Some of you may have seen the comments of Bishop Rod Michel of Long Island as reported in The Living Church earlier this month. He was reminiscing about his early days of ordained ministry, and he said:

"I was asked by a funeral director to conduct a graveside service for a homeless man from the area. The burial was to be at a cemetery way back in the country, and the man would be the first to be laid to rest there. I was not familiar with the outback, and...I got lost, and being a typical man, I did not stop for directions. I finally arrived an hour late, bedecked in full sartorial splendor, and saw the crew eating lunch, but the hearse was nowhere in sight.

"I apologized to the workers for my tardiness, and stepped to the side of the open grave, where I saw the vault lid already in place. I assured the workers I would not hold them long, but this was the proper thing to do. The workers gathered around, still eating their lunch. Well, I poured out my heart and soul and closed the lengthy service with a blessing and walked to my car. I felt I had done my priestly duty for that poor soul, and that the crew would leave with a renewed sense of purpose and dedication, in spite of my tardiness. As I was opening the door and taking off my vestments and biretta, I overheard one of the workers saying to another, 'I have never seen anything like this before...and I've been putting in septic tanks for 20 years.'"

Well, I have been ordained for nearly 40 years, and your Bishop for almost eighteen of them, and I have never seen anything like the set of Resolutions that has been presented to us this time around! I'll come back to that in just a few minutes.

New Congregations

But first, we have so much to celebrate today! We have already officially welcomed our two newest Mission Congregations: Coventry, Ocala, and Incarnation, Oviedo. And I want to pause and reflect on the fact that they have had such very different beginnings! We have wanted to plant a congregation in Oviedo for years, now, and in fact, we tried once before, but the circumstances weren't quite right. This time around we are off to a roaring start. We are already literally bursting the seams in the little house that has been converted into our initial worship space! And that is a very exciting problem to have so early on.

I have known Fr. Jon Davis for sixteen years, and he was on the Diocesan staff, as one of the all-time great Youth Ministry Officers from '91 to 2003; but I have never seen him so energized and enthusiastic as he is about what God is doing at Church of the Incarnation. Jon, we rejoice with you and all your growing flock.

And Coventry has gathered together a number of former Episcopalians, and others, who have found their way through the maze of "continuing churches" and "alternative jurisdictions" to come home. That doesn't happen very often!

I wonder whether you realize that one of the meanings of the word "Coventry" is: "to refuse to associate with, to exclude; to ostracize." And I am interested that whenever there has been a parting of the ways in the history of Christendom it has been accompanied by an argument as to who was at fault, who was separating from whom; which side was "ostracizing" the other. Splits and divisions lead to more splits and divisions, to the point that there are now more than thirty-four thousand different abominations/denominations all calling themselves Christian! Try to wrap your mind around that! ("And they will know that we are Christians by our love, by our love. And they will know that we are Christians by our love.")

Schism is almost impossible to heal. And so, in this one small instance, we give great thanks for one coming together where previously there was separation.

Additional New Starts

Over the next few weeks and months the Cathedral Church of St. Luke will be planting a "daughter" congregation in the Narcoossee/Lake Nona area, to be headed up by Fr. Paul Jagoe with assistance from Fr. Arthur Dasher. And Fr. Geoff Boland and a group of parishioners from St. Mark's, Haines City will be planting a new congregation in Poinciana. Watch the Central Florida Episcopalian for details.

Fr. Aquilino Vinas has begun worship services with a new Hispanic congregation at Holy Spirit, Apopka. He is here with two representatives from that fellowship, Jorge Vinas and Anita Meade. And already the congregation has had four baptisms!

Virtually every study that has been done on the subject agrees that the very best way to win new followers to Christ is to plant new congregations near where they live. So this remains a top priority for us as a Diocese.

A Financial Update You may remember that a year ago I told you we had been working very hard to restore the monies in our trust funds that were lost back in 2001 when the technology bubble burst and the stock market crashed. Our problem back then was greatly exacerbated by the fact that the people we were trusting to manage our investments were not at all following either our written investment policies or our clearly stared objectives on file at the brokerage. We experienced significant losses, and we made a commitment to restore all of the funds within a five year period.

Last year I was able to report to you that we had met that goal a full year ahead of schedule.

But now there is a footnote to the story. We have had a case pending against our former investment firm for its failure to notify and warn us that our broker was mishandling our investments. That case has been in court, arbitration, back to court, and finally mediation. And then, just before Christmas the other side offered a financial settlement that was unanimously accepted by the Executive Committee of the Diocesan Board. This was above and beyond the restoration of the monies a year ago.

