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Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina Special Issue: Diocesan Convention/Lambeth, September 2008

Crosswalk

The 86th Diocesan Convention, October 17-18, 2008 Convention focus

Bishop Henderson’s “four goals for a Bishop’s “four goals for a seamless transition” to provide structure, focus seamless transition” Two days, one evening of celebration & moving forward

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ishop Henderson’s “four goals for a seamless transition” (see the box at right), which he set forth in his address to Diocesan Convention in 2007, will serve as the basis for Convention 2008, a three-part celebration of mission and ministry in Upper SC hosted by St. John’s, Columbia, and scheduled for October 17 and 18 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.

On Friday, October 17, from 9 a.m. till 4 p.m., the focus is on the business of the diocese, followed that evening by a special celebration, including dinner and the first annual presentation of the Bishop’s Cross awards. (For your personal invitation, turn to page D.) Saturday, October 18, is “Leadership Day,” featuring plenary-session reflections by the Rt. Rev. Charles F. Duvall and a variety of breakout sessions designed for congregational leadership teams.

In anticipating his mandatory retirement at age 72,

by January 2011, the bishop last year called on Upper South Carolinians to join him in embracing “four goals

October 17 Business Day, p. C Evening of Celebration, p. D

for a seamless transition” so that he might “deliver into the hands of my successor a vibrant, confident, and healthy diocese and episcopacy.” The task, he said, requires “the faithful commitment of each of you and that of each person in each pew in each congregation.”

This year’s Diocesan Convention is being offered as a resource to support us in reaching those goals.

Noting that all elected delegates and clergy should attend all three segments of convention, Bishop Henderson has asked that each congregation assemble a team to participate in the activities of October 18, “Leadership Day.” All are welcome, but the bishop especially encourages wardens, vestry members, and those involved in congregational outreach and formation ministries to be part of the team. And, of course, no one will want to miss the Friday evening (October 17, beginning at 6:30 p.m.) celebration of mission and ministry in Upper SC. For more information on Diocesan Convention 2008, turn to the stories listed below.

October 18 Leadership Day, p. A, below

Registration Information, p. C Online at www.edusc.org

Convention “Leadership Day” to target health, mission, formation, outreach in local congregations The Rt. Rev. Charles F. Duvall will be special guest and storyteller

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his year’s October 18 “Leadership Day” will focus on the four goals outlined by Bishop Henderson in his 2007 address to Diocesan Convention—health, mission, formation, and outreach. (See the box above.)

To make the most of this day, the bishop has asked each Upper SC congregation to bring a leadership team— wardens, vestry members, people active in outreach and formation, and others—to take home new skills and resources to support local congregations in implementing the four goals.

Telling “The Story”

The day, organized around the various parts of the Eucharistic liturgy, will weave together stories that highlight ways some of our congregations have been working toward the bishop’s goals and “The Story” (the one we love to tell!), presented with reflections by special guest and master storyteller the Rt. Rev. Charles F. Duvall. Two breakout sessions will be included in the mix.

—continued on page C

HEALTH:

that every congregation have a specific and definitive strategic plan for its mission, life, and ministry, having availed itself of resources and support available through the diocesan Healthy Church Initiative;

MISSION:

that each congregation have in place a strategy for assertive evangelism, which is the mission of the Church;

FORMATION:

that wherever there

is an altar there are “womb-to-tomb” programs and a plan in place so that people of all ages can grow in their understanding and practice of the Christian faith; and

OUTREACH:

that we will measure our success with the first three goals by our commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which have been named a top priority by our diocese and by The Episcopal Church. The MDGs represent an eight-pronged international program aimed at reducing extreme poverty in the developing world by 50 percent by the year 2015.

Remembering Wilmarose Davis We continue to feel the loss of our Diocesan Convention secretary, Wilmarose Davis. Mrs. Davis died on June 13, 2008, after a brief illness. She served this diocese faithfully and in many ways, but most notably as secretary to Convention for the last five years. We miss her cheerful and heartfelt greetings, her fabulous hugs, and her diligence in managing the details. Our prayers continue for her family and for the many who mourn.

