Diocesan conventions address leadership, collaboration, transformation, service
Episcopal News Service. November 18, 2009 [111809-02]
Pat McCaughan and Mary Frances Schjonberg, Mary W. Cox, Kris Lee, Keri Lopez, Paul E. Mottl, Mark Robinson and Gene Willard, Diocesan Communicators
Leadership, engagement, collaboration, transformation, mission and service to others were recurring themes among dioceses holding conventions over the Nov. 13-15 weekend.
Delegates in the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth on Nov. 14 elected the Rt. Rev. C. Wallis Ohl, retired bishop of Northwest Texas, as their next provisional bishop. A day later, they celebrated the ordination of the Rev. Susan Slaughter, the first woman ordained to the priesthood in the 27-year history of the diocese (see related story).
The convention theme in the Diocese of Ohio, "Be the Hands of Christ" became convention business. Officials trimmed a half-day from the agenda and 150 delegates and volunteers from 50 congregations spent that time serving at local agencies assisting the needs of the homeless, the hungry, environmental concerns and rebuilding community.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori described change as hopeful in her Nov. 14 keynote address to the convention of the Diocese of Northern California.
Citing ongoing conversations about changes in health-care reform, environmental conditions, global warming, and the church, she said: "Change is part of life and it can feel like the world is coming to an end. In spite of our fear, we hope and pray for that change because we know that God has a better world in mind -- that dream called the kingdom of God, or the reign of God.
"We can deal with our fear when we remember that death never has the last word, and that resurrection is already erupting in the face of death."
Following is a partial summary of actions taken in diocesan conventions:
Diocese of Long Island. Bishop Orris G. Walker, Jr., the seventh bishop of Long Island, who started retirement following the 143rd gathering of convention, presided at the convention's business sessions. Walker presided at the convention Eucharist, which included the investiture and passing of the bishop's crozier (pastoral staff) to new diocesan Bishop Lawrence C. Provenzano.
A convention dinner-dance banquet celebrated Walker's 21-year ministry in the diocese.
Convention unanimously approved a "Ministry Plan" budget for 2010, developed by Provenzano and the Diocesan Council, emphasizing local mission and congregation development. The overall diocesan budget, which includes about $300,000 for the mission emphasis, is slightly more than last year's budget.
Provenzano called for collaboration "beyond primarily cultural, ethnic or linguistic specific ministries.
"We are one diocese," he said. "There will be no 'equal but separate' here in the Diocese of Long Island."
The bishop announced the creation of a three-year Red Hook, Brooklyn Project, a model community and liturgical ministry as well as residence where the spiritual needs of people can be met.
Provenzano also announced the call for a canon to the ordinary; a full-time deputy for ministry development who will handle deployment matters; a full-time director of communication; and a full-time deputy for youth ministries and plans for outreach to college-age students.
Long Island encompasses approximately 53,000 active baptized members worshipping in 145 congregations.
Diocese of Milwaukee. Outreach was very much on the minds of some 325 delegates from 58 congregations who attended the 162nd annual convention Nov. 13-14, themed "A Family Gathering." Attendees were asked to bring clothing, toiletries and other items to be given to those in need. Delegates also adopted a $1.6 million budget, representing an $817 increase from the previous year.
Convention approved resolutions: designating the first Sunday in Lent as Episcopal Relief and Development Sunday, and supporting state legislation capping the predatory lending rate. For a full list of resolutions, visit the diocesan website.
The Rt. Rev. James Arends of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was guest preacher for convention Eucharist. The diocese represents about 13,000 Episcopalians.
Diocese of New Hampshire. The diocese's 207th annual gathering convened at St. Paul's Church in Concord.
Bishop Gene Robinson spent a good deal of his address speaking about the diocese's budget. "The problem with our diocese's common life budget is not the formula for calculating giving, but rather our congregations' compliance and commitment to that asking," he said, lamenting cuts that had to be made in the 2009 budget and noting that the proposed 2010 budget was smaller still.
Robinson praised the work of a task force that spent the time since the last convention evaluating the diocese's method for setting giving levels.
Participants approved a $1.56 million budget for 2010. The convention passed four other resolutions aside from the budget, including ones to set clergy compensation standards for 2010, to establish an Episcopal Relief and Development Sunday, to affirm the importance of ministry to and with youth and young adults, and to request that the diocesan Commission on Evangelism create a comprehensive toolkit to equip congregations and individuals to engage in culturally appropriate evangelism and mission.
The Diocese of New Hampshire includes close to 14,000 Episcopalians worshipping in 48 congregations.
Diocese of Northern California. A resolution granting young adult members a seat and voice was approved at the 99th annual convention Nov. 13-14 in Redding, California.
Both Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and Diocesan Bishop Barry Beisner discussed change in remarks to the convention. More than 775 people attended the convention, including about 239 delegates who approved 10 resolutions, some with minor edits, according to communications director Keri Lopez.
Their remarks are available online in either audio or text format here.
The final budget, already adopted by the board and Diocesan Council and presented for informational purposes, was $1,842,000, reflecting a nine percent decrease from 2009.