And, on another note, I am happy to add that even though our Capital Campaign officially ended over a year ago, an additional $120,000 came in during 2006. Moving from Strength to Strength has been an astonishing success.

We are in good shape financially.

Let me add this piece of good news: I am pleased to announce the availability of funds from the Bishop Gray Inns Foundation for senior Episcopalians seeking financial assistance for housing and healthcare. Applications are being accepted at this time for people of limited income desiring to live in a retirement community or who may need financial assistance in their current living situation. You can find more information about this program on the website at www.bgifoundation.com or by calling the diocesan office for contact information.

Whither the Anglican Communion?

Just two weeks from Monday, the thirty-eight Primates of the Anglican Communion will be meeting in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania for what is widely expected to be one of their most important gatherings, ever. What they decide may have the farthest-reaching ramifications for the whole of the Communion and for The Episcopal Church in particular.

In 2005 the Primates asked The Episcopal Church to respond to the several recommendations of the Windsor Report that were specifically directed to us. The Episcopal Bishops said the only body that can respond on behalf of the whole Church is the General Convention. The General Convention met in July of last year, and the Archbishop of Canterbury himself declared its response to Windsor incomplete; a "mixed response" was his exact phrase. He also made the quiet observation that "decisions have consequences."

It is hard to imagine that the Primates can do anything other than determine that The Episcopal Church has significantly altered its relationship with Canterbury and the rest of the Communion.

I was one of ten American Bishops who visited with the Archbishop last May, and I had the opportunity to ask him directly: "If it is the conclusion of the Primates that The Episcopal Church has begun to 'walk apart' from the rest of the Communion, what will be the status of those Dioceses that wish to remain in 'full constituent membership,' and who are committed to being 'Windsor-compliant'?" His answer was no less direct: "I will not abandon them," he said. And he repeated it a second time, "I will not abandon the faithful." My sense is that our identity as members of the worldwide Anglican Communion is very important to many of us. And if that is the case, perhaps now more than ever it is time to wait just a bit longer to see what direction the Communion will take, post-General Convention.

The Committee that has been asked to draft an "Anglican Covenant" has just had its first meeting, and Archbishop Drexel Gomez, Chair of that Committee, tells me it was a good beginning. Between now and next year's Lambeth Conference there will be a great deal of "unfolding" in terms of the Windsor Process, the drafting and consideration of the Covenant by the Provinces of the Communion, and the possible realignment of Provinces, dioceses, and parishes into "constituent membership" on the one hand, and "associate membership" on the other.

If there is anything we need to meet about between now and next year's Annual Convention, we will do so.

It is my conviction that the Diocese of Central Florida can remain within The Episcopal Church while also remaining fully compliant with Windsor and in full constituent membership in the Communion. And we can vigorously press forward in living into the Great Commission and the Great Commandment as the twin priorities of the Diocese.

The Ordination Process

In the meanwhile, this Diocese continues to produce a "bumper crop" of excellent candidates for ordained and lay ministry. The Commission on Ministry is currently tracking discernment processes for 43 individuals:

* 14 pursuing ordination to the Vocational Diaconate, * 26 pursuing ordination to the Priesthood, and * 3 pursuing Licensing in Lay Ministries

There are currently 19 men and women attending the following seminaries:

* Asbury Theological Seminary, here in Orlando, * Nashota House in Wisconsin, * The School of Theology at the University of the South in Tennessee, * Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry in Pennsylvania, and * Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University in England

We continue to be blessed by the ministry of Dr. Bill Haugaard, adjunct professor at Asbury, who serves as Supervising Chaplain for our students there in terms of their academic career, personal spirituality, and Anglican formation. Our relationship with Asbury continues to grow with courses being added to the curriculum explicitly for Anglican studies.

We were able to contribute $85,000 in tuition assistance to our students in 2006. And in the past year I was privileged to ordain 8 persons to the transitional Diaconate, 7 to the Vocational Diaconate, and 7 to the Priesthood.

There are currently eight congregations in the Diocese in active searches for a new Rector, and in 2006 150 clergy contacted the Diocese of Central Florida concerning deployment opportunities (that's almost 3 contacts per week!) Eleven vacancies were filled in Central Florida last year, including the first call to a husband-and-wife team, the "co-rectors" of Holy Trinity, Melbourne, Steve and Pam Easterday.

