Almost Home

At the Airport, Fr. Yohana, Cindy, Theresa

Father Yohana dropped us off last night at the airport with time to spare. The Bishop seemed to think we were being overly cautious about our check in time, but we were, justifiably worried, because of the traffic problems we have encountered. He Told Yohana about shortcut, but we decided to take the main road to spare Yohana’s sister’s car. Cars do take a beating here because of the quality of the streets. The shortcut was most likely, a dirt track, and we have been praying that the transmission doesn’t just fall right out and that all four tires stay intact, so we didn’t wannt to push our luck.

We did some final Africa shopping and even though Cindy was stopped going through security, because of her dangerous cache of cross stitch needles, we think we will make it home ok.

Now we are at Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. We have about a 4 hour wait, but decided that was not quite enough time to make the trip into the city. So we are enjoying the airport, with its shopping, comforts and Rijks Museum exhibit.

Now, I’m going to turn things over to my traveling companions, since they have not had their own voice.

Cindy here, wow what can I say. Overwhelming, humbling, and pure joy are some of the emotions that I’ve encountered. My mind is racing with all that there still is to do, discernment, trying to figure out how we can best partner with Yohana and his diocese. We met with the Bishop and his gracious wife today and had a wonderful lunch and conversation. He gave much to consider and contemplate. Its been a wonderful trip but I can’t wait to get home and see my cats and eat a green salad. Oh and when you see Eleanor make sure you give her a banana. Thanks for all of your prayers.

Notes from Theresa-What a journey! We’ve really felt your support and prayers with us as we’ve encountered all the challenges of a different language and a very different culture. We’ve also made sure we did our homework–we’ve learned about how adults are brought into the Anglican Church and the changes that are being made to that process (we’ll fill you in at the forum), the fact that youth comprise 50% and sometimes more of the congregation, and have heard Fr. Yohana talk about what he will take from Grace Church to his parish and diocese here.

It was my great honor to serve on the altar at Fr. Yohana’s church on Sunday, made easier by being an English language service. In addition to his position at St. Mark’s Seminary where he’ll be teaching Greek, Hebrew, and Old Testament, he is a hospital chaplain at Muhumbili National Hospital, on call for whenever he is needed. The chaplaincy role includes the Anglican Church on the hospital grounds. It has a small congregation, primarily hospital staff, medical students, and patients. The children’s Sunday School class is held jointly with the Lutheran congregation.

It has been a great surprise to meet priests in the diocese of Dar who know our friends back home, especially through VTS–John Sebu sends his greetings to Mary Hix and we shared updates with John and the Archbishop about the Stafford family and Ray and Joyce Glover, friends.of Grace Church who I first met in Richmond in 1977. What a gift it is to be part of a connected community of faith! The Archbishop also recalled his time at VTS and his attempt to have his field placement at Grace Church. From his description of the experience, I suspect it was during the interim period before we called Fr. Malm since he referenced Rev. Rosemari Sullivan.. Instead, he was placed at a church in Maryland under a rector whose first name is Eleanor (we forgot to write her full name down). He also told us that he feels he is a priest of the Diocese of Virginia, having been ordained at VTS by the retired Bishop of NH.

God’s grace and love has been manifested many times during this trip and comes through when we least expect it. As we make our way home, we look forward to seeing you soon and connecting you more deeply with our experiences in Dar.

Eleanor again – time now to pay the euros and post this on the site. Though this is our final post from the trip, we will have more to say in coming weeks.

Love to you all, and we look forward to being back home In about 11 hours!

nearing the end

Masai in downtown Dar roadside stand

It is now 1 am. Today, the MEA foundation, lunch, shopping, another dinner out, they take a long time. beer with Yohana at hotel, fun talk with a health worker stationed here.

So very tired. Cannot possibly eat another banana.
Love, Eleanor, Cindy, Theresa

Monday:

 

 

 

 

 

School library; local children, unfinished church, our dinner hosts

 

Monday we drove out to Bishop John Sepeku Secondary School. When I say we drive “out” I mean we are going to one of the suburbs of Dar, some of which are fairly rural. This school has a beautiful situation physically, on a hill overlooking the surrounding countryside. It is far from some of the students, however, and the assistant head we spoke to said that one problem is that it is hard for the students to get there. Because students don’t have to pay full fare on the public bus, the driver may not let them on until last, which means not at all if the bus is full. The school is small, but hoping to grow, they are sending the teachers to recruit students from the primary schools. They hope to build a dorm someday, so the transportation problem would be alleviated.  They also find it hard to keep teachers, because theycan get paid better elsewhere.  Like the other schools we have seen, it is simple.  Desks and chalkboard are all that is in the room.  We gave a gift of paper and pens, and an english dictionary.

