Two weeks after he was invested as Connecticut's 14th diocesan bishop [TLC, Nov. 14], the Rt. Rev. Andrew D. Smith presided at the diocese's 215th annual convention, Oct. 30 at Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford. Bishop Smith outlined a vision for what he called "the diocesan church," a term reflecting his call to a renewed sense of the episcopacy and of overall diocesan ministry in Connecticut.

"My dream is for us to gain strength and depth as a diocesan church - parishes connected with bishops in our midst as catalysts for mission, unity and new life," Bishop Smith said in his address. "My dream is for our kids, when they see a staff and miter, not to stare in wide-eyed amazement, as if a creature had just arrived from another planet, but to say, 'Oh, that's a bishop, and he/she is one of us.'"

Bishop Smith asked for and received the convention's approval to support and provide for the ministry of two bishops suffragan, and an assistant bishop in the interim. The formalities leading to those elections will begin immediately.

While describing his hopes for diocesan ministries, Bishop Smith announced several changes in diocesan staff. In an emotional highlight of the day, he said he had made John ("Jack") W. Spaeth III a lay canon. Mr. Spaeth, a popular and well-known administrator for the diocese since 1980, would have his title changed from "director of administration and finance" to "canon for stewardship and administration" in recognition of his leadership "and to identify his work as the ministry it really is," Bishop Smith said. The announcement was received with a sustained standing ovation.

The convention endorsed the bishop's calls to establish a task force on parish and diocesan mission and to convene youth and adult leaders of the diocese to develop ministry among and for youth. It approved a 3 percent clergy salary increase and a $4.6 million diocesan budget for the year 2000. The convention also recognized a merger of two parishes in Norwich, and readmitted a mission station in Killingworth into the diocese as a parish.