Anglican Diocese of Niagara - excellence in ministry

Michael Patterson gave the opening remarks on this vision. He referred to it as an exciting opportunity in the Church of Niagara to be a vibrant faith community giving witness to faith.

Michael Patters

A consultant was used to help in creating this process. The consultants are members of the church of Redeemer in Toronto. The bishop understood that we need to reclaim a position regarding social justice. Our cathedral is demographically located in one of the poorest neighbourhoods in the country.

Lambeth was a formative moment for the Bishop. Since then he has been sharing his experiences at Lambeth in this regard.

The Lambeth experience has to go beyond Cathedral place - to the entire diocese. In September a group of people gathered at Canterbury Hills to discuss this vision.

5 priorities:

Prophetic Social Justice Component

Effective use of resources

Life changing worship experiences

Outstanding Leadership

A culture of innovation

The process has encouraged feedback - to see if this is on track. We have heard that we are on the right track. The regional meetings that gave feedback were overwhelmingly attended. The information is on the web site.

For the next hour and a half - the members of synod are going to discuss this vision.

Bishop Michael Bird made a presentation.

Bishop Michael Bird

2 experiences from Lambeth:

Closing eucharist - a profound rite took place - the names of the Melanesian martyrs were received by the archbishop of Canterbury. The litany of saints and martyrs was chanted. The impact was incredible. The question was " what is our witness " - in the face of people giving their lives in the world around us.

Visiting the headquarters of the Barnardo's children's charity. In the UK Dr. Thomas Barnardo has stood for the rights of poor families for 140 years. He opened schools and orphanages in 1886 onward. Every child deserves the best possible start in life - no matter what their background. Michael's grandfather played violin on the streets of London to support his family.

Michael will never look upon a homeless person with same eyes again.

The vision is not a "program" to get people working on new projects - or to get people in the pews, or to get more money flowing to synod office. It has moved well beyond the beginnings of Michael's articulation.

As we move beyond this synod to develop concrete action plans - we must put steps into motion.

Carolyn Vanderbilt and Owen Ash:

Carol and Owen

Prophetic Justice Making: Scripture calls us to witness and to be prophets in our age. The call: To make justice. We need to show the world that the gospel is alive and well in the world and in us.

Advocate for commitment to Millennium Development goals

Educate Laity and Clergy with respect to justice issues - Heightening awareness of justice and. Respond as followers of Jesus e.g. justice camp, justice workshop

Encourage lifestyles which are consistent with sustainability of planet. Recognizing our responsibilities as stewards of the Earth - Greening Niagara, Radical Abundance Conference

Charge each parish to undertake justice projects. Acts of Charity are vital. Need to move to addressing the roots of need. Why are people hungry and homeless.

Peter Wall - Effective resource management

Peter Wall

Model a theology of abundance rather than scarcity. Our God is one of abundance - not scarcity.

Improve communication through the diocese. Web site, Niagara Anglican, Mailing, Deanery, Regional meetings etc.

Examine our systems to develop economies of scale, shared best practices and partnerships

Actively align the work of the Diocese and all parishes and ministries

Track, Acknowledge and celebrate volunteerism

Lynne Corfield and Joyce Wilton: Life changing worship experience

Lynne Corfield

Respond to different expectations meeting people where they are

Inspire Christian social activism through worship

Christyn Perkons and Cheryl Fricker: Outstanding leadership for ministry

cheryl christyn

Create covenant partnerships among bishop, clergy laity

Intentionally live out our baptismal covenants in shared ministry

Support and encourage initiative and creativity in the whole people of God

Build relationships in the community around us and respond to their needs

Create intentional experiences that relocate resources to areas of need.

Steve Hopkins - Flourishing Culture of Innovation

steve hopkins

Arm chair leadership won't help. Thinking or talking about issues won't change anything. We can only live our way into newness. We need to try something new and make mistakes. We need to see transformed parishes, and a more just world. We need to respond to the Spirit, take risks and learn from our experiences and move on.

Share stories of creative innovation and celebrate successes

Give permission to take intelligent risks and to learn from failure

Look outside the Diocese beyond the Anglican Church and outside of North American for ideas

Model creativity in Diocesan events and gatherings

Create new forums and processes for dealing with difficult issues.

Margaret Murray opened the discussion among Synod Members

Margaret Murray

Bishop Michael has stirred our consciences! We need to own the vision. It's not a piece of paper and not just the bishop's. It's ours. Some of it is things our church is doing - and things that our church ought to do.

Questions:

As you reflect on the vision and the five areas of focus:

a) what are you already doing in your parish that supports any or all of the five areas of focus

b) Which of the 5 segments currently provides the sharpest challenge for your parish.

Making this vision a reality begins with people and parishes aligning themselves with elements of the vision which are most compelling

a) Which elements of the vision speaks to your own hopes and concerns for the church (either locally or beyond)

b) What first steps have to be taken in your parish to make this vision a reality

c) What first steps have to be taken at the diocesan level to make this vision a reality.

Everyone was asked to write down on a piece of paper - what is the first thing that you will do to respond to this vision!!! (personally)

table discussion

Lunch break

Comments from Microphones:

Clarification: Do interim ministers have votes here? Chancellor indicated that if the person is an interim minister they will have a vote. Retired or superannuated clergy will be able to come to synod but not vote.

Youth have great ideas and want to become more involved. It would be great if youth had more influence in worship. Youth think resource management is a huge thing. How do we cut down and change the use of paper, can people use more email? A lot of money is wasted on photocopying. We think the youth are an excellent resource for social justice - we have a lot to offer. Youth discussion

Gathering which is an alternative service for young people, should be stressed by parishes. It's for all ages. it's a life changing worship experience (All Saints Hamilton).