On the grounds was a church that has fallen into disrepair, and this was bit of a theme today: unfinished churches. We saw at least three, and there was also the one at St. Bartholomew’s yesterday. Banks are reluctant to give loans to churches, so what people do is get money together, build what they can, then stop until they can raise more money. The parish that hosted us for dinner Tuesday night has been trying to finish their project for 8 years.

After the school, we did a little shopping in a wood crafts area of the city, and then went back out of town to the dinner house. This was a young priest (he newly assigned to the 8 year unfinished building) who is also in charge of the Diocesan youth programs. He was very interested in the pictures I showed him of the J2A Pilgrimage and the EYC mission trip to New Orleans.  We got to watch choir practice and then he showed us the church and then, since we had arrived early, we went and had a cola (and Serengeti Beer for some) as a stand in the town. We had to stall, since dinner was not yet ready.  Eventually, we walked t the house and the priest’s wife, Grace, welcomed us.  We had another lovely meal, though we find it hard sometimes to eat the quantities we are encouraged to have.  I am still feeling bad about not finishing my juice last night, because we think the couple went to some expense to host us.

They had a little girl who had never seen a white person before and was shy for a long while, but finally reached out to touch my skin when I offered her my arm.  She became more confident then, interacting with Theresa and eventually saying, “Shikamo” (respectful greetings, often said to an elder.)

It was another great experiences, though see all the needs is really hard.  There is so much to be done!

Today (Tuesday) is our last full day, and we hope to do some shopping after visiting a development program.  Dinner of course tonight at…a priest’s house! 

 The food is very good here.  Rice and ugali, meat, vegetables, fruits.  The host pours water over our hands to wash before and after the meal, and we are not allowed to help clear up (I tried one night, and was made to wash again.)  It is not uncommon that people do not talk during the meal, and this takes getting used to for we chatty three.

Love to All!  See you soon!

Eleanor, Cindy, Theresa

 

 

 

 

Sunday: A Tale of 3 Churches

Sunday: Churches and relaxing

 

It is not possible to upload our video clips so you can’t hear (at least until your come to our presentation at church on September 27^th) the Plant Lord’s prayer in Swahili at St. Alban‘s cathedral, or the choir at St. Bartholmew’s, where the bishop was presiding over confirmations.

Quick impressions of the services:

Theresa was at Fr. Yohana’s parish, the chapel at the hospital. It was a small congregation, about 40, mostly staff of the hospital. He asked her to serve on the altar with him, and even commented to the congregation “Doesn’t it look nice to have women on the altar?” Afterwards they were invited to the home of a parishioner for some food. Fr. Yohana said they take it in turns to do this.

After they were done, they came to the cathedral of St. Albans to collect me. I had spent my morning at “Grace Church Africa.” It was so similar! I had gone to the 8:30 English service, where an Australian(I think, maybe English) priest was presiding. The priest of St. Albans, a Tanzanian, was assisting, and presided over the 10:30 service which was in Swahili. There were no choir or instruments at the 8:30, though we did sing hymns. The Swahili service had a choir, which was, as Fr. Yohana said, very European in its manner. There was no swaying as we saw with other choirs. For the second service an acolyte produced a substantial quantity of smoke from a thurible and the censing looked very much the same as in our church. I got to stay for about 2/3rds of the Swahili service before Yohana and Theresa arrived. I had not brought my camera, so I grabbed Theresa’s which has a video function, and was able to capture the Lord’s Prayer, which to my astonishment, was the Plant version, in the back of our hymnal. I knew someone from our church had written it, but never realized it was out in the world! I’m so addled now by all that I have seen, that I wonder if that is indeed what it was, or if I am confusing some other service music. Anywho, I will upload the tape when I get home and you can be the judge.

