PASSED: First Proposed Amendment to Canons

Amendments

Replacement of the current Title II. Canon 3: Of Deaneries

The Current Title II. Canon 3 is eliminated and is replaced by the following:

Text of the Proposed Amendment:

Title II. Canon 3: Of Mission Areas

Sec. 1. Congregations in the Diocese of Ohio shall be organized into eight Mission Areas by action of Diocesan Council. The areas shall be known as: Central East, Cuyahoga, North Central, Northeast, South Central, Summit, West, and Youngstown.

(a)     Mission areas shall be divided in order to assist in communication and the sharing of programs and resources, to provide mutual support among congregations, and to identify and implement opportunities for collaborative ministry. A Congregation may petition the Diocesan Council to be changed from one Mission Area to another Mission Area.

(b)     Two or more congregations within one Mission Area may form a voluntary Mission Partnership for the purpose of collaborative ministry.

(c)     Parishes in a shared ministry situated in two Mission Areas may form Mission Partnerships with parishes in either Mission Area.

Sec. 2.     Each Mission Area shall form a Mission Area Council comprised of all active parochial clergy of the Mission Area and two laypersons from each parish. Each parish annually elects one representative, who is either a Vestry member or a Delegate to Annual Convention, and one representative, from the congregation at large, to serve on the Mission Area Council. Each Mission Area Council shall establish its own requirements for a quorum.

(a)    The Council shall elect four officers from its membership. The Council is led by a Chair (lay or ordained), Vice Chair (from the opposite order of the Chair), Treasurer, and Secretary. Each officer shall serve a one-year term and is eligible for reelection, provided that no individual shall serve more than three (3) years consecutively in any single office.

(b)    The Bishop shall appoint a Dean. The Dean serves as a liaison between the Bishop and Mission Area. She/He convenes the clergy of the Mission Area for fellowship and professional discussions. Pastorally, the Dean serves as a chaplain to the clergy of the Mission Area and the Mission Area Council. The Dean may not serve as either the Chair or Vice Chair. The Dean shall serve a three-year term.

(c)    The Mission Area Episcopal Church Women President shall serve as an ex-officio member of the Mission Area Council with seat and voice.

Sec. 3.     The duties of the Mission Area Council include:

(a)    Provide leadership for the Mission Area, nurturing fellowship and collaboration among the parishes.

(b)    Meet at least quarterly, of which one meeting will be prior to Diocesan Convention for the purpose of discussing nominations, proposed constitutional and canonical changes, resolutions and the Diocesan Operating Budget.

(c)    Elect a member of the Mission Area Council to serve as a representative to Diocesan Council. The Diocesan Council representative is the liaison between the Diocesan and Mission Area Councils. She/He reports on Diocesan Council matters at each Mission Area Council meeting. If an individual’s term on the Mission Area Council ends before her/his Diocesan Council term ends, she/he remains an ex-officio member of the Mission Area Council.

(d)    Support and encourage the development of Mission Partnerships.

(e)    When requested by funding sources, the Mission Area Council shall receive, discuss, and recommend grant applications.

(f)    Facilitate regional conversations among parishes concerning congregational planting, reorganization, and closing.

(g)    Recruit and recommend individuals to be considered when filling vacancies on diocesan commissions, committees, and leadership positions.

(h)    Oversee the allocation and expenditure of all money designated for Mission Area usage.

Sec. 4.     Mission Areas or Mission Partnerships shall conduct their business affairs through one of their constituent parishes or by the creation of an independent not-for-profit corporation, which shall, in every case, comply with the provisions of the Canon “Of Business Methods in Church Affairs.”

Sec. 5.     Mission Area Council Representatives to Diocesan Council.

(a)     Members of Diocesan Council elected as Deanery Representatives in 2007 or 2008 shall continue to serve as Mission Area Representatives until their terms on Diocesan Council conclude.

(b)    Each Mission Area Council shall elect a single representative, lay or ordained, from its body to Diocesan Council at its Pre-Convention meeting. Such representatives shall serve for a term of three years and may not be reelected without a year’s break in service.

