Diocesan Convention affirms mission, builds for the future

The 41st Annual Diocesan Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida met Jan. 30 at the Lakeland Center to reaffirm the diocese’s commitment to the Great Commission, and the coming years’ plans to carry out that mission.

“We said 10 years ago that our Vision was ‘to make the Great Commandment and the Great Commission the twin priorities of this Diocese,’ ” the Rt. Rev. John W. Howe said in his Convention Address.

Bishop Howe reviewed the diocese’s progress in attaining those goals. He also commended to the convention the work of the ad-hoc commissions, including the Strategic Planning Commission, that were established by the 2009 convention to determine the next steps in diocesan growth.

The Rev. Dr. Peter C. Moore was preacher at opening worship. Dr. Moore is Trustee Emeritus, Dean and President Emeritus of the Trinity School for Ministry, and associate for transformational discipleship at St. Michael’s Church, Charleston, S.C.

Dr. Moore urged the convention attendees to overcome their natural disinclination to evangelize their friends, colleagues and neighbors, acknowledging that the process can be awkward and fraught with misinterpretation.

“The problem may not be with our message, ‘Share your faith,’ but rather with the guilt-inducing, fear-producing feelings that we elicit whenever we try to move our people into mission,” he said. “Our missionary and evangelistic harangues are counterproductive – and here’s the message of the sermon this morning – because we forget the essential ingredient of grace.”

He urged the gathering to share the, “joyous response to God’s gracious work in our lives,” and said that joy would be contagious.

After the service, Bishop Howe thanked the Rev. Dr. Al Jenkins, rector of All Saints’, Lakeland, and members of his church for their efforts in playing host to the convention. He also thanked Canon Ben Lane, music director at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke, Orlando; Larry Sledge, a music director at All Saints’; and the Al Saints’choir for gracing the convention with their work.

The Hon. Gow Fields, mayor of Lakeland, welcomed the convention.

Parker Bauer, University of the South, brought greetings, as did the Rev. Dr. Robert Munday, dean, Nashotah House and Dr. Garwood “Woody” Anderson, associate dean for academic affairs, Nashotah House.

The Rt. Rev. Lloyd Allen, Bishop of Honduras, also addressed the convention, speaking on the great strides his diocese has made in moving from dependence on donors in the United States, to “sustainability.” He said giving by people of Honduras has grown from seven percent of the diocesan budget to 40 percent.

Thanks to the electronic tallying system set up by the Rev. Canon Ernie Bennett, voting was quicker than at any previous convention, when paper ballots had to be hand counted.

The convention passed the following resolutions:

R – 1, Celebrating the Life and Ministry of William F. Herlong, Jr.

RESOLVED: That this 41st Annual Convention of the Diocese of Central Florida gives thanks for the faithful life, Christian witness, and service to this Diocese by William F. Herlong, Jr.; and directs the officers of this Convention to memorialize the same to his wife, Marg, and family.

R – 2, Addition of The Reverend H. Baxter Liebler to Holy Women, Holy Men

RESOLVED: That this 41st Annual Convention of the Diocese of Central Florida nominates the Reverend Harold Baxter Liebler, Missionary to the Navajo, for inclusion in ‘Holy Women, Holy Men’ and be it further RESOLVED: That the Diocesan Board of the Diocese of Central Florida forward this nomination with the appropriate testimonials to the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music of the Episcopal Church. (The Rev. H. Baxter Liebler was the grandfather of Fr. John Liebler, rector of St. Andrew’s Church, Fort Pierce.)

R – 3, An Affirmation of the Covenant

BE IT RESOLVED: The 41st Convention of the Diocese of Central Florida affirms the final draft (December 2009) of the Anglican Communion Covenant which will both deepen and protect the integrity of our global Anglican Communion and common witness to the apostolic faith.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That the Diocese of Central Florida will listen carefully to the continuing discernment of the Communion regarding the adoption, meaning, and role of the Covenant in our common life, and will actively work to pattern our life together as a Diocese on the moral, doctrinal and relational commitments as they have been and continue to be discerned and articulated.

R – 4, A Response to General Convention 2009

BE IT RESOLVED: The 41st Convention of the Diocese of Central Florida affirms the positions and commitments made by its Bishop, the Right Reverend John W. Howe, in signing “The Anaheim Statement” in response to the divisive actions of the 76th General Convention of The Episcopal Church, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That we reaffirm the teaching of the Anglican Communion, including matters of human sexuality, and all that the Communion has asked of The Episcopal Church with the goal of re-establishing the bonds of affection broken by the actions, or lack thereof, of The Episcopal Church.

