Convention to Weigh Formation of Standing Commission on Women

From the Living Church-

When it meets in Anaheim, Calif., July 8-17, General Convention will be asked to consider two resolutions pertaining to the status of women in The Episcopal Church and society, including one which calls for the creation of Standing Commission on Women.

In Resolution C074, submitted by the Executive Council’s Committee on the Status of Women, the commission proposes replacing the current subcommittee of Executive Council with a permanent, canonically defined committee. Standing commissions are described in Title 1, Canon 1, Section 2 of the constitution and canons of the General Convention of The Episcopal Church.

“We have critical work ahead, including monitoring specific concerns of women in Title IV proceedings, identifying the barriers to full partnership by lay women in the church, the disadvantaging of women clergy (who make on average $.85 for each dollar that clergymen earn) and laity in employment and retirement, and addressing how the findings of the Church Pension Fund’s Called to Serve survey affect the mission, ministry and policy of The Episcopal Church,” the commission said in response to a request for additional information.

“We believe the breadth of issues that [the Committee on the Status of Women] has addressed over the years, both within the Church and within broader society, cannot adequately be addressed as a sub-committee of a commission that does not have issues pertaining to women as its primary focus,” the committee said in summary.

http://www.livingchurch.org/news/news-updates/2009/7/1/convention-to-weigh-formation-of-standing-commission-on-women