Diocesan Digest: December 9,2005
Episcopal News Service. December 9, 2005 [120905-2-A]
LOS ANGELES: Hurricane response, clemency and IRS inquiry focus Convention
MARYLAND: Bishops tell governor they oppose death penalty
NEW YORK: Convention acts in Christ's service
SOUTH DAKOTA: Priest donates kidney to her bishop
UTAH: Cathedral, diocesan center projects begin
LOS ANGELES: Hurricane response, clemency and IRS inquiry focus Convention
[SOURCE: Diocese of Los Angeles] Delegates attending the 110th annual meeting of the Diocese of Los Angeles, held December 3-4, loaded an 18-wheeler truck full of practical items for hurricane relief, adopted resolutions urging clemency for a convicted murderer, and supported All Saints Church in its clash with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) over an anti-war sermon preached at the Pasadena congregation.
Bishop J. Jon Bruno welcomed Bishop Duncan Gray of Mississippi and Bishop Coadjutor Suheil Dawani of Jerusalem. Gray, along with officials of Episcopal Relief and Development, thanked the Los Angeles diocese for its outpouring of assistance: about $1.3 million this year-for both tsunami and hurricane relief, second only to Virginia in national charitable contributions.
"There is redemption in the midst of great tragedy," Gray declared. "God is worshipped. The Good News is preached. Resurrection is proclaimed and the church still stands. Eight clergy lost their homes, but not one service was missed. In each congregation, one-third to 100 percent of parishioners lost their homes; in Mississippi, Hurricane Katrina was an equal opportunity destroyer. Some are still without power."
The church in Mississippi, once severely divided over issues of human sexuality, "looks different, is different now, has found a common mission in the hurricane's aftermath," he said.
Bruno, reporting that several cardinal parishes are increasing their giving to the diocesan budget, pledged full diocesan commitment to the national and international work of the Episcopal Church. He opened the convention with a challenge to delegates to fill up an 18-wheeler truck with supplies for hurricane relief and to live more fully into the Gospel call "to be people of justice and mercy in the world."
The 18-wheeler was filled and dispatched to the Gulf Coast.
About 30 people also attended an anti-death penalty candlelight vigil staged outside the Riverside Convention Center, where the delegates met, in protest of the planned December 13 execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams. Williams, a founder of the notorious Crips street gang in Los Angeles, was sent to death row in 1981 for two separate robbery murders.
While on death row, Williams wrote 9 highly-acclaimed children's books that educate young people to avoid gangs, crime and incarceration, and worked to end gang violence through his "Peace Protocol" and the Internet Project for Street Peace, an international peer mentoring program. His work has resulted in multiple nominations for the Nobel Peace and Literature prizes. He recently received a presidential award for his volunteer work to help youth.
A telegram from the diocese was sent December 3 to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger urging clemency. The diocese's 147 congregations were also asked to petition the governor for clemency.
Bob Long, senior warden at All Saints, thanked convention delegates for their support. The IRS warned that the congregation might lose its tax-exempt status after former rector, the Rev. Canon George Regas, preached an antiwar sermon there two days before the November 2004 presidential election.
"This struggle is on behalf of all of us," Long said. "It speaks firmly to the Gospel message of love and compassion, peace and justice. We need to be sure that the government, the IRS, does not dictate to us how to do that."
MARYLAND: Bishops tell governor they oppose death penalty
[SOURCE: Diocese of Maryland] Bishop Robert W. Ihloff and Bishop Suffragan John L. Rabb, both of Maryland, sent a letter to the state's governor on December 5 reaffirming their opposition to capital punishment.
The letter said that the Episcopal Church opposes the death penalty because it is in direct conflict with the baptismal covenant's call "to serve Christ in all persons, to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every human being."
The bishops recounted how the church's opposition to capital punishment was first declared in a 1958 General Convention resolution, and reaffirmed in 1969, 1979, 1991 and 2000.
"The original text of that first General Convention resolution still holds true today: 'The [Episcopal] Church believes that each individual is sacred, as a child of God, and that to legalize killing of an offender is to deny the basic Christian doctrines of forgiveness of sin and the power of redemption, and that mercy is a Christian duty,'" the letter said.
