Diocesan Council Highlights, April 10th, 2012

Bishop Michael asked all members of DC (and included Synod Staff) to describe their Easter highlight in 15 seconds or less. The diversity of the reports and the joy with which the anecdotes were told communicated to everyone present that the Lord has Risen indeed.
Bishop Michael reported on his trip to Hong Kong where he was present at the consecration of  The Right Reverend Andrew Chan the new Bishop Of Western Kowloon. He was one of 26 visiting bishops.
A highlight of Bishop Michael’s visit was spending time with The Right Rev. David Lai of Taipei, the Bishop of the Episcopal Church Of Taiwan which happens to be our partner diocese. He has a joyous presence and he is well liked by the Bishops of Southeast Asia who are predominantly conservative.
Bishop Michael reported on the Provincial House of Bishops statement about the Northern Pipeline process (click the link to access the STATEMENT). Bishop Michael reflected on the questions that he was asked by media during the follow-up to the issuing of the Good Friday statement and he was surprised that one of the young interviewers who spoke with him asked if the church had commented on politics before.
In Bishop Michael’s view this is indicative that the media has adopted the secular view of religion and many people who currently work in media have very little church context or experience to draw on.

AGENDA
Bishop Michael drew Council’s attention to the agenda and announced that Item 6.2 has been withdrawn and the material contained in the April 10th DC package is for information only.

4. MINUTES
4.1 March 15th, 2012
The Motion to receive the minutes was carried

5. CORRESPONDENCE
5.1 Letter from Anglican Journal of March 1, 2012
5.2 Letter from VST of February 29th, 2012

6. ACTION – FOR DEBATE
6.1 St. Dunstan – Request for loan forgiveness.
Precis
Request
Treasurer Ian Robertson summarized the Precis from St. Dunstan’s, requesting loan relief. He went on to state that the diocesan financial committees, A&F and G&L listened to the St. Dunstan contingent’s request
and were extremely impressed by that communities generosity and excellent stewardship of their resources. Following the St. Dunstan presentation, the two committees decided that they would not only grant the request, but in recognition of St. Dunstan’s significant stewardship record, and the fact that they are currently engaged in vital mission outreach to the community, outreach that requires their full focus, the committees voted to increase the amount to be forgiven from the 19,000 requested to 38,000. This will allow the Parish to move forward with their community outreach programs in 2013
The Motion was Carried
The Bishop was pleased to write to the Parish to convey Diocesan Council’s best wishes on this significant accomplishment by a small but committed parish group.

6.2 St. Edward, Bridgeport – Request for closure
Archdeacon John Stephens, Bishop Michael and Director for Mission and Ministry Development, Rev. Douglas Fenton spoke to the St. Edward’s request.
This is a parish that have been without full-time ordained ministry for many years. The parish has dwindled to a small handful of people that neither have the energy or the resources to continue.
They have asked for closure. If DC passes the motion of closure there will be a legacy committee formed with the congregation to continue their presence in ministry in the area. The St. Edward’s community would like to spend the money they have to stay active until June 30th, 2012 and to continue as one of the three churches in Richmond MAP.
The Motion was Carried

6.4 Diocesan Commitment to Church Planting
Bishop Michael pointed out that DC has spoken in the past and made decisions about the three parishes that are the subject of this plan; St. Matthew’s, Abbotsford, St. Matthias and St. Luke, Oakridge and St. John’s Shaughnessy, primarily regarding funding.
Bishop Michael reminded DC of Assistant Treasurer Jim Stewart’s words that no diocese has ever planted three churches on “scorched ground”.
This requires some new thinking and a new approach and that approach is outlined in the document that contains the proposal of hiring a senior clergy person to work ¼ time as the Bishop’s Missioner.
Bishop Michael has appointed the Rev’d Michael Fuller of the Diocese of London, England, Incumbent of St. John’s, Shaughnessy and he is going to need substantial support.
An extraordinary situation calls for an extraordinary response from the diocese.
Each of the three parishes is a very different situation and they are developing in their own ways.
The Rev. Dr. Richard Leggett observed that there was no mention of the roles deaneries may play in the proposed strategy moving forward.
Chancellor George Cadman replied that this type of concern would be the function of the Bishop’s Missioner to bring together the support of deanery clergy with the diocese, to unite and share some ministerial goals.
Bishop Michael pointed out that our job as a church is not just assessing Ministry but being open at the same time to plant and develop new ministry as well.
The Motion was Carried.

Atira Women’s Society
Ian Robertson reported on the arrangement with Atira Women’s Society to take over the Abbeyfield site at St. Margaret’s of Scotland.
Ian thanked the Diocesan Registrar for his outstanding work in making this happen and called for a standing ovation for Don Paul which DC was happy to perform.
For the full story about the lease agreement between Atira Women’s Resource Society and the Diocese of New Westminster please click the link.

8. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/INFORMATION
8.1 White Paper – Diocesan Re-organization
Douglas Fenton presented DC with a brief summary of what Diocesan Re-organization would look like in terms of, DC membership, the roles and construction of standing committees and other items. Douglas playfully pointed out that the last time the Diocese looked at re-organization or re-structuring was in 1967, so in his view we aren’t rushing into things.
This conversation will continue at Diocesan Synod in May and at archdeaconry meetings in fall of 2012 with plans for implementation at Synod 2013.

8.2 Monthly Financial Statements – January 2012 and February 2012
Diocesan Comptroller Mark Beley drew DC’s attention to the statements.
He told DC that revenue for January and February was up substantially. Mark went on to say that he saw the March earnings statements that day and there were no increases in March.

A discussion continued about the excellent work of the Mission to Seafarers, particularly noting the increased presence at Robert’s Bank/Deltaport.


Diocesan Council is the decision making, governing body of the Diocese of New Westminster consisting of:
the Diocesan Officers (Bishop, Dean, Executive Archdeacon,Chancellor, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer)
the Archdeacons of the five Archdeaconries
the Archdeacon who is the Director of Deacons
two additional Diocesan Legal Officers, (Registrar and Legal Assessor)
a Lay Secretary, a Clergy Secretary,
the chairs of the Diocesan Standing Committees
there are two Deanery reps either Ordained or Lay. Sometimes Deaneries have two lay reps and sometimes two clergy reps, sometimes one of each. A Deanery is a group of churches, geographically affiliated and the reps are elected at the Annual Synod Meeting.
Synod Staff also attend meetings but are not members of Diocesan Council. They include: Business Administrator, Director of Planned Giving, Comptroller, Youth Coordinator and Communications Officer (and other staff as required).
Diocesan Synod consists of all the active clergy in the Diocese of New Westminster and 2-6 lay people elected from each diocesan parish proportionate to the size of the parish community.
Diocesan Council functions as the Synod between Synods, it is a representation of the large group that meets annually.
Diocesan Council and Diocesan Synod are both chaired by the Bishop.

Diocesan Council meets monthly on the second Tuesday of the month usually at St. Augustine, Marpole at 7:30pm. Diocesan Council is adjourned for the months of July and August.