Convention/Lambeth 2008

Crosswalk Lambeth— The Next Day: An Initial Reflection

FROM THE

“Let anyone with ears listen.” He said it. Jesus said it.

He said it at least four times.

Bishop’s desk

“I am the true vine . . . [Y]ou are the branches. . . Go and bear fruit.” He said it. Jesus said it. Depending on how you count the varying expressions, he said it four times.

Crosswalk

Official Publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina 1115 Marion Street Columbia, South Carolina 29201 803.771.7800/800.889.6961 803.799.5119 fax dioceseusc@aol.com Crosswalk E-mail Address phill@edusc.org Bishop The Rt. Rev. Dorsey F. Henderson, Jr. Executive Assistant to Bishop Henderson Ms. Jane B. Goldsmith jgoldsmith@edusc.org Canon to the Ordinary The Rev. Michael A. Bullock mbullock@edusc.org Assistant to the Canon to the Ordinary The Rev. d’Rue Hazel dhazel@edusc.org Assistant for Administration Ms. Roslyn Hook rhook@edusc.org Canon for Finance and Administration Ms. Julie Price jprice@edusc.org Director of Finance and Insurance Ms. Cynthia Hendrix chendrix@edusc.org Canon for Communications, Editor of Crosswalk Dr. Peggy Van Antwerp Hill phill@edusc.org Canon for Youth Ministry The Rev. L. Sue von Rautenkranz suevon@edusc.org Assistant for Communications and Youth Ministry Ms. Bethany Human bhuman@edusc.org Archdeacon and Senior Pastoral Assistant to the Bishop The Ven. Frederick C. Byrd fbyrd@edusc.org Assistant to Archdeacon Byrd Ms. Bonnie Blackberg bblackberg@edusc.org

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We listened. 670 bishops, on retreat at Canterbury Cathedral, listened to the archbishop who, over two and a half days, presented five meditations on topics effectively deepening our understanding of the bishop’s ministry as it comes to us through Holy Scripture and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Every day, 670 bishops, most with spouses, listened to God speaking to us through Word and Sacrament, expressed in the voices of different nations. Every day, in Bible study, which began at 9:15, we listened to God speaking to us through the Gospel According to St. John as interpreted and understood through the voices of many nations (five in my eightmember group). Every day, we listened to each other in our Indaba groups—four or five Bible study groups which combined to meet, also daily—each Indaba thus including some 40 to 50 bishops.

We listened to each other on several occasions in which we met to share in the work of the “Listening Group”—those who were to use the conversations of the Indaba groups to prepare the document to be released at the conclusion of the conference. We met on several additional occasions to listen to, and share our opinions about, the Continuing Windsor Process group. And, last but certainly not least in significance, we listened, every day, to each other in what must have totaled hundreds of separate conversations per bishop and spouse—walking together between sessions, sharing seats on coaches to London, to Canterbury Cathedral—and over meals. We listened, every day . . . and, to be sure, we talked. And yes, we shared, every day. The subjects were varied and positions mixed—but everyone within my hearing distance rejoiced and found reassurance in the establishment of relationships that seem clearly to promise a clearer, more effective way forward in Christ and in Christ’s mission.

I was stunned—nothing less than stunned—at how little we bishops know each other, about each other—how little we know about bishops in the far-flung parts of the Church—how little they know about us. Personalities, ministries, and cultures, and political systems—all profoundly amd dramatically influence the shape, the life, and the mission of the Church—and we know so little about each other. Believe me, the news media does not begin to report with accuracy the pain, the struggle, the risk of life and limb, and the sheer fortitude required for ministry in such a large part of the world we are called, united as Christ’s Body, to serve.

“Go and bear fruit.”

