Day Two of Synod began with the majority of delegates arriving bright and early at the Italian Cultural Centre well before 8am to vote for the new Diocesan leadership. Voting closed at 8:55 and was followed by Morning Prayer.
The presider at Morning Prayer was Holly Anonby from the Anglican Church of the Epiphany in Surrey. This liturgy contained Bishop Michael Ingham’s Synod Homily. This would be the final Synod sermon of his episcopacy and in it he examined things that he had said in the past and how they relate to where we all are now. Towards the end of his sermon he said,
“As I step down from this ministry, my heartfelt plea to you all is not to allow the stresses and pressures of parish life to turn you inwards, or to make you parochial and congregational in your vision and imagination. As I have said many times recently, "the Diocese" is all of us here. It's not a group of people somewhere else. It's not a taxation centre that robs us of our few remaining pennies. It is through the Diocese that each parish belongs to the others. It's through the Diocese we belong to the Canadian Church. And through the Canadian Church we belong to the worldwide Anglican Communion. Those dollars we surrender to the Diocese make possible mission and ministry throughout the Christian world. This is not, and never should be, a low priority.”
The full text of Bishop Michael’s address is available as a download please click the link.Next up on the agenda was a look at the diocese’s flow-through funded compassionate service ministry, care+share. Ministry Resources Committee Chair, Helen Brown gave a brief history of care+share and the five current recipient groups. The care+share funding for these groups: Our House; Anglicans of West Point Grey Neighbourhood Ministry; Street Outreach Initiative; Garden 2 Table and The Coming Home Society will conclude at the end of 2013. Three of the representatives spoke about the ministries and thanked Synod for the resources they have received. Father Matthew Johnson’s Street Outreach Initiative was represented by a moving two minute film and The Coming Home Society featured 7 women drumming and singing on stage as an announcement inviting people to attend the 10th Anniversary of Young Wolves Lodge 4-6pm, Thursday, June 6th was displayed on the screen.
Next was a reflection from Synod Partner, Bishop James Tengatenga. He gave an inspirational and informative address about being Anglican, and connectivity, particularly with the world wide Anglican Communion. He put things in perspective, saying that we are "pathologically Anglican" and that in his personal knowledge there are many examples of world wide initiatives involving Anglicans from Canada and specifically the Diocese of New Westminster. He reassured Synod that we are indeed “connected.”
The major programmatic item on the Day Two agenda was the presentation of The Reconnect Task Force. The task force resplendent in yellow slogan (LIFE IS BETTER WHEN YOU'RE CONNECTED) T-shirts took to the Synod stage to the strains of Kool and the Gang’s iconic party song, Celebration. The Task Force was created following the special Synod Nov 17, 2012, in which members of Synod expressed their concerns over feelings of disconnectedness from decisions made outside of Synod. This task force sent surveys to every parish council in the Diocese. 98% responded back. The response was clear. The respondents wished to have more information about the Synod office, other parishes, an improved diocesan website, better 2-way communications and a chance to get “connected” with neighbouring Anglican parishes.
After a brief overview, delivered by all five members of the task force, it was time for delegates to get to work on the bags of Lego that had been placed on each table. The table occupants were charged with working together to create a Lego creation with a title within 10 minutes. Each creation was then brought to the front of the stage and judged by Bishop Tengatenga. There were two winners.
