The dioceses of Eau Claire, Fond du Lac and Milwaukee celebrated the sesquicentennial of the original Diocese of Wisconsin by gathering May 1-2 in convention in Wisconsin Dells. Delegates were welcomed by Bishops William Wantland of Eau Claire, Russell Jacobus of Fond du Lac and Roger White of Milwaukee.

Keynote speaker was the Rev. Richard Kew, coordinator of the Russian Ministry Network and director of ministry for the Anglican Fellowship of Prayer. He is the author or co-author of several books on evangelism and the future of the church.

Fr. Kew spoke on "Sharing the Living Gospel," and took St. Paul as his model, beginning with his statement in Romans 1:16: "I am not ashamed of the gospel." We should learn, he said, to "gossip the gospel," as Paul and Stephen did in their travels. He presented the elements of Paul's background that had turned him from an effective pharisaic lawyer into a dynamic evangelist, including "He knew how to translate his message" from Jew to Gentile; "He had a target for which he aimed" - the Gentiles, "a nice big target, 200 million at that time; and "He drenched his ministry in prayer."

Fr. Kew talked of African and Asian dioceses experiencing phenomenal growth even during persecution, as by the Muslim government of Sudan. He encouraged those present to take back to their churches new strategies for reaching people in the surrounding communities.

Fr. Kew emphasized prayer. "Churches that share the good news are praying churches" was a leading tenet, followed by "Churches that share the good news are listening churches." What we tend to do, he said, is "decide what we're going to do and then ask God to bless it."

Patricia Nakamura