Life changing worship is quite personal. We have to continue to have worship where everyone feels at home.

We need to have a piece on Evangelism. More emphasis needed. Church growth and church opening needs to be looked at. There are huge numbers of un churched people.

We don't have to re-invent the wheel. Networking is important - see what others are doing.

We do a lot of social justice things - we didn't label them before. I hear our youth saying we need to move forward - but we need to know where we came from. I worry that we are going to leave our prayer book behind. I hope that in the "plan" the prayer book will be held in high esteem.

Youth can be a place for inspiration, enthusiasm that goes hand in hand with experience and knowledge.

youth offering opinions

The DMM rate is going to 33.82%. The budget will ask for this. One third of our parish income. It is about time and energy that it takes for our congregations to raise this kind of money for the diocese. Our people need to make a renewed commitment to stewardship. The average gift in the diocese is less than $1000 per year. I hope we are ready to work on re-structuring ministry in our diocese to help our bishop's vision to take off. cathy crawford browning

Thanks to the bishop for the vision. The vision is not new - it is in the baptismal covenant. What is new - some things are now in the foreground. The vision is distinctive and the pattern needs to be attended to.

For this vision to work, we have reach the hearts and minds of people who sit in our pews. we have to get them to feel that they want the vision as much as the bishop wants it. If we can engage them - then the money will flow. Everyone of us has to be willing to talk person to person at our church. That's how the word will get through

stuart pike

There was emphasis on improved communications. This struck me. I am a great admirer of the NA - one page should be devoted regularly to what we have done here. Crazy ideas - we are part of the community which include other churches. Innovation - the sort of thing All Saints in Hamilton is proposing to do

I am enthusiastic about all the areas. I am concerned about social justice - it means a lot of things to a lot of people. I worry that in life-changing liturgy - we'll throw out everything old. We'll think everything has to be new.

The language needs to be changed so that we can take this back (with our own ownership) to our parishes.

I'd like to talk more about tilling the soil and the compost that we need for the flower to bloom!!

Nissa Basbaum:/Beth Kerley present motion:

That this synod of the diocese of niagara affirm, support and endorse the vision document entitled :the Pursuit of excellence in Ministry"; and

That this synod encourage the bishop or his designate to develop strategic action plans with specific quantifiable objectives; and

That the bishop's vision team report directly and regularly to Synod Council

Comments from Nissa Basbaum:
Writing in her book, There is a Season, Roman Catholic theologian, Joan Chittister, says about Noah before he built the ark, “Life (for Noah) may not have been good for him in Nod, but it was at least familiar… It was his roots and his identity, his past and his future, his personal piece of the planet.”
“Who hasn’t been in (Noah’s) situation?” she continues. ‘This may not be the best place in the world,’ we say, ‘but it is better than most.’ So we put up with a great deal of mindless immorality masking as the human condition. We tolerate the intolerable in our personal lives until we have no other choice, until blindness gives way to vision… Now our choices clarify with frightening simplicity: we must either accept what is, or we must do it better.” And finally, quoting G.K. Chesterton, Chittister concludes, “I do not believe in a fate that falls on human beings however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.”
As I move this motion, I suggest that in Niagara – although not only in Niagara – we have arrived in this very place: if we don’t act, a fate we don’t want will fall upon us. Indeed, I am long enough in the tooth and I have been a participant in enough synods in the diocese to suggest that we have already been in such a place for far too long. It’s just that for a significant number of years, we have band-aided our way through our troubles, particularly our financial troubles, giving ourselves the false impression that we are okay. We’ve done this because it is easier to endure the “mindless immorality masking as the human condition” to which Chittister refers, than to do the more radical, difficult and painful work that is required to create real change. Ironic, really, that as Christians we have tried to escape the central tenet of our faith; that the crucifixion is a necessary component of the resurrection – that everything, absolutely everything we know and have known, love and have loved, must die in order to be reborn. Instead, we have attempted to do what Noah came to understand he couldn't’t do – continue to live our lives in the old house, yet still survive the new floodwaters.
If we haven’t actually already done so before this, we have certainly now come to the end of the line. Bishop Michael said it last night in his charge to Synod, “The status quo is no longer an option… ” To paraphrase him, we need to move well beyond the familiarity of our present dis-ease towards a passionate and creative response to God’s mission in every region of the diocese.
The Book of Proverbs tells us that, “Without a vision, people perish.” As I reflect on my life and involvement in this diocese, what I want to say in conclusion is that Niagara is not, nor ever has been, lacking in vision. Prophetic utterance, even from our bishops, and in singular moments particularly from our bishops, has always described our diocese. Yet, too often, what we have lacked is the wherewithal and the stamina to stomach the process that is absolutely necessary to see our visions realized.
As I put this motion before you, I do this in some trepidation, because I have not got just the hope, but also the expectation and the requirement, that we will see this vision through to its end. We cannot allow ourselves to do what we have been wont to do in the past – abandon the process mid-stream yet at the same time suggest to ourselves and others its completion and its success. We cannot advertise that what we have done is enough if, in fact, what we have done is to quit when it begins to feel painful, to quit when it begins to feel as if we have too much to lose.
In order for Bishop Michael’s vision to become a reality, we need to remember what our faith teaches us: that gaining it all tomorrow is about losing it all today.

Beth Kerley seconded this motion. Vision without action is a dream. Action without vision is passing time. Action with vision - is to make the difference! Proverbs says - where there is no vision - the people parish. Know that we are not alone - God is with us.

From microphones:

The focus of this is only on synod. This is a concern. There should be more emphasis on parishes and other units.

This is starting to look like organization rather than visionary

We have ben asked to say "yes we can" - I would like to respond - we will with God's help.

Motion: Question: Carried

2:05 pm - Break

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