Report from the Diocese Convention
The Diocese of West Tennessee held their 28th Annual Convention March 5-7, 2009 at St. Mary’s Cathedral. The 26th Presiding Bishop and Primate of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Dr. Katherine Jefferts-Schori honored the convention as celebrant, preacher and speaker.
The 3 days were packed with reports, nominations, resolutions, motions, elections and speakers.
The following resolutions and reminders were submitted for consideration and passed:
- Resolution 28-1: Establish the 1st Sunday in Lent at Episcopal Relief and Development Sunday.
- Resolution 28-2: Double the size of our Diocese by 2020 as in the initiative of the Convention of 2000 and establish a committee.
- Reminder that the cannons state that all resolutions be submitted at least 45 days prior to voting. This will be enforced in the future.
The budget was submitted and with a few minor corrections was approved. There are no raises for any staff, no longer able to sustain funding based on 8.5% market return; Listening Campaign will hope to raise funds; the surplus from 2008 was used to pay back the discretionary endowment funds; increase in giving to Millennium Development Goals (MDG) at .5% with increasing planned. The budget can be found in the Parish Office.
During the reports by various committees, Dorothy Farner from Freewill Shelter in Humboldt discussed the ongoing work at the shelter and announced the opening of their new soup kitchen, Daddy’s Kitchen Table.
Elections were held with only 1 ballot required. The listing can be found in the Parish Office.
The following 3 workshops were held:
- What it means to be Anglican: This is not King Henry VIII’s Church Anymore, presented by Dr. Fredrica Harris Thompsett from Episcopal Divinity School in Boston, which was a very interesting discussion on various aspects of the Church from the beginning to the present. Some topics were: the reason Henry VIII really pulled away from the Catholic Church and what changed; Prayer Book development and use; the differences between the Anglican and the ECUSA is that the presbyters and laity participate in all manners of governance in the ECUSA and each Diocesan Bishop is the controller of their Diocese so complete uniformity does not happen.
- The Yellow Fever Epidemic and the Martyrs of Memphis by P.L. McFarland discussed the fever and the priest, laity and St. Mary’s and the nuns of St. Mary’s (originally of New York) participation and martyrdom.
- 2020 was a discussion on how to increase church membership by 2020. The Bishop is planning to appoint a church growth commission.
The highlight of the convention was the Presiding Bishop (PB) during the Celebration of the Eucharist but mostly during her sermons and Q&A session. During her talks, whether a Sermon or Q & A, the PB made us feel as if it were a conversation between friends that matter; we were all people with dignity. She was graceful in responses and filled with grace. She responded to difficult and controversial question with clarity and non-confrontational answers. She left us with an invitation to listen to God’s calling and to not stop questioning and learning God’s word. She took 2 hours for a 1 hour session. She and Dick, her husband, attend the dinner and dance at Bridges and danced with the best of them (who were Rene+ & Nancy)! The Presiding Bishop is required to make a formal visit to each diocese sometime during her nine-year term and this was the “Official Visit” to the Diocese of West Tennessee. The PB’s sermon may be found in the Church Office.
If you have any questions or want more information, please get with Allan, Peter, Jan, Monica, Ron, or Sue. Documents are in the Church Office if anyone wants to review them.