Pageantry and patience characterized the 125th annual convention of the Diocese of Western Michigan, held in Grand Rapids, Oct. 8-9. The pageantry came from the many special guests, bishops and ecumenical leaders, who shared the festive Evensong and Eucharists with the clergy and lay delegates.

Among them were several bishops who grew up in Western Michigan or who had served as priests in the diocese. Ecumenical guests included the Roman Catholic bishops of Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo, and the Rev. Gary Hanson, Bishop of the Lutheran Synod in Western Michigan. The Rev. Canon John L. Peterson, secretary general of the Anglican Consultative Council and priest of the diocese, took delegates and guests on a verbal tour of various parts of the Anglican Communion, exploring with them the great diversity in language, race, culture and economic status. He showed a paper cross made by children who lived in a rubbish dump in Brazil, and urged the diocese to remain a strong partner with the whole Communion. "I hope you will continue to take seriously our commitment to be one with our brothers and sisters in Christ around the globe," he stressed.

Another strong voice came from Pamela Chinnis, president of the House of Deputies of the General Convention, who was the banquet speaker. She related the diocese to the Episcopal Church, and spoke about next year's General Convention. "Whether we look backwards, or peer into the future, it is evident that conflict and its eventual resolution are a normal part of the life of the church," she noted. "It's true throughout Christian history. It is true of the Episcopal Church, USA. I'm sure it's true of the Diocese of Western Michigan."

In his address to the convention, the Rt. Rev. Edward L. Lee, Jr., Bishop of Western Michigan, who had earlier alerted the diocese that he would retire in June 2002, outlined his goals for the remaining years and called for the election of a bishop coadjutor who would eventually succeed him.

In other business, delegates adopted a $715,700 diocesan budget and a few minor canonical changes. They also listened patiently to one another as the discussion turned to convention resolutions calling for increased gun control, for reduced military spending, for participation in the Jubilee year, and for a moratorium on the ordination of persons intending to live in a sexual relationship outside of Christian marriage. The gun control resolution and the Jubilee participation passed. The others did not.

(The Rev.) Joseph Neiman