Haiti earns attention of diocesan conventions across the Episcopal Church
Episcopal News Service. February 3, 2010 [020310-02]
Mary Frances Schjonberg, Emily Cherry, Lucy Chumbley, and Sharon Sheridan , Diocesan Communicators
Episcopal Church dioceses meeting in convention over the last two weekends remembered Haitians in their prayers, with some pledging long-term recovery support in response to the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated their country.
Other highlights of the eight diocesan gatherings included the investiture of Bishop Shannon Johnston as the 13th bishop of Virginia and the announcement by Washington Bishop John Chane of his intention to retire in 2011.
The dioceses of Southwestern Virginia, Virginia and Washington found themselves affected by a snow and ice storm that slowed or halted activity from northern Texas to Washington, D.C. on Jan.29 and 30.
Following is a partial summary of actions taken in diocesan conventions:
Diocese of Central Florida
During their 41st annual convention Jan. 30 at the Lakeland Center in Lakeland, Florida, delegates affirmed the final text of the Anglican covenant which they said "will both deepen and protect the integrity of our global Anglican Communion and common witness to the apostolic faith."
The convention also resolved to "listen carefully to the continuing discernment of the communion regarding the adoption, meaning, and role of the covenant in our common life, and will actively work to pattern our life together as a diocese on the moral, doctrinal and relational commitments as they have been and continue to be discerned and articulated."
In a related resolution, the convention affirmed the positions and commitments made by Bishop John W. Howe, in signing the Anaheim Statement in response to what the resolution called "the divisive actions of the 76th General Convention of the Episcopal Church." The resolution also reaffirmed "the teaching of the Anglican Communion, including matters of human sexuality, and all that the communion has asked of the Episcopal Church with the goal of re-establishing the bonds of affection broken by the actions, or lack thereof, of the Episcopal Church."
The Anaheim Statement was signed towards the end of the July 2009 meeting of General Convention in Anaheim, California, by a group of Episcopal Church bishops. While not offered as a statement of division, the signers said that they disagreed with convention actions surrounding human sexuality.
The convention also said that if the consecration of Mary Glasspool as bishop suffragan of the Diocese of Los Angeles proceeds, "those bishops who participate in that consecration will have walked apart from those of us who remain in the Episcopal Church and remain committed to the faith proclaimed in the scriptures, received by the one holy catholic, and apostolic church, and affirmed by the Anglican Communion of which we remain a part."
Glasspool, a partnered lesbian, was one of two priests elected in December as bishops suffragan for the Los Angeles diocese. As is required with all bishops-elect, a majority of the church's diocesan standing committees and bishops with jurisdiction must consent to her ordination and consecration. The 120-day-long consent process ends May 5.
The convention also disagreed with General Convention Resolution C056 that calls for the collection and development of theological resources for the blessing of same-gender unions and allows bishops to provide "a generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this church."
Howe had told the convention that "signing the covenant" and adopting a strategic plan for the diocese were the gathering's "principal work."
Howe also praised the six viable churches planted in the diocese since 2003, and noted that the 11 congregations within the diocese's boundaries but under the jurisdiction of other Anglican entities "are not our enemies."
"I wish they were part of this diocese, and they are not; but with us they are committed to 'taking Central Florida for Christ,'" he said.
"We are in a very different place than we envisioned 10 years ago, but I think we are in a good place," Howe said. "We are committed to being faithful, orthodox, Anglican, and bearing fruit in the Episcopal Church. I think many of us have some pretty deep disagreements with some of the recent decisions of the Episcopal Church. But, as Bishop Bob Terwilliger put it when someone asked, 'Are you threatening to leave?' he responded, 'No, I'm threatening to stay!' We are not about winning political battles. We are about bearing faithful witness."
The convention also passed a $2.2 million budget.
Complete information about the convention's actions is available here.
Diocese of North Carolina
During its 194th annual gathering Jan. 23 Diocese of North Carolina convention delegates passed a resolution pledging to pray for Haitians and those seeking to help them, to give to relief efforts, "and support the long-term recovery of Haiti, through ministry of presence, service, and engagement with the people and the church."
Episcopal Relief & Development President Robert Radtke was the convention's keynote speaker. The Rev. Lauren Stanley, one of the Episcopal Church's four missionaries assigned to Haiti, spoke to the convention via videotape.
Among the other 16 resolutions passed, convention delegates pledged their support of universal health care; gave seat and voice to members of its campus ministries; agreed to limit use of bottled water at church functions and to study how diocesan institutions can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions; and to support a "just approach" to admission of North Carolina's high school graduates into the state's community college system.
