Pre-General Convention Thoughts

I'm reflecting a bit as I get ready to travel to the 79^th General Convention(GC) of the Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas.  The GC occurs once every three years. This will be my second GC as deputy for The Episcopal Church in South Carolina.  During this General Convention, I am serving on the Governance and Structure Committee.  The committee’s mandate is to “Receive and propose Resolutions that address the governance and structure of the Church including General Convention, Executive Council, and the Anglican Communion.”  So far, the committee has received over 30 resolutions for consideration and debate.  More resolutions could be assigned to our committee.

So, the question for me as I prepare for General Convention: What gives the larger Church energy and vitality?  I believe it’s faith, gratitude, and proclamation.

Faith: Faith challenges us to go beyond self, to be with God, have a relationship with Christ, and trust that God will be there for us throughout age and time.  Faith also grants us the vision and courage, to trust in the Holy Spirit and to share with others the blessings God has given us.  Because of faith, we honor God with a passion for serving, discipleship, and ministry. To be people of faith means we leave our comfort zones, venture into unchartered waters and trust in God’s amazing power, grace and love. 

Gratitude: To express our joy to God through love, hope and reconciliation confirms our faith.  Gratitude is spiritually renewing as you give thanks to God through time, talent and service because of God’s goodness and blessings.  Gratitude acknowledges your belief that God is Creator, a gracious provider, a constant sustainer and ever-present in our lives.

Proclamation: The third characteristic of the Church is our willingness to proclaim the Gospel.  “Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?”  This should be one of the core values of our work at GC.  Deputies are asked to tell the story of how God that is active in their diocese and ministries. God is asking us to be “holy partners in a heavenly calling.”  We are asked to be partners in showing God’s grace and mercy to a hungry and thirsty world.  I pray our time at General Convention will do that.  

Recently an active Episcopal Bishop posted a quote from Thomas Merton on Facebook. The words caught my attention as I prepare for General Convention. The quote comes from "Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander."  Maybe these words will speak to you.  

“There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence to which the idealist most easily succumbs: activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work, because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”

Please keep all the deputies to General Convention in your prayers.

Blessings,

Rev. Dr. Jim Taylor

Province IV Synod photo album

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Prov IV - Day 2

Submitted by Andrea McKellar, St. Francis, Charleston

Thursday at Synod was a full day of business. We had the pleasure of having Presiding Bishop Michael Curry with us for a short while and then heard from the President of the House of Deputies Gay Jennings and Michael Barlowe, Executive Secretary of General Convention. Here are some highlights...
 
- There will be 848 Deputies in Austin, TX
- Find LOTS of information at generalconvention.org
- You can see the same information that deputies will see on their ipads at vbinder.net.
- The official hashtag for General Convention is #gc79
- All worship materials will be online. All of the worship services will be live-streamed so you can follow along from home!
- The 79th General Convention will be even more paperless than Salt Lake City. The cost of renting and using the ipads last time was less expensive than the copying costs in 2012!

One of the highlights for me was the Province IV Youth Ministry report. One of my roles with the diocese is as our Diocesan Youth Coordinator. I have had the honor of getting to know Helena Upshaw over the last 4 years. She is a strong leader at her church, in our diocese and province, and now at the denominational level! Helena was selected from a large number of youth to represent Province IV at General Convention as part of the Official Youth Presence. They have seat and voice on the floor of convention!

The General Convention Deputation of The Episcopal Church in South Carolina

Prov. IV Synod - Day 1

Submitted by The Very Rev. Wil Keith, Rector, Holy Cross Faith Memorial

For me at least, Kanuga has always been a place of consistency.  I grew up coming here, not to the summer camp, but for the annual conventions of the Diocese of Western North Carolina.  I was raised out of this diocese and would wander from cabin porch to cabin porch, reconnecting with folks, and later during seminary, shamelessly plugging my name to delegation after delegation, searching for a job.

But this year, I heard something new.  Rev. Michael Sullivan, who is the tenth president of Kanuga Camp and Conference Center, was the preacher at our opening Eucharist.  He used this platform to open our hearts and minds to the Gospel reading for the day and, quite frankly, said many things that needed to be said yet are not often heard. 

There was a clear challenge to embrace a new day in the Episcopal Church:  To prune away the fruitless vines in our governance and structure.  Declining numbers, committee meetings that accomplish little, and outdated models of ministry help us little and keep us from the work that is set before us.  As Rev. Sullivan put it: “there are people out there that would rather do yoga than come to church on Sunday morning.  They would rather get their Bikram in a 105 degree room, sweating their tails off, than come to church and listen to a bunch of people complaining about the air-conditioning.” 

Therefore, it is time for us to adapt.  We must be open to new ways of reaching people, streamlining our governance to free up resources to those engaged in active and life-changing ministry, and assessing our privilege honestly so that we can continue to be the best Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement we can be.

“I have searched through the Canons and Constitution of The Episcopal Church for the word, ‘love,’” Rev. Sullivan said.  “It’s not there…. I propose an amendment.”

Province IV Synod June 6-8

With General Convention just 1 month away, our Deputation is headed to Kanuga for the Province IV Synod meeting June 6-8. They'll be meeting with deputies and bishops from all over the southeastern United States, and spending some time with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and other Episcopal Church leaders.

Bishop Skip Adams already is at Kanuga for the Province IV House of Bishops meeting that began Monday. Province IV consists of our diocese and 19 others covering 9 southeastern states. Find a map here.

The schedule for deputies starts with social time, dinner and Holy Eucharist on Wednesday evening, followed by the first plenary session.

In addition to the Presiding Bishop's talk on Thursday, the deputies will worship together, vote in elections for provincial offices, and enjoy some of the beauty of the Episcopal conference center near Hendersonville, NC.

Also attending are the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, President of the House of Deputies; Angela Daniels, President of Province IV, the Rev. Michael Barlowe, Executive Secretary of General Convention, and Mary Kate Wold, President and CEO of the Church Pension Group.