NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: Convention affirms Jamestown Covenant, calls for same-gender blessing rites

November 20, 2007 [Episcopal News Service] A visioning process for the future and direction of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California was outlined by Bishop Barry Beisner in his keynote address to the diocese's 97th annual convention November 10-11 in Redding.

Delegates elected officers to perpetuate leadership in the diocese and a slate of clergy and lay deputies to the 76th General Convention in 2009 in Anaheim, California.

The convention adopted five general resolutions, one constitutional amendment and eight courtesy resolutions. They included ones to:

• reaffirm the resolution passed last year, endorsing the United Nations Millennium Development Goals as within the mission of the church and directs the diocese to allocate .7% of the diocesan budget to be used as grant to agencies and projects addressing these goals;
• call for affirmation of the Jamestown Covenant of Faith and designate the coming decade as a time to recognize and welcome Native People into congregational life, develop culturally inclusive liturgies, and support the spiritual, cultural and social values of the Indigenous Nations of Northern California;
• name slavery as a continuing sin and a fundamental betrayal of the humanity of all persons and join the Episcopal Church in apologizing for its complicity in and the injury done by the institution of slavery and its aftermath;
• urge every congregation to examine its legal documents of title to real and personal property and encourage action to assure that the legal record reflects that all property is held in trust for the benefit of the diocese, in accordance with the canons of the Episcopal Church;
• call upon the General Convention to develop and authorize same-sex union blessing rites (a proposed substitute resolution was voted out of order and a motion to postpone this resolution to the 2008 Convention was defeated by a vote of 184 to 125); and
• amend the diocesan constitution to authorize the convention to elect deacons as well as priests as clergy members of the diocesan Standing Committee (first reading).

Information about the resolutions may be found on the pages of the current edition of the diocese's newspaper, the Missionary, (due to be posted on the diocese's website) and election results may be found on the diocesan website.

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