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Navajo Episcopal Council Established

Diocesan Press Service. March 22, 1974 [74082]

FARMINGTON, N. Mex. -- In response to a resolution adopted by the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church in the fall of 1973, 15 persons -- including Indians, bishops, clergy, lay persons and Executive Council staff -- met "to examine carefully the desirability and feasibility of structural and territorial changes for the Episcopal Church in the Navajo Nation. "

This step reflects the Episcopal Church's continuing concern for the principle of self-determination for racial and ethnic minorities. Empowerment programs established by the General Convention include the General Convention Special Program in 1967, the National Committee on Indian Work in 1969, the National Commission on Hispanic Affairs in 1970, and ministries with Black and Asian Episcopalians in 1973. These programs were coordinated into a new staff section, Mission Service and Strategy, at the 1973 Convention.

The consultation on mission and ministry with Navajos was held at the small San Juan Mission near Farmington in mid-March. San Juan is situated in the dry solar heated Navajo reservation of the Diocese of the Rio Grande.

The idea of a Navajo diocese is not new. There are records that show the idea was discussed as early as 1922. There are 4,500 baptized Navajo Episcopalians living on the sprawling 16 million acre reservation. The reservation reaches from Northeastern Arizona to Southern Utah and Northwest New Mexico. The Indian missions on the reservation are now being administered by the dioceses of Utah, Arizona and the Rio Grande.

The recent San Juan meeting was opened by Bishop Otis Charles of Utah, who said, " I accept the Navajo language as the primary language of this meeting. " Thus began the long tedious job of sifting ideas between anglo and Navajo minds.

The participants divided into two groups. Bishop Charles, Bishop Richard Trelease of the Rio Grande, three clerics and an Executive Council consultant formed one group. The other group consisisted of the Indian participants and a consultant.

After nearly two hours of discussion on the same questions, the two groups met together again. With the aid of an interpreter, it was revealed that the groups had come to almost the same decisions on the questions.

The group consisting of bishops and clerics was concerned about starting on a project that over a period of a few years would vaporize into nothing more than minutes in a filing cabinet. Bishop Charles observed that projects started with the Indian people 10 years ago did not mature because neither the Indians nor the church was ready for them.

"There has been radical change since then," he said, "the Indian now has a self awareness and the church has opened up possibilities that did not exist 10 years ago.

"We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by turning the church over to the people," he concluded.

The bishops and clergy expressed a deep feeling of responsibility for the Indian people that have been baptized into the Episcopal Church in the last 30 years.

The group consisting of the Indian participants and Ms. Joan Bordman, a National Committee on Indian Work (NCIW) representative, reached conclusions quicker than the other group. "When you have been waiting for something for 10 years it doesn't take you long to state it on a blackboard," Ms. Bordman said.

From the day long meeting there was established a group to be called Navajo Episcopal Council (NEC). The council will consist of one elected member from each of the organized Indian congregations in the three dioceses. The newly established NEC will replace the present committee that met.

The NCIW has given the Navajo Episcopal Council a grant of $39,500 per year for three years for Navajo leadership training. The money was allocated for the purpose of training Navajos in the ministry at the NCIW meeting in Louisville. The program will be similar to the Dakota training program which over a period of years has trained many Sioux Indians as leaders in the Episcopal Church.

Through 1974 the NEC will be funded by $500 from each of the three dioceses and by $150 from each Indian mission. NEC will also seek contributions.

The bishops of the three dioceses (Utah, Arizona, and the Rio Grande) will serve ex-officio on NEC with seat and voice, but with no vote. Bishop Charles of Utah was chosen as Bishop-in-Charge through March, 1975. Bishop Trelease of the Rio Grande will serve during the 1975 period.

The first meeting of NEC will be called before June 1 to organize for work with its newly elected members, to begin the definition and administration of the Navajo leadership training program and selection of staff, and to identify their authority and function.

The participants in the meeting were: Kenneth Cleveland, Good Shepherd Mission, Fort Defiance, Ariz.; Mr. and Mrs. David Yanito, Bluff, Utah; Ms. Rosella Jim, San Juan Mission, Farmington, N. Mex.; the Rt. Rev. Richard Trelease, Diocese of the Rio Grande; the Rt. Rev. Otis Charles, Diocese of Utah.

Consultants were: The Rev. Al Rollins, Executive Council staff, New York City; Ms. Joan Bordman, NCIW, Newark, Calif.; Ms. Fay McKnight, NCIW/Executive Council staff, New York City; and Tommy Jackson, Window Rock, Ariz.

Observers were: The Rev. Mssrs. Edward C. Moore, Good Shepherd Mission, Fort Defiance, Ariz.; W. Herbert Scott, St. Christopher's Mission, Bluff, Utah; Benjamin Ford and Henry Bird, San Juan Mission, Farmington, N. Mex.