Caledonia Times The
Happy New Year, Caledonia! Welcome to AD 2017!
Diocesan Section of the Anglican Journal Janaury 2017 Edition Volume 49 Issue #1
Diocesan Executive Committee met with BishopAnderson for the last time in November In mid November, the Diocesan Executive Committee came together for the Fall Meeting to deal with the Diocesan Budget, Parish Grants, property issues and to look at issues around the end of Bishop William’s Episcopacy and the transition to “Caledonia 10” (Referring to the next Bishop). The Bishop’s Report
The Bishop made his report to Executive and started with some needs that should be considered around the transition. In particular, the Metropolitan had asked to meet in January with Executive. This is necessary because he was not able to be at the Fall Meeting. Dates where proposed to Bishop William as to what would work for the rest of the Executive Committee. An extraordinary meeting of Executive Committee will take place in Terrace, with the Archbishop in mid January. Further to this, there was a discussion about a list of names of the Clergy who are not going to allow their names to stand, and who then could potentially be asked by Archbishop Privett to serve as his administrator during the vacancy of the See. The Administrator must be a priest of the Diocese who is a current member of the Executive Committee. All of the clergy indicated whether or not they would allow their names to stand if nominated for election in the New Year. Those who indicated that they would not stand for election, have had their names sent to the Archbishop as a list of potential candidates for Administrator. This appointment is to be made around December 15th so that there is a smooth transition of authority in the New Year. The Bishop then turned to financial matters and there was some discussion about the Block Grant from the Council of the North. The Bishop noted that any cuts to the Grant from the General Synod to the Council of the North, would have a corresponding cut to our grant from the Council of the North. Bishop William reminded the Executive Committee. that the grant remains the same as it has been for the past couple of years at $235,000. In the coming months, the Bishop pointed out, there are some things that the parishes can do to help out the situation: (1) be “frugal” in expenditures both at the parish level and as a Diocese; (2) work to be as self sufficient as possible in the life of every parish and as a Diocese remembering that we work to maintain our community; (3) caution people about making decisions to leave the parishes before we know who the next Bishop is going to be and what the next Episcopacy is going to be like. He went on to say that, “We need to continue to be realistic with our decisions and work and be
ready and willing to work towards the goals we have set. It is important for you to be well positioned to be ready to take on your next Bishop... there is a real need to double down on prayer and in faith and trust in God.”
The Bishop was asked to give Executive Committee a bit of a time line as to what had happen since April with the election of a Co-Adjuator Bishop and help everyone understand why the election was cancelled. The Bishop reminded the Executive Committee of the conversation and motion in April asking for the election of a Co-Adjuator Bishop. The thought was that in doing this as other Dioceses had done – such as Huron and Quebec – that we could shorten the time and the transition from one Bishop to the next. There was a new canon (1A) proposed and consented to by the Executive Committee so that it could be brought a regular meeting of Synod in the Fall. In June, Bishop William met with the Archbishop to go over the finances to demonstrate that the Diocese had the ability to take on a new Bishop. The Archbishop consented to the election and the date was set for October 15th, In August a complaint was made to the Archbishop that, in spite of the notice being given according to Canon I, enacting the Canon on the Friday night was not sufficient notice for the election of a new Bishop on Saturday. After considerable discussion with the Archbishop and the Diocesan and Provincial Chancellors, the decision was made to abandon the attempt to elect a Coadjutor Bishop on August 30th. Bishop William made the Exectuive Committee of some other issues as well. In particular, the Bishop pointed out that he went to the Archbishop with his resignation before the outcome of the motion (A051-R2) to initiate the changes in Canon XXI was known. His resignation had to do with the timing of the Canons in our Diocese to make the date of October 15th. He did not resign in protest over the vote. He also noted that there were some in the Diocese who did not want particular clergy to be nominated because of their personal origins and theologies. Bishop William pointed out that this is not only distasteful but also illegal. Every priest
and bishop in the Communion, in good standing, is eligible for nomination and election. Moreover, some people seemed to believe that the Bishop was trying to “pick the man of his choice.” The Bishop made it clear that he was going to refrain from voicing his opinion and from voting though he had every right to do so. Camp Cal Update
The Dean, as the Chair of the Camp Caledonia Advisory Board, brought the Executive Committee up to date on the life of the Camp and the work that has been done. Dean Haggstrom reported Camp had a good summer though the numbers in one of the Camps was down a little. There was a new Program Director in the person of Jo Finnie. Jo brought some new ideas to the program and routine of the Camp. In particular there were paddle boards introduced to the teen camp and that was a big hit. St. James’ Chapel roof was redone in the Spring and a lawn tractor was purchased for the mowing of the grounds. The roofs of all the cabins have been reshingled and a venting issue was attended to, so that Cabin Luke will not be so hot at night for the campers. There was also further work done to the old caretaker’s trailer so that there was a new front entrance and a venting issue was dealt with there as well. Plans are in the works now to look at making a covered picnic area and more cabin/sleeping accommodations on the site of the old cook house. This would enable the Board to rent out full time Enid’s Place to continue to raise revenue to run the Camp program. The Board is also looking to enlarge the Swim area, more toys and more dock
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