Meeting Minutes

Sunset Convocation

October 15, 2000

St. Alban's Tillamook

Attendance:

St. Alban's: Fr. Ray Ferguson, Priscilla Brown, Helen Benscheidt

St. Barnabas: Fr. Ted Rodrigues, Mark Mahon, Cynthia Reynolds

St. Bartholomew's: Dcn. Roger Reynolds, Stu Cato

St. Bede's: Ken Dyar, Mies Monsantofils

St. Catherine's: Bonnie Conger

St. Gabriel's: Fr. David Brownmiller

St. James: Marie Bates, Norma Ewing

St. John the Baptist: Kimberly Beck, Nick DeMorgan, Bud Furber, Jeff Honeyman

St. Michael/San Miguel: Linda Seelye, Jose Martinez

Guests: Fr. John Scannell, Frank Dorscheimer

Dcn. Roger opened the meeting with prayer. There were brief introductions by those present, and we moved quickly to the budget presentation by Frank Dorschiemer.

Copies of the final draft of the budget were distributed. It is now in its final form; any further changes will take place at convention in November. Frank reminded everyone that motions must include suggestions regarding where funds were to be cut to balance suggested increases. Frank did a quick overview and asked for questions. Discussion first ensued regarding the nature of endowment funds listed as diocesan income. It was indicated that this is only from gains in the endowment, and does not effect the principal. Available endowment income in the future may change, due to changing market conditions.

This was followed by a lengthy discussion of the ECW (Episcopal Church Women) line item for $250. The amount was not in question, but rather the precedent of adding a new funding item for a group which has otherwise to date been self-funded. Why has this group been granted funds? What about other similar groups that are not funded, but could benefit from such funds? The ECW funding is primarily to help offset travel expenses to Province and National meetings by ECW representatives. As to whether other groups could be funded, if they were to make a proper proposal to council, they could certainly be considered.

There was further discussion regarding overall budget information. The question was raised as to other funds that are moving through the diocese that aren't reflected in the budget. For example, Triangle Lake, which is also funded by user fees. There was an interest in knowing how much these funds from other sources are for other entities, as the diocesan budget only reflects funds from the diocese. By knowing the total funds for specific groups, the perspective of what percentage is being funded by the diocese would be known. This may not be practical in all cases, and may result in an overly cumbersome budget package. This information is known and available, and used by council in developing the diocesan budget. But it is not normally published as additional information for delegates.

Finally, there were some questions regarding insurance, due to confusion over whether it had increased or decreased. The result was that yes it had increased, but not as much as originally expected in the first stages of the budget process. So there were some additional funds available to move to other programs.

We thanked Frank for taking the time to come to our meeting and make this presentation.

We then moved to congregational sharing.

St. Alban: They have now had a Monday night supper for the local community for about 2 1/2 months. It has been very well received. They have had anywhere from 6 to 27 people; attendance increases toward month ends. There is broad community support as well, from businesses and other churches.

St. Barnabas, Portland: They will be holding their Harvest Bazaar on November 4th and 5th. They are taking consignments this year as well, and encourage anyone with craft items to sell to consider their Bazaar. They will be having their annual Halloween party for the youth, and will be inviting youth from "Turning Point," a transitional housing project very near the church. They have had seven baptisms this year, with two more scheduled, as well as three confirmations and two reaffirmations during the bishop's visit on October 1. Their web-page is in its third year of operation, with links to the diocese and convocation sites as well as national and community resources.

St. Bartholomew: Last Sunday there was a fall fellowship potluck dinner, where people were grouped at tables based on when they first came to St. Bart's. There was time for sharing, and the process of developing a St. Bart's History was begun. A timeline of events was developed, and will be refined in the future. Fall Wednesday Night Education has begun, which starts with a meal and offers 3 or 4 classes on a variety of topics for limited terms. Also a new Sunday Schedule has been initiated, which allows a totally separate time for Sunday Morning education that is no longer in conflict with worship services. Sunday morning services are now 8:00, 9:00 and 10:45, with education at 9:45. A folk mass is featured every three months.

