| The House of Bishops, moving rapidly through their June 9 legislative calendar, called for an end to the conflict in Ukraine and concurred with deputies to approve racial equity resolutions, marking a new chapter for The Episcopal Church.
On the 80th General Convention’s second legislative day, bishops approved Resolution A129 which directs presiding officers and the Church Pension Fund to conduct historical research on the ways in which financial and other assets of The Episcopal Church are directly tied to the enslavement of humans, the slave trade, and historical and current racial injustices, allocating $150,000 for the work.
An amended Resolution B008, “A Call for Cessation of Conflict in Ukraine,” offered by the Committee on Social Justice and International Policy, elicited lively debate.
The Rt. Rev. Mark D. W. Eddington, bishop of the Convocation of Churches in Europe, said he supported the amendment but cautioned: “We will all agree that Russia is uniquely responsible for a war of aggression in Ukraine. However, atrocities in war have a funny habit of being equal opportunity employers.
“I’m concerned that as a church our role ought to be to call on all sides in this conflict to cease war immediately. That’s the call of the Gospel and, while I support this resolution as amended, I want to offer caution that, after this is over, we will have to continue to work with churches in Russia and Ukraine and this makes it a little more difficult for us to be an even-handed broker.”
Another amendment, to remove a paragraph calling upon “the leaders of the Russian Federation and its supporters” to cease aggression and to begin negotiations, was challenged by Los Angeles Bishop John Harvey Taylor and ultimately defeated. Taylor said: “I find it difficult to imagine we can’t find a way both to identify the cause of initial aggression as well as to call upon both sides to behave humanely.”
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