The presiding officers of General Convention have announced their decision to appoint a legislative committee on marriage. In a letter [PDF] addressed to Deputies and Bishops and dated July 8, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and the Rev. Gay Jennings, president of the House of Deputies, explain their decision:
Our goal is to establish legislative committees that are more closely aligned with the framework of the Five Marks of Mission. This has shaped our mission work in the current triennium, and we trust that it will continue to shape our engagement in God’s mission in the next triennium.
We have also decided to name a Legislative Committee on Marriage for this General Convention to ensure that the work of the Task Force on Marriage and resolutions related to the rapidly shifting contexts of civil marriage in the United States and in several other parts of the world can be given appropriate consideration. This will also make it possible for the Prayer Book, Liturgy & Music legislative committee to give full consideration to the other business that will come before it.
The committee on marriage is listed as one of 20 committees planned for the 78th General Convention, which will meet June 25-July 3 in Salt Lake City.
Matthew Townsend is a Halifax-based freelance journalist and volunteer advocate for survivors of sexual misconduct in Anglican settings. He served as editor of the Anglican Journal from 2019 to 2021 and communications missioner for the Anglican Diocese of Quebec from 2019 to 2022. He and his wife recently entered catechism class in the Orthodox Church in America.