St. Bede: Things are very busy at St. Bede's. They are starting a Brotherhood of St. Andrew which meets on Saturday mornings at 7:30. This is a men's ministry focused on prayer, study, and community service. They are working toward an installation of the chapter on the Sunday closest to November 30 (St. Andrew's day). Services are really growing, especially the 10:00 a.m. They have had their fall "Rally" Sunday and a Newcomer Brunch. Their youth group has grown by 50%, and they have split into two groups, and added an additional leader. Stewardship is taking on a new form as well, and is becoming a "good issue," with more focus on the three T's (time, treasure and talent), spiritual gifts, and a holistic approach as it relates to the individual lives of parishioners. To this end they have a "Show & Tell" supper planned for the near future. They are working on a new parish mission statement to guide them through the next 20 years, as the goals of the statement developed 20 years ago have all been accomplished. A congregational meeting has been planned in order to gather parishioner input for this project.

St. Catherine: They have started a Tuesday Morning "Novena" group, focusing on meditation and the lectio divina (divine reading) method of prayer. They have invited The Rev. Marianne Borg from Trinity Cathedral, who will lead sessions on centering prayer. Fr. Chet Falby is now on board as their interim priest.

St. Gabriel: Also a lot of exciting stuff here. For St. Gabriel's Day (Sept. 24), they stopped the service at key points to allow time for "witnessing" by various people about their involvement in the church. The service was followed by their "time and talent" fair, which produced better results this year than in years past. This is attributed to the witnessing during the service, which allowed people to put a name and face to particular ministries, making it more personal. St Gabriel's has started a Chapter of Daughters of the King, called "Rose of Sharon." It incorporates members from other parishes, including St. James, St. Barnabas (Portland), and St. Bart's. Training is ongoing to have Chapters at all of those parishes. The youth minister is now on full time, and has expanded into young adult ministry as well. Alpha continues. They are hosting the Child Development School of Oregon in their building. This program works with autistic children. And they are beginning to look to the need to establish new congregations in the growing Washington County area. They had a service in which animals were blessed, and are working on an arrangement for the exchange of parish and mission audit teams.

St. James: Also a growing youth program here. St. James has extended down to grades 3, 4 and 5. They have a friendship group for women, and are hoping to start an EFM (Education for Ministry) class at some point. Val Ambrose is now onboard as their interim.

St. John the Baptist: There was a correction to be noted for last meeting's minutes. The Organ at St. John's was not replaced, but rather refurbished, and some new ranks of pipes added. Four different aspects of the new enhancements will be highlighted during the four Sundays of Advent. In September they had their fall kickoff Sunday for the fall program, and had seven new families at the 9:00 a.m. service. A family worship service is featured every third Sunday. The youth group has now moved to meeting Sunday mornings, and was larger than expected, requiring a move to a larger room. Work on the Christmas pageant is ready to begin. The "Fall Classic," a major fund raiser for Outreach, is scheduled for November 4. It has an auction format, and will take place at Portland Golf Club. Last year's event raised over $30,000. The parish is still dealing with the loss of their assistant, Anne Bartlett, who was called to Trinity Ashland. But Dean Coulter is holding up quite well.

St. Michael/San Miguel: So much is going on their senior warden has them meeting twice a month at least. They are still in the search process for a priest, and out of this necessity they are getting into more Total Ministry and the education thereof. Hispanic services are going very well, growing at a rate of 2:1 (Hispanic/all other), and filling the church. They are working to bridge the Anglo and Hispanic communities. There was a family meal on St. Michael's Day, singing of both English and Spanish hymns during the service, and a fiesta. They have up to 80 Hispanic persons attending on Sundays, including approximately 35-40 children. They have youth group on Saturday, Bible study on Wednesdays, an ESL (English as a Second Language) class on Saturday, and are planning a Halloween dinner. There are ten Hispanic children who are studying for and looking forward to their First Communion, an important event in the Christian journey of the Hispanic community. Ethnic and denominational tension from the community and other churches has been slowly but surely disappearing due to intense pastoral care and education, which builds parish identity while maintaining ethnicity.

