SAN DIEGO: Convention 'empowered for ministry'; diocese called to build bridges
Episcopal News Service, Palm Desert, California. February 11, 2008 [021108-09]
Pat McCaughan, Correspondent for Episcopal Life Media in Province VIII
The 34th annual convention meeting of the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego February 8-9 at St. Margaret's Church and School in Palm Desert focused on renewed commitments to discipleship, mission, social justice, youth ministry, and fire recovery, and expressed support for inter-Anglican efforts to stop the violence in politically-troubled Kenya.
"My prayer is that this will be a bridge-building diocese," Bishop James Mathes said in his address to clergy and lay delegates. "Let us be a diocese that teaches the broader church…when we do excellent ministry, when we make the main thing the main thing," he said, affirming the centrality of mission in diocesan life.
"I see progress, a change in the way we talk to each other," Mathes said, affirming the quality of current dialogue in the diocese, which he called "a wonderfully eclectic array of 49 congregations…We have the capacity to help each other become great congregations."
During his address, Mathes also commended the diocesan youth council and a growing Episcopal campus ministry, ongoing ecumenical fire recovery efforts, outreach through agencies such as Episcopal Community Services and others, and the efforts of diocesan council to implement a strategic plan adopted by the convention in 2007.
Providing congregations with financial and educational resources and coaching is a priority for building strong and vibrant communities of faith, and for moving from "maintenance to mission," he said. "I believe in five years each congregation will be stronger and more vital."
"This giving is an elemental part of our faithfulness," Mathes added. He also announced creation of a $2.25 million campaign to raise money for direct grants to reinvigorate congregations, about $600,000 of which has already been raised, he added. He called for creation of both a diocesan endowment fund and of a task force to examine long-term capital costs for new congregation start-ups.
"None of us got here on our own," Mathes said. "We're not complete without the other, the stranger, the one with whom we disagree, the one who unsettles us. Let us be a diocese that teaches the broader church that when we focus on Jesus Christ, the Gospel and mission…God will richly bless us."
Mathes delivered his Saturday-afternoon address in the nave of St. Margaret's Church, site of the widely reported 2007 funeral service for the late President Gerald R. Ford, a parishioner.
A day earlier, Bishop Michael Curry of North Carolina also charged the group to focus on discipleship and mission. "Diocese of San Diego, fear not the gathering storms. Claim the high calling…redeem the time," he said, quoting a familiar hymn text. "Go out into the world make that love known by feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, lifting up truth in the public squares," Curry said during an evening keynote address.
"We are not incidental, accidental, coincidental; we are here because we have a purpose," Curry said. "The truth is the more we authentically follow him the more we truly become ourselves. Just be who God made you to be, diocese, and you'll change the world."
Rebuilding, recovery, mission: Camp Stevens Sunday
By coordinating efforts with the United Methodist Church through "Recover San Diego," the church is helping restore the community after last fall's devastating wildfires. "We are able to be present to a community that is hurting," Mathes told the gathering.
The Rev. Leland Jones, vicar of St. Mary's Church in Ramona, lost his home in the fires, which destroyed at least 500 homes and thousands of acres of land in San Diego County. "After 35 years of ministry, I'm retiring tomorrow, and Tuesday I'll be going to work for Recover San Diego," said Jones, on February 9.
Camp Stevens was also affected by the fires but will host a full summer session, Canon Peter Bergstrom, director of the camp, located in Julian, told the gathering.
"We lost 15 buildings at Camp Stevens and about 80 acres of forest were damaged," Bergstrom said. But, he added, "within a few weeks the board and staff came together and saw it as a great opportunity to rebuild those lost structures in a way that's much better -- more comfortable, more effective, more energy-efficient, more fire-resistant -- than the ones there before."
After insurance reimbursements of about $1.2 million and diocesan and other grants, $450,000 is still needed to complete the work, he said. Fundraising, through coordinated efforts in both the dioceses of San Diego and Los Angeles, will include a "Camp Stevens Sunday" designated for April 20.
