Seven weeks after installing its first bishop, the Diocese of Eastern Michigan held its third convention and used the Oct. 25-26 gathering to explore the diocese's place within the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Since its January 1994 inception, the Episcopal Church's newest diocese has been focused primarily on internal structure development, but Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning challenged Eastern Michigan to "look beyond your own backyard" during remarks at the Sept. 7 ordination and consecration of the Rt. Rev. Edwin Leidel.

"New Directions for a New Age" mapped out one possible response, in part by stretching out the eucharistic liturgy over a day and a half and weaving teaching and business sessions between worship. Diocesan planners have designed a "grass roots" approach to decision-making which leaves conventions largely free of contentious business sessions and frees organizers to focus on teaching and community building.

"There are many things to give thanks to God for tonight," Bishop Leidel said during his Friday evening address. "New and marvelous things are coming about. Some historians and theologians are saying that we are on the edge of a new reformation, a time of re-forming, a time of seeing the universe in a new way, and of living in the universe in a new way."

Bishop Leidel said that as bishop he hoped to act as a keel for the diocese.

"A keel is at the center of gravity and offers balance and weight," he said. "That feels somehow appropriate to my role."

Keynote speaker, the Rev. Fred Burnham of Trinity Institute, attempted to explain the theological underpinnings of the new world vision by relating how recent scientific discoveries are influencing our understanding of God. He used the example of how a butterfly flapping its wings in Flint could have unpredictable consequences on the weather in New York. All life, even the most trivial acts, he said, have unpredictable meaning and consequence.

During the business portion of convention, deputies from all 56 congregations in the diocese received a $738,324 budget and adopted two resolutions: one calling for each congregation to support a music appreciation week during Easter season, the other calling on the 1997 General Convention to pass the proposed Concordat of Agreement with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

Steve Waring