MISSISSIPPI: Bishop calls diocese to move from change to transformation
Episcopal News Service. February 13, 2008 [021308-03]
Lisa B. Hamilton, Correspondent for Episcopal Life Media in Provinces I and IV
The Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, during its 181st Annual Council January 25-27 at the Natchez Convention Center, heard its bishop Duncan M. Gray III call for the diocese to move from change to transformation two and a half years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region.
"Change is doing something differently. Transformation is becoming something more," Gray said in his sermon during the Council's closing Eucharist. "Change is substitution. Transformation is discovering our truest identity in Christ and being called out of falsehood into what is most true about what God has created in ourselves, in our church and in the larger world."
In his address to Council members, Gray updated the diocese on the progress made by the six Mississippi Gulf Coast churches destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
"Words can never adequately explain the iconic value of the rebuilding and renewing of our churches to the people on the Gulf Coast. They are signs of hope to a devastated community," he said. "They are instruments of transformation both for those within the congregation and to the wider community. The leadership of the clergy and the courage of our people on the coast are an inspiration to us all."
The Annual Council passed resolutions to:
- "remind each Episcopalian to be mindful of the power of corporate affirmations of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and commend each member of the Church to carry the Good News of Jesus Christ's saving Grace to the world outside the door of our churches";
- urge every vestry and mission committee to request that every sermon or homily on April 27, 2008 (the Sunday nearest Earth Day) incorporate specific recommendations to communicants to increase responsible stewardship of God's Creation and that the text of Bishop Gray's 2008 letter be either read out loud or printed in full in the church bulletin;
- affirm Gray's request for parishes and missions to renew their commitment to building anew the Mississippi Gulf Coast;
- affirm Gray's call in his address to Council for "a renewed commitment to transformative and life-changing mission as 'We seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourselves' (BCP, p. 305) and that we actively work to discern how the Holy Spirit is calling us to meet the needs in our communities and to be beacons of hope in the world."
A strategic report from the Task Force for Programmatic and Administrative Structures recommended a new structure for the diocese that is mission driven. The report concluded with a unanimous recommendation by the task force, calling for the creation of a new diocesan position with the title Canon for Mission -- a position that was not funded.
The initial budget request for 2008 was $3,006,031. Budget cuts, including support for a Canon of Mission, brought the 2008 budget to $2,622,674. The projected deficit was originally $486,072 and decreased to a projected deficit of $14,701 by increasing income from trust funds and maintaining most budget requests at their 2007 level.
The Diocese of Mississippi comprises about 20,750 Episcopalians worshipping in 85 congregations.