Youth, clergy, delegates, and guests of the convention also took time during the gathering to package 100,500 meals for Stop Hunger Now. The Raleigh, North Carolina-based organization helps groups package meals of rice, soy protein, dehydrated vegetables and a chicken-flavored vitamin mix for distribution in crisis situations and in school feeding programs for schools and orphanages in developing countries around the world, according to its website. The convention's goal was to pack 100,000 meal packets to echo the gathering's theme "100,000 Ways to Say Welcome." A video of the initiative is available here.
Diocese of Newark
The 136th annual gathering Jan. 29-30 highlighted the diocese's new mission statement and related initiatives and ministries while struggling with current economic realities and funding priorities in passing a balanced $2.5 million budget.
For the first time in more than two decades the convention met in its see city.
The convention also heard a report from Radtke about the church's response to the earthquake in Haiti, welcomed a new parish formed through the unification of two smaller congregations, and honored Marge Christie for her many years of involvement and advocacy in the diocese and wider church.
Bishop George Councell from the neighboring Diocese of New Jersey preached at the opening Eucharist on the Gospel story of Jesus walking on the water. While "we are two dioceses in decline in the midst of a denomination in decline," he said, "Christ is with us in the water." With their shared heritage, the New Jersey dioceses "have mission in our DNA," he said. "God has great expectations of us, and God is delighted when we attempt great things for the love of Christ."
In his convention address, Newark Bishop Mark Beckwith also used the image of water, urging the diocese to "go deeper."
"We now have a mission statement -- equipping congregations, empowering people, engaging the world, with the hope and justice of Jesus -- which is one result of our taking that deeper journey. … The mission statement is our ministry map, and it sets a direction for us as we maneuver around, or beneath, the increasing number of hydraulics in the culture and in the church."
The diocese announced the launch of a new Alleluia Fund for outreach, with a goal of $1,000 in contributions from each of its 108 congregations during the Easter season that, if reached, would exceed the $72,000 spent on domestic and international outreach in 2009. Some people, however, objected to funding outreach exclusively through the voluntary fund and to excluding outreach as a percentage of the budget. Others raised concerns about the remaining $481,000 the diocese owes on its 2008 pledge to the Episcopal Church, as well as about the transparency of the budget reporting process and the ability to address larger policy questions during the budget process.
Ultimately, the convention approved the budget as well as a resolution calling on the Diocesan Budget Finance Committee to review the budget process, hold a mid-year open hearing on the budget, publish monthly budget reports on the diocesan website and hold a forum in early November as part of the budget process.
The convention also passed resolutions urging congregations to address human trafficking; requesting propers for Memorial Day and Veterans Day; requesting a survey of diocesan congregations and search committees "related to deployment patterns and compensation packages offered to clergy, paying particular attention to differences by gender"; and changing the responsibilities of diocesan trustees while also changing their terms from life to five years.
Diocese of Tennessee
"Our convention takes place at a time of challenge for the church in Tennessee, but also in a spirit of gospel hope and the expectation of new life," Bishop John Bauerschmidt told the 178th annual gathering of Episcopalians in middle Tennessee.
He cited nearly $5.6 million in loans for three church plants for which the diocese is a guarantor and the fact that the diocese has had to tap into its unrestricted assets to meet some of those obligations during the economic downturn. The moves have "raised the possibility that the slow drain on our resources might suddenly become something more than that," he said.
"I think it is fair to say that our assets are heavily leveraged," the bishop said. "We have invested in new ministries that remain vibrant and promising, but we now have little flexibility in our overall financial situation."
The 2010 budget for the diocese reflects needed cuts, but it also "charts a way forward in faith to the future for the Diocese of Tennessee," Bauerschmidt said.
The bishop also outlined the work that he and others have done to deal with what he called a "serious division" at St. Andrew's Church in Smyrna, whose leadership has said it does not want to remain in the Episcopal Church.
He also praised the planned 2010 introduction of the vocational diaconate to the diocese and the work of diocesan environmental and evangelism committees, as well as an ongoing strategic planning effort.
The convention, meeting at St. George's Church in Nashville, passed resolutions calling for churches to celebrate an annual rogation Sunday during Eastertide and to support Episcopal Relief & Development through sales of fair trade coffee; adopting the Charter for Lifelong Christian Formation; unifying two parishes; and encouraging youth participation in Camp Gailor Maxon.
Diocese of Virginia
The 215th annual council, held Jan. 28, began by celebrating Johnston's investiture. He was consecrated as bishop coadjutor in May 2007 and became diocesan bishop in October 2009. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori preached and officiated at the investiture service.
In her sermon, Jefferts Schori challenged members of the Diocese of Virginia to make the banquet table in the diocese a place of welcome for all.
