Sunset Convocation Meeting Minutes

June 2, 2002

St. Bede Episcopal Church, Forest Grove

Attendees:

The meeting opened at 2:10 p.m. with opening prayer by President Cynthia Reynolds.

Parish sharing: These are now requested in writing as well as for general information. Please e-mail these to Dean Roger Reynolds (UNKLEROGER@aol.com) to be included in the final version.

All Saints, Hillsboro - Bishop Ladehoff's visit on May 5 was celebrated by a vestry cookout. The bishop performed baptisms as well as confirmations. All Saints will host an Education for Ministry (EFM) class in the fall. A spiritual gifts workshop was held in order to identify possible candidates for various ministry positions. The new rector (The Rev. Chris Cole) is working out well, and the basic focus right now is on fellowship and fun.

Christ Church, Lake Oswego - Parish Nurse Harriet Bennett was a speaker for a recent Episcopal Church Women (ECW) gathering as well as a health care representative for Province 8.

St. Alban, Tillamook - Absent.

St. Barnabas, Portland - Bishop Ladehoff will be visiting in October, when the 50th anniversary celebration of the parish will begin. Adult forum potlucks have begun, once a month, with a variety of speakers and subjects designed to inform and educate in a fellowship setting. Vacation Bible Experience will take place the week of June 16, in the evenings, with all age groups participating together. The summer education program for children will include a story/lesson and a corresponding craft. The elementary youth program continues through the summer with a sleepover and other activities, and the middle-school group will be attending a baseball game in late June. We have a parish intern, Cynthia Reynolds, who is fulfilling the pastoral care requirement for her master's degree in theology. She will be assisting as needed, including teaching classes and doing hospital visits.

St. Bartholomew, Beaverton - Will be joining choirs with St. John the Baptist in two weeks (and then at St. John's the following week) for a special worship program. Vacation Bible School will be from 0930 to 1200 noon in July; a "Bug Safari."

St. Bede, Forest Grove - Held a baby shower for their nursery in order to restock and replace old equipment and toys, including a glass door for parent observation. The Sunday School boasts 75% congregational participation, thanks to the very successful "Godly Play" program. The very devoted intercessory prayer group meets at 0630 on Thursday mornings! Adult education has been focusing on prayer conferences and classes, coinciding with quarterly Ember times. The annual parish campout will take place in late July/early August of this year.

St. Catherine, Manzanita - Father Bartholomey, the new vicar, and his wife, have a lot of energy, and the sermons have been great! His installation will take place on August 24. The congregation is working on a five-year vision/charge for 2007. New committees have been formed in several areas of ministry.

St. Francis, Wilsonville - Due to word of mouth, the Godly Play program continues to be a great success in many ways. Color-coded name tags have been made so people can more readily identify newer members. The vestry retreat will take place in July. A health ministry has begun, staffed by volunteers. Quilting classes are being held in order prepare parishioners for ministry at the women's correctional facility. A memorial garden for pet remains is being planned.

St. Gabriel, Portland - Absent.

St. James, Tigard - Absent

St. John the Baptist, Portland - Looking into the Godly Play program for Sunday School. During the school year, monthly family-oriented worship was held at 0900. Youth from age 13 participated in a "Journey to Adulthood" program. The clergy search continues, as does its spiritual focus. Fifteen applications have been received thus far. Received an invitation from Ascension Chapel to visit and worship there. In May the dean of Oregon Episcopal School (OES) gave a series of lectures that were very successful. One of the deacons will be getting married soon, to a parishioner. Field Day is coming up, with admission prices of $4 and $6. The new photo directory will be out in the fall.

St. Michael/San Miguel, Newberg - The parish will be celebrating 50 years of ministry in 2003. Twenty-seven people were recently certified in sexual boundaries training workshops. Thanks to some remodeling, the pastor now has a new office! Vacation Bible School will take place in Sun Creek Junction in August. New signage is everywhere, in two languages (English and Spanish). The purchase is on for the Baptist Church next door, including 3 acres of property, a gym, theatre, kitchens, and 19 classrooms. Diocesan support for this acquisition has been high. Two George Fox University faculty members and their families have joined the congregation. Community involvement is high, and there is a lot going on! For instance, during the weekend of May 5, in addition to worship services and regular activities, Cinco de Mayo was also celebrated, and performances of the musical play "Nunsense" were done. Over 850 people were on campus at one time or another, and everything went very smoothly.

Ministry to End Racism Statements: Most parishes are still working on these, and Cynthia will call and remind everyone that these are due to the convocation in July. Basically what is being looked for is a statement of how each church is dealing with racism issues, including a formal statement against, plans for reaching out to specific or all other ethnic groups, and education within the parish about the dangers of racism. (See attached letter from the diocese.)

Department of Congregational Development: There will be another meeting in Corvallis on September 21. Attached are the official minutes from the last/first meeting in February.

Diocesan Council Report - Kimberly Beck:

Triangle Lake is doing some restructuring in order to 1) Focus on youth and 2) Become financially self-sufficient. (Currently it is costing the diocese $140K/year.) They are looking for board members as well as more efficient ways to operate.

The diocese is also looking for a South Coast Missioner; currently The Rev. Reg Rodman has this position. This search is a result of a Total Ministry Task Force meeting with the supervision missioner. The South Coast position contract of five years has two left to go, but no more funds. So it has been placed under the bishop's staff and administration for budgetary purposes.

There was some discussion about considering a new diocesan position of overall coordinator so that ministries (and budget concerns) would neither overlap nor fall through the cracks.

The first draft of the diocesan budget was presented (see attached), and after some discussion the motion was made and carried to take three proposals for action back to council: 1) Drop the lowest priority items, 2) Consider and eliminate ministry overlap, but keeping those items which represented real growth, and 3) make a percentage cut across the board for all items. It was not discussed how low priority and overlap items were to be determined or identified. The convocation also wished to know who submitted the item of $7000 for convocation expenses, and what these expected expenses were.

The delegates were reminded to make lodging reservations for the fall convention which will take place in Roseburg November 14-16.

The next two meeting dates are August 11 at St. Bartholomew, Beaverton, and September 29, St. Michael/San Miguel. The September meeting will be followed by a celebration of St. Michael and All Angels, to which we are all invited. Both meetings will begin at 2:00 p.m.

Other Business:

Harriet Bennett Christ Church has agreed to help coordinate a convocation network of parish nurses, and to provide information to all who are interested in this ministry. She can be reached at (503) 636-7435 and eben101984@aol.com.

The Bishop Search process continues, and even though the surveys have been collected and the profile is being developed, input is still possible and desireable. To express yours and those of your congregations, contact any or all members of the search committee. Their names and e-mail addresses are available on the diocesan web-site.

The meeting closed with prayer led by Father Brandon Filbert.

Respectfully submitted,

Cynthia Reynolds, President

St. Barnabas, Portland

Attachments (3): Letter on racism

DCD minutes

Budget draft