The Consultation Platform 2006

We affirm the goodness of all creation.

• We join our voices with God, who, after completing all of Creation said, "It is very good."
• We see the image of God in one another and in all of Creation.
• We are inextricably linked in an interdependent web of Creation.

We have sinned and fallen short of the mark.

• We fail to recognize the image of God and the Christ in others and ourselves.
• We have by our action and inaction perpetuated a culture of greed, domination, and violence.
• We in the Episcopal Church have been complicit in this sin.

We have allowed our governance to be distorted.

• We believe that all the baptized are called to share in the governance and mission of the Church at all levels.
• We see the increase of power claimed by the episcopate as an imbalance in the Body.
• We compromise the church as sign and witness by not sharing our resources.

We reaffirm the promises of our Baptismal Covenant

• to continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers.
• to persevere in resisting evil and, whenever we fall into sin, to repent and return to the Lord.
• to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ.
• to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves.
• to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every human being.

Therefore, we call the Church, gathered at this 2006 General Convention, to:

1. Continue the radical reformation of the Church.

• remove all canonical obstacles to exercising the full baptismal ministry in the whole life of the Church.
• conform the canons to the baptismal theology of The Book of Common Prayer.

2. Invest in economic justice and eliminate poverty.

• support the U.N. Millennium Development Goals fully, including the 0.7% allocation of funds.
• affirm worker justice, including the right to unionize.
• advocate for a living wage and health care for all.
• invest in economic justice to eliminate poverty.
• ask the Church Pension Group to provide equitable retirement policies for women.

3. Make reparation for slavery.

• commission a report to describe the Church's culpability, preserve this chapter of our history, and make recommendations for compensation.
• support public legislation and compensation.
• apologize publicly for the Church's role in this violation of basic human rights.

4. Dismantle racism.

• call upon every diocese to mandate anti-racism training.
• deepen our commitment to inclusive representation on slates for leadership at all levels of the Church.

5. End the culture of violence

• work for the end of violence against women and children throughout the global village.
• work to change federal budget priorities that fuel the culture of violence at the expense health and welfare at home and peace abroad.
• include in Safe Church training orientation to issues of domestic violence and appropriate responses.
• confess the violence inherent in using language for worship that is not inclusive, expansive, and hospitable.

6. Build a culture of peace.

• call for an end to the war in Iraq.
• offer training in creative peacemaking in every diocese.
• inform our young people of the conscientious objector registry at the Episcopal Church Center.
• add peace, justice, and nonviolence studies to the curricula of all Episcopal schools, colleges, and seminaries.
• encourage investment in enterprises that bring peace and prosperity to areas of conflict.

7. Clarify our theology of marriage, family, and human sexuality

• oppose the limitation of adoption and other civil contracts on the basis of sexual orientation or marital status.
• relieve the clergy from their responsibility as civil magistrates in marriage.
• reaffirm that all orders of ministry are open to all the Baptized who are otherwise qualified.

8. Promote environmental justice

• mandate detailed energy audits and conservation measures, including recycling, in all Episcopal Church facilities and programs.
• commit the Episcopal Church to purchasing electric power from renewable sources.
• call for the federal government to fund fully its Environmental Protection Agency Superfund.
• call upon our government to recommit to the Kyoto Protocols.

9. Reflect our mission priorities in Program, Budget, and Finance

• Urge Program, Budget, and Finance to restore the original askings for mission and economic justice programs.

Theses are the current members of the Consultation