"It is not just at times of a pending execution that we must stand up and voice our opposition to the death penalty, but to continually work to abolish this form of punishment," the bishops said. "An open dialogue must be maintained as we work for the good of humankind in God's grace."
The statement ended with a recommendation to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. that he commute the death sentence of Wesley Eugene Baker to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Baker was due to be executed the week of December 5. Baker, a black man, was convicted of the 1992 murder of Jane Frances Tyson, a white woman.Tyson was shot during a parking lot robbery yielding $10.
NEW YORK: Convention acts in Christ's service
[SOURCE: Diocese of New York] Highlighting the theme Parishes in Christ's Service, the 229th Convention of the Diocese of New York on November 19 saw the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine transformed into a massive meeting place, with nearly one thousand clergy, lay delegates, alternates, visitors, vendors, staff and interested others attending the event.
Illustrations and examples of what it means to be parishes in Christ's service abounded in addresses, reports and presentations as well as in a multi-media video featuring churches throughout the diocese.
During his speech to the convention, Bishop Mark Sisk said that what holds the Anglican Communion together "is so much greater than that which divides us. We really have no choice but to get on with the mission that God has given us."
He said that division brings with it temptation. "We face not only the danger of the struggle over division, but we face a much greater danger: the enormous temptation to lose respect for those with whom we disagree," he said. "To do that is to violate our baptismal promise to respect the dignity of every human being."
Among the resolutions the convention approved were ones that
- urge individuals and congregations to broaden their response to hunger; - promote a culture of non-violence and commended to congregations the creative peacemaking program of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship; - establish a reparations committee to study of the history of slavery in the Episcopal Church and report back at next year's convention; and - create a parish-to-parish partnership with the Diocese of Central Tanganyika in Tanzania which encourages congregations to create mutual relationships of prayer, communication, and support, including financial support of $50 per year per child for providing school-uniforms, shoes, books/pencils, and breakfast to help AIDS orphans.
After a lengthy discussion which included the proposal and defeat of various amendments, the convention tabled a resolution concerning genocide in northern Uganda, in which the diocese was to call upon the Secretary General of the United Nations to implement the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948, with respect to the crimes being committed against the Acholi people.
SOUTH DAKOTA: Priest donates kidney to her bishop
[SOURCE: Diocese of South Dakota] South Dakota Bishop Creighton Robertson received a kidney transplant December 2 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The Rev. Mercy Hobbs from Vermillion, South Dakota, donated one of her kidneys to the bishop.
Robertson was released from the hospital on December 6. He will remain in Rochester for an undetermined number of weeks so that doctors can monitor how well his body is accepting the kidney.
"I continue to give thanks for the wonderful gift of life I have been given," Robertson wrote in his journal on the CaringBridge website."I know that there is a God who cares for us and takes care of us every day of our life. I think I will appreciate that much more now, having been blessed in a special way by someone very special."
UTAH: Cathedral, diocesan center projects begin
[SOURCE: Diocese of Utah] Demolition of Spalding Hall at St. Mark's Cathedral in Salt Lake City began December 7. It is the first step in a process that will eventually create a new cathedral parish hall, offices and classrooms northeast of the historic cathedral.
A new diocesan center is also planned for the property northwest of the cathedral. It will house the diocesan offices as well as a bookstore, coffee bar, resource center, community conference rooms and a hospitality center for overnight guests on retreat or participating in meetings at the center.
Both projects were purposely designed to highlight the Cathedral Church of St. Mark, the first major Protestant church to be built in the Salt Lake Valley. Its cornerstone was laid in 1870 and it is the oldest building in Utah to have continuous religious services. It is also the third oldest Episcopal church in the United States to be built as a cathedral. A small, one-story building just east of the cathedral will be built to house Hildegarde's Pantry, an outreach ministry of St. Mark's to the poor in the downtown area.
Construction on both projects will take about a year. The Episcopal Church in Utah, with 5,000 members, has 21 congregations in the state and one in Northern Arizona, led by Bishop Carolyn Tanner Irish.