Coming at Convention in Louisville

Oh my goodness! General Convention is back again! And, of course, General Convention brings out the wonk in me. With that in mind, I’m looking at resolutions that I think will be of interest to chaplains.

The first one I want to highlight is A073 A Standing Commission for Human Health and Wellness. At various times the Church has had a Standing Commission on Health. The last one ended at the 2015 Convention when most standing commissions and other continuing bodies were discontinued. This is an effort to restore a commission with this focus. From the Explanation for the resolution: 

“The scope of this new commission will be to address matters of ministry in the forms of welcome, inclusion, support, encouragement, empowerment, and advocacy for people facing challenges in physical, mental, emotional, relational, or spiritual health; and to support churchwide efforts to strengthen health and wellbeing.”

www.vbinder.net/resolutions/520?house=HD&lang=enIf the commission were approved and funded, it would bring together concerns for both physical and behavioral  health and wellness. For example, there is reference to the program to provide all Episcopal clergy with training in mental health first aid (approved in 2022, and an outline presented at this Convention). Also of interest is the fact that the Assembly of Episcopal Healthcare Chaplains is explicitly mentioned (with other organizations) as a possible partner in this work. This is certainly one to watch. You can find it at www.vbinder.net/resolutions/520?house=HD&lang=en.

Related to this (although in a different legislative committee) are resolutions A074 Completing Mental Health Ministry Curriculum for Clergy; A075 A Directive for Clergy Mental Health Ministry Training; A076 Strengthening of Churchwide Training in Mental Health First Aid; A078 Promote Equity and to Reduce Differences in Mental Health Outcomes; and A079 Mental Health Sunday. You can connect to all of those resolutions at  https:www.vbinder.net/resolutions?committee_id=604&house=HD&lang=en.

I’m sure between now and the beginning of Convention I will find some more, but those are enough to start with.