Resolution D026 (Create Task Force on LGBTQ+ Inclusion) comes up for its open hearing in Committee 13 on Tuesday, June 21 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. EDT. It is one of the resolutions endorsed by the TEC LGBTQ+ Caucus and members of the Caucus will be speaking on its behalf. We urge the support of both the Committee and the Convention.

The 80th General Convention is faced with the combined challenges of making decisions about what is essential legislation and how to implement that legislation in what will be a biennium rather than our customary triennium. We strongly believe that bringing the work of the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people from the margins to the center with a dedicated task force is an essential part of the work and witness of the Episcopal Church in this critical moment.

In 1976, the 65th General Convention of the Episcopal Church asserted in a resolution 1976-A069 that ”homosexual persons are children of God who have a full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance and pastoral concern and care of the Church.“ In the decades since its adoption, faithful witnesses to God’s inclusive love have been working to make that resolution a reality in the Episcopal Church for all members of the human family, wherever they fall on the continuum of sexual orientation or gender identity. That work continues to be essential to the LGBTQ+ faithful already part of the church — and it is more essential than ever as a Gospel witness to the world in a time when both anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and legislation are dramatically on the rise.

As the Episcopal Church continues the work of Becoming Beloved Community, it is time to bring that work from the margins into the center by archiving our history, auditing our present and recommending steps forward into our future.

Text of Resolution 2022-D026

Resolved, the House of ________________ concurring,

That it is the intention of The Episcopal Church to continue our becoming “The Beloved Community;” a charism of which is a church that functions with equity and care for the whole body, including its LGBTQ+ members; and be it further

Resolved, That the 80th General Convention direct the Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies to appoint jointly a Task Force on LGBTQ+ Inclusion, consisting of not more than 14 people, who represent the diversity of the LGBTQ+ members of this Church; and be it further

Resolved, That the Task Force initiate a churchwide audit of how The Episcopal Church has lived into its 1976 commitment to provide full and equal claim to the love, acceptance and pastoral concern and care of the Church to its LGBTQ+ members; and be it further

Resolved, That the Task Force begin the process of creating an archive of the history of the work for LGBTQ+ inclusion in The Episcopal Church; and be it further

Resolved, That the Task Force report and make recommendations to the 81st General Convention, ending its term at that time except by further action of General Convention; and be it further

Resolved, That the General Convention request the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance to consider a budget allocation of $100,000 for the implementation of this resolution.