Monday, April 10, 2017
A Letter from Bishop Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez and the Standing CommitteeDear Sisters and Brothers in Christ: In February, the Standing Committee and Bishop Gutiérrez met for a second sacred retreat. We shared meals and the Holy Eucharist. We shared personal stories, prayer, laughter, reflection, and a period of discernment. This meeting was transformational. We realized that we are living into our prayer of seeing one another as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. It was a time of blessing, hope, and renewal. In August of 2016, we met for our first retreat and entered into a covenantal relationship. In 2017, we firmly and joyfully recommitted to supporting and sustaining one another. Ours is a sacred ministry that will be known by its transparency, openness to broad and differing points of view, and a radical inclusion to everyone and anyone seeking Jesus Christ. We invite all members of the Diocese to participate in these new and renewed ministries. We will strive to create a place where everyone belongs, and all voices are heard. We are inviting the world to come and see the faithful work in the vineyard of our diocese.
As part of our time together we celebrated the achievement of our hopeful and stated goal from the August retreat. At that time, we committed to work collaboratively to create a Congregational Life and Redevelopment Team. This team would be set up to empower all congregations to grow, dream, envision and plant the seeds of ministry. That team is now a reality and utilizes the enormous talents and gifts of the clergy and laity of the Diocese. They will be embarking on their first retreat and from there will begin their mission to identify churches and missions that might benefit from their assistance. We also spent time discerning the sacred stories of hope and engagement from the Come and See Pilgrimage. We also shared how the pilgrimage is forming our Episcopacy through prayer, proclamation, and peace. We also envisioned how we could continue to expand our ministries to include, engage and empower in the name Jesus Christ. Finally, in leaving the February 2017 retreat, we are united and hopeful. We wanted to share some of the items we discussed and agreed upon.
We are blessed to serve you and be part of this new and holy work. We are confident of the future of the Diocese of Pennsylvania because of our faith and hope in Jesus Christ. Let us love God and love one another.
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In Christ,
The Rt. Rev. Daniel G.P. Gutiérrez adfasd
The Standing Committee Norman M. McCausland
Wednesday, November 19, 2014 A Letter From the Standing Committee
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, The Bishop’s announcement that he is calling for the election of a new Diocesan is a magnificent sign of healing and health for our Diocese. We are deeply grateful for Bishop Daniel’s ministry among us over the past two years and the leadership and love and spiritual gifts he has shared with all of us. We are thankful, too, that he will remain with us until God ordains our next Bishop, sometime in 2016. When a Diocesan Bishop announces that it is time to elect the next Bishop, the Standing Committee has the responsibility of appointing two committees that will direct our common work in calling the person who will be our next Bishop. The first committee is a search committee that takes up the work of listening to the Diocese to discern the kind of Bishop we need for our Diocese, interviewing possible candidates, and putting forth a slate of finalists. The second committee is an electing/transition committee. This committee is responsible for introducing the candidates to the Diocese, organizing forums with the candidates and the people of the Diocese so that we may know them and they may begin to know us, holding the election, transitioning the Bishop and her/his family to the Diocese, and planning the ordination and consecration liturgy and celebration. The work of calling a new Bishop is not just the work of these committees, but is the work of all members of the Diocese through prayer and participation through the various stages of discernment, call, election and ordination. Although until this week we did not know when Bishop Daniel would call for an election, the Standing Committee has been preparing for Bishop Daniel’s announcement over the past six months. We have met with Bishop Clay Matthews, Office of Pastoral Development for the Episcopal Church, to learn about the shape and requirements of the search process. We have hired a search consultant, Ms. Lynn Schmissrauter, who is the best consultant in the Church by all accounts. Lynn has significant experience, both as a member of a Bishop search committee as well as guiding many Bishop search committees throughout the Church. We have been on retreat with our consultant and have begun to shape the characteristics of the search and election/transition that we feel will be most effective for our Diocese. In the coming weeks the Standing Committee will be discussing the size of the committees and the qualities of the persons needed to accomplish the work. Both committees will be representative of the beautiful variety present in our Diocese and everyone on the committees will need to be willing to give a significant amount of their time for this work to be effective. As we enter this season of Advent, with all its depth of anticipation and hopefulness, we invite you to join us now in prayers of thanksgiving for our Diocese and the expanding mission of Christ’s Church in this place. We invite you, too, to join us in prayer for these next steps and for the call of our next Bishop Diocesan. As we know more about the shape of the process, so will you. Grace and Peace to you.
