About what The Episcopal Church is: and why communications "branding" is a dangerous farce

The Constitution and Canons are clear:

 

From the Preface:

 

The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America,otherwise known as The Episcopal Church (which name is hereby recognized as also designating the Church), is a constituent member of the Anglican Communion, a Fellowship within the One, Holy,Catholic, and Apostolic Church, of those duly constituted Dioceses, Provinces, and regional Churches in communion with the See of Canterbury, upholding and propagating the historic Faith and Order as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer. This Constitution, adopted in General Convention in Philadelphia in October, 1789, as amended in subsequent General Conventions, sets forth the basic Articles for the government of this Church, and of its overseas missionary jurisdictions."

 

 

Now someone at the Church Center seems to believe we ought to be called a Missionary Society.

 

From the following page: 

 

"The Church, especially the Episcopal Church, is a missionary society for the welfare of the world.  That is true for Episcopalians corporately (our official corporate name is the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society), but more importantly, it is true spiritually.  

 

The Missionary Society is a strategy for achieving our common purpose, building partnerships throughout the Church to engage God’s mission to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.

 

The Missionary Society seeks partnerships for mission—dioceses, congregations, and networks.  It brings resources from the churchwide level—funding, expertise, and human—to leverage for mission with local partners.  We are all about mission.  And partnerships allow us to do more mission together."

 

The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society is indeed a corporation, and it relates to The Episcopal Church in the following way. (Title I, Canon 3)

 

CANON 3: Of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society
The Constitution of the said Society, which was incorporated by an act of the Legislature of the State of New York, as from time to time amended, is hereby amended and established so as to read as follows: Constitution of The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America as established in 1821, and since amended at various times.
 

ARTICLE I This organization shall be called The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and shall be considered as comprehending all persons who are members of the Church."

 

Now just so folks who post the web pages for the Church know.  The DFMS is an organization of all the people in The Episcopal Church. But The Episcopal Church is not a Missionary Society.  It is a Church. The members of this church belong to a missionary society made up of all its members. But The Episcopal Church consists of all those dioceses in union with the General Convention. And just for fun, the canons are clear: the  Constitution of the DFMS can be amended and changed (and even revoked) by the General Convention of The Episcopal Church.

 

The page in question then may want us to be a Missionary Society, and it may say that "That is true for Episcopalians corporately (our official corporate name is the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society), but more importantly, it is true spiritually. " But saying doesn't make it so.  The Episcopal Church is not the DFMS. Period.  We are not the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society.  We are dioceses in union with the General Convention. And spiritually we are just fine, after all we invented the particular missionary society we have. But we are not that missionary society, we are a Church.

General Convention Deputies and Bishops might want to take a careful look at this page (and perhaps others.)  The trouble is, if they stand just as they are, after a while it appears that it is true, that The Episcopal Church corporately is the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society.  That is hokum. For particular purposes of mission TEC has a DFMS.

All of this comes to light in an interesting article by The Rev. Torey Lightcap  picked up by Episcopal Cafe. 

 

Lightcap suggests that there is a "branding" going on, and a renaming of TEC as "The Missionary Society."

 

The Episcopal Church is NOT the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, much less the "branding" name, "The Missionary Society."   The Episcopal Church HAS a Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society.

 

Its the sort of thing we ought to remember in sorting out just how we are to move beyond the corporate model.  The revisioning process, which seems to be going quite well, needs to remember that the corporation called the DFMS is a child of The Episcopal Church, and it can be altered and / or dumped at any time at the General Convention's pleasure.

 

But General Convention in turn needs to take care. When Executive Council (also the board of directors of the DFMS) goes against its wishes, it is time to consider altering the constitution of the DFMS to make it clearer that General Convention is the corporate (but not incorporated) body that rules. 

 

Beware the branding that changes who we are without a blink of an eye. Corporate executives may not mind, but we should.