The Institute for Christian Studies continues to expand its Pastoral Care program, now including courses that have been approved for continuing education credits for mental health professionals through the Episcopal Counseling Center. ICS has also begun offering joint workshops with the Christian Formation and Evangelism Commissions, and it enjoys a growing relationship with the Canterbury Retreat and Conference Center.

Youth Ministry

The vision statement for Youth Ministry in the Diocese is to produce "a generation of students pursuing Jesus Christ, serving him passionately, in the fellowship of the Church." Diocesan student ministry initiatives in 2006 saw the impact of the gospel on the lives of hundreds of students through numerous events, retreats, and mission opportunities. The continuing restoration of Camp Wingmann provides a major resource for this ministry. Wingmann is the host site for "BCAD" (Baptismal Covenant and Discipleship), a high school discipleship event, as well as for Emerge and New Beginnings, middle school discipleship events. For many of our students and leaders these are truly life-changing events, equipping them for service through gospel-driven ministry.

In 2006 the Great Youth Celebration was held on the campus of Trinity Preparatory School. A wonderful day of fellowship, worship, and ministry, GYC hosted nearly 600 students and adult leaders from across the Diocese. Soul in the City, a local mission cooperative, was another significant event in 2006, mobilizing over 250 students and leaders, serving and evangelizing across the metro Orlando area.

Providing the very best in youth leader training remains the commitment of our youth ministry professionals and adult staff leaders. Monthly network gatherings provide an opportunity for support, resource sharing, and development. In addition to an annual spring youth worker training weekend, this past year we introduced a "Sabbath Retreat weekend," which seemed to be a great blessing to all.

New for this year will be an intensive Bible Institute this summer, designed to help student leaders develop a biblical worldview. You can track the events and resources that are offered in this area on our Diocesan Youth Ministry web site as we continue to invest in the next generation for Jesus.

Communications

Let me brag on our Communications Office for just a moment. The Central Florida Episcopalian is the only diocesan newspaper to be published each month. Most other diocesan papers are published six times a year, giving them only half the opportunities to reach active, potential, and lapsed members of the Church. Despite our shorter publishing cycle, we won last year's "Award of Merit" from the Associated Church Press for best diocesan publication, as well as 17 other major awards. Our circulation expanded to almost 24,000 households (from about 20,000 in 2005 and just over 17,000 in 1999). Using a standard multiplier, that means about 58,000 people read the paper each month. We have received a record number of requests for subscriptions, from as far away as London, New York, and Latin America. In addition to all that, our Diocesan Historiographer and monthly columnist, Beatrice Wilder, won last year's John W. Davis Award from the National Episcopal Historians and Archivists, no small achievement for a lady of her tender years!

Disaster Update

The Diocese of Central Florida has continued to assist along the Gulf Coast with relief efforts in the form of supplies and items needed in the area. Probably the most beneficial has been the continued efforts of people going to the Gulf to help with manual labor wherever local parishes have needed assistance. Work groups of all ages have continued to offer this labor of love. Donated items continue to be sent though the volume is decreasing. Just last week we assisted in shipping 10 large cases of hard bound books from the library of a lawyer here in Central Florida who wanted them to go to a library or school in the area. Thankfully, we had no major disasters in 2006; but we continue to match resources with needs in the Gulf, and we stand ready to be of help elsewhere when it is needed.

Risk Management

Since we began the "Safeguarding God's Children" program for the protection of children and Youth from abuse (2004) over 3,500 people have completed the classroom training and another 1,000 have completed the Armatus on-line training.

Canon Ernie Bennett is part of a group working with the Church Pension Fund to update the training which is currently available. This new training will be piloted possibly as early as the end of 2007.

Our Companion Diocese

Throughout the Anglican Communion there are "companion" relations between dioceses in different parts of the world. Often these last from one to three years. The Diocese of Central Florida and the Diocese of Honduras have been companions for 34 years! (That is by far the longest such relationship in the Communion.) Nearly every year I have read a letter of Greetings from the Bishop of Honduras as part of my Address to Convention. This year Bishop Lloyd Allen is here in person, and it is my honor to ask him to greet you himself.

The Resolutions

There has been a great deal of discussion of my decision to rule Resolutions "A-3" and "A-4" out of order. "A-4" has now been withdrawn, but I want to explain my concerns about it as well as the still pending "A-3."

