- A REPORT TO CALVARY EPISCOPAL CHURCH
CONCERNING THE SPECIAL CONVENTION OF
THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH OF
THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF THE UNITED STATES
HELD ON DECEMBER 13, 2008 AT ST. PAUL'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH,
MT. LEBANON, PENNSYLVANIA
PRESENTED AT THE 11 AM SERVICE
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2008
Any doubts about whether there really is an Episcopal Diocese
in Pittsburgh were firmly put to rest at yesterday's Special
Convention at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Mt. Lebanon. A
total of 27 parishes from all over Western Pennsylvania showed
up and recommitted themselves to a Diocese that will be theologically
diverse but, we now believe, ecclesiastically unified. The contrast
in spirit and purpose between this Convention and the conventions
of the past several years could not have been greater. For
me, a highlight of the morning was the appearance of Tony Jackson,
who runs the urban youth program at St. Stephen's Church in Wilkinsburg.
After briefly reporting on his work there, Tony sat down at
the piano and led the whole assembly in a rousing, hand-clapping
rendition of the great spiritual tune "Soon and Very Soon".
For the first time in a long while, we were literally singing
in unison out of the same hymnbook, and with real and palpable
joy and enthusiasm. As Rev. Jim Simons said afterwards, "We
called a convention and a revival broke out." (How often
do you see that in the Episcopal Church?)
It was extremely heartening to have not one but four sitting
bishops of the Episcopal Church on hand to testify to our work
as a Diocese. In addition to Bishop David Colin Jones, who
has been advising the Standing Committee while continuing to
serve as Suffragan Bishop in the Diocese of Virginia, we welcomed
Bishop Sean Rowe from Northwestern Pennsylvania, Bishop Nathan
Baxter from Central Pennsylvania and Bishop Paul Marshall from
Bethlehem. (These are all of the currently incumbent bishops
in Pennsylvania.) In addition, we received a very eloquent
message of support by videotape from Presiding Bishop Katherine
Jefforts Shori. We know that the leadership of the Episcopal
Church in the United States is watching us and praying for us
and for that we are most grateful.
The most important step that this Convention took was to reaffirm
unequivocally that we are Episcopalians here in Western Pennsylvania
and that we will abide by the constitution and canons of the
Episcopal Church. All of the illegal resolutions that had been
passed over the last several years were declared to be null and
void. Unlike in past years, there was no debate over this resolution
and it passed unanimously. A second resolution, called "A
Common Life", asked the leadership of the Diocese to "take
appropriate action to make intentional relationship building
a visible and on-going function within the Episcopal Diocese
of Pittsburgh." It also passed unanimously. The Common
Life resolution was the work of Across-the-Aisle, a theologically
diverse group of clergy and lay people from around the Diocese,
which includes Calvary's, own Walter Bowman. We thank them for
their hard work over the past year.
Rev. Simons reported on our progress in bringing a new bishop
to Pittsburgh. As a first step, the Standing Committee has
decided to hire an "Assisting Bishop", who will report
to the Standing Committee and who will have such canonical and
ecclesiastical authority as is delegated to him by that Committee.
After reviewing four candidates, the Standing Committee has
selected the Rt. Rev. Robert H. Johnson, retired bishop of Western
North Carolina, to be the Assisting Bishop in Pittsburgh. He
has had extensive experience in working with troubled parishes
and dioceses in the Episcopal Church, most recently in Southern
Virginia. He will be here on a part-time basis, probably two
weeks per month, through the middle of next summer. In a wonderful
example of Episcopal connectedness, it turns out that Bishop
Johnson was Florence Atwood's mother's bishop. God willing,
he will be here next spring to confirm his former communicant's
granddaughter.
We adopted, again with very little debate, a budget reflecting
the financial realities of a smaller diocese. Joan Gunderson,
who has ably chaired the budget committee, announced that we
would be receiving $270,000 in support from the Episcopal Church.
This is a very meaningful and tangible show of support for
our work by the national church.
Many individuals from Calvary and from other formerly marginalized
parishes around the Diocese responded to the new dispensation
by volunteering for service on various Diocesan boards and committees
to which they probably could not have been elected in the past.
As a result, we had many more candidates than there were positions
to fill, which in itself is a welcome change. I am pleased
to report that Calvary will once again have a role in the leadership
of this Diocese. Lee Hicks was elected to the Standing Committee
as you know, that Committee will manage the affairs of
the Diocese until such time as we are able to call a new bishop.
I was elected to the Board of Trustees, where I look forward
to joining Larry Howard and learning all about trusteeship from
him. Last but far from least, our beloved Rector was elected
to be a deputy to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church,
which meets in California next July. Among its many responsibilities,
the General Convention has final authority over all books of
worship and music in the Episcopal Church. Now that Rev. Lewis
is on board, we can look forward with confidence to the imminent
return of the 1940 Hymnal!
Finally, I'd like to thank Carol Stanier for her tireless work
as the leader of Calvary's deputation to the convention. The
other deputies besides Carol and myself are Mary Burdett, Florence
Atwood, Ardelle Hopson, William Stevens and Roger Westman.
Please feel free to talk to any of us if you would like to learn
more about yesterday's convention.
Thank you.
Russ Ayres
December 14, 2008