Results from the 194th Convention

From the 194th Diocesan Convention, Michael Bickerton has been elected for a five-year term as Diocesan Trustee. For Standing Committing, Rebecca Roth has been elected in the lay order, and the Rev. Keith Owen in the clerical order. For General Convention Deputy to serve at the 2012 General Convention in Indianapolis for a 3-year term, Denise Caywood, Stephen Gracey, Bill Joseph, and Sue Perkinson have been elected in the lay order. In the clerical order, the Rev. Alan James, the Rev. Gay Jennings, the Rev. Jeremiah Williamson, and the Rev. Evelyn Manzella have been elected. By acclamation, Jim Baker and Ben Davis have been elected in the lay order to Diocesan Council; the Rev Marie Phillips and the Rev. Deborah Rankin have been elected in the clerical order.

For Development Council of Episcopal Community Service, Jacque Fertick, Lonny Gatlin, and Sonia Miller have been elected in the lay order by acclamation, and in the clerical order, the Rev. Lisa Hackney has been elected by acclamation.

Both proposed amendments to the canons passed. The first, changing the name of the Youngstown Mission Area to the Southeast Mission Area, passed, and the rules were suspended to allow the canon to go into effect immediately. The second proposed canon passed with an amendment to Section 2. It now reads:
"Clergy Members. The Clergy members of the Board must be canonically resident and geographically serving within the Diocese, have been ordained to the order from which they were elected for five or more years, and not be, either at the time of election nor the five years prior to election, under sentence or pastoral direction."

Resolution R-1 on the Tithe as the Means of Financing the Work of the Diocese of Ohio failed. Resolution R-2 on Clergy Compensation passed, as did Resolution R-6 from the Commission to End Racism asking to recharter the group as the Commission for Racial Understanding.

Resolution R-3 on Immigration passed as amended, so that it says "Resolved that the 194th Convention of the Diocese of Ohio call on the United States Government for comprehensive immigration reform, which may include:
a)A path to citizenship for the 10-12 million undocumented people in the U.S.;

b)Reform of our immigration system, so that migrant workers can enter the United States and work in a safe, regulated and humane manner;

c)Reform of the family-based immigration system, so that waiting times/backlogs to reunite families are significantly reduced;

d)Restoration of due process protections for immigrants;

e)Reform that is humane, workable, and reflects the paramount importance and socio-economic necessity of family unity;

f)Development and implementation of policies which address the root causes of migration, such as economic development in poor countries;

g)Support for a path to citizenship for youth brought into this country illegally as infants or young children via enactment of the legislation currently before the U.S. Congress.

Resolution R-4 also on Public Sector Funding for Food and Nutrition passed as amended. The amendments included three added resolved clauses:

and be it further

Resolved, this Convention asks the Secretary of Convention to transmit this resolution to Ohio's elected representatives to the Congress of the United States and to those representatives to the Ohio legislature elected from within the geographic boundary of the Diocese of Ohio;

and be it further

Resolved, this Convention asks the members of the Diocesan Advocacy Committee to plan and carry out a campaign to contact in person the officials elected to state and national office from within the boundaries of the Diocese of Ohio, expressing to them the passionate conviction of this 194th Convention that funding food security for its people is an essential component of life in a healthy and moral commonwealth;

and be it further

Resolved, this Convention asks the Diocesan Advocacy Committee to report to the 195th Annual Convention of the Diocese of Ohio on its work in carrying out this resolution.

Resolutions 5, 6, and 7 passed without amendment. Resolution R-7, which was submitted at the beginning of Convention asked the Convention to declare Christ Church, Lima, extinct. Christ Church closed in 2005. The property can now be transferred to the Trustees of the Diocese for sale.