Resolution "A-4" would have proposed that this Convention "confirms that it will continue to accede to the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church." On the surface it might appear that there could be nothing at all wrong in reaffirming precisely what we declare in the third Article of our Diocesan Constitution. We state there that we:

* Acknowledge our allegiance to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Christ, * Recognize that body known as...The Episcopal Church to be a true branch of said Church, having rightful jurisdiction in this country, and we * Declare our adhesion to The Episcopal Church and our accession to its Constitution and Canons.

There is NO PROBLEM in continuing to accede to the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church! The problem is in exposing that accession to the possibility of its NOT being reaffirmed - by putting it to a vote. Were this Convention to vote No, we do NOT continue to accede to the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church, we would, in effect, be denying a major element of our own identity, and such a vote would be contrary to our Diocesan Constitution. (We cannot say we accede in our Constitution, and then deny it by Resolution.)

Moreover, every Bishop, Priest, and Deacon in this church subscribes to the following oath when he or she is ordained: "...I do solemnly engage to conform to the Doctrine, Discipline and Worship of The Episcopal Church." Voting against this Resolution would constitute a violation of this declaration.

And finally, let me quote from the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order: "Motions to 'reaffirm' a position previously taken by adopting a motion or resolution are not in order. Such a motion serves no useful purpose because the original motion is still in effect; also, possible attempts to amend a motion to reaffirm would come into conflict with the rules for the motion to Amend Something Previously Adopted (35), and if such a motion to reaffirm failed, it would create an ambiguous situation."

Ironically, then, the way to "continue to accede to the Constitution and Canons of The Episcopal Church" is by not putting the matter to a vote!

Fr. Tom Downs was the original mover of what evolved into "A-4," and while he has withdrawn it, I have offered him a "point of personal privilege" to share his concerns with us this afternoon.

Resolution "A-3" raises a different, and much more complicated, set of issues. It proposes that this Convention direct the Diocesan Board "to appoint a task force to develop a policy no later than June 1, 2007 for negotiating with parishes intent on embracing alternative Anglican/Episcopal jurisdictions."

The Constitution and Canons Committee made the following observation:

"This Resolution, if adopted, would have the effect of delegating legislative power to the Diocesan Board in order to adopt a policy, elements of which could be contrary to the Constitution or Canons of the Diocese or which would be of such import, applying to all parishes, as to amount to legislation. Under the Constitution of the Diocese, only the Convention has the power to legislate or adopt amendments to the Constitution or Canons."

And it recommended that the Bishop, as the presiding officer of the Convention, rule it out of order.

That is the technical reason for doing so. But there is a far deeper problem with this proposal. Three years ago, I said this to the 35th Annual Convention of this Diocese:

"If a group of parishioners from one of our congregations determined that out of conscience they had to leave The Episcopal Church, I would do my best to have us say to them, 'Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.' I would not want to see that become an occasion for deposing clergy, or taking each other to court. I would hope such a parting could be amicable. But then we would get about the business of building a new congregation around the remnant of those who, for conscience sake, determined they wished to stay."

Little did I know at the time that within weeks we would be facing exactly that eventuality with the nearly unanimous decision of the members of the Church of the New Covenant in Winter Springs to leave The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Central Florida! Their decision was one of the saddest moments in my episcopacy. It is important that you feel this with me: I absolutely hate it that they have left! They are part of our family; we have ministered and worshipped and prayed and rejoiced and wept together. I have deep respect for every one of them, and it still hurts that they are no longer part of this Diocese.

But I do believe we made good on my promise to Convention three years ago.

Had the desire to leave been shared by, say, 1/3 of the congregation, we would have worked with the 2/3 that wished to remain. Had the desire to leave been shared by 2/3 of the congregation, we would have worked with the 1/3 that wished to remain. But nearly 100% of the members of New Covenant determined they wanted to leave The Episcopal Church. They also wanted to retain the ownership of the physical plant.

After one of the longest and most challenging days of my life, personally (and, I believe, Butch Wooten's and Bill Grimm's, as well), we agreed that - subject to ratification by both the Diocesan Board and the Standing Committee - New Covenant would rent the property from the Diocese for a year, while we determined whether or not we, the Diocese, had a viable congregation that could take on responsibility for that property; in which case New Covenant would move elsewhere.

A year later we did not. We then had the property appraised, and we sold it to New Covenant at fair market value, to be paid for over a thirty-year period, without interest.

Let me add that we were criticized by some for being much too generous, but I believe we came out just about where we should have. The Diocese fulfilled its fiduciary responsibilities; and in doing so, if the congregation was determined to leave, I think we came up with as much of a win/win situation as we could have.