Believe me, we worked at working. Our days began before the 7:15 celebration of Holy Eucharist, and stretched into the evenings, with plenary sessions and major addresses starting at 8:15 p.m. To be sure, this work involved listening, too. We listened to each other—and to the world’s leading experts—on the topics which make us better bishops for a more effective missional Church: Evangelism * Social Justice * Ecumenism * Environment * Holy Scripture * Power and Its Abuse * Human Sexuality * The Proposed Anglican Covenant and the Windsor Process * Episcopal Leadership in God’s Mission.

The Bible studies focused on the “I am” statements of our Lord, Jesus Christ: “I am . . . the one. . . . [It is I] . . . the bread of life . . . the light of the world . . . before Abraham was, I am. . . . I On July 24 Bishop Henderson joined Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori and 1000+ others for the “Walk of Witness” in support of the Millennium am the man . . . the gate . . . the good shepherd . . . the resurDevelopment Goals (photo: Chris Clement, © 2008 Episcopal Life Online). rection and the life . . . the way, and the truth, and the life . . . the true vine. . . . For whom are you looking? I am . . . I am . . . I am. . . . ” The topics upon which we focused relate directly to the Lord’s commandments and expectations for his people which explicitly or implicitly appear in the “I am” statements. Both Bible and topics will provoke, I trust, increased and more sensitive listening across God’s Anglican Communion, and more effective mission and ministry—not only by the bishops, but, more importantly, through their teaching and example, by those people at home. After all, it is the totality of lay people, deacons, and priests—as well as bishops—who constitute, through water and the Holy Spirit, the Body of Christ.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—works rooted in our identity as the Body of Christ—were not far from anyone’s mind as we moved through the days and the topics of the conference. The July 24 “Walk of Witness” in London was a magnificent demonstration of the common, broad-spectrum commitment of different bishops from different circumstances and different cultures and with different languages to do Christ’s work until “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” You’ve heard before, but it came to me with new freshness and poignant reality when one of the African bishops said to me in halting English, “You cannot preach the Gospel to a man who is hungry. Help us.”

What did Lambeth do?

We accomplished the purpose for which we were called together. The archbishop of Canterbury, in inviting the bishops of the Communion together, described it as a time for worship and consultation together—not a time for resolutions or answers to problems. But we contributed to resolving and problem-solving by listening to each other, by the establishment of relationships which facilitate communication and trust, and a future together—and by widespread, mutual commitment to increased corporate and separate effectiveness in mission and ministry.

—continued on page D

Crosswalk

Beyond the 86th Convention . . .

Consultant teams, leadership development days to extend Convention’s reach Mark your calendar NOW for diocesan leadership training days: February 28 & May 2, 2009. “Come, labor on ...”

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eloved, we’re not home yet. You and I have walked the road of mission together for quite some time now. . . . , but the one thing we must remember is this: We’re not done. We are not home yet!” So Bishop Henderson reminded those assembled at the conclusion of the 85th Diocesan Convention in October 2007. And so he might well choose to wrap up the 86th Convention, coming up on October 17 and 18 this year and extending into the future by offering a wealth of resources to support congregational leaders as they sally forth to nurture growth in discipleship in their home congregations, taking as their compass the bishop’s four goals. (See page A for Bishop Henderson’s four goals.) “

bringing to the task many years of experience working with various nonprofit agencies.

The congregational development consultants are working with Mr. Tony Watkins, who, for the past two years, has spearheaded the diocesan Healthy Church Initiative. Mr. Watkins will guide the congregational development group, made up of clergy and lay consultants, as they take over his ministry with us. Some members of this consulting team will be familiar faces in the diocese, having worked in local churches following their training in congregational development several years ago The third group, the congregational formation consultants, comprises individuals who have been working in areas of formation throughout the diocese—some from the ranks of youth and children’s ministry, some in adult formation, and others who have covered the waterfront, “from womb-totomb.” This group will be facilitated by the Rev. L. Sue von Rautenkranz, diocesan canon for youth ministry.

