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Members of the Diocese of Olympia began “Building the City of God” before the 97th annual Diocesan Convention officially began. On Thursday evening Nov. 1, more than 100 delegates, alternates and guests gathered at a forum hosted by Bishop Greg Rickel and Bishop Suffragan Nedi Rivera to begin envisioning future ministry efforts of the diocese. Convention was called to order Friday morning, Nov. 2 at the Sheraton Hotel, Tacoma, Wash., hosted at Rickel’s request by the youth and young adults of the diocese. New bishop, new priorities “As we build the city of God we need the hammering,” Rickel said, “and lots of it. Let’s welcome it. Let’s learn from it. Let’s do a bit of it ourselves.” Full text of Rickel’s address is available at www.ecww.org. In his address, Rickel also issued a challenge from him and Bishop Rivera to the entire diocese, which he calls the “One-for-One Malaria Net Challenge,” partnering with Episcopal Relief and Development to buy enough $12 malaria nets for people in sub-Saharan Africa to represent every communicant in the Diocese of Olympia. For more information on this project, see page V4 or visit www.er-d.org. Half of the offering taken at convention went toward the challenge; the other half went to young-adult missionaries (see page V5). A record $9,629 was raised toward these efforts. “When we talk about building the city of God we can get lost in talking about buildings and cities and structures,” Rickel said at the close of convention, “but what we’re really talking about is building relationships.” Gathered in music, prayer, discussion Alfredo Feregrino of St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, and the diocese’s Hispanic ministry committee, described the difference in Latino culture between Halloween and Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, as well as the significance of the altar that was the convention exhibits centerpiece and commemorated the death of those who died crossing the United States-Mexico border. Dia de los Muertos is a day of fascination as well as a day of respect for people who have passed away, not a day full of fear and evil spirits. Special recognition from the bishop Introducing Brower, Rickel said at any given time 20 people are holding the world together, and “I think I found one in Barbara Brower.” Brower served the diocese for 15 years. “Here’s to your many great shots in the future,” he said, referencing Brower’s skill and passion for photography. Since outgoing Canon to the Ordinary Betsy Greenman already received a Bishop’s Cross, she was awarded a “Bishops’ Wax,” with the seals of all five bishops she worked with in her more than 40-year career in the Episcopal Church. Twenty-seven of those years were spent in the Diocese of Olympia. “She is a living database,” Rickel praised. “Asking her a question is like typing a question into a search engine and getting the answer right back.” Rickel also recognized the search and transition committees and joint board, who he called “deeply hospitable.” The search committee and joint board were decommissioned during Saturday’s Eucharist; the transition committee’s work continues for another year. Postulants, candidates and new clergy were welcomed, congratulations were made to clergy who have retired and thanks were given to staff and hosts who made convention run so smoothly. Other convention highlights Vanderbrook talked about the group of young people who came to Camp Huston this summer, saying, “You’ve given our kids hope and love beyond belief. They are ready and waiting for you all to come to New Orleans.” Bishop’s staff member Carla Robinson reported on the work of the Commission for Ethnic Ministries, which tries to take lessons from Philip, “first century ethnic ministries exec,”: taking risks; asking questions and developing relationships; building bridges; letting leaders lead; getting out of the way; and keeping eyes open for opportunities. Robinson also talked about dismantling the “one-eared Mickey Mouse”—where the “work of the church” is a big circle and “specialized ministries” are pushed to the margins of the small circle. The Very Rev. Robert Taylor, dean of St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, reported to convention on the past year’s events, recalling that the lay-off of three employees and circumstances surrounding those layoffs were “painful and difficult” for everyone involved. Taylor said the process has resulted in significant learning for the cathedral community, and has uncovered the need for greater clarity, communication and a need to become increasingly transparent on all levels. “The greatest learning has been the deeply expressed yearning for community,” Taylor said. He expressed thanks for the many expressions of love and support shown by the diocese in this difficult season. Episcopal Relief and Development recognized outgoing diocesan representative David Baylor, who will now head a disaster-preparedness organization in the diocese, and introduced new representative Dorothy Gibson. Other reports included treasurer Steve Faust’s explanation of diocesan finances and presentation of the 2008 budget; news from the St. Petersburg, Russia Children’s Hospice; and the always-entertaining Doug Oles, chair of the Constitution and Canons committee. Convention also heard from the Cursillo movement in the Diocese of Olympia and the First Nations Committee, and received greetings from the Church Divinity School of the Pacific. The topic of immigration quickly brought people from several sides to the microphones to discuss the issue of offering sanctuary to immigrants and their families. Janet Schweizer of Holy Spirit, Battle Ground, wondered if the resolution didn’t encourage more people to put their lives in harm’s way to get to the United States. “What about those who have gone through the hard way?” she wondered. Several others spoke for and against the resolution, including tearful testimonials from Juan Carlos and Baudelina Paz of Resurreccion, Mount Vernon, who said they “fear all the time” for their families and community. “I want to be able to tell other children in my community, if I can do it, they can do it,” Bauedlina Paz said. “I want to help my community grow up to be strong.” Bishops