Blogging the Resolutions - Churchwide Response to Bullying

I'm writing about each of the resolutions to the 175th Convention of Diocese of Indianapolis. My scoring criteria are here. Opinions are my own and may not reflect the Episcopal Church of All Saints, its parishioners, clergy, or delegation.

Let's get started! First up, "Churchwide Response to Bullying".

The resolution aims to establish partnerships between churches, schools, youth and others. Execution is delegated to a diocesan task force on bullying with a 3-year term, which in turn will delegate real action to the deaneries, which in turn will have to rely on some action in the parishes, which is exactly where an effective response to bullying at the local level will come from.

I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand it addresses a serious problem, one where I think the church can provide effective witness and relief. It does not just condemn bullying but puts confronting it squarely in the hands of the church.

I am mainly concerned about implementation. It will be fairly easy for the task force to provide some ideas and resources to the deaneries and declare victory. After all, the charge to the task force is "to help raise awareness of and facilitate conversation about the problem of bullying and encourage and assist in the development of...partnerships and programs within each deanery". The only non-squishy verb in there is "assist".

The resolution mitigates this risk of total failure by requiring the task force to report its progress to the diocesan convention for each of the next three years. On the other hand, the unfinished business report to the last few diocesan conventions is littered with good intentions (seriously, it ought to be mandatory for these reports to be published online). The success of this resolution will be based on there being some bottom-up passion to see it succeed.

So, the score:

1. Is the resolution likely to pass unanimously? Yes. Nobody wants to be for bullying in public, and the resolution makes it pretty easy for this to be something delegates perceive as someone else's responsibility. -1
2. Does the resolution call for someone in the church to do something concrete? Yes. +1
3. Might the resolution call for the person who proposed it to do something concrete? Yes. +1
4. Does the resolution contain an escape hatch? This one's a push for me. Effectiveness in diminishing bullying is not actually required for the diocese to do what the resolution calls for. That said, there's no allowance for the diocese to just ignore it. 0
5. If the resolution calls for an allocation from the diocesan budget, is it clear how the funding would happen? Yes. This resolution does call for some allocation for funding, but actual funding requirements should be minimal. +1

That gives this resolution a score of 2 out of a possible 6 points. As a reminder, a delegate can vote for any resolution with a positive score with a clear conscience, but the higher the score, the better.

Next up - Condemning Threats Against Sexual Minorities!