All three consultant groups will be available to assist congregations beginning in January 2009.

Congregational consultants x 3

Leadership training days

To extend the work of Diocesan Convention’s “Leadership Day,” three teams of consultants are being developed to assist congregations in carrying out their plans for meeting the bishop’s goals and taking what they’ve learned during Leadership Day home to their congregations.

The deacons and candidates for the diaconate will be serving as congregational outreach consultants. The Rev. Timothy Ervolina, deacon at St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields, Columbia, and chair of the Matthew 25 Committee, which oversees outreachefforts within the diocese, is heading this team,

As a part of Bishop Henderson’s pledge to assist congregations in leadership development for mission and ministry, two full days of leadership training will be offered in early 2009. These days will focus on various areas of congregational leadership—wardens and vestry members, treasurers, Christian formation mentors and teachers, outreach leaders, and others. Mark your calendars for February 28 and May 2, 2009. Details will be announced at the 86th Convention Leadership Day (October 18).

“Come, labor on . . .”

Leadership Day

—continued from page A

Breaking out For the morning break-out, congregational teams will split up to attend three different presentations. One break-out will focus on congregational development, offering presentations on strategic planning and ways for congregations to engage in the mission of bringing people to Christ. Another will explore a common language for passing on the faith and basic principles for forming disciples who are willing and able share their own faith stories.

The final break-out will focus on converting faith into action, “bringing good news to the poor, proclaiming release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, letting the oppressed go free. . . .”

The afternoon break-out will assemble congregational teams according to church size. Each group will hear stories from sister churches that have been

tackling the bishop’s four goals—what’s worked, what hasn’t, what’s in place, what’s coming up.

Consultants trained in each of the three areas will be available to guide and assist each congregation in preparing a map for the journey ahead. (See “Beyond the 86th Convention” above.) Using the four goals as compass points, each congregation will create a take-home map outlining next steps toward accomplishing these goals within the home church.

Great Thanksgiving The day will conclude with the community gathered for the celebration of the Great Thanksgiving. Each team will be invited to offer the map created as a symbol of their commitment to working together as a diocese to realize the bishop’s goals. Coming together at the Lord’s table, a final charge from the storyteller, and a blessing from the bishop—and the participants will go forth, to bloom where they’re planted.

Convention/Lambeth 2008

The Rt. Rev. Charles F. Duvall, retired bishop of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast who now assists Bishop Henderson in Upper South Carolina, will be our special guest at Diocesan Convention’s Leadership Day, October 18.

Widely known as a master storyteller, on Leadership Day Bishop Duvall will weave the Story we all share together with the stories of our Upper SC faith communities, inspiring and challenging us to deepen our ability to share the life-changing gift of our faith with others.

Convention registration— Here’s how Registration for Diocesan Convention (Business Day, Leadership Day & the Celebration Dinner) is available online, via a link on the home page of the diocesan Web site (www.edusc.org). If you are unable to register online, please contact Julie Price at the diocesan office (803.771.7800, ext. 23; 800.889.6961).

Fees for each day of convention and the celebration dinner are $25 per person. A discount will be given to all who register for two or more events.

Because of the higher registrations costs this year, we encourage congregations to assist their leaders by underwriting a portion of these fees for their teams.

Bishop’s address, elections, Statement of Mission highlight 86th Convention business

From 9 a.m. till 4 p.m., the business of the diocese is the order of the day on October 17, day 1 of the 86th Diocesan Convention—looking at what Upper SC has accomplished in mission and ministry during the past year and the looking ahead to what’s coming next. A perennial highlight of business day is the bishop’s address to Convention.

Elections, including seats on Diocesan Executive Council, possible changes to the diocesan Constitution and Canons, and proposals for diocesan resolutions are other staples of the agenda.

Convention will also receive the diocesan treasurer’s report and vote on the Statement of Mission, our financial plan for mission and ministry for 2009.

