Church Governance Matters

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It is never enough to rely on church leaders’ good intentions or verbal assurances regarding the church’s procedures. It’s not just for canon lawyers – church governance concerns everyone. acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/loose-canons-foundations/

Two years ago, @aaronmharrison noted that the Constitution and Canons of @midwestanglican did not equip the diocese to function within the nominal bounds of Anglican polity, let alone navigate a crisis involving the bishop’s leadership. acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/loose-canons

In December 2022, Bp. Ruch shared that the task force reviewing the UMD’s Constitution and Canons had completed its work and a new constitutional structure was going before the @midwestanglican Diocesan Assembly for a provisional vote. midwestanglican.org/advent-greetings-and-an-update-to-our-constitution-canons

The Diocesan Assembly issued the 1st ratification of its revised Constitution by a two-thirds majority vote on Dec 19, 2022. To be permanently adopted, the Constitution must be ratified a 2nd time, at this year’s Diocesan Assembly meeting on Dec 16, 2023. acnatoo.org/revised-umd-constitution

As ACNAtoo has pointed out over the past two years, @MidwestAnglican has shown little interest in learning from their mistakes and has instead doubled down on the denial of any institutional wrongdoing – including around mandatory reporting failures acnatoo.org/acnatoo-blog/failures-in-mandatory-reporting.

This defiant lack of transparency and accountability is further reflected in the timeline for updating the Constitution and Canons – a process that is as hurried as it is opaque.

@MidwestAnglican members who plan to attend the Revive conference on October 27 have very little time to learn what a diocese’s constitution should do – and how the UMD’s revised Constitution continues to fall short.

Even more importantly, @MidwestAnglican members must understand how to evaluate the Canons in order to weigh in on them during the narrow two-week window allotted for feedback.

Far from engaging lay people with the Anglican civic context they need to make informed decisions, the UMD has not yet even released the text of the revised Constitution or Canons to its members. acnatoo.org/revised-umd-constitution

Read our analysis of the @MidwestAnglican Constitution and take action before it's too late.

Action 1. There is no guarantee that the Synod will be an elected, representative body, including both clergy and lay people. Push for that to be specified in the Constitution.

Action 2. There is no guarantee that the Standing Committee will be an independent body, and its members may assume legal responsibilities without their full knowledge. Push for that to be corrected in the Constitution and in diocesan communications.

Action 3. Refuse to ratify the revised @MidwestAnglican Constitution as it stands. Demand a Constitution that offers governance modeled after dioceses that have held their bishops and other authorities accountable.