Aloha i Akua,

I write the week following the 41st Annual Meeting of the Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Hawai‘i. I have received several emails and calls commending us for the one-day meeting. There have been various notes of concern or delight in the various resolutions of the Convention. I have been asked if I thought the meeting was a “success.” From a parliamentary point of view, all went well with only some minor glitches and a couple of items overlooked. We acted as we needed to on the business of the Church. Is that success? It is efficient and it may well be good. From the perspective of the Convention Plans Committee and of my staff, it was a success. The business of the Church was completed in a timely manner and we got the work done that needed to be done. Set within the context of “the Kingdom of God” and the sharing of the Good News of Jesus Christ, was this Annual Meeting a “success”? Only time and God will tell.

In my Convention address, I asked the Standing Committee and the Chancellor to review the governance structures of our Diocese and make recommendations to next year’s annual meeting of Convention. We have not had a serious review of our canons and governance in 40 years. Our Diocese and State have changed. With changes in the national canons, we will need to make changes in our diocesan disciplinary canons. This will also answer the call of Resolution 7S for a task force to look at the organization of the Diocese to use technology and emerging forms of communication to reduce costs of administration and enhance the governance of the Diocese. More importantly, I want the Diocese to be structured for mission and to focus support on local congregations as mission outposts!

I also urged the Diocese to recognize that “[t]hese emerging times demand we find new models of ministry.” My statement that has received the greatest reaction is: “The age of one building with one congregation, one worship service and with one full salaried priest is past. We just have to get over. It’s gone.” We must do ministry together by island and region. I will ask the Congregational Health and Growth Commission to examine the health of every congregation – parish and mission – to make suggestions of shared ministry and emerging possibilities for mission. We must evaluate the location of our current church sites. Are our churches in the best locations in relation to current population of our communities and in relation to other Episcopal Churches in the 21st century? Are there people around us that we are overlooking in the myopic family reality of our congregations? We must recognize that having a designated church building may not always be the best focus for mission and worship in our times and in all places. We must also rethink evangelism and congregational life for changing times. We must be prepared to take a hard look at our ministry and be willing to change to meet changing needs. I hope that the Commission and Diocesan Council can present a major plan for congregational mission and life for the next decade at next year’s meeting of Convention.

As we look to the next decade, I suspect that our ministry and mission as a diocese will include more non-seminary trained clergy (deacons and priests) involved in secular employment, and providing sacramental services and teaching to our churches while sharing pastoral and administrative oversight with others. We will have to function on a regional basis supporting our various congregations. It may mean a return to regional Deans to support such ministry. It will have to mean more locally focused continuing education for clergy and lay leaders. We will also have to continue our move to local formation of leadership – lay and ordained. We must work to rethink theological education looking to new partnerships and distance learning looking to North America, New Zealand, and Asia (as well as adapting for local use). We must plant new congregations in existing church sites and with no buildings at all. We must seek new vehicles of evangelism and sharing Christ (as called for, for example, in the adopted Resolution 6: The Internet Evangelism Pilot Project). We will only be assured that this Convention was a success if we make new disciples, if our move to reorganize welcomes new folk into ministry (lay and ordained) and provides new opportunities for mission, if we reduce the number of meetings to make time to evangelize those without faith and to care for the rejected, if we replace parochialism with mutual ministry and interdependence, and if we reduce costs to have more resources to plant new congregations – not just to save money. Time and God will tell.

The Convention also addressed some actions of General Convention in our local context. As I have often shared, I am not a great fan of doing theology by resolution. I find teaching and practice within the context of conversation and worship to be more helpful. That does require, however, active engagement and a willingness to respectfully disagree on the part of God’s people. I also suggest that unless a local diocesan Convention disavows the actions of General Convention, the actions of General Convention speak to and for The Episcopal Church. Individually, we might disagree, but the General Convention is the means by which our Church speaks to our members and to the world. Resolutions of the General Convention and our local Diocesan Convention address the will and sentiment of the Church as expressed in those elected bodies. Resolutions, however, are not law (canon) and, therefore, have meaning only in the context of local (diocesan, congregational or individual) practice and teaching.

Two resolutions (3 and 5) looked to affirm actions of the General Convention recognizing the full inclusion of lesbian and gay baptized members in committed and monogamous relationships in the life of our Church, and that such persons may be called to all orders of ordained ministry, and an action allowing a pastoral response of bishops regarding the “blessing” of gay and lesbian partnerships especially in civil jurisdictions wherein such relationships are legally recognized. I do not foresee these resolutions will have any impact on my current practice or policy, or on that of the Diocese. I trust my clergy to be in conversation with me regarding local pastoral needs. I appreciate that these resolutions reflect the intention of General Convention, and I hope that they will be a helpful conversation point and teaching tool in local congregations. The key is their use for purposes of teaching and conversation; otherwise, they will have little impact. Do they reflect the reality in our communities of faith? I am committed to all Episcopalians in my Diocese and to every congregation. I do honor the theological diversity of this Diocese in regard to matters of human sexuality, and trust that we can continue in conversation and Table fellowship with one another.

Likewise, Resolution 10 (Commitment to Stewardship) takes up the long-standing commitment of The Episcopal Church through action of the General Convention to tithing as the standard of giving for all Episcopalians. This resolution calls for practical local (congregational and individual) action to embody that commitment. This, too, will only have meaning if taught and practiced at the congregational level and in our personal practice. Tithing is the standard of giving of The Episcopal Church, but do we teach it and practice it?

Resolution 4 (Equal rights for same-sex relationships in Hawai`i) is unusual in the recent history of our Diocese. In it the Convention addressed the elected leaders of our State: “call[ing] upon the State of Hawai`i to support equal rights for all of its citizens; and calls upon each representative and senator to vote in favor of legislation that provides to same-sex couples all of the rights, benefits and responsibilities under the law of this state as are or shall be accorded to married heterosexual couples; and calls upon the Governor, or any acting on behalf of that office, to support and sign such legislation into law….” The resolution further directs the Secretary of the Convention to provide a copy of the resolution to the Governor of Hawai‘i, and members of the legislature. Our Convention recently rarely addressed the elected officials directly by resolution. Frankly, I personally wrote each member of the Senate last year urging passage of such legislation, but I did not do so on behalf of the Diocese. For me, the teaching moment for me in this resolution is to reflect on the place of the Church in the public square. Are we willing to speak out as forcefully on homelessness, violence, Hawaiian sovereignty, or other issues of justice? I do not see my ministry as Bishop primarily in terms of that of prophet. As Bishop, I am called to the apostolic ministry of chief teacher and pastor. I am, however, also called “to stir up the conscience of [my] people” and to “show compassion to the poor and strangers, and defend those who have no helper.” (see BCP page 518). For this Diocese, we must discern together how this resolution reflects our vocation together to speak to the powers of the world, and whether this is the beginning of a renewed voice of the Episcopal Church on “political” issues. This was a serious action of our Convention on behalf of our Diocese.

Was this the 41st Annual Meeting of the Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Hawai‘i a success? Time and God will tell. We are together moving into the Kingdom of God – present among us, but yet not fulfilled. It was a success only in so far as the following prayer is being fulfilled in our time:

“O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”

Was this the 41st Annual Meeting of the Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Hawai‘i a success? It was a beginning! As Paul writes to the Corinthians in his first letter: “Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (15:58).

Aloha i Iesu Kristo ko mākou Haku,

+Bob

The Right Reverend Robert L. Fitzpatrick
+ Keali‘ikoaokeakua