We then head to meet Cindy who had been dropped off at 8:00am. It was past one, and I asked Yohana, as we stopped to see the first church in which he had worked, if there was any danger that the service would have ended and she would be waiting alone. He assured me not, and he was correct. Not only had the Bishop arrived late, but there were the 80 confirmations I mentioned, a special offering from the choir, and an announcement by the chair of the fundraising for the building project, who, Cindy said, exorted people by name, to pony up. She said the announcements and offering alone took and hour. We arrived at the consecration and were able to see the choirs special performance at the end. It was just wonderful, and we have some video of that as well. That service ended maybe around two-thirty. We have joked with a particularly funny member of the bishop’s staff about “Chronos Time” and Chiros(Christ) Time) We were on Chiros time on Sunday.

After the service we were invited to the priest’s home, on the church grounds, for a lunch reception for the Bishop. We were a little anxious, because we had planned to have lunch and dinner with Sabina and Yohana’s, but we are getting pretty good and going with the flow, and accepting the hospitality that is offered. Cindy had already been given tea at the priest’s house when she first arrived, and was put under the wing of a member of the East African parliament, a nice woman who translated the sermon, etc. We are overwhelmed at people’s generosity.

When spent the afternoon relaxing at Yohana and Sabina’s with them at Sabina’s bother, Joseph. It was very pleasant to sit it back of their house, talking and watch the neighborhood chicken’s peck about. Sabina accommodated us being tired by making us an early dinner (they ate later after we had left) of octopus, coconut beans, and ugali, which is a cornmeal based traditional dish that you roll into a ball in your hand and use to scoop up the beans and sauce. It was quite good.

We were glad to get home a little earlier that usual and sleep, though as always, we meet in the outdoor lounge of our hotel and talk over the day. Today was a day that we worried we hadn’t been good guests, having made Sabina and Yohana change their schedule, but we hope, like with all friends, when we make mistakes we are forgiven!

 

Saturday List

We see a church, give some food, have a carbreakdown, crash a wedding.

I’m really tired and tomorrow is another 7am pickup so I’m just going to try to make a list of the things that happened:

1. Got to Airport for Mafia flight turns out we had been given tickets for Zanzibar.
2. Were going to cancel out, because additional cost was too much, but Frank the awesome coastal air guy worked a deal to get the price down, so we went. In a little prop plane. Made  by Lego. Said prayer on tarmac before takeoff.
3. Got to Mafia, met by Isiah the Evangelist (non ordained) for the parish on Mafia.  They have no priest, but Isiah and a teacher run the program.
4. Car broke down.  More prayers.
5. Isiah’s friend the mechanic walked over and  fixed car.  Fuse Problem.  Prayers said.
6. Isiah is a teacher of the blind, and took us to meet one of his students and family.  Desperately, terribly poor, often without food.  Painful to see.
7. Isiah drove us to see the Diocesan land on Mafia.  Also two hotels as examples of what people have suggested might be done with the land as a source of income for the diocese.
8. We bought 5 kilos of rice, 2 of  beans and 1 of sugar to take to the family we met.
9. Water at a cafe.  Mafia is interesting, small, rural, 95% Muslim, some tourist income,  street markets everywhere, like Dar, everything done outdoors.
10. Back to Airport, flew back to Dar. (I am local now, and may refer to it as such.) 
11. Off to meet the Bishop.
12. Quick stop at the parish of the priest who will host us for dinner.  He is performing a wedding.  He insists we come and meet the bride and groom.  In the sanctuary. During the anthem.  Picture that, Grace Church.
13. Back to the car.  All these trips through Dar are through streets filled with buses, potholes, markets (some as simple as a blanket with items laid out on it, others carts, some groups of people gathered around as is an auction, or groups of goats hanging out with their seller) pedestrians, bicycles, and carts.  There is constant, silent and unceasing prayer going on from whoever is in the front seat and witnesses the near misses.  Sometimes eyes are shut, and yoga breathing is employed.
14. Finally to the bishop.  He is very nice, there is much talk of Virginia Seminary, and he proposes to have us to lunch and take us to the airport on Wednesday.
15. Another car ride to pick up the priest, Fr. Casanta.
16. Another car ride to his house, a little outside the city.  At one point, the driver of his car, in front of us, creates his own lane, on the opposite traffic side, and this works until some three wheel taxis retake the shoulder (going the correct direction) and our convoy is forced to move across the oncoming lane of traffic into the proper lane. Light small talk is made during all of this.
17. Well worth the trip as Fr. Casanta and his wife Doris  warmly welcome us, and provide a delicious dinner.  We enjoyed our time there and as usual pull out our pictures of Grace Church, mostly because the one from the blizzard of 2000 elicits such a great reaction.
18. Another exciting ride home.  The dark does not lessen the action in the streets, but sure ups the excitement in the car.  Breathe in, two three, breathe out, two three.
19. Quick stop at Yohana’s and Sabina’s to determine when we will eat with them again, as invite from other priests and the bishop have changed our plans.  We will lunch and dinner with them tomorrow after church.
20. Ride home.  Doesn’t seem as bad.  We may be developing an acceptance of the system.

