11/02/07
Comments:
I appreciate the opportunity to use this Information Exchange as a communications tool within the diocese. Each of us struggles about when to speak and when to be quiet. Recently the silence has been deafening. Let us give thanks to God for all parts of his amazing creation. Remember your United Thank Offering.
10/13/07
Comments:
The preceding comment by the bishop is not accurate. American Anglican Council mailings are not sponsored by Church of the Good Shepherd. Good Shepherd did not pay for the mailing. The Vestry of Good Shepherd has not aligned the parish with any particular advocacy group in the church. Our financials, vestry minutes and all other records are totally open to diocesan staff at all times.
I do provide pastoral care to people who share a traditionally Biblical and Creedal practice of Christian faith. Several of them have been told to "keep their views to themselves" in other congregations of this diocese. The Presiding Bishop recently stated that the church needs "all of its voices" - that is not the actual practice in many settings.
Prior to convention, the diocese provided a list of congregations that don't turn in annual reports, lists of convetion delegates and other requested documents (I would add to this parishes which now ignore requests for letters of transfer). Good Shepherd holds to a much higher standard of honesty and cooperation than many congregations in this diocese. It is unfortunate that the bishop has characterized Good Shepherd in uncharitable and unflattering terms.
10/12/07
Comments:
Greetings in the name of our Lord:
Well, the Diocesan Convention is over for another year, and we will meet again in Chamberlain in 2008. I think the folks in the Black Hills Deanery deserve a special round of "thank you" for hosting this convention. Also, the people of the Mni Sose cluster in Chamberlain, Lower Brule, and Ft. Thompson deserve a special "thank you" for their help hosting with the Friday evening service and providing lunch afterward. It was good to see so many folks gathering to participate in this year's convention.
The Banquet on Saturday evening was a little different, with a buffet dinner. Fr. Bunker Hill did a great job in locating the entertainer for the evening following the banquet. Great job Bunker!!
Some of the clergy, some lay folks as well, were upset that a letter had been mailed out from a group of folks at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Sioux Falls, asking folks to leave the Episcopal Church and join their Anglican group. The usual reasons were cited for their leaving, the issue of human sexuality, same sex union blessings, our failure to interpret scripture as narrowly as they do, and they ask all of us to consider leaving the Episcopal Church and join their splinter group. I spoke about some of their concerns in my convention address.
I believe that the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) has addressed the HOB statement and finds that it has met the conditions set forth in the Windsor Report, which is the document being touted by these splinter groups as the standard for belonging to the Anglican Communion. Whether or not the Primates will follow the ACC's lead is questionable. But as I said at the convention, it doesn't matter, since the Primates do not have the authority to either ask or remove someone from being a part of the Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church in South Dakota will continue to be the Anglican expression of faith here in South Dakota. I suppose that some folks will be unhappy with that and will likely leave us. They can do that if they wish, and they can go with my Blessing. We, the Diocese of South Dakota, will use whatever resources we have to ensure that folks at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church will be able to worship in the Episcopal/Anglican tradition as they have since that church was started.
As I said at the convention, this whole splinter conversation is not about being the church, it is about power, authority, biblical interpretation or rather the holding of everyone to one interpretation, and it is about control. It is about dishonesty and it's about holding one group accountable to one standard and another accountable to a different standard.
I trust that you will see it for what it is worth, an attempt to force on the good people of this diocese, a way of life in the church which is at odds with the Anglican/Episcopal tradition as they have been expressed and handed down to us in this Diocese over time. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me.
I am preparing a letter to be sent to all congregations in this Diocese concerning the House of Bishops statement at the New Orleans meeting in September. It can be made available but not read from the pulpit.
Note to the clergy: There will be a Diocesan Clergy Retreat at Blue Cloud Abbey on January 28-31, 2008, Monday through Thursday. The Reverend James Lemler will be our retreat leader, and he will build on the information presented at the clergy conference in Chamberlain. Please put this on your kalendars.
Thank you all who attended the convention last week; it was great to see all of you. It was a wonderful time.
Peace,
+Creighton
10/11/07
Comments:
Applications for a 2008 UTO Grant have been received in the Diocesan Office. Contact Mary if you want a copy of the form and the instructions, or the forms are available at www.episcopalchurch.org/UTO The application needs to be filled out completely, with any and all attachments, and returned to the Diocesan Office no later than December 14, 2007 to allow for the Diocesan screening process. The submitted applications require the Bishop's signature, and our Diocese can forward only 2 applications to the UTO Committee. Call 605-338-9751 if you have any questions.
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