The Church of the New Covenant is now part of the Anglican Mission in America. It has purchased the property in Winter Springs. It continues to flourish there; in fact, it is planting a new "daughter" congregation of its own. The handful of former members of New Covenant have found homes in other congregations of the Diocese, most of them at St. Richard's in Winter Park. And at the same time, the Diocese of Central Florida has a thirty-year income-stream that is underwriting in large part the planting of the Church of the Incarnation in Oviedo, whose official welcome into the Diocese we are celebrating today!

"Go in peace, to love and serve the Lord."

Now, why can't we create some such policy that could apply to other congregations? There are simply too many variables! In the case of New Covenant, we had a one-generation congregation; not multiple generations of ancestors buried in the churchyard. We had a physical plant with no indebtedness. We had a nearly unanimous vote to leave. And we, the Diocese, could not raise up a sufficiently large congregation to take over the plant, or find some alternative use for it, within the following year.

Were all of those elements to coincide in a similar way elsewhere, obviously, we would be open to considering a similar agreement. But I know of no way to write it into a policy beforehand. Any given situation would have to be considered in the light of its own unique circumstances. Even a totally unanimous decision by a congregation to leave would not guarantee it the right to purchase the property it has occupied. The Diocese must first determine whether it has another use for that property. And I remind you that the canons of The Episcopal Church say that all real property is held in trust for the Diocese and the National Church - which has weighed into the affairs of the Diocese of Virginia in the wake of decisions by several of its congregations to sever ties with The Episcopal Church.

As Bishop of this Diocese, I am not prepared to be complicit in establishing any policy that might invite lawsuits by the National Church. And without my participation, I don't believe the Board could establish such a policy, even if you asked it to do so. But this is my promise: if there are those who decide to leave I will be more fair-minded and generous to them than any policy that could possibly be established. And I don't have to ask you to believe that; I've proven it.

Beyond all of that there is the very serious issue of Archbishops and Provinces establishing outposts in Dioceses other than their own. The Anglican Mission in America, and the Provinces of Nigeria, Uganda, Rwanda, Southeast Asia, and the Southern Cone all have congregations here in the United States. This practice has been thoroughly condemned by the Windsor Report and the Primates of the Anglican Communion. Nevertheless, it goes on. That some members of our congregations, and even some of our clergy, may be entertaining thoughts of affiliating with one or another of these jurisdictions is deeply disturbing to me, and I believe it should be to all of us. We have voted, overwhelmingly, twice, to be a "Windsor-compliant" Diocese (and Resolution "A-2B" proposes that we affirm the Windsor Report yet again, today).

Well, you can't be "Windsor-compliant" if the only parts of Windsor you comply with are those you like!

And finally, as I pointed out earlier, our Constitution declares that The Episcopal Church has "rightful jurisdiction in this country." To recognize as legitimate the intent of any of our congregations to seek "alternative Anglican/Episcopal jurisdictions" is therefore unconstitutional, and out of order.

Thus, the only policy I can envision is already in place: if you must leave, you are free to do so; and you will do so with our affection and blessing. But the Diocese of Central Florida, and this Bishop, will work with those who stay.

There has been discussion of a possible attempt to challenge my ruling that Resolution "A-3" is out of order. That would be a grave mistake, and I ask you to think very carefully about all I have just said, and seriously consider whether we would be better off - or worse - were we to attempt to limit the flexibility we had when we were dealing with New Covenant. I believe it would be devastating to our life as a Diocese, and I simply cannot allow it.

A Personal Note

Please permit me a very personal note in closing. Many of you know that just three weeks ago my wife, Karen, Deacon at St. Mary of the Angels in Orlando, was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. This has been a difficult month as we are just beginning to learn of the implications of this disease, and the changes it will necessitate in her life (and therefore mine, as well). I want to thank so many of you for your cards and emails, your prayers and well-wishes, and your words of encouragement. She has made some good progress, and we are cautiously optimistic about the future.

I have told her I will retire when she needs me to do so. I hope that might not be before my mandatory age of 72 (which is still eight years away) but her needs now come first.

Let me conclude by saying again that I give thanks for the privilege of being your Bishop, for the joy of working with the finest group of clergy I have ever known, and for what is easily the best diocesan staff in the country, and for all of you who make up this magnificent Diocese of Central Florida.

http://www.cfdiocese.org/diocon/38con1.htm

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