Day7, Bishop Lillibridge (click here) reviews his day in the House of Bishops and the election of the nominating committee.
Archive for July 14th, 2009
Bishop’s Audio Report (Tuesday, July 14)
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009Strategic Vision for Latino/Hispanic Evangelism Adopted
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
DWTX from Anaheim – A strategic plan that has been two years in the making, and on which several persons from the Diocese of West Texas collaborated, has been accepted and praised by both houses of General Convention.
Saying that “sadly, almost 40 years of documents, resolutions, good will, and immeasurable effort from talented individuals has yet to produce results,” the report from The Episcopal Church Office of Latino/Hispanic Ministries took a new approach to Latino/Hispanic ministry.
A point of departure of the report was that Latinos/Hispanics are actually not a race but a mixture of nationalities, ethnicities, and levels of integration to the U. S. mainstream culture. This leads to the reality that not all Latinos/Hispanics have the same degree of acculturation, speak the same level of English, or have access to education to the same degree. Therefore, not all Latinos/Hispanics can be evangelized in the same way.
Congruent with the report, resolution D038 calls for The Episcopal Church to increase the number of “active and viable Latino/Hispanic Episcopal congregations” from 308 to 354 – a 15 percent increase – by providing financial assistance to dioceses who are willing to make financial commitments to this ministry.
Additionally, the Office of Latino/Hispanic Ministries will identify 100 primarily small non-Latino/Hispanic congregations located in areas with high Latino/Hispanic populations and provide them with resources to help these congregations grow by 30 percent over the next three years.
In both houses of convention, deputies and bishops were overwhelmingly in favor of the resolution. With a price tag of $3.5 million at a time when The Episcopal Church budget is already strained, some questioned how it will be possible to implement the resolution. But many said even without funding, the concept of the strategic plan needs to be accepted and widely distributed.
Bishop Suffragan David Reed of West Texas said the plan may be the “best thing we do at this convention.” Even if it is not funded, said Reed, “it is something we can bring back to West Texas and work with.” With few exceptions, said Reed, “our congregations in small towns will fit this plan.”
Reed added that after reading the report, he realized that “we have not played to our strength in West Texas.” The targeted populations, he said, “have the same values, hopes, dreams, and desires for their children” as do Anglo populations.
Some 54 persons collaborated to produce the report, of which four have ties to West Texas. This included the Rev. Willie Davila, vicar of Church of Reconciliation, Corpus Christi, and the Rev. Richard Aguilar, former rector of Church of the Advent, Brownsville. Karla Fernandez Parker, former member of St. Francis, San Antonio, and Patricia Perea of St. Francis, Canyon Lake, served as consultants to the committee that produced the report.
– Marjorie George
Church Leaders of Hurricane-affected Areas Express Gratitude to ECW
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009
DWTX from Anaheim – Episcopal News Service — Episcopal Church Women (ECW) has “an unblemished record of doing the heavy lifting of mission and ministry of this church and continues to show every church the way forward,” the Very Rev. David duPlantier, dean of Christ Church Cathedral, New Orleans, told the ECW plenary session July 12.
DuPlantier capped a program that was full of expressions of gratitude for the work done by ECW members in the nearly four years that have followed Hurricane Katrina. The plenary also provided a platform for two appreciative bishops. Robert Radtke, president of Episcopal Relief and Development, also was present to thank ECW “for standing with ERD” and the two dioceses.
“Thank you for your prayers, thank you for traveling to the Gulf Coast, and thank you for recruiting volunteers. Thank you,” said Bishop Duncan Gray of the Diocese of Mississippi.
“The last time I spoke with you we were in dire straits and you responded,” Gray added. “Then you went out to tell the story, and it snowballed and things started to happen in wonderful ways.
“We could have never done it without those who came, prayed and stayed. We relearned we are not self-sufficient, none of us is. We’ve relearned we need one another. We are on this journey together. God bless you for your prayers and your support. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Bishop Charles Jenkins of Louisiana noted that “New Orleans has not been as fortunate as Mississippi,” which received a $25-million FEMA grant to be administered by Episcopal Relief and Development. But he has also learned that “when we give, we are changed.”
In New Orleans the good news has come in the form of the Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative. “This is not a case of a rich church’s dream for poor people in need. The people of Jericho Road tell us what they need,” Jenkins said.
And what they need is the supervision and creative energy provided by the strong staff and board of the Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative, which is revitalizing a neighborhood in New Orleans’ Central City, home to Christ Church Cathedral and offices of the Diocese of Louisiana.
DuPlantier expressed the gratitude of the whole region. “Writing thank you notes was an obsession of my mother, who taught me you can’t overdo saying thank you,” he said. “Thank you for your constant and relentless focus … and for gracing us with your partnership” in a campaign to build a house for Jericho Road.
– by Nan Ross
Bishops’ Spouses at Work
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009DWTX from Anaheim - Episcopal News Service – Some 45 spouses of bishops attending General Convention spent the morning of July 13 painting, nailing, repairing, gardening and even fixing plumbing fixtures during the Spouses’ Service Project.
The work project took place at a trailer park in Anaheim, about four miles from the Convention Center, that is mostly occupied by senior citizens. The spouses, who also donated supplies for the project, teamed up with Rebuilding Together — Orange County, the local branch of a nationwide service organization, to help repair two homes that had been cited by county inspectors. The elderly residents were facing possible fines or even eviction if certain repairs were not made, according to Mary Bruno of Los Angeles, who organized the spouses’ program.
“We like to do things that have substance,” said Bruno, who is married to Bishop Diocesan J. Jon Bruno of Los Angeles. “We don’t come here just to play. We’ve had presentations on ‘The Teenage Brain,’ on Episcopal Relief and Development, being green, EFM [Education for Ministry] and more.”
– by Janet Kawamoto
Three from DWTX Elected
Tuesday, July 14th, 2009DWTX from Anaheim – The Rt. Rev. David Reed, the Rev. Ram Lopez, and Susan Hardaway were elected on Tuesday at the Province VII caucus to serve on a committee that would nominate persons for the position of Presiding Bishop if the current Presiding Bishop becomes incapacitated during her term of office. The three represent Province VII on the committee.