SAN JOAQUIN: diocesan convention approves creation of equality commission
Episcopal News Service, Hanford, California. October 27, 2008 [102708-03]
Pat McCaughan
Delegates to the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin's Oct. 24-26 annual convention meeting in Hanford overwhelmingly approved creation of a new "equality commission" and an agricultural outreach ministry to the Navajoland Area Missionary Diocese.
The commission is to include at least nine lay and clergy members to support, engage and affirm marginalized communities within the diocese. Echoing the baptismal promise to "respect the dignity of every human being" the resolution identified the marginalized as "gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender persons; women; various ethnic communities; the disabled and those adversely affected by socioeconomic circumstance in the life and worship of the Church, as the Diocese works toward justice, reconciliation and peace."
Commission members would also partner with congregations and other dioceses, provinces and organizations, identify resources and meet the pastoral needs of the marginalized, according to Cindy Smith, president of the diocesan standing committee.
"We look at it as creating a structure that encourages the gathering of information, dialogue and gives a means for making recommendations for us to move forward," said Smith, a parishioner at Grace Church, Bakersfield.
She said the idea for the commission grew out of "the feeling that there has been marginalization of those groups here in years past. The dialogue actually began at convention and we are feeling very encouraged," she added.
Convention delegates also approved a resolution to offer financial and agricultural expertise to St. Christopher's church farm in Bluff, Utah, in the Diocese of Navajoland.
St. Christopher’s has 30 acres of arable land but lacks an adequate water source for farming, the resolution noted. "Our diocese is rich with farming and irrigation experience and could be of great help in assisting this parish" and the local Navajo population, and "encouraging youth and adult groups to visit," according to the resolution.
Dubbed as an "Episkofest," the gathering was planned as a time for fun and "for us just to get to know each other," said Nancy Key, diocesan communications officer. "It was exciting," she said of the meeting, which also included at least 33 ministry workshops and was held at the Church of the Saviour in Hanford.
About 250 Episcopalians attended Episkofest, the first diocesan annual meeting since the March 29, 2008 special convention that elected the Rt. Rev. Jerry Lamb as Bishop of San Joaquin.
Lamb, preaching at the 10 a.m. Sunday morning Eucharist, compared reconstituting the diocese to "refloating the boat." The Central California Valley diocese, with 19 congregations and faith communities, remains loyal to The Episcopal Church (TEC).
Meanwhile, another set of convention delegates—those who in December 2007 approved former Bishop John-David Schofield’s attempt to realign the diocese with the Argentina-based Anglican Province of the Southern Cone—attended their own convention Oct. 24 and 25, about 38 miles to the north at St. James Cathedral in Fresno.
Litigation is still pending to determine rightful ownership of the cathedral and other diocesan properties and assets. Delegates from about 37 congregations attended the convention, referred to as the 49th annual convention on the diocesan website, which "promised to model a whole new approach to our being together as God’s people."
Schofield was deposed by the Presiding Bishop in March with the consent of the House of Bishops, but he has refused to relinquish diocesan property and assets. Those assets are now frozen, pending the outcome of litigation.
In addition to creation of the new equality commission and mission-mindedness, the continuing diocese of San Joaquin began and ended the weekend with Holy Eucharist and spent much of the time in-between celebrating, said Nancy Key.
Smith recalled Lamb's words as inspiring. "Basically, he said there was a shipwreck but the ship stayed afloat and the crew came together," Smith said. "We're fixing the problems and God’s winds are pushing us forward, moving us ahead. Everybody left feeling enthusiastic and energized, inspired, ready to get back to their parishes."
In other convention business, delegates approved a $600,000 budget and approved resolutions to provide Episcopal Life and Episcopal Life/San Joaquin publications to all members and constituents of the diocese; and to authorize missionary outreach to establish new congregations.
The Executive Council, meeting October 23 in Helena, Montana, renewed its ongoing support of San Joaquin and other dioceses in which the leadership has left or plans to leave the church, and pledged the church to seek reconciliation "without precondition on our part."