"Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North," a documentary film that uncovers "the vast extent of Northern complicity in slavery," has been nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy Award for outstanding individual achievement in research.
The documentary was produced and directed by Katrina Browne, a descendent of the DeWolf family of Rhode Island, longtime Episcopalians who were slave traders in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The film follows Browne and members of her extended family on journeys to Ghana and Cuba and into their own hearts and minds as they wrestled with how they continue to benefit from the buying, selling and labor of enslaved people.
"We are thrilled and honored to be nominated for an Emmy in Research in recognition of our work to bring forward this buried history," said Browne. "A greater understanding of this history and how it has shaped all of us in this country can lead the way towards further dialogue and repair."
Public screenings of the film have been shown during General Convention, which is considering renewal of resolutions connected to its decision in 2006 to apologize for the Episcopal Church's complicity in slavery and to study the details of that history and how to make amends.
Further information about Traces of the Trade is available here.
World Mission committee affirm 'the heartbeat of the church is mission'
On the last day of its meeting, the 76th General Convention World Mission legislative committee approved Resolution D075, a resounding response to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's declaration during her July 8 sermon that "the heartbeat of the church is mission."
The resolution "challenges dioceses and congregations of the Episcopal Church to participate in one new or ongoing project that engages in a relationship with another part of the Body of Christ in the world." It also provides for the Standing Commission on World Mission to develop strategies to enable and to support individuals, congregations and dioceses to engage in mission activities.
The Rev. Ian T. Douglas, a committee member designated to speak with the media, said that the resolution "was among the most important work that we did."
The resolution reaffirmed "that our leadership is passionate about world mission and, from the congregations to the councils to the Presiding Bishop, this is the message that we want to send," said Douglas, a member of Executive Council and the Anglican Consultative Council.
"We were passionately committed to missionary engagement around the world and while most people will remember this committee for the work of [Resolution] D025 [which affirmed that the ordination process is open to all individuals] I'll remember it because of our renewed commitment to support missionaries," he said after the group's last meeting.
The group oversaw 43 resolutions during convention, compared to about eight at General Convention 2006 in Columbus, according to the Rev. Gay Jennings, committee chair.
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