Thomas Stone appointed canon to the ordinary for Diocese of Quincy
Episcopal News Service. May 25, 2010 [052510-02]
Pat McCaughan
Provisional Bishop John Clark Buchanan of the Peoria, Illinois-based Diocese of Quincy has appointed the Rev. Thomas Stone to serve as canon to the ordinary for the reorganizing diocese.
"In the Episcopal Church, the Canon to the Ordinary functions in support of the Bishop in his ministry of oversight in the diocese and the wider church," Buchanan said when announcing the May 10 appointment. "The Canon is much like a chief of staff."
Stone will assist with administrative tasks on a diocesan, provincial, and national level, and with parish visitations, congregational support and clergy placement, said he is looking forward to the challenges and opportunities of the new ministry.
"The Canon to the Ordinary serves at the invitation and pleasure of the bishop for the benefit of the people of the diocese," said Stone in a prepared statement. " I hope to serve both well." Stone will be based at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Peoria.
Buchanan said that Stone's appointment is another indication of the diocese's steady progress.
He noted that about 123 people have signed up to participate in "Strength for the Journey," a June 11-12 CREDO conference to be held in the rebuilding diocese.
"We're excited about that and pleased with the number of people who want to be a part of that," he said in a telephone interview from his Charleston, South Carolina, home. "The conference has primarily to do with Episcopal identity," he added.
In Nov. 2008, a majority of the diocesan synod voted to leave The Episcopal Church and to realign with the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone, forming the Southern Cone Diocese of Quincy.
Buchanan said that about 20 clergy remain canonically resident in the diocese since the split. "We're using the wonderful clergy that we have to great advantage," he said, referring not only to Stone, who in addition to serving as canon to the ordinary will also continue to engage two congregations.
He said the diocese has nine worshipping congregations, including two that are "refugee congregations … that is, an Episcopal worshipping group not able to use their facilities." One of those congregations, St. George's Church in Macomb, Illinois has been meeting in an Evangelical Lutheran Church in America facility.
"I just licensed the Lutheran pastor to do Holy Communion for them on a temporary basis," he added.
"The people who have stayed with us are excited about being a part of the Episcopal Church and that includes people on both ends of the theological spectrum," he said.
"The mood is positive here; we're moving ahead and are pleased with the progress. We're a very small group of people but the enthusiasm for the Episcopal Church and its mission is exemplary," he added.
Buchanan, who serves part-time in Quincy, said that priorities remain much the same as those outlined in his Oct. 17 address to the 132nd annual diocesan synod last year: to recover property and assets and to continue to build and strengthen the diocese and plan carefully for the future.
At that gathering, Buchanan praised remaining Episcopalians for their "great love for the Lord and his church. I see it in your willingness to take part in the life of the church, driving long distances to attend diocesan meetings like this one and others like diocesan council and standing committee," he said. "I see your great love for the Lord and his Church in your faithfulness in meeting the Lord at his table in your parishes week by week. I see it in your continued ministry to the world, reaching out to those in need and pain."
He also noted that membership in the diocese, established in 1877, had dwindled considerably prior to the Nov. 2008 break, dropping from 3,400 to 1,800 in the previous 15 years. Quincy is among 109 dioceses in 16 nations that make up the Episcopal Church and is a constituent member of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
He echoed his earlier comments in which he told the gathering that: "We have important work to do. It will take time. It will take some energy. It will take all of us working together to get it done. It will be my responsibility to join you in this great cause.
"It will be your responsibility to join me and the other lay and ordained leadership of this diocese in being the Church that God calls us to be. Christ will come again, and when he comes I hope that he finds us busy at the task of being his people in this world he created."