"We will put brochures in bulletins for Sunday and make announcements and encourage congregations in vital rebuilding so Camp Stevens can continue to serve children and families for many years to come," he said.
We expect to see "a whole new revitalized Camp Stevens in a couple of years," he added.
Also addressing the gathering was Lesslie Keller, executive director of Episcopal Community Services of San Diego, which has assisted the homeless, domestic violence, children's care and education, mental illness, unemployment and substance abuse in San Diego and Riverside counties for more than 80 years.
Companion diocese, MDGs and other convention business
Delegates approved a series of resolutions: formalizing a companion relationship with the Diocese of El Salvador; affirming global reconciliation and the United Nations millennium development goals; to form a committee to research the legality of youth voting as convention delegates; and naming as an institution of the diocese, St. Luke's Refugee Network, which began in 1995 as a resettlement program for Sudanese refugees.
Another resolution approved the creation of a theologically diverse task force of clergy and laity to engage a listening process and "to study Holiness in Relationships and Blessings" in San Diego churches from the perspectives of holy scripture, church history and tradition; practical, pastoral and sacramental theology and the movement of the Holy Spirit. It also provided for preparation an academic paper to be presented to the 2009 diocesan convention.
"We're not predicting an outcome," said the Very Rev. Scott Richardson, dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in San Diego, about the work envisioned in the resolution. "We just want to get together and talk this through and create a structure for this" conversation, he said. The resolution offers a time to consider the question of God's intention regarding the expression of holiness in human relationships…"around the whole human family as we express love and relationship."
Delegates also approved a resolution expressing deep concern and ongoing support to Bishop Simon Oketch and the people of the Kenyan Diocese of Maseno, amid violence and political unrest after December's disputed elections. The resolution noted that the diocese has, for several years, "sponsored along with San Diego's All Souls' Episcopal Church, the medical, education, relief and economic development ministries of Nancy and Gerry Hardison" in the Diocese of Maseno.
A resolution was also passed asking the General Convention to end affiliation of The Episcopal Church (TEC) with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice and from any participation in or support of the RCRC, a coalition of national faith-based groups founded in 1973 who support reproductive choice and religious freedom.
"The Episcopal Church as a whole has never had the opportunity to vote on this affiliation," according to the resolution's author, Greg Gleason, senior warden at St. Michael's by-the-Sea Church, Carlsbad, in convention documents. Gleason cited "published statements by the RCRC which contradict the Book of Common Prayer" and the fact that General Convention 2006 never voted on the affiliation as reasons for the resolution.
The convention featured, for the first time, such vendors as: African Team Ministries; Colores del Pueblo, a fair-trade Latin American textiles cooperative; Dream Corners for Ecuador and others.
Also offered were: hearings on proposed canonical changes, the diocesan budget, and workshops on Christian formation, empowerment, evangelism and stewardship. Other workshops focused on healthcare, property and liability insurance, and media training and communication planning strategies for congregations.
Elected as clergy deputies to General Convention 2009 in Anaheim were Canon Allisyn Thomas (St. Paul's Cathedral, San Diego); M. Andrew Green (rector, St. Paul in the Desert, Palm Springs); Paul Carmona (associate rector, St. Mark's, San Diego); and Michael Russell (rector, All Souls', San Diego), with Canon Stephen Wenfeldt (St. Paul's Cathedral, San Diego) and George Calvert (rector, Church of the Good Shepherd, Bonita) elected as alternate deputies.
Lay deputies to General Convention elected were: Pauline Getz (St. Bartholomew's, Poway); Suzanne Foucault (St. Peter's, Del Mar); Carroll Levien (St. Dunstan's, San Diego); and Jim Greer (St. Paul's Cathedral, San Diego).
In other convention business, delegates: approved a $2.7 million annual budget; affirmed the United Nations millennium development goals and ministry of global reconciliation; elected representatives to various diocesan commissions and approved the location of the 35th annual meeting of the diocese, set for February 6-7, 2009, at Good Samaritan Church in San Diego.