VERMONT: Convention welcomes Presiding Bishop, focuses on MDGs

After a morning session with the clergy and lunch with the official Convention Youth Presence, the Presiding Bishop led a nearly two-hour public forum in the University of Vermont's Ira Allen Chapel. Some 560 Vermont Episcopalians, Burlington-area college students, a group of Episcopalians from Western Massachusetts, and local residents came to hear her speak and engage in conversation on global poverty and the MDGs.

Jefferts Schori spoke to a capacity crowd of nearly 400 November 2 at the convention dinner about her first year as Presiding Bishop and the variety of areas in which she has responsibilities. On the morning of November 3, she presided and preached at the convention Eucharist, and in the afternoon she spent an hour in conversation with convention delegates. Her visit ended Sunday, November 4, with Eucharist at historic St. Paul's Church in Windsor, and an afternoon Eucharist with residents at the Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield. [For more on the presiding bishop's activities and interactions with Vermont Episcopalians, see the article "On the Road in Vermont with the Presiding Bishop" by Neva Rae Fox.]

A series of three identical October "Ministry Fair Days" in different parts of the diocese prepared delegates for the business part of convention, with presentations on proposed resolutions and the budget. Delegates also participated in workshops offered by the diocese's Global Reconciliation Committee that placed the MDGs in the context of the church's mission and highlighted the work of Vermont-based groups such as Children Affected by HIV/AIDS, Fundación Cristosal, the New Sudan Education Initiative, and Vermont Kids4Peace.

Also prior to convention, Vermont Bishop Thomas Ely invited all congregations to take up a special "global reconciliation offering" on Sunday, October 28, for the MDG Inspiration Fund, officially inaugurated that weekend by Executive Council and Episcopal Relief and Development. Representatives from each congregation came forward at the convention Eucharist offertory and presented their offerings -- a total of $34,120 -- to the Presiding Bishop.

Bishop's Address
The business session began after the Saturday morning Eucharist, with the bishop's annual convention address. Ely spoke about learning photography as a way of cultivating something new during his sabbatical earlier in the year and said he wished "to share some pictures, some snapshots if you will, about the Diocese of Vermont through the metaphorical lens of the bishop's camera."

Ely's first picture, he said, "is the one we are creating this weekend." He welcomed the Presiding Bishop to the 175th anniversary of the 1832 convention that elected John Henry Hopkins as the first bishop of the new Diocese of Vermont, and he gave thanks for her leadership. "My hope," he said, "is that the picture we are creating this weekend -- the picture of the Diocese of Vermont that I want the world to see -- is of a diocese deeply committed to justice ministry, a place where the inclusive, embracing love of God reaches all and where all who seek to be faithful disciples of Jesus are empowered for their ministry."

After offering "word pictures" of thanks for many diocesan ministries, Ely said the final image he wanted to share was "an affirmation that we are part of a larger family, with a larger photo album." He acknowledged the current tensions in the Anglican Communion, wondered how "the Windsor Report, a report that started out as a committee report, became in such a short time the sacred text and standard of 'right' moral and ecclesial behavior that it is for many today," and suggested taking to heart the collect appointed for the commemoration of Richard Hooker, which speaks of the middle way as a "comprehension for the sake of truth."

"In the spirit of that heritage," Ely said, "I will continue to labor for a church that is welcoming and inclusive of all in every aspect of its life, governance and ministry," he added. "In particular, this means that I will continue to champion the justice ministry toward full inclusion of gay and lesbian persons in our church, including their full access to all orders of ministry and the liturgical blessing of the church on the committed, life long relationships of gay and lesbian couples."

Ely concluded: "One hundred seventy five years is a good beginning, but there is plenty more that awaits us and invites our engagement. Keeping the focus on our participation in God's reconciling mission is the best way I know for making sure that the pictures we have not yet taken will be among the most memorable."

Convention Business
Convention delegates adopted six resolutions, all either unanimously or with only a sprinkling of "no" votes:

• calling on congregations to conduct in-house environmental audits of their energy use, consumption patterns and plant use management and to report to the 2009 convention on the audits and plans to address deficits in environmental stewardship;
• commending the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church for its resolution NAC 026, regarding the September House of Bishops' statement;
• to establish a capital campaign committee;
• to merge St. Thomas' Church, Brandon, and Grace Church, Forestdale. (Grace had been a mission of St. Thomas, but the two had been effectively functioning as a single parish for many years. They will continue to use both church buildings.);
• establishing minimum clergy compensation for 2008.
• to establish a process for determining minimum clergy compensation for clergy employed less than full-time.

The convention also

• adopted a balanced budget for 2008 with expenses totaling $1,175,280. It includes a 16% commitment to The Episcopal Church, up from 15% in 2007, and representing the intention to work toward the full asking of 21%;
• elected deputies to the 2009 General Convention: the Rev. John C. Morris, the Rev. Lee Alison Crawford, the Rev. Thomas J. Brown, the Rev. Tanya R. Wallace, Thomas Little, Anne Clarke Brown, Nanci Gordon and Jennifer Ogelby.