The 155th Annual Convention of the Diocese of Pittsburgh will have a full slate of Action Items to take up Saturday morning, October 17. The canonical business for the day will follow through on work begun last year and invite Convention to make other improvements that are overdue or timely for other reasons.
All members of the Diocese with seat and voice, and certainly those with seat, voice and vote, are encouraged to read the various resolutions in advance, and to attend one or more of the Zoom Pre-Convention Meetings on Tuesday, September 29, 9:30 a.m.; Wednesday, September 30, 7:30 p.m.; or Saturday, October 3, 10 a.m. Links to the resolutions are found below.
Following Through on Last Year’s Work
Clergy and Lay Deputies will recall that in 2019, the Working Group on Governance of Project CREED unanimously recommended several changes to the size and composition of the Board of Trustees, Diocesan Council, and the Standing Committee, and that the 154th Annual Convention approved, on First Reading, four resolutions presented by the Committee on Constitution and Canons to amend the applicable articles in the Diocesan Constitution to implement the changes recommended by the Governance Working Group.
Article XV of the Diocesan Constitution, which addresses how the Constitution may be altered, requires the four resolutions to be considered again at this year’s Annual Convention. And, since Convention may decide to approve the Constitutional amendments on the required Second Reading, other resolutions necessary to implement them have also been prepared for consideration by Convention.
Resolution One – Board of Trustees
This resolution amends Article X of the Constitution to implement the Governance Working Group’s recommendation to reduce the size of the Board of Trustees from 16 to 12 members, plus the Bishop. A copy of the resolution can be read here. Before acting on this Second Reading resolution, Convention will vote on a separate resolution that explains how the reduction in the size of the Board would be phased in and implemented, if it is approved. That resolution can be read here.
Resolution Two – Diocesan Council
This resolution amends Article XI, Section 1 of the Constitution to implement the recommendation of the Governance Working Group to restructure Diocesan Council. If this resolution is approved on Second Reading, the eight members of the Diocese serving on the Standing Committee will join with four members of Council to be elected by the four Districts, the Bishop and the Chancellor, to constitute Diocesan Council. This restructuring follows the model used in several other dioceses. The resolution to amend the Constitution can be read here. Before considering this resolution on Second Reading, Convention will be asked to take up a Special Rule of Order that would enable us to implement the new structure for Council on January 1, 2021, if the Constitutional amendment is approved. It can be read here. Amendments to Canon V, Of the Diocesan Council, would also be needed to implement the Constitutional change. The resolution to amend Canon V can be read here.
Resolution Three – Standing Committee
This resolution merely eliminates historical language from Article IX of the Constitution relating to its amendment in 1952. It can be read here.
Resolution Four – Standing Committee
This resolution amends Article IX of the Constitution to implement the recommendation of the Governance Working Group that no parish supply more than two members to Standing Committee at the same time. It can be read here. Convention will also consider a separate resolution, confirming the process for implementing this change, before voting on the Second Reading. That resolution can be read here.
Updating Our Rules of Order
At the start of the day, Convention will be asked to approve a resolution that ratifies the decision of Diocesan Council to hold the 155th Annual Convention as a “Virtual” Convention. The resolution affirms that Convention is proceeding in good faith, and it can be read here.
A separate resolution will be offered to add to our Rules of Order a new section, to be called Part E, that would expressly authorize a future meeting of Convention using electronic communications technology. It can be read here.
A third resolution, originating with the Standing Committee, proposes an amendment to our Rules of Order at the Election of a Bishop, to eliminate the requirement for a separate session the evening before the election. It can be read here.
New and Deserving Changes
Regional Disciplinary Board Compact
The Diocese was presented with another opportunity to use the time and talent of its members more efficiently, when it was invited this past year to join with five other Dioceses to form a Regional Disciplinary Board for Title IV clergy disciplinary proceedings. All six of the Dioceses – Pittsburgh, Northwestern Pennsylvania, Western New York, Ohio, Southern Ohio, and West Virginia – will consider resolutions this October or November to implement the Regional Disciplinary Board Compact prepared by their Chancellors. Pittsburgh will be the first Diocese to take up the resolutions. The Compact follows a model that has been used successfully by other Dioceses to share a Disciplinary Board. The resolution to adopt the necessary changes to Diocesan Canon XIX, Ecclesiastical Discipline, can be read here. The Compact itself can be read here.
Authority to Extend Reciprocal Privileges
In the Episcopal Church, it is within each diocese’s authority to grant seat, voice and vote to a priest of a Church in full Communion serving in a congregation of the diocese. Our current Diocesan Constitution does not provide for this. In contrast, Episcopal priests of this Diocese who are serving as a pastor for a congregation of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America may be granted the privileges of seat, voice and vote in the Synod Assembly during the period of that minister’s service in the ELCA congregation. To begin the process for giving Convention the power to grant reciprocal privileges to an ELCA priest serving in one of our congregations, a resolution will be considered by Convention to amend Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution. It can be read here. If approved on First Reading this year, it will need to be approved on Second Reading in 2021 to become effective.
All of the canonical resolutions have been prepared by the Committee on Constitution and Canons, and approved as to form by Diocesan Council for presentation to Convention. Clergy and Lay Deputies are urged to give them prayerful consideration and to attend one or more of the Zoom Pre-Convention Meetings.