Bonnie Anderson named honorary canon at special service in Quito, Ecuador
Episcopal News Service. February 23, 2009 [022309-03]
Pat McCaughan and Mary Frances Schjonberg
Bonnie Anderson, president of the House of Deputies of the Episcopal Church, was named an honorary canon of the Diocese of Ecuador Central's Catedral de El Senor in Quito at a special service on February 21 by Bishop Wilfrido Ramos-Orench.
As guest homilist at the service, she praised the "passion for ministry" evident in the diocese. "The Diocese of Ecuador Central is living into baptismal ministry in important and life-giving ways," Anderson said.
"You have embraced the call to common mission by creatively working with mission partners, you are carefully training and educating the laity for ministry. You are seeking to serve Christ in all persons. I wish I could take your passion for the ministry of the baptized and sprinkle it all around the Episcopal Church. Your passion for ministry is contagious and it is something we all need to catch.
Through a common history as Episcopalians, in many ways "we share the same family ties," she added. "I know you as members of the same family of Christ as we all share in the same body and blood each Sunday, even though we may be miles apart. We are bound together in Christ and for that I give great thanks."
She also praised Ramos' ministry as he prepares to retire and the diocese prepares to welcome a new bishop, to be elected by the House of Bishops at its March 13-18 meeting.
"I think it is a tribute to Bishop Ramos that he honors lay people in his own diocese by empowering their ministry and by his supportive and humble faithfulness," Anderson told the gathering. "It is a great honor to me that I have been asked to be a part of the diocese in this way."
Transformed by ‘the dazzling work of ministry'
Preaching on the feast of the Transfiguration, Anderson likened Jesus' changed appearance with being "brought by God toward change. As the laity of the Church of God, we are called into a ministry that is more compelling, more involved, more active. The laity, we are called by God out of complacent, hum-drum daily lives into the dazzling work of ministry. We, along with bishops, priests and deacons, are the ministers of this church."
Once the laity answers God's call to ministry, she continued, "the whole body of Christ can be transformed through the use of the gifts of everyone together.
She offered a prayer for the church and the Anglican Communion and that the gifts of the laity be used "with purpose and good will for the glory of God," she said. "We pray that our Church may be transformed into a Church where all the voices are heard, where all the gifts are used and where we all minister together in the light that shines on us as the children of God."
Anderson's designation as an honorary canon has a long tradition in Episcopal Church and Anglican understanding. According to tradition, the term "canon" relates to persons attached to the bishop or to the bishop's church, the cathedral. Canons are frequently members of the clergy, but lay leaders in the church also occasionally receive such an honorary designation.
The diocese of Ecuador Central is one of the 110 dioceses that comprise The Episcopal Church. Part of Province IX, it is one of two dioceses located in Ecuador. The diocese of Ecuador Central consists of 28 mission congregations and16 priests, including four women, a retired priest and four missioners.
Anderson has a long history of service to the Episcopal Church, especially as an advocate for the ministry of the laity. Before being elected as president of the House of Deputies in 2006, she served in the Diocese of Michigan in many capacities, including canon to the ordinary, president of the Standing Committee, and member of the Commission on Ministry. In her southeast Michigan community, she designed, coordinated and implemented a citizen-sponsored river cleanup involving 22 local governments and more than 4,000 volunteers. The Governor of Michigan appointed her as a public member of the Michigan Environmental Review Board.
She has also served as adjunct lecturer at the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and the Women's Studies Department. Her published resources include "Spirituality and the Earth; Exploring Connections," "A Citizen's Guidebook to the Great Lakes Ecosystem" and "White Racism: Look Me in the Eye."
A seven-time lay deputy to General Convention, she has served as chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance (PB&F) for three terms.
Elected by Province V as its lay representative to Executive Council, Anderson served on Executive Council's Standing Committee on Administration and Finance and was the elected Executive Council representative to the Investment Committee for TEC. She was a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Planning and Arrangements and chair of the General Convention Task Force charged by the 74th General Convention to prepare a comprehensive model for General Convention, including structure and agenda, to be considered by the 75th General Convention. Anderson was elected vice president of the House of Deputies in 2003 and its president in 2006.
Anderson was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the Episcopal Divinity School and an honorary Doctor of Canon Law degree from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. She has been married to Glen Anderson for 44 years. They have three adult children and three grandchildren.
The president of the House of Deputies is elected every three years to serve throughout the triennium in a non-stipendiary position. The president serves as vice president of the Executive Council and vice president of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society (DFMS). She presides over the House of Deputies at General Convention, appoints clergy and lay members of all the Standing Commissions and Legislative Committees, and performs many functions of liaison, development and opportunity between conventions.