D092 Amend Canon III.1.2 - Non-Discrimination in Access to Discernment Process
Resolved, the House of ________________ concurring,
That Canon III.1.2 be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2. No person shall be denied access to the discernment process for any ministry, lay or ordained, in this Church because of race, color, ethnic origin, immigration status, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disabilities or age, except as otherwise provided by these Canons. No right to licensing, ordination, or election is hereby established.
Explanation
Ministers for The Episcopal Church are ministers for the whole church. This resolution is for discernment processes only and do not amend any canons related to employment. This resolution distinguishes vocation from employment. For licensing, ordination, or election immigration status should not be a hindrance to vocation. Immigration status is peculiar to the laws of sovereign nation states. The Episcopal church exists across various nation states, but it is not the church of any particular nation. Ethnic origin, national origin, or immigration status should never be a hindrance for an individual to minister in the Church. These amendments to existing canon propose, therefore, that The Episcopal Church willingly submit its discernment processes to restrictions like the ones that protect applicants in secular employment, and further extend the protections we already apply to discernment for ordination, as one step forward into a more just and equitable Church for all people. This also ensures that country of citizenship nor immigration neither confers privilege or serve as a hindrance to licensing, ordination, or election. No right to employment through licensing, ordination, or election is hereby established