D053 Amend Title IV to require timely appointments to church-wide disciplinary boards
Resolved, the House of Bishops concurring,
That Canon IV.5.4.j is hereby amended to read as follows:
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Vacancies on the Court of Review must be filled by the President of the House of Deputies for lay and Clergy members and by the Presiding Bishop for Bishop members within sixty days of the President of the Court of Review’s declaration of a vacancy on the Court.
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Vacancies on the Court of Review must be filled by the President of the House of Deputies for lay and Clergy members and by the Presiding Bishop for Bishop members within sixty days of the President of the Court of Review’s declaration of a vacancy on the Court.
And be it further
Resolved, That Canon IV.17.3.e is hereby amended to read as follows:
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A vacancy among the member Bishops must be filled by the Presiding Bishop with the advice of the Bishop members of the Executive Council. A vacancy among the other members must be filled by the President of the House of Deputies with the advice of the lay, Priest, and Deacon members of the Executive Council. All vacancies must be filled within sixty days of the vacancy arising.
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A vacancy among the member Bishops must be filled by the Presiding Bishop with the advice and consent of the Bishop members of the Executive Council. A vacancy among the other members must be filled by the President of the House of Deputies with the advice and consent of the lay, Priest, and Deacon members of the Executive Council. All vacancies must be filled within sixty days of the vacancy arising.
And be it further
Resolved, That Canon IV. 17.8.b is hereby amended to read as follows:
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The Presiding Bishop must fill any vacancies on the Court of Review for Bishops within sixty days of the vacancy arising.
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The Presiding Bishop must fill any vacancies on the Court of Review for Bishops within sixty days of the vacancy arising.
Explanation
In their Blue Book Reports for this General Convention both the Disciplinary Board for Bishops and the Court of Review mentioned that they lost members over the course of the biennium due to a death and the election of a priest to the episcopacy, but after making multiple requests for a replacement to be appointed, no appointments were made by the President of the House of Deputies whose duty it is.
In a regular Title IV case for a Bishop, ten of the eighteen members of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops serve on either the Conference Panel or Hearing Panel. With multiple cases happening at one time (currently six at the time of writing this explanation), the Disciplinary Board needs all positions to be filled so that the important work of Title IV can be done. It is a similar case for the Court of Review.
The amendments to Title IV proposed in this resolution would require the Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies to make the appointments within a two-month window for finding a nominee, gaining their consent to serve, and, in the case of the Disciplinary Board for Bishops, receive the consent of the appropriate members of the Executive Council. With multiple issues regarding Title IV processes over the last year in our church, this resolution will help commit us to ensure that all cases are worked on efficiently and accurately.
This legislation was authored by Ms. Laura Ammons of the Diocese of Florida and Mr. Richard Pryor, III of the Diocese of Ohio.