"I know what Rip Van Winkle is all about," quipped the Rt. Rev. David Joslin, returning to New Jersey after an absence of 30 years to take up his post as Assisting Bishop of New Jersey and beginning his address to the more than 700 people assembled for the diocesan convention March 10-11 in Cherry Hill.

In his address, Bishop Joslin challenged the diocese "... not to look at the past and try to decide who was right or wrong, but to reflect on what God is calling us to do now." He touched on the major issues facing the Episcopal Church, especially on racism, of which he said, "... we who profess the faith of the Incarnation need to be especially clear that racism is not part of the life that we espouse." This was greeted by a standing ovation from the delegates.

The theme of stewardship was carried through the convention, starting with Bishop Joslin's address, in each session's warmup in story and song by the Rev. Kirk Alan Kubicek, a parish priest from the Diocese of Maryland, and finally with a keynote address by Terry Parsons, stewardship officer for the Episcopal Church.

Ms. Parsons urged the community to "claim our abundance" and not become mired in the "assumption of scarcity," a charge that seemed taken to heart the next day as the convention approved the 2000 budget and preliminary budget for 2001. As changes were discussed in the 2000 budget, the Rev. Canon E. Thomas Higgons, speaking to the Migrant Ministry line of the budget, asked for an increase of $10,000 because the 1977 station wagon the ministry uses is on its "last legs." Almost immediately one church pledged $1,000 and another $400, a third offered to donate a Ford Explorer.

Both budgets ($2.6 and $2.8 million respectively) passed by unanimous voice vote and the convention was adjourned in a spirit of renewed hope for the future of the diocese.

(The Rev.) Christina Wible