We are having a complex time, experiencing fascination delight and sadness in turns.  We are humbled by people’s generosity to us, which we cannot repay. 

Please pray for the family on Mafia, and all here and everywhere, who are living in desperate circumstances.

We miss and love you!

Eleanor, Theresa, Cindy

School, Clinic, Seminary (and Fr. Yohana’s mom)

Fr. Yohana gives us a tour of St. Mark Seminary; school children; Fr. Yohana and his mother; the staff of the Anglican Women’s center; a doctor from the Buguruni Anglican Health center; and our group with the headmistress of St. Augustine Primary English School.

A Quick Visit, then Off to School

Fr. Yohana started our day with a nice treat, a visit to the home in which he was born, where his mother still lives, along with a younger brother.  We do not think he had prepared her for this visit, but she was very gracious.  She has a sweet smile and manner, and a nice home.

After this brief stop, it was off to St. Augustine Primary School.  We visited with the headmistress, Alice.  She told us she was from Uganda and had been at the school for two years.  She has worked hard in those two years to make the sure the staff is accountable and professional and also, that they get paid!  She is very proud that she has  been able to get the schools debts paid off, so that the teachers now receive regular salaries.   Having sufficient funds to keep things running is a huge challenge.  Though the school is private, it seems that anyone can come, as long as their parents promise to pay, but about 80% simply aren’t able to pay, but the children are kept in school anyway.  Of the 680 children who are there, she only has been able to get funding for 120 of them to have a  breakfast.  She has sought out the ones that she feels that are most in need, but she says it is very hard, since more than 120 need the help.

Though the money is very tight, and the supplies are scarce, the children are getting  instruction in English (all classes are taught in English) math, science, geography and religion. (Muslim children can and do come to the school, but their parents must agree that the girls will not wear scarves, and they must take the religion classes.) We visited the about 6 of the 11 classrooms (680 children, 11 classrooms, 24 teachers) and when we entered each room, all the children stood and said “Education is the key to life, Good morning madam,” we answered, “Good morning, how are you today?” and they responded “We are fine thank you madam, how are you?”   We met the teachers too and occasionally I took a picture of the class, but stopped because of the disruption I was causing! The flash, and the digital view screen caused a lot of ruckus!  When we were outside however, and the students were at play, they came running over when I took the camera out and there was much mugging for the camera. In short, they acted exactly like my own students.

We gave the headmistress the gifts of school supplies that Grace G. has

bought for us, and she was pleased.  We then went upstairs to the Anglican Women’s center and had a cola and a lovely visit with the women who run the program, which provides housing for your women who are coming to go to school or work in the city.  They are in desperate need of renovation, in an aging facility that does not even have a kitchen any longer, since someone elsewhere in the area cut the gas line.  The leader is a positive woman, and asked us to begin our meeting together by praying, and she came from behind her desk and gathered us in a circle with arms around one another, and asked us to lead a prayer.  It was a very warm welcome and reflective of the many positive attitudes we have seen in challenging circumstances.

The Clinic

In the same compound as the school is the Buguruni Anglican Health Center.  Theresa and Cindy had met with the founders of this center Priscilla and Henry Ziegler, before we left on our trip.  The clinic is clean and well run, with programs for not only immediate health issues but an AIDS treatment program and a mother and child wellness program.  We were given a tour and particularly interesting was the lab, Vaccine refrigerator in the mother and child clinic, so children can begin immunizations as soon as they are born, and the new well, allowing the clinic to have it’s own supply of good water, instead off tapping into another line as they had been.