Delegates representing 68 congregations and an additional four ministries approved resolutions including: renewal of a three-year companion relationship with the Diocese of Honduras and the "80-Cent Solution for World Mission" effort to promote grassroots support for missionaries from the Episcopal Church serving around the world.
Convention also passed resolutions affording voice and vote to clergy of other denominations serving in Episcopal churches; canonical changes to the mission apportionment formula, based on a three-tier system and bringing diocesan canons into conformity with Title IV revisions adopted by the 76th General Convention.
For a complete list of the resolutions approved by convention, visit the diocesan website.
The Diocese of Northern California encompasses more than 70 congregations and over 14,000 Episcopalians.
Diocese of Ohio. After engaging community service projects, volunteers gathered for a simple meal of soup and salad, made with home-grown crops and served on biodegradable tableware and dishes, said the Rev. Mark Robinson, canon for mission.
During the Nov. 14 business session, the 193rd annual convention of the Diocese of Ohio, meeting at Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland approved three of four resolutions, adopted a $3,447,554 budget, a decrease from the previous year.
About 400 people attended the convention, including 220 delegates, 96 clergy and seven youth representatives. The diocese encompasses about 95 congregations and more than 18,727 communicants in good standing, according to Kristin Crites, of the diocesan communications staff.
Diocese of Pennsylvania. Nearly 850 clergy and laity gathered Nov. 14 at Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia for the 226th annual convention. In what spokesperson the Rev. Canon Paul E. Mottl called "a spirit of conviviality," all 11 resolutions were passed, including one continuing the companion diocese relationship with the Diocese of Guatemala. Bishop Armando Guerra from Guatemala addressed the convention.
The convention was presided over by Assisting Bishop Rodney R. Michel.
The Diocese of Pennsylvania is composed of 144 congregations and approximately 49,000 members in the counties surrounding Philadelphia.
Diocese of Southeast Florida. The diocese's 40th annual convention met at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Key West.
Reflecting on the convention theme, "40 and Forward," Bishop Leo Frade announced plans for four "visioning days" in 2010 in different locations in the diocese, at which he will ask the people of the diocese to focus on "what God is calling us to do," and to help determine the direction of diocesan ministries in the next five years.
The bishop also announced that he will name the Rev. Dr. Carlos Sandoval, a medical doctor and psychiatrist, as well as priest-in-charge of St. Simon's Episcopal Church, Miami, as canon for health, a new position intended to help the diocese address a variety of public-health issues.
Frade also said that planning is almost complete for beginning a Portuguese-language ministry with the Brazilian community in the Pompano Beach area of Broward County.
The Rt. Rev. Todd McGregor, area bishop for Tulear, in the Diocese of Antananarivo, Madagascar, and his wife, the Rev. Patsy McGregor, presented an update on their ministries. The diocese has partnered in various ways with the McGregors since they first went to Madagascar as lay missionaries in 1991, and Antananarivo is one of Southeast Florida's companion dioceses. The offering from the convention Eucharist was divided equally between the McGregors' work and Episcopal Charities of Southeast Florida.
The convention passed an amendment to the diocesan constitution that would grant seat and voice in convention to each deanery's youth coordinator. Other resolutions approved by convention included three proposed by the diocesan Youth Commission: One calling for restricting the use of bottled water at all church-sponsored activities; one designating the Bishop's Spring Conference for 2011 as "an experiential music workshop," and asking that the bishop and the Executive Board form a committee to develop a list of music resources for the diocese to be presented at the 2010 diocesan convention; and the third calling for a study of the viability of establishing a diocesan youth retreat center.
The convention approved a budget for 2010 of $3.5 million. The assessment percentage for congregations will remain at 13.99 percent, with diocesan staff receiving no cost-of-living-adjustment raises in 2010, and elimination of one staff position.
Texts of the resolutions are available here.
The Diocese of Southeast Florida is composed of approximately 35,000 Episcopalians worshipping in 81 congregations in the counties surrounding Miami.
Diocese of Western North Carolina. Meeting for its 88th annual convention, participants renewed for three years Western North Carolina's companion diocese relationship with the Diocese of Durgapur in West Bengal, India.
The companion relationship with Durgapur began in 2006 and is the only such official relationship between a diocese of the Episcopal Church and a diocese in India.
Shortened by a day due to economic restraint, the convention gathering at Kanuga Conference Center reflected a region impacted by the downturn, including the adoption of a flat budget for 2010.
"Let me give you some good news that may not sound so good at first but in time will. We are never getting back to where we were," Bishop G. Porter Taylor said in his address. "There isn't a magic pill we can take that will make all the turbulence go away. As the Israelites discovered, even when you get home, you are not at the same home because the world doesn't stand still; the Holy Spirit blows whether we like it our not.
"...So I have three words for you -- Engage. Collaborate. Transform."
The Asheville-based Diocese of Western North Carolina includes close to 16,000 Episcopalians worshipping in 62 congregations in 28 counties in the westernmost portion of the state.