Of course, it's probably just a coincidence -- or is it? -- that this would be the same convention that Anglican primates expect to decisively answer whether ECUSA--now suspended over its pro-gay policies--will walk with or apart from the Anglican Communion.

Writing on the House of Bishops/Deputies website, Dr. Crew, founder of the Episcopal gay group, Integrity, urges that ECUSA cancel the massive General Convention, and instead "have the House of Bishops elect the new presiding bishop at their meeting next spring, have the deputies confirm the election by a mail ballot, and give to the victims of Katrina who have no insurance all the money we would spend going to the convention"--which is expected to cost well over $2.7 million. " What a witness we would make for God's priorities!" he exclaims.

"Any contracts we're stuck with for hotels could be honored by providing those spaces for the poor, who will apparently need it for a long time."

"This is a marvelous opportunity to cease our self-absorption and love our neighbors as we love ourselves," Crew writes.

"Forgive me if I suspect there may be another motive here," wrote one observer on the website Drell's Descants. "There is much more hardship in Ethiopia, the Sudan, and other parts of Africa than there is on the Gulf Coast and much less likelihood that tons of money will float in to help deal with it. Moreover, things have been bad there for a very long time, but Mr. Crew has never before suggested General Conventions be cancelled and much-needed money be sent to alleviate suffering in those areas...

"Could it be...that Mr. Crew is beginning to see that the case for ordaining practicing gay and lesbian priests and bishops and for a gay "marriage" ceremony is going down in flames and he would prefer to cancel the Convention than face the inevitable?"

"Conveniently," said another observer, "Dr. Crew's altruistic call would also postpone the definitive response the primates seek. After all, the only answer most conservatives think ECUSA would give next year-that it will not abandon its acceptance of homosexual practice--would almost certainly get it kicked out of the Anglican Communion."

But Crew, recognizing that GenCon "will have several hundred resolutions to consider," maintains that there would be no shirking, no dodging. The "most urgent" of the resolutions, he asserts, could be handled "as they are between [conventions] anyway, by Executive Council" (on which, again, Dr. Crew serves).

"We also have nearly 100 percent of the deputies and bishops online, and it would be possible to use cyber-connections to facilitate the election of the new officers of the House of Deputies, the new class of Executive Council, and other elections normally done at Convention physically," he says.

"Extraordinary? Of course. Do the circumstances merit it? That is, would the money sent to those without insurance be worth more in God's economy? Absolutely.

"We have a major opportunity here. It will be easy to find hundreds of rationalizations not to seize it."

The sympathy that such a move would generate in the wider Communion probably wouldn't hurt, either.

Queried by TCC, the Rev. Jan Nunley of Episcopal News Service said she had not heard anything from Episcopal Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold about Crew's cancel-the-convention call. She quipped that it had probably gone to "a non-starter list--the assumption being that General Convention would have to meet in order to vote not to meet."

Dr. Crew, by the way, also has some other unusual ideas for the current hurricane response, aimed at helping America ease up a bit on its fierce self-reliance. He suggests asking "various factions of the Iraqis to volunteer to work side by side in helping with the evacuation and recovery efforts on our Gulf Coast" as a means of helping break down their antipathy toward one another. He also suggests bringing Israelis "who receive $11 million a day from the U.S." into the mix. What's more, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez could be asked "to help with the evacuation of our poor." An interesting group, to be sure. ----

To learn more about THE CHRISTIAN CHALLENGE, please visit: http://www.challengeonline.org

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