St. Mark’s Seminary

After meeting some administrators of some of the grants that help fund these programs, some of which I think come from Episcopal Relief and Development, Fr. Yohana took us on a tour of St. Mark’s, where he went to seminary and will be teaching Greek this coming semester.  They are attempting to expand the seminary to teach other disciplines, such and business and education.  There was a listing on a bulletin board of student articles, which included one Fr. Yohana had written as an undergraduate, about missions!

It was about 2:30, and we were beginning to fail a little at this point, finally having hit a slight wall of jet lag, and so Fr. Yohana took us to have lunch (chicken and fries) at an outdoor cafe that is one of his favorites.  All places we have seen to eat so far are outdoors.  Before you eat, they bring a bowl and pitcher around to wash your hand (eating is done with the right hand).  After the  lunch we wanted to be bold and go out to dinner  unescorted, and we know this is possible from people we have met at the hotel, but we were so tired that when the staff told us there was more than enough dinner for us to eat (you let them know in the morning if you will be staying for dinner) we gratefully accepted this idea and ate a delicious dinner at the hotel. Outdoors of course!

We saw a lot today, and heard about how much is needed at all of these places.  At dinner at the hotel tonight, a man who has worked internationally with aid programs for years says that though things are peaceful in Tanzania, the infrastructure is so weak, that most people are without clean water and a reliable balanced diet.  Though it is hard to imagine how problems like this can be tackled without major organization and participation of the Tanzanian government, it is clear that people like the headmistress and the clinic staff, care very much and are working hard at their level to make progress.  I can see why people tell stories about coming back from Africa  with very little of the possesions they brought, because I am already looking at my Cliff Bars and thinking there is no reason those have to go home with me, because maybe we can go back and leave them at the school to give breakfast to #121.

Tomorrow we go to the island of Mafia, to see a development project the diocese is considering, and perhaps when we return, we might get to go to a youth gathering at the Anglican Center.

Good night and much love from Cindy, Theresa and Eleanor.

Interrupting Choir Practice at St Stephen's Church!

Theresa, Cindy and I have now been in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for 24 hours, and it seems like we have seen enough for a lifetime, and in a good way.  There are so many things and people to look at, it is a kind of sensory overload.  In the last 24 hours we have visited with people developing programs, explained to children what a bag of M and Ms is and how to open it, been pulled over by the police and gotten to watch choir practice at a rural church, among other things. Perhaps I should start at the beginning…

“Welcome to Tanzania”

Arriving in Dar, we were glad we had gotten our visas in advance so we could skip that line, but everyone had to take a form from a lady with a white mask, who was looking for people who might have the swine flu.  We passed this test and were quickly out the door.  After about 10 minutes Father Yohana, looking very cool (both meanings) in a Texas T-shirt and shorts was there to collect us along with his cousin.  We exited the airport, and about five minutes later the cousin and I were flagged down by the police.  Apparently there was no registration sticker on the car.  Yohana’s cousin got out and chit chatted, and the policeman came over to look in my window, as it was being explained that I was visiting from America, and we were following another car (which was now no where in sight).  ”Welcome to Tanzania,” he said cheerfully.  I did not feel any real anxiety over  this situation, as I felt that my new friend (who I am sorry to say, that since I didn’t write his name down right away, I have forgotten it)  had things well in hand, and indeed he did.  He explained when he got back in the car, that he was a leader in a local political party, and so it was no problem.  (We don’t think he had to pay a bribe, but Yohana said that stops like that sometimes end that way.) We quickly caught up with Yohana, Cindy and Theresa, who had seen us get pulled over, and waited for us, and were soon at the hotel.  (I know that’s a long story for just the airport, but you’ve got to admit, it creates some tension right off the bat!)

“A Resting Day”

The schedule that Father Yohana gave us (yes we were very excited to get one!) had today listed as a day for rest.  So we went to buy a cell phone in downtown Dar, visit two churches, and the office of the diocese, stopped for a drink at a roadside cafe, and had dinner at Yohana and Sabina’s home.  Just a few things!  When we told Yohana we were ready to roll and didn’t need rest, he took us at our word!

