With a theme of "You Are Called to Tell the Story," the meeting was full of stories, from personal testimonials, to a Hawaiian creation story, to stories of ministry in congregations. The theme came from a song of the same name by Ruth Duck, music by Marty Haugen, which the convention sang several times during worship services.

Fitzpatrick chose the theme to call the diocese to work together in testifying to its faith in Jesus Christ. As he said at the opening of his address to the Convention, "The focus of our common life together must be to make known the love of God in Jesus Christ," he told the convention.

Fitzpatrick used the goals of the diocesan strategic plan, adopted in 2004, to outline the diocese's mission as it moves into the future. Those goals can be briefly summarized as conversion, transformation, and evangelism, plus reducing the administrative costs of the diocese. Fitzpatrick said he was "using the Strategic Plan like the lens of a telescope to look forward along the path to the Kingdom of God." He also punctuated the address with quotations from Scripture, especially the Gospel according to Matthew.

In keeping with the goal of conversion, Fitzpatrick called on the members of the diocese to be true disciples of Christ. He called the first three questions of the Baptismal Covenant -- those of the Apostles' Creed -- the "essential questions…These are the marks of our personal faith, lived in community." He then told the convention, "Ask these questions of yourself: 'Am I disciple of Jesus Christ? Can anyone really tell?'"

Being individual disciples is not enough, however. An essential message of Fitzpatrick's address is that the diocese is "One Team." Instead of seeing itself as isolated congregations, he encouraged the diocese to see itself as "One Church -- ONE TEAM -- composed of many congregations -- many missionary outposts -- with a single mission: to share the love of God in Jesus Christ." To that end, he said, the diocese can no longer operate with the model of "one congregation, one service, one priest," but must consider alternative models, such as clustering, holding multiple services, and raising up clergy -- both deacons and priests -- from among the congregations. The diocese has about 8,200 members in 39 congregations.

Instead of making the text of the address available now, Fitzpatrick will be turning it into three articles to be published in the coming issues of the diocesan newspaper, the Hawaiian Church Chronicle. These articles also will be published on the Bishop's Page of the diocesan website. The Response to the Bishop's Address, traditionally made by a pre-selected committee of five delegates, is available here.

The theme of "One Team" was tangibly expressed via clothing. Fitzpatrick and the Commission of Congregational Health and Growth had previously called on all delegates to order denim "work shirts" embroidered with the diocesan seal and to wear the shirts during the Saturday session. The hotel room was awash in a sea of blue denim.

The theme of "You Are Called to Tell the Story" was picked up by the Rev. Susan Sherard of the Diocese of North Carolina who was Convention chaplain. She told stories of God leading a start-up congregation in western North Carolina to hospice ministry and of hearing the chorus of the company of saints reverberating in the RCA Dome as the 1994 General Convention sang, among others. And she called on the congregations to identify their particular scriptural story. One congregation, which Fitzpatrick had earlier named as the congregation he most expected eight years ago would no longer exist today, but which is now thriving, named their story as "Lazarus." The convention cheered.

The business portion of the meeting included electing representatives to diocesan bodies and as deputies to the 2009 General Convention. A $2.6 million balanced budget passed easily, having previously been discussed in regional meetings throughout the diocese. Also passing easily, with no discussion, was the Clergy Compensation and Benefits Policy for 2008, which included a 7.5 percent salary increase.

Half of the 10 resolutions brought before the Convention concerned promoting and enforcing the strategic plan: that all parishes and missions adopt strategic plans consistent with the one of the diocese; that implementation of the plan be the first priority of Diocesan Council; that the Council, bishop, and staff recognize (and share the stories of) those who are "Living the Goals" of the plan; and that there be an annual convocation, beginning in 2009, focused on spiritual development and mission. The only amendments made to these resolutions were noting that in 2004 the diocese formally adopted the goals of the plan and not the strategies, and that the Convention can "encourage," but not "direct" the bishop to a particular action.

A resolution calling on the convention to affirm Resolution B033 of the 2006 General Convention was withdrawn by its sponsor "because it would not help us in our present circumstances."

Other resolutions, all of which passed, included the following:

• a canonical change allowing representatives to Diocesan Council to serve two consecutive three-year terms, rather than just one; 
• repealing a canon on the existence of a Commission on Episcopal Schools, as no longer applicable to the current situation of schools within the diocese;
• calling on the diocese to celebrate in 2012 "the sesquicentennial of the establishment of the Anglican Church in Hawai'i at the invitation of King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma in 1862."

The resolutions texts and results are available here. All election results are available here.

The meeting concluded with Sherard telling the gathering: "If we persevere in mission, there will be death and there will be resurrection. There will be sacrifice and there will be new life. This is our story. This is our basic script…The story is not about success and failure. It is a story of God's beloved people trying to be faithful to Christ." And she called the Diocese of Hawai'i to tell its story to the wider church.