The Diocese of Newark highlighted its new mission statement and related initiatives and ministries on Jan. 29-30 at its 136th Annual Convention, meeting in its see city for the first time in more than two decades.
Meeting at the Robert Treat Hotel, convention-goers struggled with current economic realities and funding priorities as they passed a balanced $2.5 million budget (see separate article). The diocese also announced the launch of a new Alleluia Fund for outreach, with a goal of $108,000 in contributions from its 108 congregations during the Easter season that, if reached, would exceed the $84,000 budgeted for domestic and international outreach in 2009 (see separate article).
Among other highlights, the convention heard a report from Episcopal Relief & Development President Robert Radtke about the church’s response to the recent earthquake in Haiti (see separate article), welcomed a new parish formed through the unification of two smaller congregations, and honored Marge Christie for her many years of involvement and advocacy in the diocese and wider church.
Bishop George Councell from the neighboring Diocese of New Jersey preached at the Jan. 29 opening Eucharist at Trinity & St. Philip’s Cathedral on the Gospel story of Jesus walking on the water.
“Jesus sends his church into places of overwhelming challenge where we may bear witness,” he said. “We know what it means to be in a fragile and vulnerable vessel caught in a storm. That is our church out there, miles from shore.”
“Being underwater has another meaning for us. In baptism, we are plunged into the water, but it was set aside for God’s purposes: for flourishing, not for destruction … for abundant life and not for death.”
With their shared heritage, the New Jersey dioceses “have mission in our DNA,” he said. “God has great expectations of us, and God is delighted when we attempt great things for the love of Christ.” (See full text of Bishop Councell's sermon.)
Later Councell and Newark Bishop Mark Beckwith led a workshop on ways to share ministries between the two dioceses.
‘Go deeper’
 Bishop Beckwith addressing convention. Photo by Steve Boston. |
In his convention address, Newark Bishop Mark Beckwith also used the image of water, urging the diocese to “go deeper – as individuals and as a community – and meet up with deep currents that will carry you away to safety.” (See full text of Bishop Beckwith’s address.)
“We now have a mission statement – equipping congregations, empowering people, engaging the world, with the hope and justice of Jesus – which is one result of our taking that deeper journey. … The mission statement is our ministry map, and it sets a direction for us as we maneuver around, or beneath, the increasing number of hydraulics in the culture and in the church. They are the hydraulics of scarcity.”
In river rapids, he explained, a hydraulic forms “when the force of the down-flowing river is met by an equal force of water coming back the other way” – a phenomenon that can capsize your canoe and threaten your life.
“But we are people who dare to trust in God’s abundance, and to trust in God’s hope,” he said. Citing the Newark diocesan bishops’ addresses during the Great Depression, he noted, “The scarcity was real, but so was the commitment to abundance. … our immediate spiritual ancestors refused to be defined by scarcity.”
“Seventy-five years later, we will build on the commitment and courage of the past by launching the Alleluia Fund,” Beckwith said. “Yes, it is being created by economic reality … but that scarcity has provided us with an opportunity for some radical change; and it challenges us to live into a new sense of abundance – with individuals and congregations giving directly to outreach.”
 Janice Harrison-Aikens of Trinity & St. Philip's Cathedral, accompanied by Francine Finley and Mack Williams, gave a musical performance after the dinner on Friday night. Photo by Steve Boston. |
Beckwith also highlighted the diocese’s core values: worship, spiritual formation, justice/nonviolence and radical hospitality. “The more we learn about the core values, the more we live into them, the more challenged and transformed we are by them – and the more creative and vital they are.”
During the Jan. 30 Eucharist, Beckwith invited worshipers to discuss where their congregations were being called to “throw out your nets” as well as to engage in individual reflections on where they were being called to “go deeper.” Participants were invited to fill out cards, for themselves and to be collected during the offering, describing how they offer giftedness and are empowered.
Monetary offerings from both worship services will be divided between the cathedral’s exterior-renovation project and Newark Acts, the new diocesan young adult urban internship program.
Many ministries
Convention-goers had the opportunity to tour as well as worship at the cathedral, and to hear a presentation on Newark Acts. The internship program was one of many ministries throughout the diocese highlighted in presentations and multimedia “Mission Minutes” during the two days of convention. Arranged according to the “three Es” of the mission statement, the “Mission Minutes” featured ministries ranging from the Light on Main storefront venture in Boonton and Care on the Corner’s programs for immigrants in Hasbrouck Heights to Christophany and the diocesan Acolyte Festival to district quiet days and a Faith in Action initiative in Wayne. (The “Mission Minutes” can be viewed online at http://www.youtube.com/user/DioNewark.)