"We're all homeless and hungry until we find our home and sustenance and life in God," she said. "Some of us are more conscious of that homelessness, or restlessness as Augustine calls it, than others. We're all restless, or should be, particularly when we notice the gap between the banquet table and the hungry and homeless around us."
She added, "This diocese has a remarkable opportunity right now to look at that gap in new ways. That's one of the great gifts of a new leader. Shannon's job is to hold up before you the restlessness and homelessness around here, and challenge this whole community to get the word out, to pass out invitations, to pull chairs up to the banquet table. The gap or chasm between the world and the table is supposed to unsettle us."
The council's business meeting was curtailed by the threat of the snow storm. Council attended to the necessary basics, adjourned after the end of the first day (of what was intended to be a Jan. 28-30 gathering), and planned to readjourn Feb. 20 at Virginia Theological Seminary. Those basics included adopting a budget of approximately $4.89 million -- an increase of over $47,000. The remaining resolutions the convention will consider are here.
In his inaugural pastoral address, Johnston looked towards the future of the diocese and outlined new mission and ministry priorities for the next two to three years, including youth and young adult formation; strengthening existing congregations; evangelism and proclamation; multi-cultural and ethnic priorities; and mission beyond the diocese.
These priorities, Johnston said, will support what he has identified as the mission of the diocese: "To worship our Lord Jesus Christ, building up our unity even in diversity, and to serve the world in the power of the gospel as a part of the Holy Catholic Church."
Johnston remarked on his experiences in Virginia's parishes, saying: "From one end of this diocese to another, there is true devotion to Jesus Christ that shows up in lives. Large church or small, there is an extraordinary love for the Episcopal Church that is absolutely palpable. I've seen a commitment to ministry and to one another that is inspiring, and I have been so warmly greeted and richly hosted everywhere I've been. When I get home on late Sunday afternoons I am utterly exhilarated."
He added: "I hope that we continue to build a diocese that looks like the entirety of the Episcopal Church in our Anglican tradition, and Anglicanism in its historic norms is a microcosm of the whole of Christianity -- Protestant and Catholic, liberal and conservative, low church and high-church, traditional and modernist, evangelical and tempered. ... Unquestionably, such comprehensiveness means that we have something unique and invaluable to offer as part of the Body of Christ. Let's do it."
Diocese of Washington
Bishop Chane announced his retirement during his address to the diocese's 115th annual convention at Washington National Cathedral Jan. 29-30.
Also during his address, Chane noted the diocese's evangelism among Spanish-speaking people, but he warned "that unless we can come up with a significant infusion of funds from our congregations or other sources, Diocesan Council will have to make hard decisions about the future configuration of this dynamic ministry."
Chane also acknowledged that using a standard business model, "I guess I would have to say that the Diocese of Washington does not measure up as a very successful institution, and many of our parishes could also say the same." He noted that parochial reports filed by the parishes for the most part show "no real measurable growth in membership within the last 12 years" and stagnant financial growth.
"There has been no strong upward trend in pledged giving to the diocese by our congregations," he said.
Chane said that, while those numerical measurements demand attention, "even the smallest of our congregations, and those that struggle to survive do good work; caring for one another, engaging the community they are a part of and doing their very best to participate in outreach, mission and ministry programs in their local community, the diocese and the Episcopal Church."
The snow storm led to a truncated convention agenda, with the keynote speaker offering a few remarks in place of a full address so time could be devoted to elections and necessary business. The Rev. Thomas Brackett, program officer and church planting specialist at the Episcopal Church Center, will return to the diocese to speak in the near future, Chane said.
Before adjourning, the convention passed a $4 million diocesan budget, a reduction of approximately $400,000 from 2009. Finance Committee Chairman Peter Marks urged parishes, whose pledges to the diocese make up the lion's share of its budget, to "make the diocese a priority in your budget, not a balancing item."
The convention passed a resolution calling for continued support for the people of Darfur and all Sudan, and another reaffirming legislation passed at the 2004 diocesan convention to extend pastoral care to members of the diocese who were unhappy with the decisions made on issues of homosexuality at the 2003 General Convention of the Episcopal Church.
"One of the great gifts of this diocese is its diversity," Chane said. "And one of those gifts is opposing points of view … I hope this convention will continue to be a 'big tent' convention. Reconciliation is at the core of what the gospel is about."
Convention deputies also offered thanksgiving for the ministry of St. James Episcopal Church, Bowie, a congregation which is closing after 114 years of ministry. The Rev. Anne-Marie Jeffery, priest-in-charge, asked members of the diocese to "keep us in your prayers" during the church's final service at 4 p.m. Feb. 21.
More information on the convention is available here.
Neither the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia nor the Diocese of Florida responded to ENS requests for information and no post-convention news has yet been posted on the dioceses' websites.