At the diocese we met with the Director of Development, two leaders of the Mother’s Union, and the “second” to the bishop, who told us about the types of programs they have or hope to have to help the people of Tanzania.  For example, the director of development is hoping the diocese can buy a drill to bore holes to help villages have clean water.  The mother’s union wants to develop small businesses run by women to give them more financial stability, and help the local churches.  All of the people we spoke to want to help regardless of people’s faith background, but also hope to spread the gospel as they go.

At the Diocesean office, Yohana introduced us to another priest and said we would go see his parish “an outstation” – meaning a rural church. After a fast, bouncy, and “exciting” ride (I’m not quite ready to explain about the traffic here, but let me just say, picture leaving a stadium after a ball game, but jack up the speed of the car and add pedestrians, carts, commuter busses and shopping stalls.) we got to the parish of St. Stephen’s. (Our ride was very helpful to the priest, otherwise he would have had to take a very very long bus ride to get home)  When we got out of the car we heard singing.  Choir practice!  We went in and got to watch for a while.  They moved as they sang, and sounded wonderful.  After the song, the priest welcomed us, and the choir master spoke too, and introduced the choir.  We said a few things, and gave the priest a stole as a gift.  It was everything you could have wanted from such a moment, words of praise, clapping, smiling, joyful!  When we left they sang us out, walking out with us and singing “Go with God!”  The whole visit was unplanned, unexpected, and amazing!

Dinner was at the seminary in Yohana and Sabina’s home.  They just moved in a few days ago.  Sabina made us a delicious meal with a rice dish, salad, fresh caught fish and chapati (bread)  We enjoyed ourselves very much.  She and Yohana are excellent hosts and very generous!

So much more I could tell you but I’ve got to go to bed!

We’ve been quite comfortable, the weather was better here today that what we left in DC.  There are mosquitos, no question, but each of us glows slightly from the amount of bug repellent we are wearing, we have a mosquito net around our beds which we all agree is like the canopy beds we wanted when we were little, and just for good measure when I come in at night, I like to lay down  a suppressing fire of “Hatari” bug spray, thoughtfully provided for each room.

It’s hard to believe that we have seen so much and it has only been one day.  It is very exciting, and there is surely more to come!

Good night from Tanzania – Go with God!

Let’s Go!

Theresa, Cindy and I were commissioned today at the 10:00am service.  How great to hear at the same time about the birth of Jennifer Andrews-Weckerly’s baby girl, since Jennifer was vital in getting us started on this road.

 Has everyone been doing their homework?  Here is the wikipedia entry on Tanzania, and also the CIA World Factbook information.  You can also take a look at the website for the Anglican Church in Tanzania.

It is time to walk in faith!  We don’t know exactly what we will do each day, and our American “type a” selves find it hard sometimes to be headed into a journey without a hard itinerary, but we go with faith, that it will all work out.  It is exciting to have all the preparation be over and actually get to travel on Tuesday!

Getting Ready to go to Tanzania

Cindy, Theresa and I have been meeting every other week since about April and now every week as we prepare to go to Tanzania on August 18-27.

We spend our meetings talking about the logistics of what we need (gifts, shots, insurance, tickets, visas, clothing) and what we will encounter (culture, language, activities.) We talk about our hopes and fears for this trip.

So what are our hopes? We hope first of all to get to know more about Father Yohana’s country, his diocese and the ministry there. We hope to be able to bring what we learn about that back to share with the Grace community. We hope that in visiting schools, clinics, the seminary and churches in the Diocese of Dar es Salaam we will be able to understand the needs that exist and see if there is something we at Grace can offer. We also hope by this visit in some small way to strengthen the bonds in the Anglican communion, and to focus on what we have in common with one another.

Fears? Of course there are fears. Fear of the unknown, of getting sick, of having too much to do, of having too little to do! Our meetings allow us to talk through these worries, and reassure each other that God is guiding us, and that we must live into the adventure that is before us!

We continue to continue to communicate with Father Yohana regularly. We tell him what we hope to do, and he assures us these things are possible. Though we don’t know our itinerary down to the minute, we are confident it will be a busy and exciting time.

We welcome your prayers, comments and notes in the days ahead!

General Convention 2009 – 16 July

This report and the one for Day 10 that follows were written after I returned home.  Early Friday morning at the beginning of Day 10, my laptop decided that it no longer wanted to recognize my pin number.  My apologies to all.