Before lunch, the Returning Officer, David Rolf, ODNW delivered the results of the Synod election and they were as follows:
Treasurer: Bob Hardy (acclamation)
Clerical Secretary: Maggie Cole
Diocesan Council Deanery Representatives:
Burnaby Deanery: Nellie Porkert (acclamation)
Burrard Deanery: Kaye Kerlande
Capilano/Kingcome Deanery: The Rev’d Janice Lowell (acclamation)
East Vancouver Deanery: Rev. Viviam Lam (acclamation)
Granville/Point Grey Deanery: The Elizabeth Hodgson (acclamation)
North Vancouver Deanery: Ian Thomas (2 yr), Stephen Muir (1yr)
Richmond/Delta Deanery: Margaret Cornish (acclamation)
South Fraser Deanery: Charles Nurse
Westminster Deanery: Rick Barr
Yale Deanery: David Price
Youth Delegate to Diocesan Council: Anne Kessler
Anglican Initiatives Fund:
Clergy: Stephanie Shepard (acclamation)
Lay: Mr. Donald Paul (acclamation)
Bishops Advisory Committee on Appointments:
Clergy: The Rev. Michael McGee
Lay: Susan McGee
Board of Discipline:
Clergy: The Rev. Jeremy Clark-King (acclamation)
The Rev. Charles Balfour (acclamation)
The Rev. Trevor Fisher (acclamation)
Lay: Mr. Ross Bliss (acclamation)
Mr. Terry Love (acclamation)
Ms. Betty Vogel (acclamation)
After lunch, The Reconnect Task Force heard the reports back from the delegate’s table discussions and that was followed by a surprise highlight of the afternoon session, an energetic T-shirt auction by Chancellor, George Cadman of shirts (“game worn”) worn by members of The Reconnect Task Force during their presentation. The T-shirts had been signed by Bishop James Tengatenga and Bishop Michael. Using his impressive auctioneering skills the Chancellor managed to get the bidding up to $250 which “established the sale price for the remaining shirts.” All the signed shirts sold, with the proceeds going to aid the Diocese of Southern Malawi.
Following the Chancellor was a visit from Suzanne Rumsey a staffer at the National Office of the Primate’s World Relief Development Fund (PWRDF). She shared the story of a mission that she was on in Latin America with Bishop Michael in 1995. Her experience on that trip with Bishop Michael and others demonstrated for her “church at its best”, “church in the world” and remains for her an example of what church, mission and ministry can be. Suzanne presented a gift to Bishop Michael on behalf of PWRDF.
She then covered a good cross section of current PWRDF initiatives and opportunities for giving and participation. She invited Synod delegates to feel free to take a moment and speak with her and Diocesan PWRDF rep., Peter Goodwin during the time that they remained in the Synod Hall that afternoon.
The Offering collected at the Opening Worship was earmarked for donation to PWRDF. The initial collection was in the neighbourhood of $3,600 but Bishop Michael had encouraged Synod to consider additional gifts to increase the donation to $5,000. By Saturday afternoon just prior to the PWRDF presentation the amount had reached $6,000 which delighted Diocesan PWRDF Chair, Peter Goodwin.Following the shirt sale and the PWRDF presentation the Chancellor gave a detailed rundown of Canon 2 clarified by Archdeacon Ellen Clark-King in her document The Process of Discerning a New Bishop for the Diocese of New Westminster. After guiding Synod through the document each table was asked to discuss the following questions at their tables and appoint a recorder who would include her or his name and email address on each page.
1. When telling others about our Diocese what would make your “Top Ten List” of things you would want to include?
2. What are the leadership qualities that are most important to you in a new Bishop for this Diocese?
3. If you were in charge of defining the Diocese’s chief area of focus over the next five years what would you say and do?
He then instructed the recorders to deliver the pages of answers to the table occupied by Synod Staff. These answers will help develop a diocesan profile as we move toward an Electoral Synod.
The business of Synod concluded with Resolutions for 2013. For a full list of Motions and their results please click the link.Bishop Tengatenga then offered his reflections of Synod. He was encouraged by what he experienced at the 113th Synod of the Diocese of New Westminster. He enjoyed having lunch with the young people. In his diocese only two or three young people would attend Synod, but here every Parish has the opportunity to send a young person and that for him was a wonderful experience. He admitted to having a problem with Synod’s decision (Motion 5a) of opting for a Synod every other year. That is what is done in his Diocese of Southern Malawi, however he isn’t sure that is such a good idea as it is important to keep important matters within sight of the clergy and lay leadership.
Synod 2013 concluded with two events, a film titled Thank-You Bishop Michael (click the link to view) and the Commissioning of the Newly Elected.
Images: Top and homepage, The Reconnect Task Force hit the stage. Upper right, Holly Anonby. Upper left, Bishop Michael delivers his Synod sermon. Middle right, Singing and Drumming to promote the Open House of the Young Wolves Lodge part of The Coming Home Society. Middle left, working together on the Lego project., Middle section, Voting Saturday morning. Lower right, Bishop Tengatenga. Lower left, Chancellor George Cadman in Auction mode. Lowest left, one of the two winning Lego projects.