Frank
The Rev. W Frank Allen President Mr. Norman McCausland The Rev. Kathy Andonian The Rev. Kirk Berlenbach Ms. Jane Cosby Ms. Deborah Brown Mr. Paul Yaros Ms. Pat Smith The Rev. Hillary Raining The Rev. Deirdre Whitfield |
Report from the Diocesan Transition TeamMarch 6, 2013 Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ: When the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania met in Special Convention on January 13, 2013 to elect the Rt. Rev. Clifton Daniel, 3rd as Bishop Provisional, reports were also offered to the delegates regarding plans for the upcoming months of transition. The Rev. Dr. Pamela Nesbit spoke about the nascent activities of the Transition Team appointed by the Standing Committee. The work of the Transition Team is moving forward and we would like to share its progress and plans with you. As reported to the Special Convention, the Transition Team has identified three primary categories of need/concern expressed by the people of the Diocese of Pennsylvania:
In order to respond to these somewhat disparate voices and develop a cohesive plan to guide their work, the Transition Team has determined the need to secure the expertise and guidance of experienced church consultants from outside the Diocese. After many weeks of research and interviews, the Transition Team has selected Ms. Katherine Tyler Scott and her team from KI Thoughtbridge, a consultancy group based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Ms. Tyler Scott has been involved in working with churches and dioceses in The Episcopal Church for many years. She and her team will begin interviews and a thorough diagnostic process in order to create a plan for a transition that will make us ready as a diocese to work together for our future. The members of the Transition Team are: The Rev. Dr. Pamela Nesbit, Chair of the Diocesan Transition Team pamelamnesbit@gmail.com The Rev. Dr. Sam Adu-Andoh, Rector, Church of St. Andrew & St. Monica, Member of the Standing Committee Ms. Debora Brown, Church of St. Andrew & St. Monica, Member of the Standing Committee Mr. Patrick Connelly, Good Samaritan, Paoli Mr. Jack Henn, St. Christopher’s, Gladwyne The Rev. Matt Holcombe, Associate Rector, St. Davids, Radnor, Treasurer of the Episcopal Clergy Association of Pennsylvania, Co-Chair, DioPA Young Clergy Association The Rev. Ledlie Laughlin, Rector, St. Peter’s Third & Pine, President of the Standing Committee Ms. Arlene McGurk, St. Luke & the Epiphany, Member of the Standing Committee The Rev. Marissa Rohrbach, Assistant to the Rector, Holy Trinity, Rittenhouse Square The Very Rev. Judith Sullivan, Dean, The Philadelphia Cathedral, Council of Deans The Rev. Paula Lawrence Wehmiller The Standing Committee is grateful for the ongoing work of the Transition Committee and looks forward to participating in its work and receiving its recommendations over the upcoming months. We will continue to keep the Diocese of Pennsylvania updated regarding its activities. May your Lent be a blessed time of reflection, reconciliation, and renewal as we make the journey to the Day of Resurrection. Faithfully Yours in Christ, The Rev. Ledlie Laughlin, President, Standing Committee The Rev. Kathryn Andonian, Member, Standing Committee |
A Letter From The Standing Committee…October 9, 2012 Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Bishop Bennison has informed the Standing Committee of his intention to resign effective December 31, 2012. We are making plans now to honor his tenure as our Bishop during the upcoming Diocesan Convention and we will share those with you as soon as possible. The Standing Committee has concluded, in consultation with the Rt. Rev. F. Clayton Matthews, the Bishop for the Office of Pastoral Development in the Episcopal Church, that the best interests of our Diocese will be served by the prompt election of a Provisional Bishop to serve as our Ecclesiastical Authority during the upcoming time of transition while we go through the process of electing a new Bishop Diocesan. (A “provisional bishop” exercises the full authority of a diocesan bishop but is elected to serve for a set period of time, generally as an interim between bishops. As a member of the Presiding Bishop’s staff, Bishop Matthews assists dioceses through pastoral transitions and the election of bishops). It is our intent to hold a Special Convention to elect a Provisional Bishop in early 2013 and we have asked Bishop Matthews to start the process of identifying possible candidates for this position. The Standing Committee, working collaboratively with other Diocesan Leaders, will articulate basic goals for diocesan health and vitality that we may all address during this upcoming time of transition, determine how long our Provisional Bishop should be asked to serve, and will prepare a job description which Bishop Matthews can use to identify candidates. We will present a comprehensive timeframe at our Diocesan Convention. We hope you will share with us your wisdom and concerns as we move forward. Looking ahead, please be assured that the Standing Committee intends to engage other Diocesan Leaders in decision making, work in close consultation with the office of the Presiding Bishop, and provide timely communication to the entire Diocese so all of us may be fully engaged in this vital next chapter of our common life. With faith in Christ, Ledlie The Rev. Ledlie I. Laughlin President, The Standing Committee With The Rev. Dr. Samuel Adu-Andoh, The Rev. W. Franklin Allen, The Rev. Kathryn Andonian, Mrs. Jane Cosby, The Rev. Sherry Crompton Deets, Mr. Christopher Hart, Ms. Jo Ann B. Jones, Mr. Norman M. McCausland, Ms. Arlene McGurk Please direct comments or concerns to: The Rev. Ledlie I. Laughlin, President ~ laughlin@stpetersphila.org, Mr. Mac McCausland, Vice President ~ nmccausland@me.com, or Ms. Jo Ann B. Jones, Secretary ~ jbradleyjones@aol.com. |