Rivera and Rickel submitted a six-hour resolution similar to one recently passed in the Diocese of Utah that urged the Presiding Bishop to ask the Archbishop of Canterbury to postpone the 2009 Lambeth Conference, a meeting of the worldwide Anglican Communion bishops held ever 10 years. “The listening process has not happened,” Rivera explained, adding that at all the gatherings of bishops around the world, people don’t always worship together but in fact sometimes meet in separate camps. “Lambeth is supposed to be sign of unity but it is almost certain [the bishops] would be divided. It would be a judgment against [the Episcopal Church] rather than an opportunity to move forward. It’s important for the Archbishop of Canterbury to know that dioceses are paying attention and that it’s not just the House of Bishops that make decisions in the Episcopal Church.” An unforeseen delay occurred when the courtesy resolutions were presented, sparking a 20-minute debate on the inclusion of greetings to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. The Rev. Nigel Taber-Hamilton suggested that recent actions by Williams indicated, in Taber-Hamilton’s opinion, the Episcopal Church was irrelevant and, “with friends like these, who needs enemies?” Several others spoke against Taber-Hamilton’s sentiment and still others supported him. The courtesy resolutions were split, removing the resolution about greetings to the Archbishop of Canterbury. Greetings to Bishop William Choi and his wife, Catherine, who had inadvertently been left out of previous iterations of the resolutions, were added. The Canterbury resolution was amended to “send faithful greetings to the Archbishop of Canterbury and pray for him,” which passed, as did the amended resolution. For full text of all resolutions, click here. Resolution #1 (2009 Diocesan Assessment Rate—18 percent): PASSED
Infused throughout convention was the presence of youth and young adults, as hosts and presenters as well as pages and youth presence. On Friday, diocesan young adult missionary Liz White talked about her experience as a member of the Young Adult Service Corps (YASC). Last year, three of YASC’s nine missionaries were from the Diocese of Olympia. White spent the past 12 months in Sorrento, B.C., working in a retreat center of the Anglican Church of Canada and coordinating faith formation events. On Nov. 12 she travels to Maseno, Kenya, where she will work at a hospital with missionaries Gerry and Nan Hardison. “When I go, I take your prayers, your support and your desire for a whole and healthy world,” White explained. “I go, I give, I receive. I come back and I give to you.” To learn more about White’s travels, visit her blog at elizabethstravels.wordpress.com. Saturday’s Eucharist sermon was co-preached by Tim Mathis of St. Margaret’s, Bellevue, and Edna Okereke of Good Shepherd, Vancouver. Sounding like Sen. Barack Obama, Mathis talked about “Christian audacity” as an essential quality for the foreseeable future, prophetic and “speaking the truth where it needs to be spoken.” “Seeking to adopt an outward-looking stance will take Jesus-inspired audacity to convince our neighbors that being a Christ-follower is not what we’ve shown in the past,” Mathis, a youth leader, added. Drawing on the convention’s theme, Okereke pictured the similarities between how cities and churches are built, especially noting that people pay money to the organizations and also internally separate themselves into different interest groups. “The main connection is the diversity, or lack thereof, and how people deal with it,” Okereke observed. She noted that like close communities, churches are hard places to break in. She recalled recently inviting a friend to church and being surprised when he declined, suggesting she observe her congregation to learn why. “A lot of people seemed fake,” the high-school senior said. “They had a pleasant, friendly smile but the body language said, ‘I don’t care that you’re here.’” The rest of Okereke’s sermon is on page V6 and on the diocesan website, www.ecww.org. Newly ordained priest the Rev. Arienne Davison spoke in gratitude about her experience both as a young adult and person of color in the ordination process. She is a beneficiary of the Curates of Color program, which supports new clergy of color in the diocese through ticket sales to Black Nativity at Seattle’s Intiman Theatre. And Irene Smith of St. John’s, Olympia, and the Rev. J.R. Lander of St. Augustine’s in-the-Woods described their transformative trip with young people last summer to the Diocese of Jerusalem. Groups then went to work writing their best experiences on yellow adhesive notes and energy began to bubble as people shared stories about their projects. These notes were then placed on a wall, creating a 60-square-foot asset map. Once the assets were posted, people were asked to stand back and appreciate the multitude of gifts so clearly present in the diocese. After a period of reflection, people began to “walk that wall with an eye for new possibilities,” as Rivera suggested. They pulled assets off the wall into common-themed groups and place them around the room, looking particularly for new ideas and connections, areas of ministry that the diocese can focus on for the future. What emerged were themes of empowering youth and youth ministry, improving communications (including the creation of directories for various assets), preparing for disasters, feeding and caring for the needy, deepening multicultural ministries and several others. People also were invited to see where partnerships and collaboration might take place, and where different ideas could support the work of others. Networks emerged before participants’ eyes, and people made connections with staff members to serve as resources for the various networks. After two hours of fun and hard work, the room was full of energy and enthusiasm. Rickel announced that next year’s forum would be “games with the bishops” and that prizes would be awarded, so people should mark their calendars now. 2009 General Convention deputation Clergy Alternates Lay Deputies Lay Alternates Cathedral Vestry (two-year term) Diocesan Council (three-year term) Standing Committee (three-year term) |
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