We're finally getting back to working on diocesan convention news and links after first posting on that topic a week and a half ago. We'll focus this post on dioceses that have already held their convention in the past few weeks. We'll do a separate post for links and news, resolutions etc. for upcoming conventions.

Alaska: The Living Church has an article posted here re: resolutions regarding election of a new diocesan bishop as well as a suffragan.

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Bethlehem
The Diocesan Blog has a helpful post with news and lots of links re: the convention this weekend. Five resolutions were approved:

resolution_on_the_budget
resolution_on_salary_shedule
resolution_on_office_of_assistant_bishop
resolution_on_evangelism

*NOTEABLE* resolution_on_participation_of_all_baptized_members This is posted as a separate blog entry above, you can comment on this there

Bishop Marshall's address is here.

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Colorado: Bishop O'Neill's address is here. Here's an interesting excerpt on the challenges to go "deeper":

But like the gospel we heard tonight, there is that twist—that midpoint in the story in which Jesus calls those who would follow him to go even deeper.

What might that mean for us?

For Peter, it was about entering into deeper and deeper relationship with Jesus, and as a consequence being called to enter into deeper and deeper relationship with others. With each successive step in following Jesus, Peter was called out of himself to cross the lines of division and separation that so characterized his culture and society. He was challenged, by Jesus, to sit at table and break bread with those whom others would exclude. He was invited, by God, to embrace those who were radically different from him. He did so not without his own very real inner struggle and conflict. But he did so. He did so faithfully. He did so in obedience to Jesus. And in so doing, he gave the world a glimpse of the restored humanity that God desires for all humankind. For Peter, “the deep” was about giving of himself more generously than he ever thought possible. It was about learning increasingly to surrender himself, to abandon himself, to give himself up
completely, even to point of death, which is, if you think about it, the ultimate act of generosity.

There it is, the deep water—the challenge to live out of a posture of deep generosity, freely giving of ourselves in love to Love; and, as a consequence, the
challenge to enter ever more deeply into relationship with those around us whoever they may be. Here in Colorado the call to live generously has some very real challenges both practically and relationally.

Tomorrow, you will be presented with an operating budget—funding that you all set aside from your own congregational operating funds to support one another, to support the wider mission of the Church, through the Office of the Bishop. You will see that that proposed budget reflects the key mission initiatives that we have set before us, and you will see too that that budget is balanced. That would seem to be good and well. But I have to tell you it really isn’t. The funding for redeveloping the lives of our congregations is minimal. The resources to plant new congregations are extraordinarily limited. We have again reduced staffing in the Office of the Bishop. The money budgeted to support the summer camp program that has grown significantly over the past two summers will not cover the actual costs for this summer’s program. Funding set aside for the College and Young Adult Committee, which began its work in August, has been removed. Planned increases in funding to support children’s ministries in the diocese (training events, resources, resource development, and so on), is just not there. This
balanced budget is fiscally responsible, but it is, at the same time, missionally inadequate.

There were no resolutions. ENS has an article about the Colorado Convention, here.

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Milwaukee: We've added links to the spreadsheet for the convention page, the 1 resolution (on clergy compensation) and the budget.

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Montana
Stand Firm had a report from an attendee posted recently. Another brief report (but some interesting comments) at RevRef's blog is here.

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Nevada: The big news, of course, was election of a new bishop, Dan Edwards. His acceptance speech is here.

The Pre-Convention journal has one resolution on the MDGs

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South Dakota: There is this comment by Bp. Creighton Robertson on the Diocesan Information Exchange. There is no way to link it, so we post it in full:

+Creighton
Yesterday at 03:10 PM

Comments:
Greetings in the name of our Lord:

Well, the Diocesan Convention is over for another year, and we will meet again in Chamberlain in 2008. I think the folks in the Black Hills Deanery deserve a special round of "thank you" for hosting this convention. Also, the people of the Mni Sose cluster in Chamberlain, Lower Brule, and Ft. Thompson deserve a special "thank you" for their help hosting with the Friday evening service and providing lunch afterward. It was good to see so many folks gathering to participate in this year's convention.

The Banquet on Saturday evening was a little different, with a buffet dinner. Fr. Bunker Hill did a great job in locating the entertainer for the evening following the banquet. Great job Bunker!!

