1. Regarding the proposal to change legislation to 6 days from 10: No doubt we can find ways to be more efficient, such as continuing to urge people to avoid filing duplicate or frivilous, or personal-agenda resolutions.  A suggestion: Empower committees with many resolutions to consider to do their pre-hearing work electronically by making pre-filed resolutions available to Deputies before arriving on site.  In the Ministry Committtee, of which I have been Vice-Chair twice, the topics we cover are so wide-ranging that we have had to split the committee into a number of smaller groups to do the organizational work and are hard pressed to have time for needed hearings when the entire committee can be present.

2. Reducing the size of deputations from four to three in each order:  This proposal has come up at virtually every convention for the past twenty one years.  Every time it has been defeated.  If a diocese does not wish to send four clergy and four lay deputies there is no requirement to do so.  I'd much prefer leaving the matter up to each diocese to resolve as their finances and interests dictate.

3. Using electronic mail, voting, etc:  If we use electronic mail, I URGE and BEG people to use "blind copies" rather than "carbon copies" when writing to more than one person, unless it is critical to the nature of the message to let the recipient see who is receiving the communication.  For example, I received a six line message yesterday which was preceded by over 300 e-mail addresses.  This comes pretty close to being a virus infecting the electronic communication system.  Another concern is that some provinces of the church are going to be much more electronically connected than others.  We need to avoid establishing a "have" versus "have not" class system by being sure that those not able to communicate electronically receive the information being isseminated in a timely fashion.

4. Being better stewards of time and finances: If we were already a tithing church in practice as well as principle and still felt strained that would be a different matter.  We are on the brink of an explosion in membership and church growth.  This is tje time to be reaching out more and more, not cutting back.  If dioceses are having financial troubles, let's focus on stewardship education.

5. Making decisions at provincial level:  This may work well in smaller dioceses where people can gather easily and economically.  I doubt that it would be effective in most areas.  Dollar savings from a shorter convention would be eaten up by travel expenses and time used in regional meetings.

6. Efficiency issues:  There is much more to any church gathering than making decisions.  If we do not nourish our relationships with each other we will lose our sense of the community gathered.  I deeply fear a "Balkanization" of the church if we do not continue to meet together to pray and share and listen for the mind of Christ, working out our decisions together.

A blessed Epiphany to you and yours,
Anne Robbins, Chair, Southern Ohio Deputation
 

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