Canon Gregory Jacobs and Bishop Mark Beckwith bless worshippers at the Eucharist opening the
second and final day of convention. Photo by Steve Boston.
Addressing other ministries, the diocese passed a resolution continuing the work of the Immigration Task Force, heard an update on the Civil Unions Task Force and learned that the new adults-only retreat center at Cross Roads should open this spring.
Introducing the Alleluia Fund, Deacon Diane Riley said that it provided a chance to do more than raise money for outreach; it would help the diocese craft a unified story about the outreach work it does. While she knows Apostles House – where she works – fed 15,000 people last year, for example, she has discovered that the diocese’s food pantries and feeding programs collectively fed 174,000 people in 2009, she said. “That’s amazing. That is the story I want to tell. This [Alleluia] season is one way to bring some focus around this shared mission.”
Congregations can become involved in three ways: create a new fundraising event for the fund during the Easter season; add an Alleluia Fund component to their current fundraising to support mission and ministry; or, if they don’t believe they can add something new, continue to do what they’re doing and “bring us the story,” she said. “We want to include your story in the narrative.”
Diocesan Council decided to use monies raised for the fund this year for food, homelessness, education and international-development programs, she said.
 Marge Christie with Bishop Beckwith after the announcement of the Marge Christie Fund. Photo by Steve Boston. |
Another new fund, the Marge Christie Fund, already has collected $55,000, which will be used to fund Newark Acts and to provide consultation coaches for congregations on leadership, stewardship and other issues, Beckwith said.
Christie received three standing ovations as the convention honored her for her long involvement in the church, from helping to start the Women’s Commission and Oasis and North Porch ministries in the diocese to serving as a General Theological Seminary trustee and multiple terms as a deputy to General Convention to co-founding Anglican Women’s Empowerment at the international level.
“There is one woman in my life who has always been my inspiration. My grandmother has inspired me in ways I have not thought possible,” said her 16-year-old granddaughter Caroline, adding that she would feel she had done great things if she accomplished half of what Christie had.
Following a video tribute and her granddaughter’s introduction, Christie received a citation and ceramic plaque sent by House of Deputies President Bonnie Anderson.
“Your legacy will be with us forever,” Beckwith said.
Diocesan youth served as pages, giving them an opportunity to observe convention and attend workshops.
Photo by Nina Nicholson.
New initiatives
Diocesan leaders also outlined several new initiatives focused on the three areas of the diocesan mission statement. These included:
- Beyond the Baptismal Covenant: Effective Lay Leadership for the 21st Century, a series of workshops led by Daniel Romanik of the Episcopal Church Foundation.
- An April 15 preaching workshop led by the Rev. Winnie Varghese.
- A May 15 workshop on radical welcome by the Rev. Stephanie Spellers of the Diocese of Massachusetts.
- A diocesewide listening process, humorously introduced in a skit by Diocesan Council Engaging the World action team members wearing oversized ears. “In order to clarify and fully engage the world, we need to engage each other first,” the group told the convention.
- “Vestry university,” an initiative of the Diocesan Council Equipping Congregations action team. Planned as a one-day program starting this fall for elected leaders and clergy and those contemplating leadership in the church, the hope is to provide an annual program for new vestry members.
Beckwith also announced the appointment of Kim Byham to research diocesan history and “recount for us memories of abundance and courage and faith which we can draw on and learn from.
“We need to learn our story,” he said.
The convention ended with the celebration of another new initiative: the unification of the parishes of Epiphany, Allendale, and Good Shepherd, Midland Park, into Trinity Episcopal Church, Allendale. Parishioners of both Epiphany and Good Shepherd, wearing matching white T-shirts emblazoned on the back with a blue Celtic symbol for the Trinity, filled the stage as Canon Gregory Jacobs moved to accept the unification. The motion was seconded by the Rev. Michael Allen, rector of the former Epiphany Church and now rector of the new Trinity Church.
 Parishioners of Epiphany, Allendale and Good Shepherd, Midland Park gather on the stage moments before their congregations were unified as the new Trinity Episcopal Church. Photo by Steve Boston. |
Sharon Sheridan is a member of St. Peter's, Morristown.
See also:
Elections and Appointments to Diocesan Offices
