Bishop outlines new strategic plan; Presiding Bishop tell convention “Dream God’s dream for the world”

RIVERSIDE – The Diocese of Los Angeles may be tackling tough economic times, devastating wildfire recovery and lingering property disputes but "there is something in our Anglican DNA that helps us embrace change," Bishop Jon Bruno told delegates to the 113^th annual meeting of the Diocese of Los Angeles on Friday, December 5 at the Riverside Convention Center.

 

"Faith and hope are central as we work together on a new strategic mission plan for our diocese," Bruno said, echoing the convention theme, "Faith and Our Future." He challenged congregations to address global issues such as climate change, ending the war in Iraq, and the use of cluster bombs, reforming U.S. immigration policy, and expressed dismay at the November 4 passage of Prop 8, a ban on gay marriage.

 

He announced creation of "Sacramental Blessing for a Life-long Covenant," an order for blessing and honoring holy relationships. He said the rite conforms to General Convention 2003’s Resolution D051, which placed such blessings within the context of the local pastoral relationship.

 

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, keynote speaker for the two-day convention, invited the gathering to embrace transition and to be willing “to dream God’s dream for a world where the poor and weak receive justice and equity.

 

"We are people of the future," she said while preaching at the opening Eucharist. "We may not expect to see the dream fully realized in our lifetimes but we still live in expectation. That’s what Advent is about."

 

She continued, "We are all, together, part of that ministry of John Baptist’s – making the way straight for God’s coming kingdom.  So, what does a straight road look like?

"That straight road is what Isaiah specifies – justice for the poor and equity for the meek. It means that an immigrant doesn’t have to walk a much steeper road than a longer-term resident. It means that children who grow up in poorer families aren’t deprived of first-rate educations. It means that people don’t have radically different access to health care based on their ability to pay. It means that all pregnant women can get adequate prenatal care, so that the children they bear have a more equal start in life.  That straight road doesn’t take detours at national borders, to avoid the untreated sewage on one side.  Those who build this road provide adequate waste treatment, as well as clean water, decent housing, hospitals, and schools all along the road – for we remember that God was born among us in a poor and occupied land, to parents who were at least temporarily homeless.  The road we’re meant to build is supposed to be available to all of God’s children – to folks in wheelchairs and strollers as well as those who have a vigorous and lengthy stride."

 

 

Jefferts Schori, on her first official visit to the Southland since she was elected Presiding Bishop, will participate in Los Angeles’ first-ever diocesan convention live web-cast Saturday, December 6. She will discuss issues of women’s empowerment during the inaugural address of the Margaret B. Parker Memorial Lecture. She will also address the convention later in the day on December 6.

 

Bishop and Mary Anderson celebrated; bishops' elections planned

 

Even as delegates anticipated a Friday night dinner celebration to honor retiring Bishop Assistant Robert and Mary Anderson's ministry, Bruno announced the planned June 2010 retirements of both Bishop Suffragan Chester Talton and Bishop Assistant Sergio Carranza.

 

Anderson is retiring after 12 years as an assistant bishop in the Southland. One of the longest-serving active bishops in the Episcopal Church, he was consecrated Bishop of Minnesota in 1977 at the age of 43.

 

Carranza, who was formerly the Bishop of Mexico, has served as assistant bishop in Los Angeles since 2002.

 

His voice breaking as he announced the retirement plans, Bruno called for the election of two Bishops Suffragan during the 114^th annual meeting of Convention in December 2009. He said he will announce as early as possible the names of members appointed to a search and nominating committee.

 

He received a hearty round of applause when he noted that, during a recent series of strategic meetings around the diocese "we heard repeatedly … the importance of bringing a woman bishop to the table of leadership in this diocese—as well as making sure that our Diocese is fully serving its multilingual population with multilingual leaders."

 

 

Bruno also announced creation of a diocesan Office of Community Relations to strengthen technology and communication in Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese as well as plans for a new diocesan center for creative ministry to support emergent congregations.

 

Youthful pilgrims; lively debate

 

The convention theme, "Faith and Our Future" surfaced in videotaped comments from such well-known leaders as retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu and England’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown;

 

"Twenty years ago they said it was an impossible dream that apartheid could end … that Nelson Mandela would be freed … that the cold war would be over, that the Berlin Wall would come down; but because men and women of faith and religious belief fought hard for these changes, these things happened," Brown said during a videotaped interview with Bruno.

 

Several young people from diocesan congregations who participated in a youth pilgrimage to the Holy Land, led by Chris Tumilty, bishop's intern, and Deb Neal, director of the program group on youth ministry, also addressed the gathering.

 

Elizabeth Kurtz described the pilgrimage "as a rough and bumpy experience. I wanted my weak faith to be strengthened. I wanted to be sure being Episcopalian or even Christian was really me. I doubted, I felt uncomfortable. I felt ill. I shed tears. I visited holy sites where I had no choice to be overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit."

 

Bruno cited Bishop Suheil Dawani of the Diocese of Jerusalem and the Holy Land as someone to learn from.

 

Mary Bruno made a videotaped plea to help educate young children in Zababdeh whose schools do not teach either English or Hebrew. "All commerce is done in those languages," she told the gathering.

 

Their families are invited to leave but are struggling to stay, she said. A grant of $750 will educate a child for a year, including uniform and shoes, she added. "We can be a thread of hope for them," she said.

 

Delegates approved resolutions providing for four regional meetings to discuss diocesan deployment practices and also to revise the Diocesan Investment Trust's Statement of Investment Objectives to reflect socially responsible investing.

 

At the Convention dinner on Friday evening, Bruno named five honorary Canons of the Cathedral Center: Randy Kimmler, diocesan associate for vocations; Janet Wylie, Secretary of Convention; Bill Seixas, member of St. Peter’s, San Pedro and longtime leader of that parish’s support of Episcopal Relief & Development; the Rev. Gregory Frost, rector of St. Andrew and St. Charles Church, Granada Hills, and the Rev. Anne Tumilty, rector of St James’ Church, South Pasadena.

 

 

 

Bishop Robert Anderson and Mary Anderson were honored for their long service to the diocese. Bishop Anderson received heartfelt tributes—and some gentle ribbing—from his episcopal colleagues, who presented him with an icon of the Trinity, talked about his way of saying unexpected things, praised his unfailing kindness and passionate commitment to justice, and gave him a canoe paddle, not for trips on the lake near the Anderson’s mountain home, but to continue to "stir things up."

 

Called to the podium to add her own accolades for Anderson, Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori quipped, “I don’t know why you gave him a paddle. He has never been up a creek.”

 

She described sitting on the bus with Anderson on the way to her first House of Bishops meeting. “I’d been a bishop for about seven days,” she said. She said that Anderson treated her from the first as a colleague and encouraged her as she began her new ministry.

 

Mary Bruno and April Talton spoke of the special relationship they had shared with Mary Anderson as they presented her with a silver Hands in Healing cross. “Mary B. is certainly going to miss Mary A.” said Mary Bruno.

 

The convention continues on Saturday.