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SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND FAITH REPORT TO THE 74TH GENERAL CONVENTION ST&F’s restructuring and its utilization of ECNSTF (Episcopal Church Network for Science, Technology and Faith) can offer a sound interface between science and religion for the Episcopal Church. This country and other countries receive misinformation on food security, the stewardship of our world and attempts to divorce the natural world from God's creation. The Doctrine of Creation is the theological context for ST&F’s mission and its membership should include theologians, ethicists, and scholars of culture to maintain this interface. •ST&F has been restructured and will include theologically sensitive Episcopalians with scientific or technical training in a wider range of fields than the current seven members can represent, including knowledge in food systems science, environmental science/engineering, genetics/cell biology, astronomy/cosmology, medicine/healthcare, computer science/technology, materials science/technology and neuroscience/neuropharmacology. •The ST&F mandate is to act as a clearing-house for articles, monographs, scientific papers, commentaries, books and other works by scientists and researchers, drawn from ECNSTF and other sources, relating to issues which can inform the faith of Episcopalians. •ST&F will check each author’s reputation and their work’s reliability. It will assess the work for suitability for an Episcopal audience while making editorial suggestions for understanding. •ST&F will share its findings with the Director of Communication at the Episcopal Church Center who will arrange for a web library of informative and timely articles. These will educate the Church without a need for the General Convention to take a theological or ethical policy position on developments that are always changing. The Director of Communication is considering a regularly published feature on challenging topics for information, but not doctrinal mandate, for the whole church. Articles by ST&F or ECNSTF could be reprinted by Forward Movement. •ST&F’s work will include representation at meetings, conferences, and consultations with other churches and professional organizations. ST&F members will participate in discussions, interact with leaders in various fields, learn about the theological and ethical ramifications of cutting-edge developments in science and technology, and build ECNSTF. Possible meetings are the American Association for the Advancement of Science (ST&F contributes to a resource table); the American Public Health Association; the American Academy of Religion; and consultations of the Society of Ordained Scientists and the Church of Scotland’s Society, Religion and Technology Project, which has done benchmark work in communicating matters of scientific and ethical interest to church constituents. •ST&F will be comprised of 12 members. They will meet twice a year: in April, to coincide with the Ecumenical Roundtable on Science, Technology & the Church in Canada and the U.S., and in the fall. This will require $87,000 for the six meetings and attendance at other meetings during the triennium. |