Some of the clergy, some lay folks as well, were upset that a letter had been mailed out from a group of folks at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Sioux Falls, asking folks to leave the Episcopal Church and join their Anglican group. The usual reasons were cited for their leaving, the issue of human sexuality, same sex union blessings, our failure to interpret scripture as narrowly as they do, and they ask all of us to consider leaving the Episcopal Church and join their splinter group. I spoke about some of their concerns in my convention address.

I believe that the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) has addressed the HOB statement and finds that it has met the conditions set forth in the Windsor Report, which is the document being touted by these splinter groups as the standard for belonging to the Anglican Communion. Whether or not the Primates will follow the ACC's lead is questionable. But as I said at the convention, it doesn't matter, since the Primates do not have the authority to either ask or remove someone from being a part of the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church in South Dakota will continue to be the Anglican expression of faith here in South Dakota. I suppose that some folks will be unhappy with that and will likely leave us. They can do that if they wish, and they can go with my Blessing. We, the Diocese of South Dakota, will use whatever resources we have to ensure that folks at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church will be able to worship in the Episcopal/Anglican tradition as they have since that church was started.

As I said at the convention, this whole splinter conversation is not about being the church, it is about power, authority, biblical interpretation or rather the holding of everyone to one interpretation, and it is about control. It is about dishonesty and it's about holding one group accountable to one standard and another accountable to a different standard.

I trust that you will see it for what it is worth, an attempt to force on the good people of this diocese, a way of life in the church which is at odds with the Anglican/Episcopal tradition as they have been expressed and handed down to us in this Diocese over time. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me.

I am preparing a letter to be sent to all congregations in this Diocese concerning the House of Bishops statement at the New Orleans meeting in September. It can be made available but not read from the pulpit.

Note to the clergy: There will be a Diocesan Clergy Retreat at Blue Cloud Abbey on January 28-31, 2008, Monday through Thursday. The Reverend James Lemler will be our retreat leader, and he will build on the information presented at the clergy conference in Chamberlain. Please put this on your kalendars.

Thank you all who attended the convention last week; it was great to see all of you. It was a wonderful time.

Peace,

+Creighton

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Western Louisiana: Virtually nothing on the diocesan website so far. But of course, Brad Drell made up for that lack. You can find the links here.

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Wyoming: We've added the link for the Wyoming Bishops Address. The focus was church vitality:

This is what a vital church looks like to me.
1. The unique perspective and contribution of every member is valued.
2. Members participate in ongoing engagement with the Gospel.
3. Members display the hard work of learning, discerning and healing.
4. Members engage in broad based, collaborative decision making.
5. There is full local engagement in determining strategies for mission and ministry
supported by diocesan staff.
6. All members share the Gospel in word and deed seeking to bring others into
relationship with Christ.
7. Should this congregation disappear from it’s community, it would be truly missed.
Vital churches bring Christ to the world and the world to Christ
Over the next decade we will pursue vitality. Vita (latin for life). We will become fully
alive, animated, vigorous, gospel sharing, bodies of Christ.

There don't appear to have been any resolutions.

Filed under: * Anglican - Episcopal • Episcopal Church (TEC) • TEC Bishops • TEC Diocesan Conventions/Diocesan Councils • * Resources & Links

1. Hakkatan wrote: In Colorado—why not do some decent exegesis, instead of a free-association meditation on “deep”?  In putting out into deep water, Peter was not doing anything unusual; he fished in deep water every working day—in fact, he usually fished at night,which would make being out on the deeper water a more dangerous activity.  The real issue for Peter—and for us—is, was he willing to trust and obey Jesus? The bishop said, in reporting on his meeting with African bishops, “We need them to call us out of ourselves, to call us out of our own self-absorbed and isolated little worlds and into a greater and more courageous practice of our faith.”  I wonder if he knew what he was saying?  That might well mean being called out of Western, rationalistic, politicized theology, and into a Christianity that believes what God has revealed in Scripture. October 14, 5:33 am | [comment link]

2. Larry Morse wrote: Isn’t what he said about funding tell us much of what we need to know out the health of his diocese and what his congregations are actually thinking and doing? The money isn’t coming in. This is apparently a simple fact. Is it not coming in because the diocese is suddenly poor? He is going into deeper water indeed.  LM October 14, 9:35 am | [comment link]

3. robroy wrote: It ticks me off that O’Neill talks about responsibility and passing a balanced budget. What a farce. October 14, 11:33 am | [comment link]

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