Bishop Doug Sparks

Letter from the Bishop - November 2018

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16 November 2018

Dear Sisters, Brothers and Siblings,

Grace and peace be with you in Jesus, the Light for all people!

I hope this finds you well during this season of gratitude and thanksgiving, even in the midst of our challenges and transitions! For most of us, it is a time when we are asked to make a financial commitment in support of the mission, ministry, and management of our particular Episcopal Church and I want to encourage your generosity and steps toward sacrificial giving!

This has been a year of conventions! Over 1,000 deputies and bishops gathered in Austin, Texas in July for the 79th General Convention of The Episcopal Church. Our deputies and I had the opportunity to share the highlights and actions during our Deanery Gatherings in September and October but I thought it would be helpful to share some of them with those who receive our monthly eNews!

At the initiative of members of the House of Bishops, Episcopalians were invited to share, confidentially, their stories of sexual harassment, exploitation, and abuse. A process was designed to receive individual submissions which were responded to by a bishop. We received over 40 submissions. As part of the Episcopal Church’s commitment to respond intentionally, a Liturgy of Lament and Repentance, during which portions of the submissions were read aloud by a bishop, occurred on Wednesday evening, 4 July.

There were also opportunities to bear public witness throughout our time in Texas.  Bishops United Against Gun Violence prepared a time for public witness each day of General Convention focused on various kinds of deaths caused by guns which included days to remember those killed in mass shootings and school shootings as well as those killed by guns in domestic violence and police shootings. We gathered on Sunday, 8 July for a public witness in downtown Austin.

On Sunday afternoon, Episcopalians, on 21 coach buses, travelled to the T. Don Hutto Female Detention Center in Taylor, Texas in public witness to “the actions of the U.S. government in its enforcement of immigration policies that have separated families over the last couple of months and have led to roundups and deportations of migrants.” *

A typical Convention day begins with a legislative committee hearing at 7:30 a.m. followed by a brief break to get to your legislative session in the House of Deputies or House of Bishops which begins at 10:30 a.m. Both houses break for lunch at 1 p.m. and resume their legislative session at 2:15 p.m. The afternoon legislative session ends at 5 p.m. followed by the Eucharist.  After an hour for dinner, the evening typically resumes with legislative committee meetings or legislative hearings at 7:30 p.m. which usually conclude by 9 p.m.  I want to take this opportunity to thank our deputies: Brian Grantz, Ted Kimball, Susan Haynes, Pamela Harris, Matthew Cowden, Christopher Hillak, Terri Bays, Tim Skimina and Michelle Walker for their good and productive work on behalf of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana! 

Throughout the nine days, there were four joint sessions.  Three were called TEConversations which focused on racial reconciliation and racial justice, evangelism, and care of creation. The fourth joint session was a presentation on the triennial budget of the Episcopal Church.

Over 400 resolutions were submitted for our consideration during the General Convention.  Some of the key areas of discussion and action took place around Prayer Book revision, diversity and inclusion, marriage access for all, and readmitting the Diocese of Cuba to the Episcopal Church. You can review the actions of General Convention and find a publication on the General Convention website listing the actions of General Convention.

Our Diocesan Convention was held on Saturday, 3 November, in South Bend. We gathered for the Eucharist at the Cathedral of Saint James and then made our way to the First United Methodist Church for lunch and our business meeting. I want to take this opportunity to thank all those who helped in making convention happen for us this year, especially the members of the Cathedral and our missioners, particularly Canon Michelle Walker!

As part of our ongoing work in Becoming Beloved Community, which is our focus on racial reconciliation and racial justice, during our time in convention, we watched three videos prepared by the Presiding Bishop’s Office reflecting on a Truth and Reconciliation Pilgrimage to Ghana taken by the Presiding Bishop and others in January, 2017. After each video, we engaged in table conversation. It is my hope that we will continue this important work and conversations on Becoming Beloved Community throughout Northern Indiana.

With a financial grant of $75,000 from the Roanridge Trust of the Episcopal Church, we will focus our attention on engaging our rural faith communities in story-sharing around race, faith and difference. We had an initial Becoming Beloved Community Gathering on Saturday, 20 October at St. Anne’s, Warsaw.  Our Missioner for Community Engagement, Adrien Niyongabo, is working with a planning team to move this process forward in the coming months.

The wider church has prepared two curricula for Advent focused on Becoming Beloved Community and Journeying the Way of Love: Practices for a Jesus-Centered Life. You can find links to these resources in this eNews!

I want to end with a few sentences which concluded my Pastoral Address at Convention!  “So, let us go forth from this holy place, continuing to build houses of prayer and worship, where all are loved and treasured, taught and claimed…where all are truly welcomed! Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen!”

Be assured of my ongoing prayer for each of you!

Every blessing,

The Rt. Rev. Dr. Douglas Sparks
Serving as Bishop
The Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana

 

*from Episcopal News Service, 8 July 2018 by Lynette Wilson

#GC79 - Reflections by Bishop Doug Sparks

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Bishop Doug, with his convention name tag and pins

Bishop Doug, with his convention name tag and pins

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Grace and peace be with you in Jesus, the Light for all people!

Greetings from Austin, Texas at the 79th General Convention of The Episcopal Church!  I wanted to share my reflections on my particular work during this convention on the Ecumenical
and Interreligious Relations Legislative Committee and on the two TEConversations that we’ve had.

I have been committed to the work of Christian Unity for most of my adult life. I had the privilege of going to seminary in Chicago during the early 1980’s where I came to know sisters and brothers of other denominations and religious traditions. These fellow Christians enriched my faith and understanding as I began ordained ministry.

For more than 25 years, I have been engaged in conversations with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American (ELCA) … in local and diocesan dialogues and initiatives. In 2016, I was appointed by our Presiding Bishop to serve as the Episcopal Bishop Co-Chair on the Lutheran Episcopal Coordinating Committee, which ultimately led to my appointment on this legislative committee.

(Below - Ecumenical Partners from ELCA and Lutheran Church in Bavaria giving testimony)

We are in full communion with the ELCA (since 2000) and the Moravian Church (since 2009). Our dialogue with the United Methodist Church began almost 50 years ago in the early 1970’s. