the diocese of rhode island...diocese of rhode island diocesan house 401-274-4500 . 275 north main...

THE DIOCESE OF RHODE ISLAND

JOURNAL OF THE 226th CONVENTION

November 4th – 5th, 2016

Reports from Convention 2015

to Convention 2016

Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island JOURNAL OF CONVENTION

November 4th – 5th 2016 AND

REPORTS FROM CONVENTION 2015-2016

Officers and Committees of Convention 4 Canonically Resident Clergy 6 Convention Roll of Clergy 12 Convention Roll of Delegates & Alternates 14 Journal of Proceedings 17 Bishop’s Address 30 Convention Necrology 39 Parochial Organizations 40 Episcopal Institutions 49 ANNUAL REPORTS Bishop’s Official Acts 50 Report of Diocesan Council 52 Report of the Standing Committee 59 Report of the Commission on Ministry 61 APPENDIX

I. Parochial Statistics and Reports II. Summary Budget III. Plant Assets IV. Proposed Amendment to the Constitution & Canons V. Report of the Center for Reconciliation VI. Report of the Chaplaincy Committee

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Diocese of Rhode Island

Diocesan House 401-274-4500 275 North Main St, Providence RI 02903 www.episcopalri.org FAX 401-331-9430

Bishop The Rt. Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely 274-4500, x223 275 North Main St., Providence, RI 02903 [email protected]

Ms. Elizabeth Crawley, Executive Assistant to the Bishop 274-4500, x223 [email protected]

Canon to the Ordinary The Rev. Canon Linda L. Grenz 274-4500, x221 275 North Main St., Providence, RI 02903 [email protected]

Program and Ministries

The Rev. Gillian Barr, Digital Communications Coordinator 274-4500, x228 [email protected]

Canon Elizabeth Fornal, Canon for Program 274-4500, x225 275 North Main St., Providence, RI 02903 [email protected]

The Rev. Meaghan Brower, Director, Episcopal Conference Center [email protected] (Cell) 473-8718

Ms. Karen Weavill, Development Director 274-4500, x247 [email protected]

Ms. Kristen Orrall, Development Director Assistant 274-4500, x234

Ms. Joan Collins, Development Administrator & Risk Manager 274-4500, x242

[email protected]

[email protected]

Finance and Administration

Mr. Dennis Burton, Chief Financial Officer 274-4500, x227 [email protected]

Ms. Joan DeCelles, Finance Director 274-4500, x229 [email protected]

Ms. Regina Barattini, Finance Assistant 274-4500, x229

Ms. Ruth Moulton, Diocesan Administrator 274-4500, x221

[email protected]

[email protected]

Mr. Chris DeCelles, Supervisor, Properties & Maintenance 487-7562 Mr. Andrew Lonardo 480-4090

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http://www.episcopalri.org/�

mailto:[email protected]�













Diocesan Officers Standing Committee The Rt. Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely, President 275 N. Main St., Providence, RI 02903 274-4500, x223 [email protected] Mr. Robert L. G. Batchelor CPA, Treasurer 275 N. Main St., Providence RI 02903 274-4500, x246 [email protected] The Rev. Kevin Lloyd, Secretary to Convention P.O. Box 317, Jamestown, RI 02835 423-1762 (Cell) 580-4925 [email protected]

The Rev. Kevin Lloyd (2017) Ms. Lora MacFall (2017), President Mr. John L. J. Gelati (2018) The Rev. Patrick Greene (2018) Mr. Neal McNamara (2019) The Rev. Greta Getlein (2019) The Rev. David Ames (2020) Mr. David P. Whitman (2020) Ms. Anela Brewster (2020)

Diocesan Council

The Rt. Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely, President The Rev. Nathan Humphrey (2019), Vice-President

Elected by Convention Appointed by Bishop The Rev. David Dobbins (2017) The Rev. Mary Ann Mello (2017) Mr. William Plumb (2017) Ms. Susan Ursillo (2018) Ms. Doris De Los Santos (2018) The Rev. Susan Carpenter (2018) The Rev. Bettine Besier (2019) The Rev. Edward Dean (2019) Mr. Scott Hovanec (2019)

Ms. Sue Hurn (2017) The Rev. Jennifer Zogg (2017) The Rev. Pamela Rannenberg (2018) Mr. Henry Dziadosz (2018) The Rev. Nathan Humphrey (2019) Ms. Aimee Robinson (2019) Diocesan Council Ex-Officio Mr. Robert L. G. Batchelor, CPA, Treasurer Ms. Lora MacFall, President, Standing Comm. The Rev. Edwin Hallenbeck, Comm. on Finance

Commission on Finance Mr. Stephan Sloan (2017) Mr. Michael Lofaro (2017), Chair Mr. Sarosh Fenn (2018) Mr. David Terry (2018) The Rev. Erik Larsen (2019) The Rev. Peter Tierney (2019) The Rev. Edwin Hallenbeck secretary The Bishop ex officio Mr. Dennis Burton, staff liaison Mr. Robert L. G. Batchelor ex officio Ms. Joan T. DeCelles, staff liaison

Commission on Ministry Ms. Carol Anne Bennett (2017) The Rev. Sandra Haines-Murdocco (2017) The Rev. Mark Sutherland (2017) The Rev. Patrick Campbell (2018) The Rev. Joan Testin (2018) Dr. Elizabeth Wheeler (2018) The Venerable Jan Grinnell (2019) The Rev. Timothy Rich (2019) Canon Betsy Fornal, staff liaison

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Commission on Investments The Rev. Dennis Bucco (2017) Mr. Jeffrey O. Belden (2017) Ms. Frances H. Gammell-Roach (2017) Mr. J. Geddes Parson, Chair (2018) Ms. Mary W. Daly (2018) The Rt. Rev. David B. Joslin (2018) Mr. Austin C. Smith (2019) The Rev. john Higginbotham (2019) Ms. Ellen Abell (2019) Mr. Robert L.G. Batchelor, CPA, ex officio

The Bishop, ex officio

Commission on Congregational Development

Mr. James Burgess (2017), Chair Ms. Joannie Collins (2017) The Rev. Elizabeth Habecker (2017) The Rev. Jennifer West (2017) The Rev. Robert Marshall (2018) Ms. Susan LaFreniere (2018) The Rev. Pamela Gregory (2018) Ms. Lora MacFall (2018) Ms. Ann Hamm (2019) Mr. Joel Gardner (2019) Canon Betsy Fornal, Bishop’s Designee

Representatives to Executive Council from Province I

The Rev. Tanya Wallace (2018) Ms. Zena Link (2021) Rhode Island representatives to Provincial Synod The Venerable Jan Grinnell Canon Elizabeth Fornal

Clergy Misconduct Intake Officer The Rev. Craig Swan 315-729-6580 [email protected] The Rev. Canon Linda Grenz 275 North Main St. Providence, RI 02903 401-274-4500 ext 221 [email protected]

Disciplinary Board The Rev. David Ames (2017) The Rev. Anita Schell (2017) Ms. Frances Gammell-Roach (2017) Ms. Murry Edwards (2018) The Rev. Sandra Haines-Murdocco (2018) The Rev. Pamela Rannenberg (2018) Mr. Grant S. Hutchins (2019) Mr. Sidney Clifford (2019) The Rev. William Locke (2019)

Deputies to General Convention 2018

The Hon. Scott Avedisian The Rev. Patrick Greene The Venerable Jan Grinnell Ms. Jane Jellison The Rev. Kevin Lloyd Ms. Lora MacFall The Rev. Timothy Rich Mr. David Seifert

Alternates to General Convention 2018

Mr. Delbert Glover Mr. Joel Gardner The Rev. Sunil Chandy The Rev. Nathan Humphrey The Rev. Joan Testin The Rev. Erik Larsen

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Canonically Resident Clergy as of October 26, 2016

Name DATE IN FROM

ALEXANDER, John D. 11/6/2000 NY`````````

ALMON, Austin A. Jr. 7/13/1985 RI

AMES, David A. 2/1/1969 So. OH

ANDERSON, Evangeline 6/18/1994 RI

ANTHONY, Henry F. II 7/1/1994 East Tennessee

ANTHONY, Robert W. 6/1/1988 W. MA

BAILEY, Noel A. 02/13/2013 W. MA

BARR, Gillian 06/11/2014 S VA

BARRY, Jean 7/13/1985 RI

BESIER, Bettine E. 8/1/1997 CN

BOCCHINO, James R. 6/23/1984 RI

BOUCHER, Charles Edward 3/4/2005 MA

BRADNER, Lawrence H. 3/7/1977 SD

BRIGHTMAN, Dorothy (Ricky) 5/25/2006 RI

BROADHEAD, Janet 7/13/1985 RI

BROOKS, Robert T. 3/7/2000 OH

BROWER, Meaghan Kelly 11/29/2012 No Carolina

BUCCO, Dennis 6/9/2007 RI

BUOTE-GREIG, Eletha 4/19/2006 Massachusetts

BURGER, Douglas C. 1/24/1995 Special List Secy HOB

BURKE, Anne B. 9/12/2009 RI

BURLINGTON, R. Craig 3/4/1992 Newark

BURTON, Christine H. 3/28/1992 RI

CAMPBELL, Patrick 10/8/2011 RI

CARPENTER, Susan Elizabeth 6/14/2008 RI

CHANDY, Sunil 11/10/2014 NJ

CHAPLIN, George M. 3/8/1969 RI

CHRISMAN, John A. 5/15/1991 CofE

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CLOSE, Leroy 1/19/2005 NY

COBURN, Michael C. 8/18/1998 CT

COLLINS, Judith T. 6/20/1992 RI

DEAN, Edward 6/11/2016 RI

DeCARVALHO, Maria E. A. 6/23/1990 RI

DEVENS, Philip 2/26/1987 MA

DOBBINS, David 9/07/2012 CT

DRAKE, Jo-Ann J. 2/1/1993 Pennsylvania

FAIRMAN, Henry 2/2/1982 Bethlehem

FISCHER-DAVIES, Clare 7/12/2005 SW VA

FRINK, James P. 6/20/1959 RI

GETLEIN, Greta 6/19/2014 CT

GILLESPIE, David M. 2/1/1987 CA

GORDON, Harrington M. 6/24/1955 RI

GREENE, Everett H. 9/13/1960 Rochester

GREENE, Patrick J. 5/22/2010 RI

GRIGGS, Linda 10/07/2015 RI

GREGORY, Pamela 3/24/1998 Chicago

GRENZ, Linda L. 10/11/2012 W. MA

GRINNELL, Janice L. 3/16/1991 RI

HAINES-MURDOCCO, Sandra P. 9/21/1994 MD

HALLENBECK, Edwin 7/13/1985 RI

HARRIS, Marsue 2/18/1983 CA

HEISTAND, Virginia 6/22/2012 VA

HIGBIE, Margaret C. F. 6/23/1990 RI

HIGGINBOTHAM, John 01/08/11 RI

HITT, Mary L. 4/13/1995 RI

HUMPHREY, Nathan J. A. 10/16/2013 Washington

HUNT, Bishop George N. 3/1/1980 CA

HUYCK, Jonathan T. 11/8/2010 Conv of Ameri Churches in Europe

JACOB, James 11/16/2015 RI

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JOHNSON, Ida R. 7/13/1985 RI

JOHNSON, Michaela M. 12/1/1992 Western MA

JOHNSTONE, Mary 01/24/2013 ME

JULIAN, Mercedes 04/12/2010 So. Carolina

KELLIHER, James 6/11/2016 RI

KIRBY, Jacquelyn 06/21/2014 RI

KNISELY, W. Nicholas 11/17/2012 AZ

KOUMRIAN, Paul S. 1/2/1992 MA

KUEHL, H. August 9/17/1973 Rochester

LANE, Peter A. 03/27/2012 NH

LAREMORE, Richard T. 6/20/1954 RI

LARSEN, Erik W. 12/04/2012 CT

LAVALLEE, Donald A. 6/19/1965 RI

LEMERY, Gary C. 8/19/1983 CA

LESIEUR, Betsy 7/13/1985 RI

LEWIS, Jeffrey C. 6/10/2013 CT

LINDEMAN, Eileen 04/22/2014 CA

LLOYD, Kevin M. 3/7/2006 Western North Carolina

LOCKE, William R. 12/27/1993 RI

LYNCH, John J. 10/7/2016 Southern Virginia

MANCHESTER, Sean 11/16/1992 Rio Grande

MARCETTI, Alvin Julian 05/14/2015 England

MARSHALL, Robert K. 9/30/2010 Southwestern Virginia

MATOTT, Michele 11/22/1992 RI

MATTHEWS, M. Theresa 3/31/2006 Bethlehem

MAUNEY, James Patrick 4/27/1982 Sul Central Brazil

MAYS-STOCK, Barbara L. 3/20/1994 RI

MELLO, Mary Ann 06/15/2013 RI

MELLO, Iris E. 7/13/1985 RI

MICHAELSON, Peter R. 3/26/1993 ID

MILLER, Nancy F. 6/24/1995 RI

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MILLETTE, Carol L. 4/5/1986 RI

MITCHELL, Judith N. 6/26/1993 RI

MORGAN, Richard 1/5/1994 VA

NEILSEN, Eloise S. 2/4/1989 RI

NESTOR, Elizabeth M. 6/29/1979 RI

OLMSTED, Nancy K.Y. 12/19/1994 NH

PAPPAS, Christopher 9/16/2008 Edmonton

PECKHAM, Ashley H. 6/27/1970 RI

PEDRICK, Jennifer L. 6/13/1998 RI

PELLETIER, Ann D. 6/23/1990 RI

PENFIELD, Joyce 6/27/2002 NJ

PERRY, Cecilia C. 1/27/1996 RI

PRIOR, John Gregory 4/10/2002 SC

RANNENBERG, Pamela L. 12/16/1999 VA

RICH, Timothy T. 10/03/2012 NH

RICHARDS, Anne Marie 06/11/2010 Washington

ROBERTS, Jose Francisco 11/17/2004 PR

ROGERS, John S. 2/21/1984 ME

SCHELL, Anita Louise 04/16/2010 Vermont

SCHWEINSBURG, Jr., Richard 5/20/1998 Albany

SCOTT, Keith E. 6/28/1965 S. OH

SESSIONS, Marcia A. 8/1/1994 VA

SHATTUCK, Gardiner H. 7/15/1986 MA

SHIPPEE, Richard C. 6/14/1975 RI

SHOBE, Melody W. 09/13/2010 Virginia

SHOEMAKER, H. Stephanie C. 3/16/1991 RI

SIMONIAN, Marlene 6/23/1990 RI

SIMPSON, Richard R. 8/26/1997 Western KS

SPENCER, Peter L. 6/19/1965 RI

SPULNIK, Frederick J. 6/26/1984 MA

STAHL, Daryl W. 8/15/1990 IA

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STENNING, Gordon J. 6/24/1955 RI

STILES, Susan R. 1/27/1996 RI

STRAHAN, Linda C. 2/21/1984 VA

SUTHERLAND, Mark 07/14/2014 AZ

SWAN, Craig R. 11/04/2015 CNY

SWINSKI, Grace 6/11/2016 RI

TARRANT, Paul 2/23/1995 MA

TESTIN, Joan M. 4/03/2013 Easton

THORNE, Joyce 5/22/2010 RI

TIERNEY, Peter G. III 06/30/2010 MA

TIERNEY, Phillip J. 1/31/2005 NC

TIERNEY, Veronica M 01/12/2012 Los Angeles

TRAFFORD, Edward J. 4/5/1986 RI

TRAVIS, Robert Paul 05/06/2015 E. Tennessee

TURNBULL, Henry G. 6/23/1956 RI

TWELVES, Paul D. 12/17/1996 Newark

ULANOWSKI, Paula H. 4/17/1983 RI

VANDERAU, Robert J., Jr. 3/17/1994 Cent. FL

WESTHORP, Peter H. G. 6/24/1968 RI

WHEELOCK, L. Gail 2/4/1989 RI

WILLIS, Nancy A. 6/15/1996 RI

WOLF, Geralyn 2/17/1996 Kentucky

WRATHALL, Susan Lynn 5/25/2006 RI

WRIGHT, Elizabeth L. 2/4/1989 RI

ZOGG, Jennifer 05/14/2015 Rochester

CLERGY LICENSED TO OFFICIATE

The Rev. John H. Barrett, Jr. The Rev. Mary Canavan The Rev. A. Milton Cheney III

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The Rev. Peter D’Alesandre The Rev. Edward B. Gammons, Jr. The Rev. Patricia Green The Rev. Michael S. Kendall The Rev. Michael Pearson The Rev. S. Lavonne Seifert The Rev. Maryalice Sullivan The Rev. Michael J. R. Tessman The Rev. Paula J. Toland POSTULANTS Mr. Edward Beaudreau Mr. Charles Cowen Ms. Julianne Hanavan Mr. Robert Izzi Ms. Sarah Johnson Ms. Jacqueline Rice CANDIDATES Ms. Christine Cassels Mr. Dante Tavolaro

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Roll of Clergy

First Name Last Name Church The Rev. Dr. David A. Ames All Saints' Memorial, Providence

The Rev. Noel Bailey Ascension, Wakefield

The Rev. Gillian Barr Good Shepherd, Pawtucket

The Rev. Bettine Besier St. Thomas', Alton

The Rev. Ricky Brightman Church Beyond the Walls, Providence

The Rev. Robert Brooks St. Andrew's by-the-Sea, Little Compton

The Rev. Dennis Bucco St. Luke's, Pawtucket

The Rev. Anne Burke St. Peter's by-the-Sea, Narragansett

The Rev. Patrick Campbell Redeemer, Providence

The Rev. Susan Carpenter St. Thomas, Greenville

The Rev. Sunil Chandy Christ Church, Westerly

The Rev. Michael Coburn Ascension, Cranston

The Rev. Judith Collins Retired

The Rev. Ed Dean St. David's on-the-Hill, Cranston

The Rev. Philip Devens All Saint's, Warwick

The Rev. W. David Dobbins St. Augustine's URI, Kingston

The Rev. Jo-Ann J. Drake St. Paul's, Pawtucket

The Rev. Jim Frink Retired

The Rev. Greta Getlein St. Paul's, Pawtucket

The Rev. Patrick Greene Saints Matthew & Mark, Barrington

The Rev. Pam Gregory Retired

The Rev. Linda Mackie Griggs St. Martin's, Providence

The Venerable Jan Grinnell St. Augustine's URI, Kingston

The Rev. Ted Hallenbeck St. Luke's, East Greenwich

The Rev. Marsue Harris Holy Cross, Middletown

The Rev. Virginia Heistand St. Paul's, North Kingstown

The Rev. Robin Higbie St. John's, Barrington

The Rev. John Higginbotham Holy Trinity, Tiverton

The Rev. Nathan Humphrey St. John's, Newport

The Rev. Jonathan Huyck Grace Church, Providence

The Rev. Mary Johnstone Trinity, Newport

The Rev. Mercedes Julián Ascension, Cranston

The Rev. James Kelliher All Saints' Memorial, Providence

The Rev. Erik Larsen St. Columba's, Middletown

The Rev. Jeffrey Lewis St. George's School

The Rev. Eileen Lindeman Holy Spirit, Charlestown

The Rev. Kevin Lloyd St. Matthew's, Jamestown

The Rev. William Locke Trinity, North Scituate

The Rev. Sean Manchester St. Francis, Coventry

The Rev. Alvin Marcetti St. Mary's, East Providence

The Rev. Mary Ann Mello Good Shepherd, Pawtucket

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Roll of Clergy Continued The Rev. Dr. Judy Mitchell St. James, North Providence

The Rev. Richard Morgan, V Christ Church, Westerly

The Rev. Elizabeth Nestor Non-Parochial

The Rev. Jennifer Pedrick St. Mary's, Portsmouth

The Rev. Joyce Penfield St. Peter's and St. Andrew's, Providence

The Rev. Pamela Rannenberg St. Luke's, East Greenwich

The Rev. Timothy T. Rich St. Luke's, East Greenwich

The Rev. Canon Anne Marie Richards Trinity, Newport

The Rev. Jose Roberts Retired

The Rev. Dr. Anita Schell Emmanuel, Newport

The Rev. Richard Shippee Emmanuel, Cumberland

The Rev. Stephanie Shoemaker Retired

The Rev. Susan Stiles St. Augustine's URI, Kingston

The Rev. Linda Strahan Retired

The Rev. Mark Sutherland St. Martin's, Providence

The Rev. Craig Swan St. Peter's by-the-Sea, Narragansett

The Rev. Grace Swinski St. Thomas, Greenville

The Rev. Joan Testin Emmanuel, Cumberland

The Rev. Joyce Thorne St. Mark's, Warwick

The Rev. Veronica Tierney Christ Church, Lincoln

The Rev. Robert Travis Ascension, Wakefield

The Revd Canon Bob Vanderau Retired

The Rev. Gail Wheelock Retired

The Rev. Nancy Willis St. Augustine's URI, Kingston

The Rev. Susan Wrathall St. Mark's, Warwick

The Rev. Jennifer Zogg Epiphany, East Providence

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Roll of Delegates

First Name Last Name Church Fred Allardyce Christ Church, Westerly

Zachariah Allen St. John's, Newport

Honorable Scott Avedisian Trinity, Cranston

William Barker St. Barnabas, Warwick

Robert Bergstrand Epiphany, East Providence

Carol Blackinton St. David's on-the-Hill, Cranston

Lorry Boss Christ Church, Lincoln

Rex Brewer St. Matthew's, Jamestown

David Brierley St. Mary's, Portsmouth

Kim Cabral St. Mark's, Warwick

Michael Cerullo St. Paul's, North Kingstown

Jennifer Clancy St. Columba's, Middletown

Bonnie Coletta St. James', Woonsocket

Caswell Cooke Christ Church, Westerly

Jaye Cunningham St. John the Divine, Saunderstown

Polly Daly Grace Church, Providence

César Delcompare St. George's, Central Falls

Ted Donnelly Trinity, North Scituate

Pam Dresselhouse St. Luke's, East Greenwich

Henry Dziadosz St. Thomas, Greenville

Eduardo Espinal Ascension, Cranston

Ken Ferro Trinity, Cranston

Ellie Field St. Andrew's by-the-Sea, Little Compton

Ron Fleming Emmanuel, Newport

Dorothy Fleming St. Luke's, East Greenwich

Orville Forbes Transfiguration, Cranston

Agnes Fox All Saints' Memorial, Providence

Marjorie Frank Holy Spirit, Charlestown

Caryl Frink Good Shepherd, Pawtucket

Fran Gammell-Roach St. Luke's, East Greenwich

Amy Greil Emmanuel, Cumberland

Linda Guest St. David's on-the-Hill, Cranston

Harry Gustafson St. Mary's, Portsmouth

Mattie Gustafson St. Mary's, Portsmouth

Mary Hafey St. Thomas', Alton

Lil Hargrove Emmanuel, Newport

John Hines St. Peter's by-the-Sea, Narragansett

Fred Holst Trinity, Cranston

Paul Howard St. Mark's, Warwick

Laura Howe Redeemer, Providence

Sue Hurn St. David's on-the-Hill, Cranston

Wilmar Jennings All Saints' Memorial, Providence

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Roll of Delegates Continued

First Name Last Name Church Janice Johnson Epiphany, East Providence

Shirley Kolarik St. Mark's, Warwick

Donna Lancaster St. Paul's, Pawtucket

Meg Little St. Columba's, Middletown

Phoebe Livingston Trinity, Newport

Lora MacFall St. Andrew's by-the-Sea, Little Compton

Thomasine Manickas St. Paul's, North Kingstown

Jeanne Mason Saints Matthew & Mark, Barrington

Steve McLoughlin St. Luke's, East Greenwich

Carol Miro St. Augustine's URI, Kingston

Elke Moonan St. Martin's, Providence

George Nathanson St. Francis, Coventry

Richard Noble S. Stephen's, Providence

Arthur Olsen St. Augustine's URI, Kingston

Catherine ORourke St. Elizabeth's, Hope Valley

Barbara Partington St. Luke's, Pawtucket

Jane Pear St. Michael's, Bristol

Beverly Pepe Emmanuel, Cumberland

Darlene Pereira St. Mary's, East Providence

Dawn Piers Ascension, Wakefield

Frank Pisaturo S. Stephen's, Providence

Linda Potter St. Luke's, East Greenwich

Gail Proulx Trinity, North Scituate

Linda M Remington St. Paul's, Portsmouth

Gerry Reynolds St. Peter's by-the-Sea, Narragansett

Ann Rheault St. Peter's by-the-Sea, Narragansett

Betsey Rice Christ Church, Westerly

Cindy Richmond Emmanuel, Cumberland

Aimee Robinson St. Luke's, Pawtucket

Stanley Schofield St. Barnabas, Warwick

Phyllis Schumacher Trinity, North Scituate

Walter Scott Christ Church, Lincoln

Kristen Seyster Holy Cross, Middletown

Scott Sherman Holy Trinity, Tiverton

Theresa Sisto St. Ann's-by-The-Sea, Block Island

Joan Skeffington St. James, North Providence

Bob Smith Trinity, Newport

Tara Smith Ascension, Wakefield

Barbara Stevenson St. Luke's, Pawtucket

Stacey Swift Holy Trinity, Tiverton

Marjorie Swift Holy Trinity, Tiverton

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Joe Swinski St. Paul's, Pawtucket

Judy Tavares St. John's, Barrington

Catherine Thenault Church Beyond the Walls, Providence

Arthur Thomas St. Peter's and St. Andrew's, Providence

Sharon Thompson St. Thomas, Greenville

Jim Tracy St. John's, Barrington

Elizabeth Welshman St. Martin's, Providence

John Whitney St. Michael's, Bristol

Roll of Alternates

First Name Last Name Church Elena Acello Emmanuel, Cumberland

Bernice Belt St. Luke's, Pawtucket

James Burgess All Saints' Memorial, Providence

Laura Clarke St. Matthew's, Jamestown

Joannie Collins St. James, North Providence

Wendy Durudogan Trinity, Newport

Richard Frank Holy Spirit, Charlestown

Katherine Gibson St. Augustine's URI, Kingston

Gale Grey Grace Church, Providence

Susan Grindell Holy Cross, Middletown

Ann Hamm St. Augustine's URI, Kingston

Lynn Harris St. Peter's and St. Andrew's, Providence

Michael Lofaro St. Ann's-by-The-Sea, Block Island

Steve MacAusland Emmanuel, Newport

Emily McKenney St. Paul's, North Kingstown

Alfred Parrillo St. Thomas, Greenville

William Plumb Trinity, Cranston

Larry Pulice Trinity, Newport

Ellen Vadney Emmanuel, Newport

Jacki Zahn St. Thomas, Greenville

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DIOCESE OF RHODE ISLAND

JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS

226th ANNUAL CONVENTION

The two-hundred-twenty-sixth meeting of the Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island began with

Holy Eucharist at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, November 4th, 2016 at Saint Luke’s Church in East Greenwich, Rhode

Island. Holy Eucharist was followed by a reception.

Convention reconvened and was called to order by Bishop Nicholas Knisely at Saint Luke’s on Saturday,

November 5th at 9:00 a.m.

Bishop Knisely recognized The Rev. Kevin Lloyd, Secretary of Convention, who reported that at least 1/3 of all

clergy of the diocese eligible to vote, and not less than 1/3 of all parishes and missions were registered and

present, thus constituting a quorum.

The Bishop recognized Ms. Kathy Hall, Convention Parliamentarian, to review the membership and rules of

order for Convention, which she did as follows:

• The Convention is governed by the Constitution, Canons and Rules of Order of the Diocese of

Rhode Island. In addition to clerical and lay members, all deputies to General Convention, all

officers of the Diocese and all chairs of Commissions of the Diocese are entitled to a seat and voice,

but not a vote. All speakers should approach a microphone and identify themselves by stating their

name and church affiliation or the office they hold.

• Only a member has the right to offer a resolution, make a motion and vote. Registered delegates and

clergy who are canonically resident no later than August 6, 2016 are members. If you have a

question about your eligibility, please approach the Secretary.

• Convention is open to all persons unless otherwise ordered by Convention.

• Any resolution for Convention, which constitutes a "late resolution", should be given in writing to

Mrs. Bennett, Chair of the Committee of Resolutions at this time. The Convention must approve

consideration of late resolutions before they can be brought to the floor.

The bishop asked Convention to grant a seat and voice but not vote to the following:

• The lay members of Diocesan Council and the Standing Committee

• The clergy serving in congregations who are not canonically resident in the diocese including:

o The Rev. Daniel Barker, serving at St. Ann’s by-the-Sea, Block Island;

o The Rev. Rachel Field, Assistant to the Rector, at St. Mary’s in Portsmouth;

o The Rev. Linda Forsberg, the Lutheran Minister-in-Charge of Church Beyond the Walls;

o The Rev. Cn. Elizabeth Habecker, serving at St. Michael’s, Bristol;

o The Rev. Mitchell Lindeman, serving at Trinity, Cranston;

o The Rev. Mally Lloyd, serving at St. Andrew’s by-the-Sea, Little Compton;

o The Rev. Jack Lynch, Hispanic Missioner serving at St. George’s Church in Central Falls;

o The Rev. Marilyn Mason, serving at St. Paul’s, Portsmouth;

o The Rev. Alan Neale, Associate Rector, Trinity, Newport;

o The Rev. Donald Parker, Associate serving at St. Thomas, Greenville;

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o The Rev. Katherine Ragsdale, serving at St. Andrew’s by-the-Sea, Little Compton;

o The Rev. Santiago Rodriguez, the Lutheran Pastor serving as Hispanic Missioner at Ascension,

Cranston;

o The Rev. Lavonne Seifert, Associate Rector, Grace Church;

o The Rev. Amy Spagna, Associate Rector at Christ Church in Westerly;

o The Rev. Martin Yost, Associate Rector, St. Stephen’s in Providence;

• Postulants and Candidates for Holy Orders: Edward Beaudreau, Christine Cassels, Charles Cowen, Julie

Hanavan, Robert Izzi, Sarah Johnson, Jacqueline Rice, Dante Tavolaro

• And members of the Center for Reconciliation Coordinating Committee for their report and any

subsequent discussion: James DeWolf Perry, Delbert Glover and Joanne Pope Melish

The Secretary moved that seat and voice be granted to the aforementioned persons. The motion was

seconded and carried unanimously.

The Bishop recognized the Secretary for presentation of the Convention agenda. The Secretary asked members

of Convention to pull the printed agenda from their packets and look it over.

The Secretary moved the adoption of the agenda as presented.

The motion to adopt the agenda was seconded and carried unanimously by voice vote.

The Bishop called on Ms. Adrienne Southgate, Chair, for a report from the Committee on Canons.

Ms. Southgate indicated that the Committee on Canons had no canonical changes to report. However, there

were two amendments to the Constitution which were approved last year and which needed to be passed at

this Convention before taking effect.

The first proposed changes were to Articles 4, 5, 9 and 10. In each case the change removes the Cathedral

Corporation from the Article.

Given the current status of the Cathedral of St. John, which is now a mission of the Diocese that has

suspended regular worship services and no longer serves a permanent congregation, there are

numerous legal details that need to be resolved regarding the Cathedral's corporate status and its

future. Removing references to the Cathedral Corporation that are presently included in our

Constitution puts the Cathedral into the same category as all other mission churches.

ARTICLE IV

Diocesan Conventions

Section 4.8. One third of all clergy eligible to vote, and not less than one third of all parishes

and missions (including the Cathedral Corporation) represented by at least one delegate, shall

constitute a quorum. If such representation of the clerical order and of the foregoing congregations is

not present at any ballot, and if a quorum is called for, then it shall be announced that no quorum exists,

and the Convention shall be recessed until such a quorum is present.

ARTICLE V

Membership of Convention

Section 5.4. The delegates and alternates, who shall be members of The Episcopal Church as defined by

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its Canons, shall be elected annually by the Cathedral Corporation and by each parish and mission in

union with the Convention in accordance with the Canons of the Diocese. Each such delegate and

alternates shall be a member of the congregation from which elected.

Section 5.5. Any vacancy occurring in a delegation between annual meetings shall be filled by

election by the vestry of a parish, or the Bishop's committee of a mission, or the Bishop and

members of the Cathedral Corporation, as the case may be.

Section 5.6. The Cathedral Corporation and e Each parish and mission shall be entitled

to the following number of delegates:

(a) If communicants in good standing are less than one hundred (100), one (l);

(b) If communicants in good standing are more than ninety-nine (99) and less than three hundred (300),

two (2);

(c) If communicants in good standing are more than two hundred ninety-nine (299) and less than

six hundred (600), three (3);

(d) If communicants in good standing are more than five hundred ninety-nine (599) and less than

one thousand (1,000), four (4); and

(e) If communicants in good standing are more than nine hundred ninety-nine (999), five (5).

ARTICLE IX

Apportionment

The Convention may raise funds from the Cathedral Corporation and the parishes and missions of the

Diocese, by Canon, or by special vote through an apportionment to provide their proportionate share of the

expenses of the Diocese. The Convention may propose by Canon such penalties as it may determine for failure

to pay such apportionment when due, including the right to reduce representation in Convention.

ARTICLE X

Election of Bishops

Section 10.2. The call to elect a Bishop, Bishop Coadjutor or Bishop Suffragan shall be issued by the

Standing Committee which shall give, through its Secretary, at least thirty (30) days written notice of such

election to the Cathedral Corporation, to every parish and mission of the Diocese and to every cleric.

Section 10.3. At a Convention to elect a Bishop, a majority of all clergy eligible to vote, and not less than

two thirds of all parishes and missions (including the Cathedral Corporation), represented by at least one

delegate, shall constitute a quorum. If such representation of the clerical order and of the foregoing

congregations is not present at any ballot, and if a quorum is called for, then it shall be announced that no

quorum exists, and the Convention shall be recessed until such a quorum is present.

Explanation of Amendments to Articles IV, V, IX & X:

Given the current status of the Cathedral of St. John, which is now a mission of the Diocese

that has suspended regular worship services and no longer serves a permanent congregation,

there are numerous legal details that need to be resolved regarding the Cathedral's corporate

status and its future. Removing references to the Cathedral Corporation that are presently

included in our Constitution clears the way for us to shape the future of the Cathedral as we

choose, without having to treat the Cathedral as a special case under our own governing

documents.

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Ms. Southgate moved the adoption of these changes (as a committee proposal, it did not require a

second).

The motion carried unanimously by voice vote.

The second proposed change was to Article 11 in the constitution to alter the election process for deputies

and alternates to General Convention.

The proposed amendments to Article XI address several issues related to electing deputies to General

Convention. First, the amendment allows Diocesan Convention to elect fewer than the maximum number

of deputies and alternates – there is no requirement in the Episcopal Church's canons that we elect a

full complement, and there is the explicit possibility that General Convention itself could reduce the

number of permitted deputies, creating a conflict with our Constitution as currently written. Second, the

amendment removes the requirement that elections be conducted by orders, which will simplify the

process of electing deputies. Finally, these amendments would establish the requirement that all

deputies serving the Diocese of Rhode Island must remain actively engaged in the worship and ministry

of the diocese during the term of office as deputy.

ARTICLE XI

Deputies to the General Convention

Section 11.1. At an Annual Convention which meets no more than two years prior to a

General Convention, deputies to the General Convention shall be elected. By the concurrent

vote of both orders, clergy and lay t The Convention shall elect as many as four clerical

deputies and as many as four lay deputies to represent the Diocese in the General Convention.

Deputies shall continue in office until their successors are elected unless a deputy no longer

meets the criteria of eligibility for election to the office. Clerical deputies shall be clergy eligible

under the Constitution of The Episcopal Church to serve as such, who are actively engaged in the

worship and ministry of the Diocese. Lay deputies shall be communicants in good standing of

the Church registered in a congregation of the Diocese.

Section 11.2. At the same Convention there shall be elected, in the same manner and with the same

qualifications as prescribed in Section 11.1, as many as four clerics and as many as four lay persons who shall

serve as alternate deputies.

Section 11.3. The Bishop shall designate from those present, in descending order in accordance with the

votes received by each at their election, one or more of the alternate deputies, as the case may require, to fill any

vacancy or vacancies which may in any way occur in the representation of the Diocese.

Explanation of Amendments to Articles XI: The proposed amendments to Article XI address several issues related

to electing deputies to General Convention. First, the amendment allows Diocesan Convention to elect fewer

than the maximum number of deputies and alternates – there is no requirement in the Episcopal Church's canons

that we elect a full complement, and there is the explicit possibility that General Convention itself could reduce

the number of permitted deputies, creating a conflict with our Constitution as currently written. Second, the

amendment removes the requirement that elections be conducted by orders, which will simplify the process of

electing deputies. Finally, these amendments would establish the requirement that all deputies serving the

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Diocese of Rhode Island must remain actively engaged in the worship and ministry of the diocese during the

term of office as deputy.

Ms. Southgate moved the adoption of these changes to Article XI of the Constitution (as a committee

proposal, no second was required).

The motion passed unanimously by voice vote.

The bishop then called on The Rev. Nathan Humphrey, Chair of the Committee on Elections to present the

nominations for election.

The Committee on Elections submitted the following nominations for consideration. The Rev. Humphrey

explained the process for submitting additional nominations from the floor, asking that everyone refrain

from marking their ballots until it’s clear there are no additional nominations.

The Rev. Humphrey asked nominees to stand as their name is called.

STANDING COMMITTEE:

Clergy (four-year term): The Rev. David Ames

Lay (four-year term): Mr. David P. Whitman

Lay (two-year term): Ms. Anela Brewster

DIOCESAN COUNCIL:

Clergy (three-year term): The Rev. Bettine Bessier and The Rev. Edward Dean

Lay (three-year term): Mr. Scott Hovanec

COMMISSION ON FINANCE

Three-year term: The Rev. Erik Larsen

COMMISSION ON CONGREGATIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

Clergy (three-year term): The Rev. Linda Griggs

Lay (three-year term): Ms. Ann Hamm

COMMISSION ON INVESTMENTS

Clergy (three-year term): The Rev. John Higginbotham

Lay (three-year term): Ms. Ellen Abell and Mr. Austin Smith

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SECRETARY OF THE CONVENTION and DIOCESAN TREASURER

Secretary of Convention (one-year term): The Rev. Kevin Lloyd

Diocesan Treasurer (one-year term): Mr. Robert Batchelor.

GENERAL CONVENTION DEPUTIES & ALTERNATES

Clergy Deputy for General Convention (three-year term):

The Rev. Timothy Rich

The Rev. Joan Testin

The Rev. Kevin Lloyd

The Rev. Patrick Greene

The Rev. Sunil Chandy

The Venerable Janice Grinnell

The Rev. Nathan Humphrey

The Rev. Erik Larsen

Lay Deputy for General Convention (three-year term):

The Honorable Scott Avedisian

Ms. Lora MacFall

Mr. Joel Gardner

Ms. Jane Jellison

Mr. Delbert C. Glover

Mr. David Seifert

There being no additional nominations from the floor for any of these elections, the bishop declared the

nominations closed.

The bishop then invited a motion to direct the Secretary of Convention to cast a unanimous ballot for each

office, except General Convention Deputies. The motion was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

The Secretary cast a unanimous ballot for each office.

At the invitation of the bishop, Fr. Humphrey then provided balloting instructions.

The bishop thanked the members of the Elections Committee (clergy and lay deans of our six deaneries):

Central Deanery – The Rev. Mark Sutherland and Ms. Jane Jellison

Aquidneck Deanery – The Rev. Nathan Humphrey and Mr. Scott Hovanec

West Bay Deanery - The Rev. Peter Lane and Ms. Sue Hurn

Narragansett Deanery – The Rev. Noel Bailey and Mr. John Lord

Blackstone Deanery - The Rev. Dennis Bucco

East Bay Deanery – The Rev. Jennifer Zogg

Leon Sibielski – Chair

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The Bishop called on Ms. Missy Bennett, chair, to present the Report from the Committee on Resolutions.

The Committee on Resolutions received one resolution on the Center for Reconciliation which was sent to

you in pre-convention materials and is in your packet. This resolution will be considered after the Center’s

report after lunch.

The Committee received no late resolutions.

The Bishop called on Robert Batchelor, Diocesan Treasurer, to offer the Treasurer’s Report.

The Bishop asked the Secretary for a motion to the approve the Treasurer’s Report.

The Secretary offered the following motion:

That the Treasurer’s Report on the financial operations of the Diocese for the preceding fiscal year

(2015) and its financial condition at the close of said year, be accepted as presented.

The motion carried unanimously by voice vote.

The Bishop thanked Mr. Batchelor for his faithful and dedicated service to the diocese.

The Bishop called on Mr. Dennis Burton, Chief Financial Officer of the diocese, to present the budget.

The Rev. Peter Tierney, Chair of Committee on Program and Budget, was unable to be present. A video

message from The Rev. Tierney was shared with Convention.

Budget income of $4.03 million and balanced budget for 2017. Roughly half of income comes from

apportionment collected from congregations (this is middle of road relative to other dioceses). We want to

see apportionment decrease, or at least remain flat.

Budget expenses are pretty much the same as 2016, with slight changes in Congregational Development

(decrease) and Youth & Family (increase).

Jonathan Daniels House was successful at the intern level, but struggled at the program level. Program has

been suspended indefinitely.

Details were then offered on the following budget areas:

Congregational Development

Mr. Burton highlighted efforts of re-building and renewal at St. John’s, Newport; St. Mary’s East

Providence; and St. James’, North Providence.

He also highlighted success of Church Beyond the Walls, which has become self-sustaining.

RI has 12th highest percentage of Hispanic population in the nation. We have missions and churches in

the areas where Hispanic population is highest. An ecumenical partnership of Lutherans and

Episcopalians is working together in this area. They are using cell groups attached to the two “mother

churches”.

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Youth & Family

Episcopal Conference Center collaborated with St. James’ Woonsocket to establish another City Camp

site.

ECC added “Little Explorers” Day Camp Program for ages 4-7.

The big news is that ECC received accreditation by the American Camp Association last week, something

they’ve been working on for years.

They also created and launched a Strategic Plan. Goals include adding more adult staff and improving

facilities. This will lead to an increase in fees, which have not changed in over ten years.

Administration & Finance

Moved from full-time Director of Communications to a team (Gillian Barr & Dave Seifert)

Retained Canticle Communications to provided additional support in this area.

Improving website, sending out e-newsletters twice a month, and improving event information.

Print media will be moved to a once-a-year publication (Risen).

Overall there will be savings in this area with regard to the budget.

Governance

General Convention has implemented a plan to reduce the rate of diocesan assessments. The diocese sent

out apportionment rebates to congregations.

Included in the budget proposal is a decrease in apportionment from 17% to 16.5%. Goal for the diocese

is to drop it by 0.5% over the next three years to reach 15% to match the diocesan assessment. The

diocese will have to absorb $220,000.00 in reduction. Some tough decisions will have to be made.

The bishop thanked Mr. Burton and invited questions. There being none, the Bishop asked the Secretary for

a motion to approve the budget and set the apportionment amount.

The Secretary offered the following motion:

That the budget of the Diocese of Rhode Island with an apportionment percentage of 16.5% for

calendar year 2017 is hereby approved and adopted as presented; and that for purposes of

Apportionment for fiscal year 2017, income of each parish and organized mission shall be an amount

equal to "Total Normal Operating Income", as set forth in the report known as the Parochial Report

for The Episcopal Church, less deductions approved by Diocesan Council of the Diocese of Rhode

Island for the second fiscal year immediately preceding the applicable budget year.

The motion was seconded and passed unanimously by voice vote.

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The Bishop thanked the Treasurer, Mr. Batchelor, to The Rev. Peter Tierney and members of the Committee

on Program and Budget, Ms. Ann Rheault, Mr. Jim Rezendes, Ms. Catherine Esselen, The Finance

Committee and Diocesan Council members, the bishop’s staff, Dennis Burton and all who have helped craft

this budget. The Bishop also thanked all of the congregations who so faithfully support the life and ministry

of the diocese with their resources.

Convention took a brief recess at 10:40 a.m.

The Bishop called Convention back to order at 11:00 a.m.

The Rev. Nathan Humphrey reported the results of the election for Deputies to General Convention:

The following clergy have been elected as Deputies to General Convention, listed in the order of election:

1 The Rev. Timothy Rich

2 The Ven. Janice Grinnell

3 The Rev. Kevin Lloyd

4 The Rev. Patrick Greene

And the following clergy have been elected as Alternate Deputies to General Convention:

1 The Rev. Sunil Chandy

2 The Rev. Nathan Humphrey

3 The Rev. Joan Testin

4 The Rev. Erik Larsen

The following laity have been elected as Deputies to General Convention, listed in the order of election:

1 The Hon. Scott Avedisian

2 Ms. Lora McFall

3 Ms. Jane Jellison

4 Mr. David Seifert

And the following laity have been elected as Alternate Deputies to General Convention:

1 Mr. Delbert Glover

2 Mr. Joel Gardner

The Bishop presented the Bishop Higgins Award to William R. McClintick.

The Bishop presented the Anchor of Hope Award to Ms. Peggy Amatore (posthumously). The award was

accepted by Peggy’s brother.

The Bishop gave his annual address to Convention.

Following the bishop’s address, the necrology was read and Noonday Prayer was led by The Rev. Craig Swan.

Convention recessed for lunch at 11:50 a.m.

The Bishop called Convention back to order at 1:00 p.m.

The Bishop called on the members of the Center for Reconciliation to give their report.

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The Rev. David Dobbins offered the CFR report, providing a summary of how it came to be and how it has

developed in the last few years.

We have a unique opportunity to use the cathedral space and provide leadership in the area of racial

reconciliation.

The Rev. Dobbins introduced Mr. Del Glover.

Mr. Glover said that we want to use our cathedral as a safe space for difficult conversations, asserting that

we need to partner with faith-based and secular organizations to move this project forward (i.e. Center for

the Study of Slavery & Justice, The Rhode Island State Council of Churches, Temple Beth El, the Rhode

Island Historical Society, and Rhode Island School of Design).

The CFR wants to provide multiple “entry points” to inspire dialogue.

Mr. Glover shared a video message from our Presiding Bishop with regards to reconciliation.

The Bishop called on Ms. Missy Bennett, Chair of the Committee on Resolutions, to present the resolution.

Ms. Bennett moved the adoption of the following resolution on the Center for Reconciliation:

o Resolved, that this 226th Convention of the Diocese of Rhode Island affirms the resolutions

adopted by the 78th General Convention of the Episcopal Church and the call of Presiding

Bishop Michael Curry for the church to embrace the serious work of racial reconciliation, and be

it further

o Resolved, that this Convention affirms our commitment to the work of racial reconciliation and

supports our Center for Reconciliation that, in partnership with the congregations of this

Diocese, initiates and supports efforts that lead to social justice, racial equality, and racial

reconciliation, and be it further

o Resolved, that this Convention encourages every parish and mission of the Diocese to adopt and

implement a plan for how their congregation will engage in some way in the process of racial

reconciliation and designate a contact person or persons to receive and share communications

from the Center for Reconciliation, and be it further

o Resolved, that this Convention encourages congregations to adopt the third Sunday of Epiphany

or another appropriate time to serve as a liturgical and educational focus of this work.

Polly Daly of Grace Church, Providence, made a motion that we table the resolution to a time certain

(i.e. next Convention) Seconded by Zack Allen of St. John’s, Newport.

Following some discussion, the motion to table was rejected by voice vote.

After further discussion, the resolution passed by voice vote with one “Nay”.

The Bishop invited The Rev. David Ames to give a report of the Chaplaincy Task Force.

The Bishop announced that the offering from Friday night’s Eucharist would go to the two prison ministry

congregations.

The Bishop reported on the following: of 62

Ordinations:

The Rev. Linda Mackie Griggs to the priesthood

The Rev. Edward Dean to the diaconate

The Rev. James Kelliher to the diaconate

The Rev. Grace Swinski to the diaconate

Postulants:

Robert Izzi (Diaconate)

Jacqueline Rice (Priesthood)

Candidates:

Dante Tavolaro (Priesthood)

The Bishop announced the following staff changes:

• Karen Weavill has been appointed Director of Development and Director of Episcopal Charities

• Joannie Collins has been appointed part-time Administrative Assistant

• Ben Sibielski has resigned as Communications Director

• The Rev. Gillian Barr has moved from being the Director of the Jonathan Daniels House to being the

Digital Communications Coordinator

The Bishop announced the following new clergy of the diocese:

• The Rev. Craig Swan, Rector, St. Peters by-the-Sea, Narragansett

• The Rev. Rachel Field, Assistant to the Rector, St. Mary’s, Portsmouth

• Pastor Santiago Rodrigues, Hispanic Missioner (along with his continued ministry at Gloria Dei Lutheran

Church in Providence)

• The Rev. Jack Lynch, Hispanic Missioner at San Jorge, Central Falls

• The Rev. Dan Barker, Priest-in-charge, St. Ann’s, Block Island

The Bishop announced the following new assignments within the diocese:

• Bill Locke moved from Interim, St. Andrew’s, Little Compton, to Interim at Trinity, North Scituate.

• The Rev. Mally Lloyd and The Rev. Katherine Ragsdale are providing clergy support to St. Andrew’s

while they complete their search.

• The Rev. Veronica Tierney has been appointed as priest-in-charge of Christ Church, Lincoln.

• The Rev. Elizabeth Habecker has moved from Christ Church, Lincoln to serve as the priest-in-charge at

St. Michael’s, Bristol, while they prepare to search for a new rector.

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• The Rev. Noel Bailey moved from St. Luke’s, East Greenwich to serve as the assisting priest of the

Chapel of St. John the Divine, Saunderstown and Church of the Ascension, Wakefield.

• The Rev. Peter Tierney, has been appointed priest-in-charge of St. James, Woonsocket.

• The Rev. Marsue Harris has been appointed priest-in-charge of Holy Cross, Middletown

• .

• The Rev. Lavonne Seifert has been appointed as Associate Rector at Grace Church.

The bishop announced the following retirements and resignations:

• The Rev. Pam Gregory has retired from Trinity Church, North Scituate.

• The Rev. Gregory Prior resigned as assisting priest of the Chapel of St. John the Divine, Saunderstown

and Church of the Ascension, Wakefield.

• The Rev. Philip Devens retired as Chaplain to Bryant College; he continues to serve at All Saints,

Warwick.

• The Rev. Mercedes Julian has retired as Hispanic Missioner at Ascension, Cranston.

• The Rev. Jose Roberts has retired from San Jorge, Central Falls

• The Rev. William Ogburn has resigned as Assistant at St. Paul’s, Wickford to be the Associate Rector at

St. Luke’s in the Field in New York City

The bishop announced the following appointments:

• The Rev. William Locke, Mr. Sidney Clifford, and Mr. Grant Hutchins as members of the Disciplinary

Board, each for a term of three years.

• The Venerable Janice Grinnell and The Rev. Timothy Rich as members of the Commission on Ministry, each

for a term of three years.

• The Rev. Craig Swan and Mr. Joel Gardner as members of the Commission on Congregational

Development, each for a term of three years.

• The Rev. Nathan Humphrey from the Aquidneck Deanery and Ms. Aimee Robinson from the Blackstone

Deanery as members of the Diocesan Council for a term of three years.

• Mr. Richard Sayer as the Bishop’s Chancellor and Ms. Ruth Moulton as the Diocesan Registrar for a

term of one year.

The bishop invited a motion to confirm the foregoing appointments. The motion was made, seconded,

and passed unanimously by voice vote.

The bishop appointed The Rt. Rev. Nicholas Knisely, Canon Betsy Fornal, and The Rev. Anita Schell to audit

the minutes.

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The bishop invited Missy Bennett, Chair of the Committee on Resolutions, to offer the Courtesy Resolutions. A

motion was made to adopt the Courtesy Resolutions, seconded, and passed unanimously by voice vote.

The bishop thanked Ms. Bennett and the other members of the Committee on Resolutions: The Rev. Becky

Anderson, Mr. Joel Gardner, and Ms. Ann Bettinger.

The bishop announced that the 227th Convention of the Diocese of Rhode Island would take place on November

3rd and 4th in 2017 at a place to be determined.

The bishop expressed his sincere gratitude to all who helped with the many aspects of this Convention.

There being no further business, Convention adjourned at 2:20 p.m.

Faithfully submitted,

The Rev. Kevin Lloyd

Secretary of Diocesan Convention

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The address of Bishop Nicholas Knisely

to the 226th Convention of the Diocese of Rhode Island

November 5, 2016

Last year I was challenged in my address to lay out my vision for the diocese. If

you remember that vision, it was a vision that was rooted in turning the diocese

upside down; or to borrow a phrase from somebody who's much wiser than I,

turning the church right-side up. The idea was the diocese was not the place where

everything happened, but instead that everything happened in the parishes, the

missions and the congregations of this diocese. The vision of the diocese that I

presented was to support those places in doing the work that God was calling them

to do.

We’ve been working hard in this past year on making that vision a reality, as

you've begun to hear through the various reports, and as you begin to see in the

way the budget is being reorganized to make sure that we are providing resources

to the work of congregations wherever it is possible. I’d like to say that it was all

finished, but it’s probably going to be years in the reorganization. There are

canonical changes that will have to take place. There are financial re-organizational

steps that have to take place. It's symbolized in part by the reduction in the

assessment we are planning on doing, and the fact that the diocese is going to be

absorbing a net reduction of about a quarter-million dollars in its operating income

as we lower the assessment rate, even with the offset of what we realize from the

simultaneous lower assessment from the national church.

That’s all really good and important, and it requires us to think carefully. I know

I’m annoying to some people because I’m insisting on, "We really need to do this

reduction," but I have found that when you are forced to think clearly in a moment

like this, it allows you to focus on what’s most important. In the same way we

were doing that that “right side upping” of the diocese last year, we are now

implementing that at the diocesan level.

This year I want to talk a little bit about what I dream might be possible for the

congregations of the diocese of Rhode Island. We’re somewhere between 54 and

55 entities at this point. We have some unorganized missions. We have two

congregations now meeting at the prison. We have a congregation meeting in

Coventry. We have a congregation meeting in Pascoag. There is profound and

important ministry happening every summer at our camp at the Episcopal

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Conference Center. We have people being baptized and married there, and now

even people being buried on the camp grounds.

I have met as many people around the state who tell me they belong to the ECC as

tell me they belong to the Episcopal diocese. In other words, they feel a deeper

connection to the camp than they do to our congregations. That’s okay, I’ll take

that, but there's going to be work on thinking about how we're going to organize all

of this, and how we're going to make sure we have the resources we need for that.

How does a congregation here in the state of Rhode Island in this moment in our

history do ministry? What is God calling us to do?

In the Catechism of the Prayer Book, as you have probably heard me or Canon

Grenz say several times by now, there’s a clear statement of the mission of the

church. The mission of the church is to effect reconciliation between God and

God’s creation. That is, at the core, the whole purpose to which we are set.

There are different ways to do reconciliation, but one of the most important ways is

evangelism, which is bringing the good news that God wants to have a relationship

with the people who have become estranged from God and from God’s love.

The Presiding Bishop and the President of the House of Deputies, meeting this

year to work through the resolutions that were passed by General Convention at

our last convention, realized that the three major thrusts of this Episcopal Church

nationally and internationally all ended up focusing on reconciliation. There are

three streams of reconciliation work that the church is going to undertake in this

triennium and three streams that I see us here in the Diocese of Rhode Island

participating in.

The first is that we are called to be reconciled to God. The second is that we are

called to be reconciled to our neighbor, and the third is that we are called to be

reconciled to God’s creation. Three streams of reconciliation work.

As the Presiding Bishop points out, “being reconciled to God,” is evangelism. To

hear the good news of the gospel and to live in a new relationship with God is to

be reconciled.

The second is like unto it: to be reconciled to our neighbors.

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I don’t know that you can always separate reconciliation with God from

reconciliation with your neighbor. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and

mind and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. These are the two great

Commandments, according to our Lord.

Reconciliation to creation

The other one that’s out there is reconciliation to creation. How are we caring for

creation? How are we recognizing that we live in a world that God has gifted to us

and has expectations about the way we live in it? At its core there are things that

we're doing here in the diocese in this coming year that are centered in this kind of

creation care. Just the idea of creation care, this idea of mindful living, the green

initiatives that are happening around, these are all parts of what’s going on.

Creation care. Some of you are working to put new lighting in and to have more

efficient heating in your homes and businesses. Some of you are doing similar

things in your congregations and in the wider community. There are community

gardens to make local food available to people. There is a conscious awareness of

creation care, that goes with the idea of mindful living, paying attention to what

you’re doing.

One thing that we’re going to be doing over the summer this year is something

called the River Pilgrimage. Last year in Advent, the bishops of Province One, the

Episcopal dioceses in New England, were sitting around a fireplace at the Barbara

C. Harris Center in New Hampshire. We go on retreat as a group every year and

after a day of prayer and silence, we were unpacking what God had been saying to

us in the day. We were talking about the ways that we take care of ourselves. One

of the things I started sharing was my newfound enthusiasm for kayaking, because

I live in Wickford and there’s water right outside my door, and it seems silly not to

learn how to kayak. It turns out that a number of the other bishops are also taken

with kayaking. We began to talk about maybe going kayaking together. The next

thing you know, we were talking about a province-wide kayak pilgrimage.

We're now planning to put boats in this coming summer, probably towards the end

of June, beginning of July, 2017. We're going to put in at as far north on the

Connecticut River as we can go, which will be right up near the Canadian border,

and we're going to kayak and canoe all the way down the Connecticut River to

Essex, where the Connecticut River opens into the Long Island Sound. It takes

about three weeks, we're told, to do that.

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I don’t know that many of you will want to do that; I do know some of you are

planning on coming along with us on the full three-week experience. But this event

is set up so that you can do as little or as much as you would like. What we’re

envisioning is paddling in proclamation. It's a form of evangelism, as well as

creation care. We'll be paddling our way down the Connecticut River. We will be

stopping at various places along the way to talk with community members about

the importance of clean water, the importance of reclaiming green space, the

importance of cleaning up the environment.

But as we get further into the more industrialized areas along the Connecticut, we'll

have a chance to talk about issues of justice. We'll have a chance talk about issues

of education, issues confronting the inner-city, issues of violence in our inner

cities, and we will be pulling the kayaks out of the water and spending the nights in

church basements, camping alongside the river banks, finding hostels, whatever

else. You are all welcome to join us as you are able. You can come and paddle

with us for a day. You can take a week if you can. You can come for the whole

three-week event. We’d love to have some young people come along.

If you can’t paddle and you just want to come and see the spectacle, you’re

certainly welcome to do that as well. We'll try to have a schedule of where we

intend to be, because we are hoping to attract media and some wider attention.

We’d like to make a witness to the whole community. Bishops don’t have a huge

amount of power, ultimately, but they do have the “power to convene”. We'd like

to convene the community’s attention to these issues as we paddle our way down

the river together. There is a committee here in the diocese organizing this for us.

Steve MacAusland is helping me coordinate that here in the Diocese of Rhode

Island and there will be more information about this as we move forward.

Reconciliation with our neighbor

We're going to hear later this morning about the Center for Reconciliation and

that’s a major part of what we’re doing in the diocese. That effort came out of a

call from diocesan convention and people who had been in listening sessions about

how we wanted to use the Cathedral space. It has grown into a life of its own. I’m

excited about the programs that are being offered by the Center for Reconciliation

and the work it’s doing, but there’s more to being reconciled with our neighbor

than just the programs of the CFR. There's some work that Joyce Penfield is doing

with the community police board and the ride-along program. I’d like to call on the

diocese to become more involved with the local police departments. God forbid we

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should need to serve as ambassadors between a community and the police in a

moment of great tension, but if that should happen, we need to be ready.

The police have indicated their great interest in working with communities of faith,

and I would hope that the diocese and its various entities around the state would

reach out to the local police departments, reach out to local fire departments, first

responders. You could just adopt the station, whether a fire station or police station

and go over and asked them, "What do you need?" Sometimes it’s as simple as a

police officer would need a stuffed animal so they can have it in the patrol car, so

that in a moment of crisis they can give a stuffed animal to a child. Sometimes they

need something to eat. Sometimes they would be grateful for a hot meal brought to

the station house when people are pulling long shifts. Sometimes they need us to

make introductions into the community so that they can have a relationship with

people, a relationship that would pre-date having to work their way through a very

difficult and tense situation. And, while I’m singing Joyce’s praises, I also want to

sing the praises of the group here in the diocese that is helping us restart our prison

ministry initiatives.

There's a group of you who have been working in the women’s prison, what we

call the Amazing Grace congregation, and there’s a new group forming for the

men’s prison. There is the Blessing Way, which is an organization deeply

connected to the Diocese of Rhode Island and particularly to St. Peter and St.

Andrews, that works as a halfway program for people coming out of prison.

Being reconciled with our neighbor is helping people who are working to be

reconciled with society. One of the things that our Lord asks us to do in the Bible

is to visit those who are in prison, and I want to thank those of you who have been

regular in providing words of hope and worship experiences for those people who

are imprisoned. I want to encourage us as a diocese to be intentional and mindful

about ways we can help those people who are reentering society.

So many times people enter prison because of addiction issues, and when they

come out of prison, they have to struggle with once again having the freedom to

fail and to become entangled in that addiction web that got them into prison the

first time. Helping them find ways to avoid that is something I think the Episcopal

Church can do, should help with, and I hope we will commit ourselves to that.

The Center for Reconciliation, learning our stories and learning how to be

reconciled across ethnic and racial and religious lines, working with the

community police and first responders and working with prison ministries, these

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are things that I think we as congregations can all do as part of our reconciliation

with God and our neighbor.

Reconciliation with God

The one that I’m particularly interested in this year and I want to call on us to be

intentional about is the reconciliation with God—I’m talking about the E word,

reconciliation with the world.

The job we have to be evangelists to spread the Good News that God loves the

world and God wants to be in relationship with the world. We want people to have

the same kind of joy and excitement in their everyday life that we get to have.

When you were electing your next Bishop four years ago, you asked all of the

candidates to reflect on the baptismal covenant and submit an essay about which

part of the baptismal covenant was most exciting for them. I wrote about

evangelism, something that has always been my great joy and excitement. So much

of what I get teased about for being the “tech Bishop” is an outgrowth of my desire

to share the good news in whatever medium and with whatever tool I find available

to me. I learned how to use email as a way to share the good news. I learned how

to do websites as a way to share the good news. I became one of the first experts in

the Episcopal Church on social media as a way of sharing the good news.

How do we share the good news? It’s really at the core of what it is we are

designed for as a national movement. We are the Domestic and Foreign Missionary

Society (the incorporated legal name of the Episcopal Church) and we originally

were organized as an entity to share the good news in a world that needed to

hear it.

Why am I calling on us to be evangelists now? There's so many other things we

could be focusing on but why now? How many hours is it until the election? I’m

actually no longer worried about the election, I really am not. The election's going

to be what the election's going to be and this country will survive. No matter what

happens, we'll be okay in a governance way, but I am really worried about the

tension that exists in our society.

I’m worried about the stories I hear of people who are losing friends because

they’re finding themselves on different sides of a political fence. I’m worried about

the people, myself included, who are struggling to sleep at night. When I talk to

doctors around the state, I hear people saying, "I’ve never seen as many anxiety

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and tension related illnesses emerging as they have in the last few months." For all

sorts of people, this election has been incredibly difficult.

We have something to share. We have something to ground people in, and that is

the stories and the vision of the gospel, the stories and the vision of the kingdom of

God. There's been a confluence in this year, actually. It’s the election season sure,

but remember, we had a summer of violence on our streets where we have been

forced to confront what is really going on in our inner cities and people's sense of

helplessness and frustration.

Remember, the second commandment is like unto it. If we are evangelists with

God, we are evangelists with our neighbors. We are reconciled to God, we are

reconciled to our neighbor.

So how does one evangelize? The very first step in being an evangelist is to shut

up. It really is! The power of social ministry and all this technology is to listen as

much as it is to talk, because you hear in people’s voices the anxiety and the

concerns that they are carrying.

Remember the story of Paul when he goes to Athens – he listens to people and he

begins to have conversations with them. Be quiet and listen, and don’t just listen to

your neighbor.

It'd be okay to listen to God too. Sit in silence and listen to hear what God is saying

in your heart. What is God calling you to do and how is God calling you to share

good news with the people whose anxiety we are all witnessing?

The second thing, after we have listened, is that we are called to respond, and

sometimes that response may just be prayer. So many times after I have truly heard

a person’s concerns, I’ve found myself essentially speechless, not knowing how to

respond. My best response in that instance is to sit quietly in prayer and take what I

have heard to God. And sometimes in prayer, I get a word. I have a clarity about

what God expects us to do in that moment. Then out of that prayer, out of that

silence, out of that response, we share.

Sharing isn't me telling someone what to do. Sharing is beginning a conversation

where we start to talk. "Tell me about what you’re thinking. Tell me about this.

Tell me about that," listening quietly, hearing, and responding, and then building

that conversation, building that relationship and finally, making an invitation.

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At some point, something happened to you in your life that made the church

important. You could talk about that as part of making an invitation. If you see

somebody going through a difficult time, maybe just say, "Look, I find going and

sitting in the back of the church quietly during a service and just having some time

to be quiet really helps. I find that singing a hymn takes my mind off the things

that are worrying me. I’ll sit with you. I’m not very good at singing, but maybe

together the two of us can sing something.”

Invite people. If they respond, invite them a little further. Who knows? You may

lead them down a path that would take them to the waters of life, lead them to a

path that would bring them to their own baptism or their own reconnection with

their faith.

Now if you're going to do this, you're going to have to know something about our

stories. I'd like you to read your Bible. I really do want that, in whatever way you

want to read it. The most popular Bible reading I’ve ever seen happen was when I

was a parish priest and for confirmation class I used to give out comic book Bibles.

The kids would fight over them to read them.

What I want is for people to know the stories, the stories of good things, the stories

of difficult things, the stories of challenges, the stories that contradict each other in

the Bible, the stories that are part of the ongoing conversation that God's people

have been having with God for thousands and thousands of years. When we know

our stories, it is amazing how often we find something in that storehouse that helps

us understand a moment that we are placed in, a situation that we're experiencing,

and it gives us something to share when people are trying to make sense of what is

happening in their life.

Pick up your Bible. You don’t read it from the beginning on, because you're going

to be like me and skip over all the Leviticus stuff. It’s boring. But you could read a

Gospel. You could read Mark. It takes about two hours. If you’re anxious about the

election, turn off the TV, turn off the radio, open your Bible up and read the gospel

of Mark. And if someone says, "What are you doing," say, "The Bishop said I

should do this. It’ll make it better." Then, if it doesn’t make it better, write me a

note and we’ll talk about why it didn’t make it better. But I’ll bet that just doing

something that simple in response to the anxiety will help.

Read some Psalms. The Psalms are full of people explaining to God why God is

not doing the job they expect God to do. You can join your voice to theirs right

now and you will be in the scriptural tradition.

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To what end? What's the point of evangelism? What's the point of sharing? What's

the point of reaching out to people? Well, I'll tell you what it’s not and it's not to

the end of balancing our budgets! Nobody wants to join our churches to pay

pledges to raise our budgets, so just forget about that.

Whatever God is going to do with people’s gifts and lives as they are reconciled to

God is going to be what God has in mind for them, not what we want for ourselves.

It's not about growing the church, it’s not about increasing ASA (average Sunday

attendance), it’s not about balancing our budget. It's about doing what God has

commanded us to do, in a world that desperately needs us to go out and sit and

listen and be present in moments of great anxiety and have something to share

in prayer.

If we get one person who ends up in a renewed relationship with God because of

the work we are doing, then it is all worth it. Doesn't the Bible have something to

say about the way the angels rejoice when one person is restored to right

relationships? If just one person is restored to right relationship, then everything

we are doing as a church, everything we do as a Christian community in this state

is worthwhile. It’s great that we do all this cool stuff with technology and

everything else, but all of that is only about this: helping people draw closer to the

Cross and draw closer to God.

We are called to be reconcilers. We don’t have to do what Jesus did for us, but we

are called to proclaim what Jesus did for us to other people. We're called to tell

people that there is a new way to live, a new way to be in relationship one to

another, a new relationship with God, a new relationship with God’s creation.

All of this is part of the ministry of reconciliation. All of this is the mission of our

church. All of this is my dream for you in this coming year. All of this is duly

enacted by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Thanks be to God

that this our mission. That's what we're focusing on as a community in the coming

years: evangelism, reconciliation, creation care--three streams, three streams that

take us to right relationships with one another, with God, and with God’s creation.

+Nicholas

XIII Bishop of Rhode Island

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NECROLOGY 2016 Olive Guerra Fred Burgess Doris Louise Cameron Joyce M. Honor Frederick L. Jaggi Mary Jane McNulty William Boardman Helyn Holahan James (Jim) Seavor S. Frank Dunning The Reverend Deacon Patricia Bailey Eleanor Hicks Barbara Miguel Elizabeth “Bess” Wilson Kevin Hosey Einor Madalen (Eccles) Schneider Victor King Robert D. Anderson Ettore (Hector) Guido Marcucci Theodore Springett Esther Hargrove Frances Prescott Baker MacAusland The Rev. George Chaplin Peggy Amatore Beverly Hoskin Mary Morgan Peah Stanley Henshaw III Helen Carn Leona Farrant Marion Baker Steven Tennien Bud Hunt Mildred Moon Monica Magliocco Ed Weyhing Ed Coderre Phyllis Hamabe Janice House Dr. Richard Mead Jean I. Lavoie Doris Newell Joseph A Palmer Maybury V. Fraser Frances Ferry Dennison

Mary Wall Kenneth Heist Shirley Norton Scholthauer Lee Kissinger Turner Cobden Jason Quillen C. Jane Latham Robert R. Sandstrom Ransom H. Widmer Anne Dickinson Patrick Gissell Eugene Rankin Ruth Lewis Wilfred Lomas LaVon Parrott Patricia Newman The Rev. Dr. J. Edward Putnam Jeanne Mulligan Boehm Kathrine Edith Joslin Margaret Tainsh Arthur I. Fletcher Thelma M. Patterson Capt. Carl I. Hoyer Marian Waite Pete Crosby Kenneth Pickering Raymond Blackmore Charles Averill Ted Zajehowski Nancy Preston Bredbeck Sandra Seelenbrant Nancy Misto Robert Poliquin Walter Kane James Haigh Betty Keefer Mary Bond Barbara Caya Ruth DiChristofero William Wiegand Patricia Heistand Cynthia Denby Cambrola Robert Hazlett Donald Morrison

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Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island

Parochial Organizations

St. John's Episcopal Church 401-245-4065 [email protected] 191 County Road Barrington, RI 02806-4501 401-245-4065

The Rev. Robert Marshall Rector The Rev. Margaret Higbie Deacon Sts. Matthew & Mark Episcopal

Church 401-245-3690 [email protected]

5 Chapel Road Barrington, RI 02806-1861 401-245-3690

The Rev. Patrick Greene Rector St. Ann's-by-the-Sea Episcopal

Church 401-466-2911 [email protected]

PO Box 622 Block Island, RI 02807-0622 401-466-2911

The Rev. Daniel Barker Vicar

St. Michael's Episcopal Church 401-253-7717 [email protected] PO Box 414 Bristol, RI 02809-0414 401-253-7717

The Rev. Canon Elizabeth Habecker

Priest: Interim

St. George's Episcopal Church 401-722-9449 [email protected]

12 Clinton Street Central Falls, RI 02863-2906 401-722-9449

The Rev. Jack Lynch Missioner

Church of the Holy Spirit 401-364-6368 [email protected] PO Box 241 Charlestown, RI 02813-0241 401-364-6368

The Rev. Eileen Lindeman Priest-in-charge

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Parochial Organizations Continued

Church of the Advent [email protected] 1395 Nooseneck Hill Rd. Coventry, RI 02816

The Rev. Dennis Bucco Priest-in-charge

The Rev. Mary Ann Mello Deacon St. Francis Episcopal Church 401-397-7757 [email protected]

PO Box 142 Coventry, RI 02816-0003 401-397-7757

The Rev. Sean Manchester Rector Church of the Ascension 401-461-5811 [email protected]

390 Pontiac Avenue Cranston, RI 02910-3322 401-461-5811

The Rev. Michael Coburn Priest-in-charge Church of the Transfiguration 401-461-3142 [email protected]

1665 Broad Street Cranston, RI 02905-2727 401-461-3142

The Rev. Michele Matott Priest-in-charge St. David's on the Hill 401-942-4368 [email protected]

200 Meshanticut Valley Parkway Cranston, RI 02920-3997 401-942-4368

The Rev. Peter Lane Priest-in-charge The Rev. Edward Dean Deacon

Trinity Episcopal Church 401-941-4324 [email protected] 139 Ocean Avenue Cranston, RI 02905-3628 401-941-4324

The Rev. Mitchell Lindeman Priest in-charge

Emmanuel Episcopal Church 401-658-1506 [email protected] 120 Nate Whipple Highway Cumberland, RI 02864-1410 401-658-1506

The Rev. Joan Testin Rector The Rev. Richard Shippee Priest Associate

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Parochial Organizations St. Luke's Episcopal Church 401-884-4116 [email protected]

99 Peirce St. East Greenwich, RI 02818-0334 401-884-4116

The Rev. Timothy Rich Rector St. Mary's Episcopal Church 401-434-7456 [email protected]

81 Warren Avenue East Providence, RI 02914-5199 401-434-7456

The Rev. Alvin Marcetti Priest-in-charge St. Thomas' Episcopal Church 401-949-2260 [email protected]

PO Box 505 Greenville, RI 02828-0505 401-949-2260

The Rev. Susan Carpenter Rector The Rev. Donald Parker Priest Associate The Rev. Grace Swinski Deacon St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church 401-539-7346 [email protected]

PO Box 48 Hope Valley, RI 02832-0048 401-539-7346

The Rev. Richard Schweinsburg, Jr Priest-in-charge St. Matthew's Episcopal Church 401-423-1762 [email protected]

PO Box 317 Jamestown, RI 02835-0317 401-423-1762

The Rev. Kevin Lloyd Rector St. Augustine's Church 401-783-2153 [email protected]

15 Lower College Road Kingston, RI 02881-1307 401-783-2153

The Rev. W. David Dobbins, Jr Vicar The Venerable Janice Grinnell Deacon Christ Episcopal Church 401-725-1920 [email protected]

PO Box 245 Lincoln, RI 02865-0245 401-725-1920

The Rev. Veronica Tierney Priest-in-charge

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St. Andrew's-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church

401-635-2452 [email protected]

Sakonnet Point PO Box 491 Little Compton, RI 02837-0491 401-635-2452

The Rev. William Locke Priest: Interim

Holy Cross Episcopal Church 401-846-7076 [email protected] PO Box 4121 Middletown, RI 02842-0121 401-846-7076

The Rev. Marsue Harris Priest-in-charge

St. Columba's Chapel 401-847-5571 [email protected] 55 Vaucluse Avenue Middletown, RI 02842-5742 401-847-5571

The Rev. Erik Larsen Rector St. Peter's-by-the-Sea 401-783-4623 [email protected]

72 Central St. Narragansett, RI 02882-0296 401-783-4623

The Rev. Craig Swan Rector The Rev. Anne Burke Deacon Church of St. John the Evangelist 401-848-2561 [email protected]

61 Poplar Street Newport, RI 02840-2434 401-848-2561

The Rev. Nathan Humphrey Vicar The Rev. Leroy Close Deacon Emmanuel Episcopal Church 401-847-0675 [email protected]

42 Dearborn Street Newport, RI 02840-3408 401-847-0675

The Rev. Dr. Anita Schell Rector

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Trinity Episcopal Church 401-846-0660 [email protected] Honyman Hall/Queen Anne Sq. Newport, RI 02840-6855 401-846-0660

The Rev. Alan Neale Priest Associate The Rev. Canon Anne Marie

Richards Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church 401-294-4357 [email protected]

55 Main Street North Kingstown, RI 02852-5017 401-294-4357

The Rev. Canon Virginia Heistand Rector

St. James' Episcopal Church 401-353-2079 [email protected] 474 Fruit Hill Avenue North Providence, RI 02911-2636 401-353-2079

The Rev. Judith Mitchell Vicar Trinity Episcopal Church 401-647-2322 [email protected]

251 Danielson Pike North Scituate, RI 02857-1906 401-647-2322

The Rev. Pamela Gregory Rector

Church of the Beloved 401-473-8718 [email protected] 158 Broad Street Pascoag, RI 02859-2613 401-473-8718

The Rev. Meaghan Brower Priest-in-charge Church of the Good Shepherd 401-723-0408 [email protected]

490 Broadway Pawtucket, RI 02860-1340 401-723-0408

The Rev. Gillian Barr Priest-in-charge The Rev. Mary Ann Mello Deacon

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St. Luke's Episcopal Church 401-723-9216 [email protected] 670 Weeden Street Pawtucket, RI 02860-1649 401-723-9216

The Rev. Dennis Bucco Rector St. Paul's Episcopal Church 401-728-4300 [email protected]

50 Park Place Pawtucket, RI 02860-4010 401-728-4300

The Rev. Greta Getlein Vicar St. Mary's Episcopal Church 401-846-9700 [email protected]

324 E Main Road Portsmouth, RI 02871-2119 401-846-9700

The Rev. Jennifer Pedrick Rector St. Paul's Episcopal Church 401-683-1164 [email protected]

2679 East Main Road Portsmouth, RI 02871-2613 401-683-1164

The Rev. Evangeline Anderson Priest The Rev. Marilyn Mason Vicar All Saints Episcopal Church 401-751-1747 [email protected]

674 Westminster Street Providence, RI 02903-4066 401-751-1747

The Rev. David Ames Priest-in-charge The Rev. James Kelliher Deacon

Cathedral of St. John 401-274-4500 [email protected] 271 N Main Street Providence, RI 02903-3499 401-274-4500

Church Beyond the Walls 401-274-4500 [email protected]

275 North Main Street Providence, RI 02903 401-274-4500

The Rev. Linda Forsberg Missioner The Rev. Dorothy Brightman Deacon

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Church of the Redeemer 401-331-0678 [email protected] 655 Hope Street Providence, RI 02906-2652 401-331-0678

The Rev. Patrick Campbell Rector Grace Episcopal Church 401-331-3225 [email protected]

175 Mathewson Street Providence, RI 02903-3499 401-331-3225

The Rev. Canon Jonathan Huyck Rector St. Martin's Episcopal Church 401-751-2141 [email protected]

50 Orchard Avenue Providence, RI 02906-5418 401-751-2141

The Rev. Mark Sutherland Rector St. Peter & St. Andrew Church 401-272-9649 [email protected]

25 Pomona Avenue Providence, RI 02908-5244 401-272-9649

The Rev. Joyce Penfield Priest-in-charge

St. Stephen's Episcopal Church 401-421-6702 [email protected] 114 George Street Providence, RI 02906-1189 401-421-6702

The Rev. John Alexander Rector The Rev. Martin Yost Priest Associate Church of the Epiphany 401-434-5012 [email protected]

1336 Pawtucket Avenue Rumford, RI 02916-1412 401-434-5012

The Rev. Jennifer Zogg Rector Chapel of St. John the Divine 401-295-0193 [email protected]

PO Box 541 Saunderstown, RI 02874-0541 401-295-0193

The Rev. Robert Travis Priest-in-charge The Rev. Noel Bailey Priest Associate

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Holy Trinity Episcopal Church 401-624-4759 [email protected] 1956 Main Road Tiverton, RI 02878-4698 401-624-4759

The Rev. John Higginbotham Rector Church of the Ascension 401-783-2911 [email protected]

370 Main Street Wakefield, RI 02879-7407 401-783-2911

The Rev. Robert Travis Priest-in-charge The Rev. Noel Bailey Priest Associate All Saints' Pontiac 401-739-1238 [email protected]

111 Greenwich Avenue Warwick, RI 02886-1217 401-739-1238

The Rev. Philip Devens Rector

St. Barnabas' Episcopal Church 401-737-4141 [email protected] 3257 Post Road Warwick, RI 02886-7196 401-737-4141

The Rev. James Bocchino Priest-in-charge St. Mark's Episcopal Church 401-737-3127 [email protected]

111 W Shore Road Warwick, RI 02889-1102 401-737-3127

The Rev. Susan Wrathall Rector The Rev. Joyce Thorne Deacon Christ Episcopal Church 401-596-0197 [email protected]

7 Elm Street Westerly, RI 02891-2198 401-596-0197

The Rev. Kuruvilla Chandy Rector The Rev. Amy Spagna Priest Associate

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St. Thomas' Episcopal Church 401-364-3113 [email protected] PO Box 33 Wood River Junction, RI 02894-0033 401-364-3113

The Rev. Bettine Besier Vicar St. James' Episcopal Church 401-762-2222 [email protected]

24 Hamlet Avenue Woonsocket, RI 02895-4427 401-762-2222

The Rev. Peter Tierney, III Vicar

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Episcopal Institutions

EDWARDS HOMES (Benefit St., Providence) .......................................................... 274-4505 Mail to: 66 Benefit St., Providence RI 02904 EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE CENTER.......................................................................... 568-4055 872 Reservoir Rd., Pascoag RI 02859 .............................................................(Fax) 568-7805 The Rev. Meaghan Brower, Director...................................................................... 473-8718 Resident Manager: Joyce Roberts; Property Management: Lance Roberts

HALLWORTH HOUSE ................................................................................................ 274-4505 66 Benefit St., Providence RI 02904 ................................................................(Fax) 521-3947 Administrator: Stephanie Igoe [email protected]

ST. ANDREW'S SCHOOL………………………………………………………………………………………...246-1230 63 Federal Rd., Barrington RI 02806 Headmaster: David Tinagero [email protected] ST. ELIZABETH COMMUNITY One Saint Elizabeth Way, East Greenwich, RI 02818 ................................................. 471-6060

ST. ELIZABETH HOME, East Greenwich RI ST. ELIZABETH MANOR, Bristol RI ST. ELIZABETH COURT, Providence RI ST. ELIZABETH PLACE, Providence, RI

ST. GEORGE'S SCHOOL..................................................................................................847-7565 372 Purgatory Rd., Newport; Mail to: P.O. Box 1910, Newport RI 02840 .........................................................(Fax) 848-0420 Head of School: Eric F. Peterson Chaplain: The Rev. Jeffrey Lewis

ST. MARY'S HOME FOR CHILDREN /

THE SHEPHERD PROGRAM............................................................................. 353-3900 ext 420 Fruit Hill Ave., North Providence RI 02911........................................................(Fax) 354-7986

Executive Director: Carlene Casciano-McCann [email protected]

SEAMEN'S CHURCH INSTITUTE................................................................................... 847-4260 18 Market Sq., Newport RI 02840.......................................................................(Fax) 847-4284 Superintendent: Ms. Rebecca Northup [email protected]

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OFFICIAL ACTS: November 22, 2015 – October 30, 2016

VISITATIONS: All Saints’ Memorial

Providence

11/22/15

Good Shepherd Pawtucket 11/29/15

St. Peter & St. Andrew Providence 12/6/15

St. Columba’s Chapel Middletown 12/13/15

St. Mary’s E. Providence 12/20/15

St. Michael’s Bristol 12/24/15

St. Martin’s Providence 1/10/16

Holy Trinity Tiverton 2/14/16

St. Elizabeth’s Hope Valley 2/21/16

St. David’s Cranston 2/28/16

St. Barnabas Warwick 3/6/16

St. Paul’s Wickford 3/27/16

Holy Cross Middletown 4/3/16

Trinity Newport 4/10/16

S. Stephen’s Providence 4/24/16 Grace Providence 5/1/16 Trinity N. Scituate 5/8/16 St. Mary’s Portsmouth 5/15/16 Ascension Wakefield 5/29/16 St. Luke’s E. Greenwich 6/5/16 Church Beyond the Walls Providence 6/18/16 Chapel St. John Divine Saunderstown 6/19/16 Christ Church Westerly 6/26/16 St. John Evangelist Newport 8/7/16 St. Andrew’s Little Compton 8/14/16 St. Ann’s by-the-Sea Block Island 9/11/16 Sts. Matthew & Mark Barrington 9/25/16 Trinity Cranston 10/2/16 St. Paul’s Wickford 10/16/16 St. John’s Barrington 10/23/16 Emmanuel Newport 10/30/16 St. Mark’s Warwick 11/13/16 Ascension Cranston 11/20/16 St. Michael’s Bristol 12/11/16

Trinity Newport 12/24/16

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Celebration/New Ministry Ascension, Wakefield

11/22/15

Preach & Preside Marquand Chapel, Yale 12/2/15 Celebration/New Ministry Saunderstown 12/13/15 Celebration/New Ministry Narragansett 1/21/16 Funeral/Uncle A. Knisely Long’s Church, Lancaster PA 2/27/16 Funeral/P. Amatore St. Peter’s Narragansett 3/11/16 Good Friday Trinity, N. Scituate 3/25/16 Easter Vigil Trinity, Newport 3/26/16 Eastertide Confirmations St. Barnabas, Warwick 5/14/16 Confirmations Christ Church, Lincoln 5/19/16 Diaconal Ordinations St. Paul’s Pawtucket 6/11/16 Confirmations/ Receptions Confirmations: 131 Receptions: 18 Reaffirmations: 28

Postulants: 6 Candidates: 3

Ordinations: The Rev. Linda Mackie Griggs, Priest, 5/7/16 The Rev. Edward Dean, Vocational Deacon, June 11, 2016 The Rev. James Kelliher, vocational Deacon, June 11, 2016 The Rev. Grace Swinski, Vocational Deacon, June 11, 2016

Letters Dimissory In: 5 Letters Dimissory Out: 2 Clergy Deaths: 3

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DIOCESAN COUNCIL REPORT FROM NOVEMBER 2015 – OCTOBER 2016 November 18, 2015 – Actions taken

• Approval of the Episcopal Charities Advisory Board for 2015 Grant Distributions in the amount of $403,700 from the Annual Fund.

• Approval of the action of the Episcopal Charities Advisory Board for a grants totaling $15,500 from the Susan Hudson Memorial Fund, to be distributed as follows: $500 to the Poverty Conference Sponsorship in collaboration with the Rhode Island State Council of Churches; $15,000 to Jonathan Daniels House to fund one Episcopal Service Corps Member to be placed in local social service and Advocacy organizations in the Providence area and for leadership training, spiritual formation and vocational discernment.

• Approval of the election of the Rev. Nathan Humphrey, the Rev. Ted Hallenbeck, Mr. Bill Plumb and Ms. Doris De Los Santos for a one-year term to the Executive Committee; Approval of the election of Ms. Liz Crawley to serve a one-year term as Secretary of the Executive Committee.

• Approval of the following Bishop’s appointments to the noted committees: the Rev. Peter Tierney as Chair of Program & Budget; the Rev. Susan Wrathall as member of Episcopal Charities; Sarosh Fenn as member of Commission on Finance; Michael Cunningham as Vice President of Diocesan Council.

• Approval of the 2016 clergy salary and benefits minimum requirements as presented. • Approval of 2 Congregational Development Commission grants as distributed. • Approval of Policies on Safe Church, Sexual Misconduct, Protection of Youth.

December 16, 2015 – Actions taken

• Approval of the distribution of the 2015 Millennium Development Goal Funds as follows: $5,000 to the Precious Children’s Orphan Home; $4,500 to the Society of St. Margaret; and $5,000 to Plan International USA. Approval to table to time certain with a request for more information from an MDG committee member before voting. An amended motion was made to reserve the $14,500 MDG 2015 budget amount into 2016. The amended motion was approved. Approval to appoint the Rev. Bettine Besier as liaison to the MDG Committee.

• Approval of the allocation of the MacSparran/Lee fund estimated 2016 income in the amount of $15,000 to be distributed to support Diaconate Training.

• Approval of the designation of the following amounts of cash compensation to be clergy housing allowance for 2016 in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code [Section 107]: the Rev. Gillian Barr, $20,000; the Rev. Meaghan Brower, $3,000; the Rev. Canon Linda L. Grenz, $90,000; the Rev. W. Nicholas Knisely, $5,000; and the Rev. Sean Manchester, $8,990.

• Approval of, upon the recommendation of the Task Force assigned, a 1 one-year membership to the Episcopal Network for Economic Justice [ ENEJ].

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• Affirmation of the Executive Committee’s decision on December 10, 2015 to disburse a one-time grant in the amount of $12,000 from the Susan Hudson Fund of Episcopal Charities to HCA/Oasis.

• Approval to authorize up to $20,000 of the Susan Hudson Fund for 2016 without prior Council approval.

• Approval to adopt the Policies on Safe Church, Sexual Misconduct, and Protection of Youth.

• Approval of the Rev. Canon Linda Grenz and Ms. Joan DeCelles, Assistant Treasurer, as signatories for 2016 on the Church Beyond the Walls bank account; the Rev. Canon Linda Grenz, Ms. Joan DeCelles, Assistant Treasurer, and Ms. Elizabeth Crawley as signatories for 2016 on the A.A. Gammell Fund bank accounts; and the Rev. Canon Linda Grenz, Ms. Joan DeCelles, Assistant Treasurer, Mr. Robert L. G. Batchelor, Treasurer and Mr. Dennis Burton, Chief Finanical Officer, as signatories on all other diocesan bank and DIT accounts.

• Approval of the actions of the Susan Hudson fund Advisory Committee and the Episcopal Charities Advisory Board to disburse $5,000 from the Susan Hudson Fund Grant to the Epiphany Soup Kitchen.

January 16, 2016 – Actions taken

• Approval of the appointments of the Rev. Peter Tierney as Chair of the Program & Budget Committee with his term ending in 2018; Ms. Susan Ursillo to the Compensation & Benefits Committee with her term ending in 2018.

• Approval to issue apportionment rebates to those churches who paid in, by June 2016. • Approval to give $900 to Royal School of Church Music for their spring Evensong. • Approval of Council meetings dates for 2016, meeting on the 4th Wednesday of the

month [with exceptions], with a start time of 6:00 pm and with the location through June 2016 at the diocesan office 2nd floor conference room.

February 24, 2016 – Actions taken • Approval of the appointments to the Diocesan Audit Committee: the Rev. Robert Brooks,

Mr. Gregory de Groot and the Rev. Mary Canavan. • Approval to support the co-sponsorship with the Interfaith Blessing of the Sea. • Approval of the distribution of the 2015 MDG grants to the following agencies: 1,000 Jobs

Haiti; Plan International USA; Precious Children’s Orphan Home. • Approval that the remaining balance of the dedicated $100K for matching grants up to

$10,000 be available to churches for accessibility projects or to address safety and code violations.

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March 30, 2016 – Actions taken

• Approval of the pledging of invested assets in the DIT to establish a Line of Credit with USTrust having a credit limit of $10,000,000.

• Approval of a one-year membership with the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, with recommendation that the diocesan Development Officer determine renewal in one year’s time.

April 27, 2016 – Actions taken

• Approval of the Diocesan Gifts Policy. • Approval to accept the appointment of the Rev. Nathan Humphrey as the Vice President

of Council. • Approval to accept the appointment of the Rev. Bettine Besier to the unexpired term as

member of the Executive Committee. May 25, 2016 – Actions taken

• Approval of the Diocesan Contribution for Use of Church Buildings, offering reimbursement of expenses by having a standard rate.

• Approval of the Diocesan Conflict of Interest Policy, a requirement for all non-profits. • Approval to adopt the Whistleblower Policy as a formal policy of Council.

June 22, 2016 – Actions taken

• Council convenes as membership of the CFR to conduct Annual Meeting of the CFR: Approval of board of directors terms. A motion was made to recess as the Diocesan Council. The motion was approved.

• A motion to convene as the CFR board. The motion was approved. Approval to confirm the election of The Rev. David Dobbins for a three-year term, term to expire on March 31, 2019; The Rev. David Ames to fulfill the remainder of the term of James DeWolf Perry (who resigned from the board to become executive director), term to expire on March 31, 2018; and Prof. Tony Bogues for a second three-year term, term to expire on March 31, 2019. A motion to close nominations. A motion to move the single ballot. The motion was approved. With no more, motion to recess as CFR. The motion was approved. A motion to reconvene as Diocesan Council. The motion was approved.

• Approval of the CDC Grant Recommendation of $3,200 to St. David’s on-the-Hill for the upgrading of the preschool program.

August 10, 2016 – Actions taken

• Approval to pass the Policy Governing Memberships of Diocesan Committees, Commissions or Board. The motion was passed.

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• Affirmation to the appointment by the bishop of the Rev. Jennifer Zogg to fill the Rev. David Lucey’s unexpired term on Council. The motion was passed.

• Action to appoint Mr. Bob Batchelor, Ms. Sue Hurn, Mr. Henry Dziadosz, and the Rev. Nathan Humphrey to serve as the members of the Supplemental Benefits Committee. The motion was passed.

• Approval to approve the conveyance of the Plat 379, Block B, Lot 355; Lot 71 & pt. Lot 72 [attached] to St. Barnabas Church as sole member of St. Mary’s Church, Warwick Neck, such conveyance being subject to the review and approval of Richard Sayer, Esq., Chancellor. The motion was passed.

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SignificantActionsoftheStandingCommitteeSincethe2015DiocesanConvention

The members of The Standing Committee undertook the following actions between the months ofOctober2015andOctober2016:

• ApprovedforordinationtotheVocationalDiaconate:o EdwardDeano JamesKellihero GraceSwinski

• ApprovedforordinationtotheSacredOrderofPriests:

o LindaGriggs

• ApprovedforcandidacytotheDiaconate:o DanteTavalaro

• GrantedtoconsenttotheelectionsoftheBishopsoftheDiocesesof:

o NorthernIndianao EasternOregono Pennsylvaniao Eastono WesternNorthCarolinao CentralNewYork

• GrantedapprovaloftheelectionoftheBishopCoadjutorof:

o LosAngeles

• GrantedapprovaltotheelectionoftheBishopSuffraganof:o WestTexas

• ApprovedaloanrequestmadeofandapprovedbytheFinanceCommitteethroughtheDiocesan

RevolvingLoanFundforthefollowingcongregations:o St.Mary’sEpiscopalChurch(EastProvidence)o St.Mark’sEpiscopalChurch(Warwick)o St.Peter&St.AndrewChurch(Providence)

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• Gaveapprovaltorestoretofullparishstatusthefollowingcongregation:o ZabriskieMemorialChurchofSt.JohntheEvangelist(Newport)

• Gaveapprovaltomovefrommissionstatustoparishstatustothefollowingcongregation:

o St.Thomas(Alton)

• Approvedthenewand/orupdatedbylawsofthefollowingcongregations:o St.Columba’sChapel(Middletown)o St.Paul’sEpiscopalChurch(Pawtucket)o St.Thomas’EpiscopalChurch(Alton)o ZabriskieMemorialChurchofSt.JohntheEvangelist(Newport)

• Approvedthesaleofthe“MaryMitchellLand”bySt.Mary’sEpiscopalChurch(Portsmouth)

• Approved the sale of the property at 358WarwickNeck Ave. currently owned by St.

Barnabas’ Episcopal Church (Warwick) as successor for St.Mary’s (Warwick) seller toHeritageChristianFellowshipoftheAssemblyofGod,Inc.buyer

• Approved themeeting time change to 4:00 pmon the 2nd Tuesday of themonth to

4:00pmonthe3rdTuesdayofthemonth

• Createdandapprovedachecklistforbylawcreationandupdates

Ms.LoraE.MacFallPresident,StandingCommittee

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2016REPORTOFTHECOMMISSIONONMINISTRYUndertheguidanceandoversightofourBishopandinaccordancewithTitleIII,Canon2.2oftheCanonsoftheEpiscopalChurch,theCommissionsonMinistry(COM)isgovernedbythefollowingprinciple:TheCommissionshalladviseandassist theBishop in the implementationofTitle IIIof theseCanons, in thedeterminationofpresent and future opportunities and needs for theministry of all baptized persons, and in the design andoversight of the ongoing process for recruitment, discernment, formation for ministry, and assessment ofreadinesstherefor.TheCOMiscomposedofsixmembersoftheclergy(theRev.PatrickCampbell,theVenerableJaniceGrinnell,theRev.SandraHaines-Murdocco,theRev.TimothyRich,theRev.MarkSutherland,andtheRev.JoanTestin),atleastfourofwhomshallbepresbyters,andsixlaymembers(CarolAnneBennett,HarrietDiCicco,F.LeonSibielski,Chair,andDr.ElizabethWheeler)allofwhomwerenominatedbyBishopKniselyandconfirmedbyConventionfor3yearterms.

Forthepastyear,theCOMhasmetintheHigginsRoomatDiocesanHousefrom4:30-6:00p.m.onthefourthTuesdayofthemonthsofSeptemberthroughJune.ItdoesnotmeetduringthemonthsofJulyandAugust.

Thefollowinghighlightsreflectsomeofthebackgroundworkofthisministryoverthepastyear:• The COM assisted 7 congregations (St. Stephen, Providence; Church of the Good Shepherd, E.

Providence;St.David’son-the-Hill,Cranston;ChurchoftheAscension,Cranston;Sts.Matthew&Mark,Barrington;Emmanuel,Cumberland;andChurchoftheEpiphany,E.Providence)with10individualswhowerediscerningtheircalltoordainedministry.

• Indiscerningacalltoordainedministry,theindividual(aspirant)discerninghis/hercall,theirpriest,andtheir congregationhavebeenexploring theaspirant’s call toordainedministry thatmayormaynotresultinordination.

• As a Commission, we are chargedwith the responsibility of introducing and guiding a priest and acongregantwithanoverviewofthevariousstagesofpriestlyanddiaconalformation,andinparticularwiththeformationofaParishDiscernmentTeam(PDT).

• Ofthe7congregationso 1individualwithdrewfromtheprocesso 1individualdecidednottocontinueintheprocessatthistimeo 2individualswerenotrecommendedo 2individualshavebeenrecommendedbytheirrespectivePDTsforpostulancyandareawaiting

determinationbytheirrespectivepriestandvestryo 2individualshavebeenrecommendedbytheirrespectivePDT,priest,andvestryforpostulancyo 2individualshaveachievedpostulancy

• Asofthisdate,BishopKniselyhaso admitted Rob Izzi as a postulant for ordained ministry in the Diocese of Rhode Island on

November24,2015.Rob ispursuinghiscall to thediaconateand is currently interningatSt.Augustine’s

o admittedJackieRiceasapostulantforordainedministryintheDioceseofRhodeIslandonApril12,2016.JackieiscurrentlypursuingaPhDatYaleUniversitywhilefurtherdiscerninghercalltopriestlyministry.

o admittedDanteTavolaroasaCandidateforOrdinationtothePriesthoodeffectiveJune1,2016.DanteispursuinghiscalltothepriesthoodandiscurrentlyinterningatChurchoftheRedeemer,Providence

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o ordainedEdwardDean,JamesKelliher,andGraceSwinskitotheDiaconateonJune11,2016.EdisservingasadeaconatSt.David’son-the-Hill,Cranston,JimisservingasadeaconatAllSaints,Providence,andGraceisservingasadeaconatSt.Thomas,Greenville.

• In direct response to lay people who are seeking ways to discern and understand their God givenpurpose,theCOMiscurrentlyrunningitssecondAppreciativeInquiry(AI)courseto13membersofthelaity.The5sessioncourseiscurrentlybeingconductedatSt.Columba,MiddletownduringthemonthsofOctoberandNovember,andisbeingfacilitatedbyourArchdeacon,TheVenerableJaniceGrinnell.

• TheCOMcontinuestodevelopandimproveuponitspublicationsandformsthatareapplicabletotheprocessofpriestlyanddiaconalformation.ThosematerialscanbeviewedonourDiocesanwebsiteathttp://www.episcopalri.org/ForClergyCongregations/LeadingYourDiocese/CommissiononMinistry.aspx

• AsrecentlyasOctober,theCOMhasenteredintoanongoingconversationwithBishopKniselyabouttheirroleandfunctionandhowbesttheycanassisthimwiththeprocessofformationforthoseseekingordainedministry.

RespectfullysubmittedonbehalfoftheCommissiononMinistry,F.LeonSibielski,Chair

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Year in parentheses is last year of filing if not 2015

Vital Statistics of Congregations and Missions

B A P T I S M S

City CongregationActive

Members

Communicants

in Good Standing

Others

Active

Average

Sunday

Attendance

Sunday

Eucharists

16 yrs

and Older

Under

16 Years

Confirmed

or Received

St Thomas Episcopal ChurchAlton 64 35 0 4 19 51 79 7

St Johns Episcopal ChurchBarrington 891 213 0 6 45 133 1,136 8

Sts Matthew & Mark Episcopal ChurchBarrington 166 90 0 2 0 134 187 0

St Anns-by-the-Sea Episcopal ChurchBlock Island 21 22 0 0 12 53 21 0

St Michaels ChurchBristol 270 98 1 3 40 112 270 8

St George & San JorgeCentral Falls 260 190 2 35 205 70 775 0

Church of the Holy SpiritCharlestown 52 28 0 0 0 51 52 0

St Francis Episcopal ChurchCoventry 140 55 1 4 0 85 263 5

Church of the AscensionCranston 236 114 0 0 95 147 331 18

Church of the TransfigurationCranston 81 45 0 1 0 50 929 1

St Davids on the Hill Epis ChCranston 323 118 0 13 8 133 578 0

Trinity Episcopal ChurchCranston 385 98 0 5 0 86 459 0

Emmanuel Episcopal ChurchCumberland 362 153 1 9 0 151 413 9

St Lukes Episcopal ChurchEast Greenwich 1,074 241 0 17 0 101 1,074 14

St Marys Episcopal ChurchEast Providence 78 35 0 3 0 106 78 0

St Thomas Episcopal ChurchGreenville 365 144 1 6 0 159 396 10

St Elizabeths ChurchHope Valley 99 60 0 0 5 94 121 0

St Matthews ParishJamestown 273 98 0 8 30 97 429 17

St Augustines ChurchKingston 101 51 0 0 5 87 110 3

Christ Church in LonsdaleLincoln 199 100 0 5 0 94 199 5

St Andrews-by-the-SeaLittle Compton 137 52 0 6 4 61 223 0

Church of the Holy CrossMiddletown 61 30 0 1 0 51 61 0

St Columbas ChapelMiddletown 380 117 0 6 21 108 497 6

St Pauls WickfordN Kingstown 1,116 266 0 18 646 156 1,978 8

Trinity Episcopal ChurchN Scituate 251 121 0 4 4 125 561 8

St Peters-by-the-Sea ChurchNarragansett 463 152 0 9 0 104 463 11

Emmanuel ChurchNewport 325 104 1 10 25 102 325 3

St Johns ChurchNewport 110 68 1 1 6 102 110 1

Trinity ChurchNewport 320 172 0 9 127 103 426 0

St James Episcopal ChurchNorth Providence 55 20 1 0 1 50 56 0

Church of the Good ShepherdPawtucket 164 41 0 1 3 49 164 1

St Lukes Episcopal ChurchPawtucket 233 61 4 0 0 103 233 7

St Pauls ChurchPawtucket 186 70 0 3 1 88 239 0

St Marys Episcopal ChurchPortsmouth 320 136 0 8 14 136 392 0

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Year in parentheses is last year of filing if not 2015

Vital Statistics of Congregations and Missions

B A P T I S M S

City CongregationActive

Members

Communicants

in Good Standing

Others

Active

Average

Sunday

Attendance

Sunday

Eucharists

16 yrs

and Older

Under

16 Years

Confirmed

or Received

St Pauls Episcopal ChurchPortsmouth 30 24 0 1 0 51 30 2

All Saints Memorial ChurchProvidence 133 59 0 0 0 51 133 1

Cathedral of St JohnProvidence 10 34 1 0 28 29 38 0

Church Beyond the WallsProvidence 18 49 5 1 11 52 18 0

Church of the RedeemerProvidence 92 51 0 1 2 105 94 0

Grace Episcopal ChurchProvidence 409 160 1 4 0 106 409 0

St Martins Episcopal ChurchProvidence 334 146 1 10 0 110 598 7

St Peters & St Andrews EpiscopalProvidence 70 24 0 1 8 78 121 1

St Stephens ChurchProvidence 125 96 0 1 9 104 130 4

Church of the EpiphanyRumford 221 119 2 5 0 103 227 0

Chapel of St John the DivineSaunderstown 94 37 0 0 0 87 181 0

Church of the Holy TrinityTiverton 347 106 0 7 0 153 347 1

Church of the AscensionWakefield 218 76 0 0 0 150 218 0

All Saints Church in PontiacWarwick 66 29 0 1 0 92 66 0

St Barnabas Episcopal ChurchWarwick 195 112 0 12 29 104 224 9

St Marks ChurchWarwick 301 106 4 16 0 141 428 0

Christ ChurchWesterly 399 198 0 12 102 150 536 21

St James ChurchWoonsocket 187 65 1 6 0 91 192 0

12,810 1,505 4,889 28 275 5,089 17,618 196Total

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C:Audit/Plant Assets

PLANT ASSETS – PROPERTY OWNED

DECEMBER, 2016

Description Location 12/31/15 Assessed

Valuation

Diocesan Block:

Cathedral of St. John 255 North Main St., Providence, RI $ 4,415,900.

Cathedral House & Annex 273/305 North Main St., Providence, RI 1,684,700.

Hallworth House 66 Benefit Street, Providence, RI 3,591,400.

Hallworth House Parking Lots 14 & 18 Star Street, Providence, RI 111,500.

Edwards Fund Homes 78, 80, 82, & 88 Benefit St., Prov., RI 2,146,100.

Adjacent Parking Lot 69 Benefit Street, Providence, RI 316,100.

Old Narragansett Church Close:

Old Narragansett Church 62 Church Lane, No. Kingstown, RI 443,800.

“Greenway” (vacant land) (Lot 076) Access from Main St., No. Kingstown, RI 90,900.

Vacant Land (Merrill/Brown) (Lot 072) Church Lane, No. Kingstown, RI 176,400.

Vacant Land (Merrill) (Lot 269) Church Lane, No. Kingstown, RI 195,900.

Vacant Land (Baker) (Lot 277) Fowler St., No. Kingstown, RI 56,000.

Burial Ground (Lot 002) Shermantown Road, No. Kingstown, RI 146,800.

Miscellaneous Properties:

Episcopal Conference Center Complex –

Parcel 264/006 874 Reservoir Rd., Pascoag, RI (Burrillville) 134,800.

Parcel 264/001 872 Reservoir Rd., Pascoag, RI (Burrillville) 716,000.

Parcel 010-044-000 155 Reservoir Rd., Pascoag, RI (Glocester) 502,800.

Parcel 007-001-000 0 Reservoir Rd., Pascoag, RI (Glocester) 439,200.

May House & Cottage 110 Cold Spring Lane, No. Kingstown, RI 965,300.

Vacant Land (Lot 087) Cold Spring Lane, No. Kingstown, RI 239,100.

Vacant Land (Lot 104) Cold Spring Lane, No. Kingstown, RI 29,800.

Long Term Land Lease (Mobil Station) + 389 Elmwood Ave., Providence, RI 379,700.

Strip of Land ---

Cemetery (2 Lots)(adjacent to St. Andrew/

Phillip) Main Street, West Warwick, RI 68,300.

Mission Churches:

Church of the Beloved & Vicarage 156 & 158 Broad Street, Pascoag, RI 394,500.

Church of the Holy Cross 1443 West Main Road, Middletown, RI 765,600.

Church of the Holy Spirit (Lot 13/44) 4150 Post Road, Charlestown, RI 681,200.

St. Ann’s-by-the-Sea 25 Spring Street, New Shoreham, RI 760,200.

(Page 2) PLANT ASSETS - PROPERTY OWNED

Description Location 12/31/15 Assessed

Valuation

St. Augustine’s Church (2 Parcels) 15 Lower College Rd./ 106 Bayberry Rd.,

Kingston, RI $ 899,600.

St. Elizabeth Chapel 63 Canonchet Road, Hope Valley, RI 439,800.

St. Francis Church 132 Peckham Lane, Coventry, RI 480,200.

St. James Church 474 Fruit Hill Ave., North Providence, RI 533,300.

St. Mary’s Church 81 & 83 Warren Ave., East Providence, RI 1,096,300.

Church of the Advent 1395 Nooseneck Hill Rd., Coventry, RI 871,100.

Church of the Advent Vicarage 1 Rectory Drive, Coventry, RI 254,000.

St. Paul’s Church & Parish Hall 2673 & 2679 East Main Road, Portsmouth, RI 690,100.

St. Thomas Church 322 Church Street, Alton, RI 323,400.

Total Estimated Value $ 25,039,800.

This is to certify that the above are Diocesan owned properties.

The Reverend Kevin M. Lloyd, Secretary to Convention

AFFILIATED INSTITUTIONS

Center for Reconciliation

Hallworth House

Edwards Homes

St. Mary’s Home for Children

DiocesanRealPropertyList.12..2016

ReportoftheCenterforReconciliationNovember2016

History:Howdidwegethere?In2006andinsuccessiveyears,GeneralConventionadoptedaseriesofresolutionsthatacknowledgedtheEpiscopalChurch’shistoryofparticipationinandsupportoftheslavetradeandthedeepandlastinginjurywhichtheinstitutionofslaveryanditsaftermathhaveinflictedonsocietyandtheChurch.TheConventionaskedeachEpiscopaldiocesetoexamineitshistoryandinvolvementinslaveryandtheslavetrade,andthelegacyofthatinvolvement.TheCenterforReconciliationistheresponseoftheDioceseofRhodeIslandtothatrequest.Thedecisiontakenin2012tosuspendservicesandcloseSt.John’sCathedralwastheimpetusforavisionofcreatingaplaceandprogramsthatwouldenableourchurchandthecitizensofRhodeIslandtolookatouruniqueplaceinthehistoryofslaveryandtheslavetrade.WhileweusuallythinkofslaveryasaSoutherninstitution,RhodeIslandwas,ofalltheNorthernstates,themostdeeplyinvolvedbothintheslavetradeandinsupportingtheinstitutionofslavery.About60%ofallslavesbroughttotheAmericasweretransportedonshipsthatwerelaunchedfromProvidence,BristolandNewport.Andmostofourstate’seconomywasbuiltonrevenuesgeneratedbyslaveryandtheslavetrade,andlaterbyprofitingfromSouthernslaveryintheprocessingofcottontextilesandtheproductionof"Negrocloth"forsaletoSouthernslaveowners.YetmanyRhodeIslandersremainunawareofourcolonialhistoryofslaveryandslavetradingandourdependenceonSouthernslaveryfromtheRevolutiontotheCivilWar.Andtherearefewplacesinthestatewherepeoplecanencounterandexplorethishistory.Whyshouldourdiocesetakeonthattask?WhileBaptists,Jews,QuakersandCongregationalistswere,ofcourse,involvedintheslavetradeanditsauxiliarybusinesses,therealityisthatmany,ifnotmost,oftheleadingbusinessmenengagedintheslavebusinesseswereAnglicanswho,aftertheRevolution,wereknownasEpiscopalians.Theshippingindustry,rumdistilleries,dairyfarms,banks,insurancecompanies,textilemillsandmorewereownedbyAnglicansandthewealththeyacquiredbuiltourchurches,schoolsandcommunities.Whilesomespokeoutagainstslavery,manyothers,includingourclergy,ownedslaves.Whilemanywouldprefertoignorethishistory,wehaveauniqueopportunitytomodeladifferentresponse—wecancreateanenvironmentinwhichwecanlearntoconfrontthishistory,ownit,learnfromitandtobeginthelonganddifficulttaskofhealingandreconciliation.Whileslaveryoccurredinthepast,itslegaciesarepainfullypresenttoday.ManyofthenegativeattitudesandassumptionsaboutBlacksthatwereusedtojustifyslaverycontinuetoinfluenceimpressionsaboutpeopleofcolortoday.Anditistheremainingimpactofracism,discriminationandseparationthatwearecalledtoaddress.WedonothavemanyAfricanAmericansintheEpiscopalChurchsoourdialoguewill,ofnecessity,needtoreachbeyondourownmemberstoourfellowRhodeIslandersaswe

learntoheareachother’sstories.WebelievethattherepurposedSt.John’sCathedralcanbecomeamultifunctionalfacilitythatprovidesabroadrangeoflearningexperiences—lectures,trainingevents,films/videos,performances,artexhibitsetc.—thatcancontributetotheunderstandingofslaveryanditslegacytocontemporarysociety.Itcanbeahometoworshippingcommunitiesandaplacewherewe,astheEpiscopalChurch,cangatherforspecialservicesandeventsandwherewecaninvitethecommunitytogatherinresponsetocurrentevents.Whatisourvision?Ourvision,then,istoprovidea“safespace”whereinthosedifficultconversationsaboutslaveryanditslegacycanoccursothatoursocietycanbeginatransformativehealingprocess.Weenvisionpartneringwithorganizations,bothfaith-basedandsecular.Wewanttoopenmultipledoorstoinvitepeopleintoconversationswitheachother.Foroneperson,itmightbeamusicalperformance,foranotherpersonitmightbealectureoratheatricalpresentationwhilesomeoneelsemightvisitamuseumorartexhibitorattendatrainingprogramthatpreparesthemtotakeactioninthecommunityorparticipateinaworshipservice.Thegoalistoinvitepeopleintodialogue,usingwiderangeof“entrypoints”–performances,exhibits,films,studygroups,lecturesandmore.Cathedralshavetraditionallybeensitesthatintersectthesacredandthesecular—avenueforexcellenceinliturgyandtheperformingandvisualartsandaplacetoexplorecurrentevents.Cathedralshavealsoprovided“sanctuary”fromtheworld-asafespaceforhealingandrestoration.ThevisionisforourCathedraltobecomethatplaceforus,asadiocese,aswellasforthestateandevenpeoplewhowillcometovisitfromelsewhere.Howwillourcongregationsbeinvolved?Weknowthattherearesomechurchesanddiocesangroupsthathavealreadybeenworkingwithusordoingthisworkontheirown,andwewanttoissueanopeninvitationtootherswhowanttobecomeinvolvedinthisministry.Wewantourchurchesandtheirmemberstoknowabouttheeventswehostorco-sponsorsothosewhowanttobeinvolvedcandoso.Andwewanttosupportourchurches—sowewillhaveresourcesandprogramsthatcancometoyouaswellaseventsyoucanattendaroundthestate.Forexample,wehaveabookstudyguideonTheCrossandtheLynchingTreethatcanbeusedforLent;weareworkingonatravelingexhibitthatwillgiveyouaglimpseofthekindofdisplaysthatmightbeinthemuseum.RISDisdoingGalleryNightswithus,exhibitingsomeoftheirarchivalworksandaprofessortherewantstostartfilmnightsintheCathedrallibrarywhenwegetthatrenovated.Wehaveincludedalistoftheprogramswe’vedoneinthelastyear(below)andwehopeeachchurchwilldesignateatleastonepersontoreceiveinformationaboutupcomingeventsandresources.Eachcongregationisdifferent,andeachofyouwillneedtodecidewhatworksforyou.Ifyouwanthelpdevelopingaplanforyourchurch,membersoftheCFRteamarewillingtohelpyoudiscernwhicheventsorresourcesmightbebestsuitedforyoursituation.Howeveryouchoosetoengageinthiswork,weinviteandwelcomeindividuals,groupsandcongregationstojoinintheworkofreconciliation.

Whyisitimportantforus,asachurch,todothiswork?TheBookofCommonPrayersaysinthecatechism:“ThemissionofthechurchistorestoreallpeopletoGodandeachotherinChrist.”AndPaulsaidtothechurchinCorinth:

SoifanyoneisinChrist,thereisanewcreation:everythingoldhaspassedaway;see,everythinghasbecomenew!AllthisisfromGod,whoreconciledustohimselfthroughChrist,andhasgivenustheministryofreconciliation…

ThePresidingBishop.MichaelCurry,talksaboutthreeprioritiesoftheEpiscopalChurchandhoweachofthemrelatestoreconciliation:

• EvangelismisreconcilingpeopletoGodinChrist• Racialreconciliationisreconcilingourselvesandothers• Environmentisreconcilingourselveswiththecreation

Webelievethatinthistime,andinthisplace,wearecalledtotakeuptheministryofreconciliation.TheworkoftheCenterforReconciliationisonewayweseethatwe,astheEpiscopalChurchinRI,candothatministry.ActivityReportTheCenterforReconciliationhasmadesubstantialprogresssinceourlastreporttothediocesein2015.Hereiswhatwehaveachieved;

• Theimportanceofthisworkcontinuestobeaffirmed.EventsinRhodeIslandandbeyondconfirmthatconversationsaboutracialreconciliationareneededandfaithcommunitieslikeourscanbeeffectivefacilitatorsofthoseconversations.

• Weareapartofthe“DialogueGroup”involvedinongoingconversationsbetweenfederal,state,andlocallawenforcementofficialsandcommunityleaders.Webelievestrengtheningthoserelationshipswhentherearenoimmediatecrisesisaninvestmentthatwillpaydividendsinthefuture.

• Ourunderstandingof“reconciliation”continuestoberefinedaswehaveconversationsbothamongourselvesandwith“others/partners.”Thedefinitionof“reconciliation,likethatof“grace”or“mercy”defiesdefinitionsthataretoonarrowlyproscribed.

• TheteamofpeopleinvolvedintheworkoftheCenterforReconciliationcontinuestogrow.OurprimaryfocusatthistimeisonworkingwiththecongregationsoftheEpiscopalDioceseofRhodeIslandbecauseweareaccountabletothatcommunity.TheReconciliationTeamoftheCongregationalDevelopmentCommission(CDC)isactivelyworkingwiththeCFRtoidentifyandrecommendresourcesforuseincongregationstodiscussracialreconciliation.

• Wealsounderstandthevaluesofstrategicpartnershipswithotherorganizations,bothfaithbasedandsecular.Forexample,weorganizedacelebrationoftheMartinLutherKingDaywhichattractedsome200participantsandinvolvedoveradozenpartnerorganizationsincludingtheRhodeIslandforCommunityandJustice,theOpportunityIndustrializationCenter(OIC),TheUrbanLeagueofProvidence,TempleBeth-El,TheRhodeIslandBlackHeritageSociety,TheRhodeIslandHistoricalSociety,TheCenterfortheStudyofSlaveryandJusticeofBrownUniversity,theMixedMagicTheaterandmore.

• WepartneredwithTrinityChurch,WallStreetinthewebinar“SacredConversationsforRacialJustice,”whichwashostedbyTrinityChurch,Newport,St.PeterandAndrews,ProvidenceandChristChurch,Westerly.

• WedevelopedandimplementedourfirstprogramsincludingFaithandSlaveryWalkingTours,andaLentenprogramonTheCrossandtheLynchingTree(whichwillbeavailablealongwithtrainingforleaderstousenextyear).

• DeaconRickyBrightmanhasstartedaCemeteryResearchProject.• WehaveestablishedaYoungAdultInternshipProgramthathadoneMaster’s

degreestudentlastspringwhocreatedanoriginalplayaboutthethreeblackwomenburiedintheCathedralcemeterythatwasattendedby60+participantswhoengagedindialoguewithapanelafterwards.ThisyearwehaveasenioratBrownUniversitywhoisconductingresearchthatwillexpandourworkontheBlackcongregationsintheBenefitStreetareainthecontextofthe1960’surbanrenewal.

• Themuseumdesignteamisjustgettingstarted,gatheringanimpressivelistofparticipantsfromschoolsandmuseumsaswellasourownteammembers.AtravelingexhibitisbeingdesignedthatwillbeavailabletocongregationsinthecomingmonthssowecanbegintoenvisionsomeofwhatmightbedisplayedintheCathedralwhenitisreadytoreceivevisitors.TheinitialCathedralrenovationsarenowatthe“gettingbids”stage;stormdamagetothelibrarysectionhasprovidedinsurancefundstohelprenovatethatspace.

• SeveralofourstaffandteammembershavebeenprovidingleadershipatothereventssometimesasanofficialCFRrepresentativeorontheirown,butvisibleinthecommunityaspartofthiswork.Theyinclude:

o JamesPerry’spresentationsatWheelerSchool,totheOrganizationofAmericanHistoriansannualmeetinginProvidence,atDurant-KenrickHouseonBlackLivesMatter,andtotheDioceseofPennsylvania;andparticipationintheR.IMiddlePassageandPortMarkerProjectandtrainingworkshopsfortheNationalParkServiceandRoyallHouse&SlaveQuarters

o ElonCook’spresentationfortheDaughtersoftheAmericanRevolution,herparticipationinapaneldiscussiononhistoricsitesattheMuseumoftheCityofNewYorkandherpresentationontheCenterforReconciliationatTrinityChurch,WallStreet

o JoannePopeMelish'skeynoteandElon’spresentationsattheHistoricalPreservationandHeritageCommissionConferenceinSouthCounty

o CFRandtheBrownCenterfortheStudyofSlaveryandJusticestaffledmovienightdiscussionsatBrownandtheProvidencelibrary

o DavidAmes’spresentationatanecumenicalgatheringofclergyinWesterlyo ScreeningsoftheTracesoftheTradevideoatthethreeactiveColonial

Churches(St.Michael's,Bristol,Trinity,NewportandSt.Paul's,Wickford);alsoatSt.Elizabeth’sChurch,HopeValleyandfortheBlackstoneDeanery

o PamMcDonald’sleadershipwiththeWesterlyAreaPeaceandJusticeGroupsponsoredbyChristChurchwhichisorganizingtheFilmSeries,Race:ThePowerofanIllusion,atWesterlyLibrary.

•Thereareotherimportantaccomplishmentstoreport:o Weimplementedorganizationalandgovernancestructureso WeexpandedBoardofDirectorstoincludetheRt.Rev.JeffreyWilliams

(KingsCathedral)andDr.MorganGrefe(RIHS)

o Wesuccessfullyconducted“softphase”fundraisinginitiativestosupportprogramexpensesincludingc.$3,000inprogramfees/donationsandc.$30,000ingrants,corporateandindividualdonations.

TheCFRisnowincorporatingvolunteersintoitsworkandwelcomesthosewhohavegiftsandskillstooffer.Weneedeverythingfrompeoplewhowanttohelpplanprograms,provideadministrativesupport,serveastourassistants,fundraisers,eventplanners/hosts,andmore.ContactElon@cfrri.orgtovolunteerorformoreinformationaboutcomingprogramsandevents.Respectfullysubmitted,TheCenterforReconciliationBoardMembers:TheRt.Rev.Dr.NicholasKnisely,PresidentTheRev.DavidDobbins,VicePresidentMr.RobertBatchelor,TreasurerMs.RuthMoulton,bookkeeperandclerkTheRev.Dr.DavidA.AmesDr.MorganGrefe(RIHistoricalSociety)TheVen.JaniceGrinnellDr.DelbertC.GloverTheRt.Rev.JeffreyWilliams(KingsCathedral)CoordinatingCommitteeTeamMembers:TheRev.Dr.DavidAmesTheRev.Dr.Dorothy(Ricky)Brightman,TheRev.BrettBetkoski(TrinityLutheranChurch-Centerbrook,CT)Dr.DelbertC.GloverMs.AnnHammMs.PamMcDonaldDr.JoannePopeMelishMr.JonathanShay(PresbyterianChurch,CT)TheRev.CanonLindaL.Grenz,diocesanstaffsupportMr.JamesDeWolfPerry,ExecutiveDirector(part-time)Ms.ElonCook,ProgramManagerandMuseumCurator(part-time)

DIOCESE OF RHODE ISLAND

College Chaplaincy Task Force

Report, September, 2016 Introduction Bishop Knisely appointed the following people to serve on the College Chaplaincy Task Force: Carol Miro, The Rev. Martin Yost, The Rev. Phil Devens, The Venerable Jan Grinnell, Michael Cunningham, The Rev. Dr. Judy Mitchell, The Rev. Dr. David Ames, and Betsy Fornal (staff) We began our work on March 9, 2016, with a focus on the following questions for our task force members: 1. What has been your experience in campus ministry? 2. How do you interpret Anglican/Episcopal theology and ethics as a contribution to the mission of higher education? 3. How do you think the Diocese should be involved, given the number and differences among our State’s diverse higher education institutions? 4. How can we best develop relationships with faculty, administrators, and students? 5. Is there a model or models that we should support? In response to these questions we learned that Episcopalians act as a counterweight to the higher education agenda focused primarily on science, engineering and information technology. It is more difficult to cater to the humanities, especially art and music. Experience indicates that young people moving into adulthood are focused on issues of social justice. Returning to Sunday parish for liturgical worship only succeeds with a small fraction of students. Feeding people through a monthly “feed a friend” home-cooked meal program is one way to involve students. Another is to provide a safe place and training about issues of diversity including race, gender, ethnicity, and interfaith understanding. Our Christian ministry is about developing relationships and offering opportunities for students to gather in a safe space. We try to offer social alternatives to the world of alcohol and drugs as a way to gather and enjoy life. Communication via constant contact newsletters to students is useful. To develop a sustainable ministry it helps to have an advisory board. Parish-based ministry with Diocesan support provides a small but useful support for some Episcopal students offering a Sunday evening service of Evening Prayer, a meal, and a program of study or presentation. Chaplains serving as advisors to appropriate student groups, working with student affairs staff, providing pastoral support in times of crisis, and participating in matriculation and baccalaureate ceremonies is another avenue of presence and involvement. Meeting with Bishop Knisely

An early meeting of the Task Force with Bishop Knisely (March 18, 2016) indicated that his goal is to have an identified clergy person on each campus, and a coordinated state-wide ministry based at the Cathedral. We need to identify the kinds of people and resources needed to be more effective. It is important to develop job descriptions respective of the context and needs of the local campus. Strategies for developing campus religious community include:

• Young Life as a possible methodology for connecting with college students;

• Parishes needing to feel called to this ministry; • Ways to engage ECC students heading to college (add this to

ECC application form); and • Understanding the development of relationships on campus.

Regarding a possible Diocesan Structure the Task Force feels there needs to be a diocesan committee or commission on college chaplaincy. A staff member to monitor college chaplaincies and call them together to share news, discuss what is working or not, and make sure they are not isolated. Campus Representatives and Neighboring Dioceses In meeting with campus staff and faculty, and in researching what some of our neighboring dioceses are doing, we learned the following: Having someone on campus in designated office space for pastoral care is important as students and others walk in; worship that is ecumenical and/or interfaith is as important as denominational worship; collaborating with other campus chaplains and religious affiliates is an integral dimension in relating to the college or university; Focus on cultural competency and anti-racism training, service learning, social justice and ethical issues are present needs. The Diocese of Connecticut states, “Our hope is to accompany on your spiritual journey throughout your college days, encourage your exploration of the life of faith, pray and celebrate with you as you discover the joy of life in Christian community.” The Diocese of New Hampshire seeks “To support and encourage the ministry of youth, college students and young adults …by nurturing, reaching out and welcoming young people from ‘inside’ and ‘outside’ of our churches,….” The Diocese of Western Massachusetts in an article by the Rev. Dr. Rich Simpson, Canon to the Ordinary concludes, Students “need an anchor, that support, that place that reminds them of home…. Most young people are eager to talk about their dreams, their passions, the meaning of life. Many of them are deeply interested in cultivating spiritual practices and encountering the Holy. So how can we find new ways of creating spaces where that might happen?”

The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts has six Episcopal college and university ministries. “Whether it is an evening service that provides a space in which to breathe out the angst of the day and breathe in God’s peace, a home-cooked meal and conversation around a parish hall table, or forums for asking questions about ethical decision making and vocational discernment, campus ministries are in a position to be all about inviting, forming, sending, serving kind of ministry that is at the heart of mission strategy in the Diocese of Massachusetts. What does it mean to answer God’ urgent call on campus?” Episcopal Conference Center Counselors On June 24, 2016, three of our Task Force members met with fifteen counselors at the Episcopal Conference Center. They were either college students or new high school graduates headed to college. We were there to listen, and invited response to two related questions: “What should campus ministry be?”, and “What is most important in the context of your religious experience?” In their responses, several themes predominated: the presence of joy, the promise of a sustaining community, and (very poignantly) the role of religious belief, with its assurance of the ultimate victory over sin, death and tragedy as an antidote to futility and despair. These were, clearly, what the young people hoped to find in campus ministry, and again and again they came back to these characteristics. But they also had some observations to share about church services: The times of services should be flexible, with more than one weekly opportunity to participate. They saw the value of being part of a diverse congregation, and agreed that the community needed to be large enough to incorporate multiple viewpoints, while remaining small enough for intimacy, the kind of sharing that leads to growth. Finally, they endorsed on-going outreach. When the discussion turned to present religious home bases, they were equally frank. When one young adult described the parish “celebrations” as “boring”, it was clear he spoke for several of the others. They suggested using music that speaks to and for

its audience. They like the idea of varying sacred spaces. They advocated for an environment that raises consciousness of human need – and does something to address it, but, balancing this, they cited a ministry of presence, and a context in which their interior lives could be fed and flourish. Meaghan suggested that the word that took in all of the above was “authenticity”, to widespread agreement. “Campus ministry, if it is to work, must be non-judgmental,” one young woman added, noting that many students feel unwelcome if their lifestyle choices are out of sync with traditional values (Read: memories of Sunday School...)

We were out of time, but all of us felt that the session could easily have stretched to a weekend; the young men and women of E.C.C. are thoughtful, articulate and mature. We are grateful for their time, for their openness, and for the palpable presence of grace they brought to this valuable meeting. Conclusion

The General Convention of the Episcopal Church has articulated five marks of mission. They include: Proclaiming the Good News; Teaching, baptizing, and nurturing; Responding to human need; Transforming unjust structures; and Safeguarding creation. Each of these marks of mission is important to the work of campus ministry. College chaplains have traditionally ministered in areas of worship, biblical study, ethical engagement, administration, and pastoral care, not only for students, but for the entire campus community. The mission of the Episcopal Church in higher education is in need of serious evaluation and a rebirth of its historic and vital relationship with the academy. The Church should regain its engagement with the advancement of knowledge including theology, science and technology. It needs this for the sake of its own educated membership and for its mission within an ecumenical and interfaith framework. The hope of our Task Force and the focus of this report is for a renewed sense of Christian mission in higher education. The Diocese should adopt a plan beginning this Fall by responding to the needs of our higher education institutions and the faculty and students who are engaged in study, research, and teaching.

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