The House of Deputies made up legislative time in the late afternoon session on July 13, dispensing with 20 different resolutions during a two-hour session.
 
The speed that business was conducted was in contrast to an early afternoon session in which problems with the electronic voting machines and extended debate over consent to the election of the Rev. Luis Fernando Ruiz Restrepo as Bishop of Central Ecuador put the house legislative calendar behind schedule.
 
A number of the resolutions appeared on the consent calendar, meaning that as long as deputies did not request debate on any of the items on the consent calendar list, they were considered as approved.
 
The house also dealt with several issues requiring more extended debate during this session and even if some of the legislation was approved as part of the consent calendar, it is likely to have an impact on dioceses and parishes.
 
The most controversial was the last one debated, Resolution C061, which states that no person may be excluded from access to the discernment process for any ministry lay or ordained. The resolution went on to specifically mention that transgender people—transsexuals, and others who differ from “majority societal gender norms,” were included. The Rev. Canon Neil Michell of Dallas called for a vote by orders on this resolution and the results were not ready by the time that the house recessed at around 6:15 p.m.
 
Two other legislative items of interest include Resolution A055, which requires each diocesan standing committee to have a president and secretary who “may be summoned on the requisition of the bishop, whenever the bishop shall desire their advice; and they may meet of their own accord and agreeably to their own rules when they may be disposed to advise the bishop.” This change has already been approved by both houses.
 
The House of Bishops also concurred on Resolution A187, which regularizes the renunciation of deacons from the ordained ministry of the Episcopal Church so that it conforms with the canons regarding the renunciation of the ordained priesthood of the Episcopal Church.
 
Deputies also called for changes to the Court of Appeal for the Trial of a Bishop, an end to the economic blockade against Cuba, continued support for the Anglican Church in the Region of Central America, a comprehensive peace treaty in the Sudan, a pledge not to engage in pre-emptive military strikes, great reliance on wind turbine energy, and cancellation of more Third World debt.
 
Steve Waring reporting from General Convention in Anaheim.
 
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