(c)    At the first Mission Area Council meeting in 2010, the Central East and Northeast Mission Area Councils will elect representatives to Diocesan Council whose term will begin immediately and conclude on November 30, 2012. Thereafter Mission Area representatives will be elected in the following rotation and their terms will begin on December 1 of the year they are elected:

2010 – Summit, North Central, Youngstown

2011 – Cuyahoga, South Central, West

2012 – Central East, Northeast

(d)    Mission Area representatives shall be responsible for reporting to Diocesan Council on the mission and ministry being carried out in their Mission Area, and for representing the interests of their Mission Area parishes in the affairs of the Diocese.

(e)    No Mission Area representative to the Diocesan Council shall hold membership on the Standing Committee concurrently with a term of service on the Diocesan Council. Vacancies in office shall be filled by the Mission Area Council for the remainder of the unexpired term, and any person so chosen shall be eligible for re-election. The Mission Area representatives elected, when their terms have expired, shall be ineligible for re-appointment for the term next succeeding, and shall remain ineligible for service as members of the Diocesan Council for a period of one Convention year.

And in addition, the following ammendments are also proposed:

Title I. Canon 7. Sec. 3

Sec. 3.    In addition to the above-named officers there shall be: (a) twelve members of the Diocesan Council elected at large in accordance with Section 4 of this canon, of whom six shall be members of the clergy canonically resident in the Diocese, and six members of the laity, adult communicants in good standing of the Church in the Diocese; and (b) such additional members as may be named in accordance with the Canon “of Deaneries Mission Areas” and Section 5 of this Canon to represent the deaneries Mission Areas of the Diocese.

Title I. Canon 7. Sec. 5

Sec. 5.

(a)     Each Deanery Mission Area is entitled to elect a representative to the Diocesan Council. Such representative may be a layperson, a priest, or a deacon. Deanery Mission Area representatives shall be elected by caucus at Diocesan Convention, as specified in Title II. Canon 3. Section 5. to serve for a term of not more than three years.

(b)     The Deanery representatives elected, when their terms have expired, shall be ineligible for re-appointment for the term next succeeding, and shall remain ineligible for service as members of the Diocesan Council for a period of one Convention year. No Deanery representative to the Diocesan Council shall hold membership on the Standing Committee concurrently with such representative’s term of service on the Diocesan Council. Vacancies in the office of Deanery representatives shall be filled by Diocesan Council for the remainder of the unexpired term, and any person so chosen shall be eligible for reelection.

Proposer

The Deanery Review Committee

Rational of the Proposer

In response to a recommendation from the Mission Strategy Task Force, the Diocesan Council passed a resolution authorizing the Bishop and Executive Committee of Diocesan Council to appoint a Deanery Review Committee to research, develop, and propose a new model for collaborative mission and ministry among groups of local parishes. Diocesan Council requested a report from this Committee to be prepared for the 2009 Convention.

In response, 23 lay people and clergy, at least one from each of the existing Deaneries, have worked for the past year to review our current structure as well as models from other dioceses. We have discovered that with rare exceptions, initiatives in collaborative mission and ministry have not been successfully fostered through our current system, except for ECW and Clericus. We propose a new model for a suitable structure within the diocese, which will meet the aspirations of parishes and the Diocese to build working relationships for sustained productive collaborative ministry.

The proposed model will reduce the current ten regional deaneries of the Diocese into eight Mission Areas. These Mission Areas will be established along natural geographic divisions where possible, with a critical mass of congregations and clergy in each Mission Area. The shift from the name “Deanery” to “Mission Area” reflects both that the purpose of the proposed structure is to foster collaborative mission, and that the churches in that group share a collective responsibility to represent the Episcopal Church and serve the entire area within the boundary and not just their own local community.

Parishes will come together to form a Mission Area Councils. This Council will enable relationships to develop between congregations, will encourage collaborative ministry, and serve as a communication channel between the congregations and different Diocesan entities (e.g. Diocesan Council, Bishop’s Staff, Episcopal Community Services, etc.)

In addition, two or more congregations may form a voluntary Mission Partnership for the purpose of collaborative ministry. Congregations in a Mission Partnership will be eligible to apply for grant money that is specifically earmarked for support of such collaborative ministries.

The Deanery Review Committee proposes this new structure as a means for encouraging and facilitating collaborative ministry among congregations. The new structure has the potential to develop and improve communication at all levels of our common life that are necessary for us to be good stewards of our resources and faithfully minister in our contemporary context.