Sheaf Letter January-March 2010

February 24, 2010

Dear Friends:

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you.

It was reported to the most recent meeting of the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church that North Dakota showed the largest percentage increase in average Sunday attendance (ASA) of all 100 domestic dioceses in the United States. Our ASA grew by a rate of 6.1%, while the dioceses of the United States overall declined by a rate of 3.1%, according to the 2008 Parochial Reports.

Kurt Hadaway, the church’s program officer for congregational research, stated that congregations are able to grow when they have among other things, “a clear mission and purpose; follow up with visitors; strong leadership; and are involved in outreach and evangelism” http://episcopalchurch.org/79901_119609_ENG_HTM.htm.

How’s your congregation doing?

Seven of our congregations have taken advantage of the opportunity to participate in an online survey of members of their churches called the Church Assessment Tool or CAT. Five of the seven have gone a step further by requesting a “Vital Signs Report” giving leaders a read-out on the health of their congregation. Among other things, the Report compares a congregation with other congregations of similar size in the areas of hospitality, morale, conflict, governance, spiritual vitality, education, readiness for ministry and worship.

A pattern which seems to be emerging in these reports for the Diocese as a whole is that while we are generally doing very well in most of the areas, we seem to be lagging behind in the area of “Spiritual Vitality.” This is of concern to me and needs some attention.

Russ Crabtree, consultant with CAT, reminds us that: “The Spiritual Vitality Index measures the degree to which members believe that their faith is central to their lives rather than peripheral or episodic.” Spiritual Vitality also “relates strongly to the percent of household income that members give to the church. This would seem to confirm what Jesus said: ‘Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.’”

The Diocese as Mission Agency

I’ve been doing some study on the topic of “Missional Church.” Two books I’m currently reading are: Introducing the Missional Church: What it is, Why it matters, How to become one” by Alan Roxburgh and Scott Boren, and The Missional Church & Denominations: Helping Congregations Develop a Missional Identity by Craig Van Gelder. If you’re interested, I invite you to visit http://www.roxburghmissionalnet.com/ and search for the article “Reinventing the Judicatory in an Unthinkable World.” One of the concepts gleaned from all this is that of the Diocese as a “Mission Agency.”

Several months ago, thanks to St. Luke’s, Fort Yates longstanding mission partnership with Church of the Good Samaritan in Paoli, Pennsylvania, I was afforded the opportunity to meet the Chairman of the Board of the South America Missionary Society (http://www.samsusa.org/), Rich Englander. In the course of our conversation and my questions about how a diocese might recruit, train and deploy domestic missionaries in the way the South America Missionary Society has done the same for foreign missionaries, I was invited to the next Board meeting of SAMS to learn and observe. As a result I will be attending the New Wineskins Global Missions Conference to be held in North Carolina in April. I look forward to sharing my experiences and what I learn there.

Anglican Communion Covenant

The final version of the Anglican Communion Covenant has been released to the provinces of the Anglican Communion by the Anglican Consultative Council for consideration of adoption by the various churches. The Final Text, as well as an outline of its evolution and other background materials, can be found at http://www.anglicancommunion.org/commission/covenant/index.cfm .

There is an old maxim that “a camel is a horse designed by committee.” In my opinion, the Final Text reads as such and in some places is unnecessarily confusing. Likely, this is because it has gone through four drafts and the writers have tried to accommodate numerous concerns and perspectives in an attempt to keep as many Anglicans on board as possible. But, sadly, not all Anglicans wish to stay on board.

Some Conservatives believe it has far too few “teeth” to be effective; some Liberals resist even the admission of a moral obligation to consult with other members of the Communion on matters that affect the whole. In my opinion, even with all the deficiencies its detractors will be quick to point out, the Anglican Communion Covenant provides the opportunity for the third largest group of Christians in the world to remain united for the purpose of global mission and witness in this new millennium.

Simply put, for me it all boils down to whether we understand and act as if The Episcopal Church is an independent, national church or whether we understand and act as if The Episcopal Church is part of an interdependent, global communion of churches. I, personally, have always assumed the latter, but have learned that even in this Diocese there are those who hold strongly to the former view.

The most recent General Convention of The Episcopal Church invited dioceses and congregations “to consider the Anglican Covenant proposed draft as a document to inform their understanding of and commitment to our common life in the Anglican Communion” (Resolution D020). In addition, I stated at our last diocesan convention that I would commend the final text of the Anglican Communion Covenant to the Diocese for study and endorsement at Diocesan Convention 2010. Therefore, I have submitted a resolution calling upon us to affirm the principles of the proposed Covenant and urging General Convention to adopt it for The Episcopal Church. That text and background are found elsewhere in this edition of The Sheaf.

I believe that I have acted responsibly and faithfully in keeping our clergy informed and knowledgeable about the various issues and drafts of the Anglican Covenant as they have come forward since 2004 through our twice yearly Clergy Conferences. I now direct the rectors and priests-in-charge to do this work in the congregations they serve, especially with lay delegates to diocesan convention.

This resolution is being released eight months before it is to be acted upon. This affords plenty of time for study, discussion and prayer on this matter. Please do not wait until October to get started.

In recognition of the diversity of opinion on this matter in the Diocese, I will invite leaders to submit essays, both for and against the resolution. These will be published in upcoming issues of The Sheaf.

May you be blessed, my sisters and brothers, during this holy season of Lent. You are in my prayers daily. Please pray for me. I am,

Yours in Christ,

+Michael