R – 5, Disaffiliation with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice

RESOLVED: The Diocese of Central Florida hereby dissociates itself from the affiliation of The Episcopal Church by the Executive Council with the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice (RCRC), and directs the Secretary to forward notice of this disassociation to the Executive Council and the RCRC.

R- 6, Response to the Election in Los Angeles

RESOLVED: That this 41st Annual Convention of the Diocese of Central Florida shall understand that, if the consecration of Mary Glaspool as Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of Los Angeles proceeds in light of Lambeth 1:10, in light of the Windsor Report, in light of the Scriptures, and in light of the proposed Anglican Covenant, those bishops who participate in that consecration shall have walked apart from those of us who remain in The Episcopal Church and remain committed to the Faith proclaimed in the Scriptures, received by the one holy catholic, and apostolic Church, and affirmed by the Anglican Communion of which we remain a part.

R – 7, Acceptance of Strategic Planning Commission Report

RESOLVED: That this 41st Annual Convention of the Diocese of Central Florida accept and endorse the Report of the Strategic Planning Commission.)

Explanation: The Strategic Planning Commission was created by Bishop John W. Howe in 2009 in response to Resolution R-8 that called for such a Commission “…to infuse this Diocese with the theological vision and values implicit in the [Bishop’s] Pastoral Letter [of April 15, 2008] and to carry its vision and values into the future.”

The Commission has met several times during the past year, and has solicited the contributions of all of our clergy, vestries, and congregations in seeking to determine how to best carry out this charge.

We believe the time is at hand for this Diocese as a whole, by action of this 41st Annual Convention, to reaffirm the Vision, Values, Mission and Goals that were expressed in the Bishop’s Pastoral Letter.

R – 8, Response to the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music Re C056

RESOLVED: The Convention of the Diocese of Central Florida issues the following statement of response to the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music request related to General Convention Resolution C056:

As our Prayer Book acknowledges, marriage was instituted and established by God in the beginning of creation as between a man and a woman. (See Genesis 1-2) Our Book of Common Prayer receives this definition: “Christian marriage is a solemn and public covenant between a man and a woman in the presence of God.”(BCP 422) While human beings have been tinkering and readjusting the Lord's simple blueprint ever since the establishment of marriage to accommodate a variety of relational choices and combinations, we have always done so at odds with our Creator's will and ultimately to our own consequence and detriment.

A large movement within the secular political sphere seeks to provide a “right to marriage” for alternative relational commitments and partnerships. Even if such efforts are successful (and in some places they have been), they will not necessarily be beneficial to our society or to those who exercise the new legal "right". As Paul writes, "Not all that is lawful, is beneficial." There are many examples that can be provided where something that is legal is not necessarily beneficial, and thus to be sanctioned by the Church. For example, abortion is a legal "right" in our country, but it is not only mortally destructive to human life, but also morally, emotionally and spiritually destructive to the mothers and fathers who exercise the "right."

The Holy Scriptures commends marriage in and of itself to be honored by all people. (Hebrews 13:4). While voices within our society and the Church membership are calling for a broader definition of marriage, that does not exempt us from the responsibility to honor marriage as God has defined it. As Jesus taught: "You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.” (Matthew 5:13)

The Christian Church’s responsibility is at times to speak and live counter-culturally if needed; this is what it means to be the "salt of the earth". While we recognize the theological and pastoral challenges that many of our fellow Episcopalians face in dioceses where secular legal definitions of marriage now include homosexual partnerships, we call our brothers and sisters in Christ to be in the world, but not of the world.

While the Diocese of Central Florida does not see the theological justification for broadening the definition of marriage to simply “two persons,” we are very much aware of the need to offer a generous pastoral response to those who experience homosexual self-identity, orientation or attraction.

The Christian ethic of sexual purity and holiness of life calls all members regardless of sexual identity, orientation or attraction to abstain from sexual relations outside of Holy Matrimony. When members of the Church fail in that call to personal holiness the liturgical resources of the Reconciliation of the Penitent (BCP 447) provide the appropriate pastoral office. For those desiring accountability, qualified Christian counselors and support groups are extremely helpful.

Our recommendation is that we currently have, within the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, all of the needed liturgical resources at our disposal to minister to all of our members with respect to marriage and human sexuality.

Memorials to deceased members of the clergy were led by the Rev. Amanda Wilson. The honored priests were the Rev. Paul David Wolfe, the Rev. Joseph J. Dunne and the Rev. Canon David Charles Lord.

The convention accepted the invitation of Fr. Bromily, rector of St. George Episcopal Church, The Villages, to hold the 42nd Diocesan Convention at St. George, Jan. 28-29, 2011.