CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA: House of Deputies president speaks to wardens, vestry members
Episcopal News Service. April 2, 2007 [040207-05]
Mary Frances Schjonberg
House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson was the keynote speaker March 31 at a conference for wardens and vestry members at Trinity Episcopal Church in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
"Visions, Gifts, and Issues for the Church" was sponsored by the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania. Focused on the ministry of the laity, Anderson told those present that "all orders of ministry are called to God's work of reconciliation in the world and we need to get busy."
"I have too often seen brilliant lay people check their brains at the door when they attend a vestry meeting," she said. "As lay people we are called by God to be all that we can be and to act with faith, creativity and perseverance to that end. We make promises in the Baptismal Covenant. Our lives are measured by the promises we keep."
The idea for the conference, attended by more than 100 wardens and vestry officers from 46 of the 71 parishes in the diocese, came from diocesan Bishop Nathan Baxter, who emphasized the importance of lay ministry in his invitation to the conference.
"Many of the clergy were interested in attending the conference, but I wanted to devote this time to our lay leaders so that I might hear their thoughts directly in a peer context and allow them to have direct interaction with a key leader of the Episcopal Church," he said.
An open-mike forum for questions and answers to Anderson and Baxter followed Anderson's address.
"It was wonderful to hear persons express concern about the issues within the Church and the Anglican Communion and express equal commitment to being an inclusive church," Baxter said of the session. "Some of them feel that the issues in the Anglican Communion are not only about sexual orientation, but about gender as well. My encouragement is to affirm and advance the many ministries of our congregations while continuing to find our way forward in the mission of [inclusiveness]. No one, regardless of their opinion will be outside the love and attention of this bishop."
Baxter said that people he encounters -- both Episcopalians and those outside the Episcopal Church -- are impressed that the church deals with issues of inclusiveness.
"If we can deal with controversy with clarity and respect we will have shown the rest of the Communion and the world a model of Christian Community," he said.
The conference also included workshops aimed at conversations about parish and individual mission and ministry, and was followed by a plenary session and Eucharist.