Visit www.edusc.org for the business day agenda, bios of nominees for diocesan office, and other materials to come before Convention.

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Convention/Lambeth 2008

Crosswalk

www.edusc.org

The honor of your presence is requested at

Mark your calendars: September 2 All new Web site, coming soon Launch of the new www.edusc.org is scheduled for Tuesday, September 2, 2008.

Watch for ...

A cutting-edge church finder An interactive calendar of events A comprehensive site search feature AND NO MORE DANCING MENU! We’re betting you're gonna love it!

A special evening of celebration October 17, 6:30 p.m., Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center A fabulous dinner and an exciting program, including . . .

The first annual Bishop’s Cross awards, celebrating the life and ministry of Upper South Carolinians who have shared their time, talent, and treasure with uncommon grace An invitation to all Upper South Carolinians to participate, in a powerful new way, in the ongoing mission of our diocese. (You won’t want to miss this exciting announcement!)

Make your reservation now! Find out how on page C of this Crosswalk.

—continued from page B The Windsor Report process continues. To those who expected “answers” or an end of the process will come some disappointment and frustration. But decisions by votes or resolutions were never the purpose of this Lambeth Conference. Rather, this one was more faithful than some to the first Lambeth Conference—bishops called together to consult with each other about the mission and life of the Church across the Anglican Communion.

But progress toward the answers of today’s issues was both expected—and accomplished. The Listening Group and the Windsor Process Continuation Group listened to our conversations as well. The formation of a covenant continues the course that was set out for it in the Windsor Report. The feelings and thoughts gathered at Lambeth will shape a third draft of a proposed covenant; that draft will be submitted to the provinces (that is, to each of the national churches which constitute the Anglican Communion); then the work goes to the Anglican Consultative Council (with a possible meeting beforehand of all of the primates); and eventually back to the provinces with a proposal for adoption.

The timing of the process, if on schedule, means that a covenant will not be ready for consideration by our General Convention 2009. Progress continues—perhaps with frustration—but it continues. (To get a clearer picture of how the archbishop of Canterbury

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sees our future, I commend to you his three “presidential” addresses of the conference, available online, through the diocesan Web site. Frankly, I need to reread the third address to obtain a better understanding of his specific hopes.)

We are evolving.

Beloved, The Episcopal Church is evolving.

The Anglican Communion is evolving.

ment as my reflection on Lambeth Conference. With patience (God’s ways, and God’s time, are not our ways and time), and with diligence (“Go and bear fruit”), we continue to strive to be disciples making disciples. We maintain our commitment to the unity which our Lord considered essential to the accomplishment of his mission—and therefore ours: “The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one. . . . That they may become completely one . . . so that the world may know that you have sent me. . . .”

But I have no doubt whatsoever that the Holy Spirit has called together those churches which constitute the Anglican Communion, and has a mission for us— a mission which, as a result of our history, our polity, and our worldwide connectedness and connections we dare not risk. Speaker after speaker: ecumenical partners, a protestant expert in evangelism, a Jewish rabbi, a remarkable environmentalist and steward of God’s creation—all witnessed to the blessings which God now does, and can do, through a united Anglican Communion.

Unity and mission are inseparable. That’s where God wants us to be. And that’s where, by God’s grace, we strive to be.

Consequently, in faithfulness to our Lord and his purposes for our beloved communion and our beloved Episcopal Church, our continued mission is consistent with the Rule of St. Benedict which so shaped Anglicanism: Ora et Labora (Pray and Work). The Diocese of Upper South Carolina has committed itself to pray and work to discern God’s will for us and to be faithful to living into that will. I repeat that commit-

“And, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Someone who wrote a history of Lambeth Conferences began his work with this observation: “There is nothing like Lambeth Conference.”

Departing Canterbury Cathedral Sunday, August 3, following the concluding liturgy of Lambeth 2008, I could not help but recall that sentence and shake my head with both wonder and awe.

Faithfully yours in our Lord,

Upper South Carolina VII

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