DCNY Annual Convention Story

From the Syracuse Post-Standard:

Ordinations conclude division-plagued Episcopal diocese convention
Give yourselves away and don't lose heart, the five newest deacons are told.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

By Renée K. Gadoua
Staff writer

Jesus sat at the same table as his betrayer, Bishop Gladstone "Skip" Adams reminded five new Episcopal deacons Saturday.

The newest servants of the church must model that behavior for the whole church, he said.

"We need this witness from you among us because we are in fear," Adams said, listing diocesan divisions, the future of the Anglican Communion, financial problems, declining church populations, and war and natural disasters as sources of anxiety.

"We're called to go beyond ourselves and give ourselves away," he said. "Jesus is Lord, and we do not lose heart."

Adams' sermon at Syracuse's St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral followed the Central New York diocese's two-day convention: "Hands Reaching Hands: Our Deacons in the World." The sermon also served as his convention address, sort of an annual "state of the diocese" speech.

About 350 people - 300 of them eligible to vote - attended the conference Friday and Saturday at the Holiday Inn in Salina.

The most controversial resolution, which said that sexual contact be reserved for marriage and defined marriage as the lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, was withdrawn at the start of convention.

Homosexuality has been a high-profile and divisive issue among some Anglicans worldwide since the 2003 General Convention action supporting the election of Gene Robinson, of New Hampshire, as the church's first openly gay bishop.

Eight local elected deputies, plus the bishop, will attend the triennial General Convention in June. They were elected at the November 2004 local convention and were commissioned Saturday.

Homosexuality is likely to top the national agenda, said the Rev. David T. Andrews, a local deputy and rector of St. Paul's Church in Chittenango.

"I hope that a spirit of humility guides us in this time," he said. "May we be a people not consumed with being right."

Also at the local convention, delegates overwhelmingly approved a proposed $2,107,091 budget for 2006.

The diocese's operating income has declined about $200,000, said Bill Branson, diocesan treasurer. That includes a shortfall of $56,113 from nine parishes that did not pay their assessments to the diocese.

Six of the diocese's 94 parishes withheld their assessments as a protest connected with disagreement about the church's policies on homosexuality, officials said.

Conference business also included:

Ö A presentation from the Rev. Ramiro Chavez, of El Salvador, on companion diocese relationships.

Ö Elections to several diocesan boards.

Ö Approval of a resolution outlining clergy compensation guidelines.

At least 50 Episcopal clergy and about 250 worshippers attended the two-hour ordination service at the cathedral. The ceremony included a renewal of baptismal vows, and the new deacons publicly declared their lifelong commitment to serve the church and its people.