"Life is good in Vermont," said the Rt. Rev. Mary Adelia McLeod in her address to the 165th convention of the Diocese of Vermont, which met Nov. 13-14 at St. Paul's Cathedral in Burlington. "We have turned many corners - and there is excitement and wonder to be found around each one." The bishop challenged delegates to take risks, to go beyond "making do," and to "make a difference" in their communities.

Notable among the usual elections, reports and legislation was a resolution increasing parish assessments by 1 percent to be used for maintenance and restoration of the diocese's Rock Point property on Lake Champlain in Burlington. Although the funds generated will be modest, they represent a commitment to collective stewardship of a historic physical and spiritual asset that is home to several diocesan institutions. The convention passed a $719,206 budget for 1999.

Three resolutions responding to actions of the Lambeth Conference were approved. One supports the call for cancellation of the debt of developing countries in the year of Jubilee 2000 and requests congregations to sign a petition in support of the resolution that is to be sent to government and institutional leaders.

A second resolution supports portions of the Lambeth Conference resolution on human sexuality but states that, "in the light of the traditional Anglican reliance on scripture, tradition and reason for the discernment of God's will in our lives," the convention rejects as "too limited a reading of biblical texts that portion of the section (d) 'rejecting homosexual practice as incompatible with scripture'. "

The third calls upon the bishop to schedule deanery meetings for study and reflection regarding full inclusion of gay and lesbian persons in the life of the church.

The collect for the convention Eucharist celebrating the consecration of Samuel Seabury offers, said the Rt. Rev. Larry Maze, Bishop of Arkansas and preacher for the occasion, "three markers to negotiate the waters of the post-Christian era." In it we pray that, "joined together with our bishops, and nourished by your holy sacraments, we may proclaim the gospel of redemption with apostolic zeal."