Loading...A Jan. 29 gathering at Good Samaritan, Knoxville, wrapped up three regional meetings held in advance of the Feb 10-11 Annual Diocesan Convention at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Knoxville. Two other meetings were held at St. Paul, Kingsport, on Jan. 22 and St. Peter, Chattanooga, on Jan. 8. About 100 clergy, delegates, alternates and interested persons participated in the meetings.
At the gatherings, Bishop Young reminded participants of the 2012 convention theme from the Baptismal Covenant, “Seek and Serve Christ in all Persons.” In addition to the theme, the bishop said that it is his intention that diocesan conventions “Celebrate, Inspire and Equip” participants. “There is much to celebrate in this diocese – the convention provides an opportunity to learn about all that is going on in the diocese.” Noting that the convention is a time for business but also for fun, he said, “We – the 50 parishes and worshipping communities of the diocese will not only celebrate what we do but who we are as a diocese together.”
Bishop Young said that the chaplain and guest speaker following dinner will be the Rev. Dan Matthews, and he encouraged all who attend the convention to participate in the Friday evening banquet instead of opting for different dinner plans. “We are together for such a short time and we don’t have much opportunity to spend time together,” he said at the Good Samaritan gathering.
Canon Stephen Askew provided an overview of the convention at the meetings. He said the Rt. Rev. John Tarrant, bishop of the Diocese of South Dakota will be a special guest this year.
Young and Askew highlighted the need for people to serve on Bishop & Council, noting that there had only been one person nominated to serve on this important committee out of 4 needed. Nominations were encouraged from the floor of convention.
“These things are important to the work we do,” Bishop Young said. “Through these positions, we offer ourselves to the wider church. Next year, we’ll have a nominating committee to receive names and recruit people. I’m always interested in getting new people, oftentimes young people, involved in these ministries,” he said.
Askew explained the process for making nominations. Full information is available at the 28th Annual Diocesan Convention web page.
Resolutions submitted to date were reviewed by Askew, who said that there will be several additional resolutions related to the diocesan Constitution and Canons. Askew said that since we were electing a bishop last year, no changes were made to the C&Cs. Some of the proposed changes that will be in this year’s resolutions will relate to the process for electing a bishop, drawing upon experience and knowledge gained last year’s election. Resolutions to date are posted on the convention web page.
Askew said that a change to the formula for determining how many delegates a parish may send to convention will be in a resolution to convention this year. The resolution proposes to base the number on average Sunday attendance instead of “the number of confirmed communicants in good standing of the congregations, as shown in the last published Journal.” Askew noted that if the change were made today, only one parish would be affected, and the number of delegates from that parish would increase by one.
Don Sproles, diocesan treasurer, reviewed the proposed diocesan budget. He said that the treasurer is required to take a balanced budget to convention under diocesan canons. Sproles said that the proposed 2012 budget is based on a conservative projection of 88.5% of askings, slightly less than last year. If parishes give more than 88.5%, opportunity will be provided to fund, or more fully fund, diocesan ministry. Sproles said that the most important source of income is voluntary commitments from parishes. He said that as of Jan. 29, 35 out of 46 commitments had been received.
Sproles said that the proposed budget is $1,595,347, a decrease of about $72,000 from the 2011 budget. Expenditures include Outreach Ministries inside and outside the diocese, support of congregations, camp scholarships, MDG fund, support for the Episcopal Church (the Diocese of East Tennessee is a 100% responder to the asking from the Episcopal Church), ECW Triennial meeting, Province IV Synod, clergy support, clergy transition, support for the Episcopate, fixed costs for ministry, web sites for parishes in the diocese, and Campus Ministries. Sproles pointed out that support for Campus Ministries has been increased, including a salary for the chaplain of the UTC and UTK Campus Ministry.
Sproles noted that the Church’s General Convention changed its formula for askings in 2009, instituting a decreasing scale beginning in 2010 (21%), 2011 (20%), 2012 (19%). He said that The Episcopal Church is asking for less and it gives us an opportunity to reduce our budget and spend more on Mission and Ministry. The diocese also decreased its askings beginning in 2010, with the goal of parishes having additional funds to spend on Mission and Ministry.
The proposed budget is posted on the convention page of the diocesan web site. The convention hearing on the budget is scheduled at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 10.
There were expressions of appreciation about Grace Point and questions about its financial status. Bishop Young said that he spends a lot of time thinking about the development of the Grace Point property. Despite increased usage in 2012, the camp still requires diocesan support. He said that what we have is not sufficient, noting that we’ll be hearing more about this in the future.
As the meetings concluded, Bishop Young said “It’s going to be hard to be a convention delegate in the future – our conventions are going to be fun; if you want to be a delegate, you’d better start politicking now!” He concluded the gatherings with a prayer.
Below is an outline of specific items discussed at the meetings:
- This was the first year all parishes got their delegates in and registered on time.
- Nominees for Bishop and Council are needed. Only one was received by the Jan. 10 extended deadline for nominations. A total of four new members of the committee are needed: 1 clergy person from the South East Area; l clergy and 1 lay person from the Middle East Area, and 1 clergy person from the Upper East Area. Each will serve for a term of three years. More information may be found here.
- The minimum number of nominations has been received for Standing Committee and for Trustee, University of the South, but if there are others interested in serving, nominations are also welcome.
- Full information about elected leadership positions may be found in the Diocesan Constitution & Canons and summary information may be found in nomination guidelines.
- Nominations at this point will need to be made from the convention floor, and nominators will need to bring 300 copies of an information sheet for each nominee containing a short biography and picture. Guidelines and the nomination form may be found here. Canon Askew said notification that a nomination will be made from the floor will be appreciated. The canon may be reached at askew@dioet.org or 865-966-2110.
- A Nominating Committee has been established to receive names and recruit people for diocesan leadership positions.
- Below are resolutions received through Jan. 10:
To Ratify Standing Committee Actions Regarding Title III, Canon 1, Real and Personal Property
Resolution to Make St. Paul, Seymour, a Parish in the Diocese of East Tennessee
A Resolution for Structural Reform to the 77th General Convention
Christian Responsibility for Those in Prison
- Additional resolutions relating to Constitution and Canons will be posted to the convention web page shortly.
- The 2012 proposed budget may be found here.
- The plan for future conventions is to keep them centrally located in the diocese, but vary the locale every few years.
- The convention schedule is posted on the convention web page, but please note that it is not final until Feb. 10. The final schedule will be included in convention packets provided at registration on Feb. 10.
- All information about the convention is posted on the convention web page.
Web page for the 28th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee: //dioet.org/diocesan-convention-2012.html.
