David DeSmith, Pat Crane, Mary Stuart Hawk and John Simonelli represented St. David’s as deputies to the 135th annual convention of the Diocese of Newark at the Parsippany Hilton on January 31st. All 110 parishes of the diocese were represented, as well as representatives of religious orders, the press, and invited guests – more than 500 persons all told.

Since this convention was just a single day, rather than the customary two, there was no guest preacher and little time for socializing, but amazingly we accomplished everything that was on a rather long agenda and in the allotted time.

The overall theme of the Convention was Imagination, Innovation and Impact, and in his principal address (which was his sermon at the opening Eucharist) Bishop Beckwith emphasized the pain in our common life right now and why we have to help each other get through our present ‘wilderness experience’ of poverty, financial uncertainty, hunger and homelessness by finding God’s unique abundance in the wilderness – something the Bishop called the manna of everyday experience – and by breaking down the barriers between our communities that separate us.

The diocese has a balanced budget for 2009, but unfortunately it comes at the expense of cutting back on programs, outreach, personnel and benefits. The Bishop would like to see the parishes in the diocese go back to the 50-50 giving model that the diocese adopted in 1989, and to this end he will be appointing a Stewardship Task Force, whose ultimate goal is to create a diocesan community of greater collaboration.

In addition to voting for candidates for various diocesan offices, deputies voted on a number of important resolutions, including resolutions on the condemnation of torture, abolishing the death penalty in NJ, human trafficking, and support of marriage equality. In true Episcopal form, a number of the resolutions that were originally put on the consent calendar (meaning they would not be debated) were debated at length, while a number of the ‘debatable’ resolutions passed without comment.

During the lunch hour a number of workshops were offered, and we divided up to take advantage of several of them, with David attending one on capital campaigns, John one on planned giving, and Pat and Mary Stuart one on church growth. All were excellent and instructive offerings.

A highlight of the convention was a ‘mission minute’ – a short multi media presentation given by Mike Odian and Rodger Pisani on behalf of the 2009 St. David’s bike tour to raise funds for the Millennium Development Goals – both locally and internationally. Mike was in top form, the presentation was well received, and the Bishop was persuaded to participate this year as a rider.

Copies of the Bishop’s sermon and other remarks are available in the church office or by visiting the diocesan web site www.dioceseofnewark.org