 Legislative Day 9

 This was BUDGET DAY!  With the theme of a “Balanced budget that is responsive to the Gospel, hears the General Convention, and takes into account current economic conditions,” the Deputies and the Bishops considered the budget that was reported yesterday by the Program, Budget, and Finance (PB&F) committee.  The proposed budget represents a reduction of $21 million from budget approved by the church’s Executive Council in January 2009, which was based assumed revenues of $162 million, and includes a total for the 2010-2012 triennium of $141 million ($79 million from diocese, $23 million from investment income, and the remainder from other sources including administration of government grant programs).  Expenses are budgeted at $141 million for ministry and missions, administrative support of the church center, and funding for the offices of the Presiding Bishop, the President of the House of Deputies, General Convention, and interim bodies, such as the Executive Council and various Standing Committees that administer the church’s programs during the triennium.  In contrast, the 2007-2009 triennial budget projected revenues and $165 million and expenses of $164 million.

 As noted in yesterday’s report, PB&F added 0.7% of non-governmental revenues to the Millennium Development Grant program and also provided $300 thousand as seed money for Hispanic/Latino strategic outreach.   To increase the incentive for dioceses to subscribe fully to the “asking” from diocesan budgets for support the national church and in recognition of the impact of the current economic situation, the budget reduces the “asking” percentage from 21% in 2010, 20% in 2011, and 19% in 2012, and increased the diocesan exemption prior to calculation of the “asking” from $100 thousand to $120 thousand.  

 To accommodate the $23 million reduction in the 2010-2012 triennial budget a number of church-wide programs and supporting offices, such as the women’s ministry and racial justice offices, will have to be reduced, or eliminated entirely.  Thirty of the 180 people employed by the Episcopal Church in the New York office and regional offices could lose their jobs. To further cut expenses the budget also includes a 2-day reduction in the length of the next General Convention and increased used of automation and modern communications to reduce the expense of paper reports and other written resources.

 During consider of the budget PB&F leaders and other deputies argued to hold the line and pass the draft budget as presented.  Six amendments were offered, each of which required the identification of offset source in the draft budget.  All were defeated.  The budget passed with an overwhelming voice vote.

 During the Virginia Deputation’s noonday caucus, Bishop Lee observed that the budget cuts would result in a shift in the focus of mission from initiatives supported by the national church to dioceses and local congregations

 The morning Eucharist focused on the day’s theme of Ubuntu and Evangelism: Expanding Community, and the ministry of evangelists in spreading the Gospel of Christ.  In his sermon, Brian McLaren, author, activist, and evangelist, said, “Evangelism is not a dirty word.”

 Following completion of final passage of the budget, Deputies in the afternoon worked through a number of reports and resolutionss on the Day 7 and Day 8 calendars and the Day 9 consent calendar, and made sufficient progress  that we were able to recess at 6:30 pm and not have a third legislative session Thursday evening.  Resolutions addressed social issues and internal church matters, including a call for increased mission activities.

Resolution D075, “Mission, the Heartbeat of the Church,” challenges dioceses and congregations to participate in a new or ongoing project that would engage in a relationship with another part of the body of Christ in the world, and also directed the development of strategies by the Standing Commission on World Mission to help individuals, congregations and dioceses engage in mission activities.

 Deputies recognized the contributions being made by the young people of the church and the Official Youth Presence at the General Convention – 18 young people from the provinces of the church who are seated with voice, but do not vote.  A resolution was offered to amend the church constitution and seat the youth deputies with voice and vote was not approved, but was sent to the Standing Commission and Canons for review.  However, dioceses that want the youth perspective in the house with voice and vote were encouraged to elect young people as deputies.

 The hottest social issue was Resolution C023, which urged the repeal of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and called on all Episcopalians to work against similar state statutes and constitutional amendments.  The resolution was adopted in a vote by orders and forwarded to the House of Bishops for consideration.  Deputies also adopted resolutions offering support for victims of domestic violence and calls for clergy training to enable them to respond appropriately to victims.  Deputies also adopted resolutions condemning torture, calling for reconciliation in Honduras follow the recent civil unrest.

 In a high point of the afternoon session, the Deputies by resolution and in a standing ovation recognized the presence with voice and vote of the Continuing Dioceses of Pittsburg, Fort Worth, Quincy, and San Joaquin.