wfn.org | [ENS] General Convention will invite all to 'grow'

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Thursday, January 12, 2006

General Convention will invite all to 'grow' Triennial meeting set for
June 13-21 in Columbus

By Bob Williams

ENS011206-03

[Episcopal News Service] An invitation to "grow in all ways into Christ"
awaits participants in the Episcopal Church's 75th General Convention,
set for June 13-21 in Columbus, Ohio.

"A message for individuals, congregations and the wider church is found
in the theme for the 75th General Convention," Presiding Bishop Frank
Griswold told members of the Episcopal Church's Executive Council meeting
January 12 in Des Moines.

"The Church is constantly in the process of becoming," Griswold said.
"Together we seek openness to this transforming work of the Spirit."

The Presiding Bishop underscored his point by quoting the French Jesuit
scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: "For us God is eternal discovery
and eternal growth."

Griswold said the theme selection was inspired by the New Testament
text of Ephesians 4:15, in which St. Paul calls believers to seek full
Christian maturity: ".[S]peaking the truth in love, we must grow up in
every way into him who is the head, into Christ."

Established in 1789 as the Episcopal Church's chief legislative body,
General Convention will - throughout its Columbus meeting - encourage
reflection upon four thematic dimensions: "Grow in the Spirit," "Grow
in Love," "Grow in Hope," "Grow in All Ways into Christ."

The theme statements support the wider invitation "The Episcopal Church
Welcomes You: Come and Grow" - also the focus of the churchwide visitors'
website: http://www.comeandgrow.org

In addition, the theme reminds the Church of its ongoing work in
evangelism, including the "2020" movement that seeks to strengthen
hospitality and membership in local congregations well into the next
decade and beyond.

Convention liturgies, forums, banners and digital presentations will
reiterate the theme throughout the nine-day meeting, during which both
the church's House of Bishops and House of Deputies will be in session.
Deputies are more than 800 clergy and lay representatives elected by
each of the Episcopal Church's 110 dioceses, which also elect alternate
deputies.

"My prayer for this Convention is that at a moment of history when the
world needs Christ desperately, we will leave Columbus with this part of
the Body of Christ better able to do mission and witness in Jesus' name
and on his behalf," said the Very Rev. George L. W. Werner, president
of the House of Deputies.

"In Columbus we will bring together a core group of 1,000 Episcopalians
to think - every day -- about mission and witness of Jesus Christ,"
Werner said. "We will build fellowship and koinonia through discussion,
worship, singing, Bible study, building relationships among participants
from some 20 sovereign nations and speaking several languages."

Werner underscored the process of shared learning and growing in
understanding: "With scripture, there's always more; with God, there's
always more," he said.

General Convention highlights will include the June 18 election of the
26th Presiding Bishop, who will succeed Griswold with a nine-year term
beginning November 4, 2006. The churchwide nominating committee, elected
by General Convention in 2003, is expected to announce candidates in
late January.

Elections will also include balloting to elect a successor to Werner
as president of the House of Deputies. His term will conclude with the
adjournment of proceedings in Columbus. Werner -- who has been a deputy
for 36 years, beginning at Convention's 1970 meeting - was elected
president of the House in 2000.

Local host for the Convention meeting is the Diocese of Southern
Ohio, based in Cincinnati with nearly 30,000 baptized members in
85 congregations.  Leading the diocese as ecclesiastical authority
at this time is the Rt.  Rev.  Kenneth L. Price Jr., Bishop in Ohio,
who has followed longtime Diocesan Bishop Herbert Thompson, who retired
in 2005. More information about the Diocese of Southern Ohio is online
at www.episcopal-dso.org.

"As we enter the year in which the 75th General Convention of
the Episcopal Church will convene," said its executive officer, the
Rev. Dr. Gregory S.  Straub, "I am hopeful that our forthcoming gathering
will celebrate and strengthen the ties that bind the church together at
all its levels: worshiper and parish; parish and diocese; diocese and
the Episcopal Church; and the Episcopal church and the Anglican Communion.

"I expect our debates to be prayerful, thoughtful and respectful," Straub
added. "And I dream of a General Convention that will be remembered as one
from which deputies left with enthusiasm and energy, united in mission."

The General Convention meeting is expected to draw some 8,000-10,000
persons to Columbus, said longtime convention manager Lori Ionnitiu of
the Episcopal Church Center. "Columbus is an excellent venue, and we
look forward to a welcoming and productive time there."

Further information about the work of General Convention is available
online at www.episcopalchurch.org.

General Convention news from Columbus will be carried daily by the
Episcopal News Service through its Convention Daily newspaper and
Convention Nightly newscast/webcast, and through a series of regular
electronic-mail releases in English and Spanish.

-- To SUBSCRIBE to enslist, send a blank email message, from the address
which you wish subscribed, to: join-enslist@epicom.org

Send QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS to news@episcopalchurch.org

The enslist is published by Episcopal News Service:

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ens

>From time to time, ENS provides information and resources which we
consider to be of interest to our readers. However, statements and
opinions expressed in the articles and communications herein, are those
of the author(s) and not necessarily those of ENS or the Episcopal Church.

--