Additional items during sharing: Jose spoke some of the needs of the Hispanic Community and our diocesan Hispanic Ministry. He said it is important for the long-term development of these congregations that they have a good foundation. It can take 10-20 years to fully establish a congregation. We also need to think of these as separate congregations, not necessarily just extensions of existing congregations. We need to understand the cultural differences, and not just try to mirror our Anglo style of worship using the Spanish language.

We were also challenged by The Rev. David Brownmiller of St. Gabriel's to look toward the need of new congregations of all kinds within our convocation. Washington County in particular is growing, and may need a new church in an area like North Plains. We should not wait for the diocese to take the initiative, but should be willing to respond to the need from our local base.

We then moved into some general items regarding people and positions. Roger asked the group to approve the election of a "president elect". We are supposed to elect a president at our March meeting, but since Christina West really only took the position on an interim basis, and it is a long time to March, Roger suggested a president-elect, with whom he could begin to work on planning for next year. This was met with general approval, and Cynthia Reynolds, who was agreeable to serving, was elected. We also needed to elect representatives to diocesan council. There were no clergy candidates forthcoming, so it was moved by Ted Rodrigues that the Dean be empowered to find and appoint a suitable candidate. This was seconded and approved. Kimberly Beck of St. John the Baptist volunteered and was elected to serve as our lay representative.

The meeting then turned to Hispanic Ministries more specifically, and Fr. John Scannell, a convener for the Hispanic Commission addressed the group. Regarding the questions put forth by Christina West in an earlier email to John and Jose:

1. Why is the office of the Hispanic Mission where it is? This was thought to be a good central location (St. Alban's, Albany) with good access to I-5. Current rent paid to St. Alban's is $300/month. It was thought that using facilities at any other church would not go on without some compensation to the hosting church.

2. How far will $10,000 go? Not very far. $5000 is to go to Commission activities, $5000 to the Missioner's activities. Since at $300/month rent, we can see $3600 of that would already we allocated, only $1400 is left for all other missioner expenses and activities. This is not much. The commission monies are used to sponsor workshops, conferences, procure education materials, and provide some scholarships. The commission and missioner are obviously faced with some challenges.

3. How does the missioner plan to work with Hispanic Ministries in the Sunset Convocation? This is difficult. Currently there are two active communities, one in Newberg and one in Hillsboro. San Miguel in Newberg has been getting more attention. Jose is actually a delegate to Convention from St. Michael's. A newly ordained deacon will be serving at Hillsboro. Delegates from St. Alban raised the issue of the need in Tillamook County, as their Hispanic Community grows. Clearly there is not enough missioner to go around. There are six active congregations: San Miguel, Newberg; San Pablo, Hillsboro; San Miguel y Todo Los Angeles, Portland; Santa Cruz, Boring; San Esteban, Newport; and Santa Maria, Eugene.

Other items that came up in discussion: Linda Seelye of Newberg indicated they have learned much about working with the Hispanic Community, and offered that people from St. Michael's would be willing to come and talk to others about what they have learned. Discussion of convocation finances came up. We have no budget. We have no funds. Should we look to our member congregations for some ongoing support to facilitate operations (communications, web page, workshops and other convocation wide activities)? What about outreach activities, where support monies from the broader convocation could be used to benefit in specific areas, such as Hispanic Ministries, looking to start a new mission, etc. The president-elect and the Dean will begin to look at some of these ideas in more depth. Convocation members are encouraged to take some of these issues back to their respective vestries. What do the member congregations think the convocation should be doing?

The meeting was closed with prayer by Fr. Ray Ferguson, and a wonderful meal and fellowship time followed, hosted by the people of St. Alban's

Humbly submitted by Dcn Roger, Dean.

Corrections and comments to unkleroger@aol.com