by Rev. Dr. Jim Warnock
Diocesan convention concluded last month. As your vicar, I attended along with Kresha and Liz Larson, delegates, and Charla Conner, alternate delegate. It was a unique experience in that the sessions were online. The Bishop and Diocesan officers met at the Cathedral. Five other sites hosted various delegates based on geography. All were connected through Zoom. Our delegation met at St. Mary’s in Lakewood, watching everything on a big screen. It worked pretty well, though a thunderstorm briefly interfered with the reception in Bremerton.
Five resolutions were presented. Two covered cost of living and assessment changes and passed easily. One called for the decolonization of the diocesan seal. It was amended by the submitter and eventually sent to Diocesan Council for further discussion.
A final resolution called on the Church to oppose the use of Large Language Models (artificial intelligence) in preparing sermons, prayers and/or liturgies. There was some debate here, and the resolution was sent to Diocesan Council for further discussion and a report next year. For the record, I don’t use artificial intelligence in preparing sermons or anything else for All Saints’.
I voted in favor of these resolutions, but two more, on Israel and the Gaza War, troubled me. The first called for humanitarian aid to people living in Gaza and directed churches and individuals to contribute thereto. The Diocesan Holy Land Committee will produce a list of appropriate organizations for this purpose.
I have no problem at all with aid to the Gazan people. I do have an issue with the explanation of the resolution. This one originated with the Diocesan Holy Land Committee, and it was heavily biased against Israel. It stated that “Israel has conducted one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history, targeting Gazan civilian society. The killing has been indiscriminate and grossly disproportionate.” It cited casualty figures produced by the Gazan Health Ministry, which is controlled by Hamas, the group that began the war with an invasion of Israel.
We were not able to amend the explanation, but I submitted an amendment that eliminated from the resolution itself the phrase asserting that starvation in Gaza was caused by “the withholding of food and famine relief by the government of Israel.”
In my statement on the amendment, I reiterated that I didn’t oppose aid to Gaza, but that “the current wording of the resolution also places the entire blame for the Gaza War on Israel, fails to acknowledge the complications of the Middle East and ignores Hamas, the brutality of their invasion of Israel and the war crimes they have committed.” I said we should not assess blame at this moment but focus on being peacemakers, reconcilers. In reference to the 20-point cease fire I concluded that we should focus on the bringing of food to the hungry, rest to the weary, and solace to the suffering. Two people spoke to my amendment, one in favor, one opposed, and it failed by two votes. The resolution, and another that called on churches to enforce all prior resolutions from Diocesan or General Convention, passed by significant majorities.
Resolutions like the one calling for relief for Gaza, by blaming everything in the war on Israel alone, are anti-Semitic. I am no fan of the current Israeli government, and I can readily acknowledge that Israel has its problems. In this they are much like our own country. To ignore Hamas’ intent to eliminate the Jewish state, however, is to misrepresent the reality in the Middle East and, as Christians, to perpetuate centuries of hostilities toward Jewish people. This is not the way to be peacemakers or to follow Jesus.
This is my takeaway from Convention, and I am happy to discuss it with any of you. With Kresha and my family being Jewish, I have a particular interest in things coming from the Holy Land Committee. Our delegation did meet with Randy Urmiston, the Committee’s chairperson, for a long discussion prior to the convention. We disagree. If you’re curious and have computer access, the resolutions can be found HERE.
I would advocate prayers for the Middle East. I know several of you have deep concerns about Ukraine, and I share those. We should also pray for Sudan, especially as our Diocese hosts Sudanese congregations. Keep our Kenyan friends in mind. It’s a lot. These are difficult times, but Jesus both warned us they would come and assured us of his love for us and the world, in whatever shape we find it. Keep praying.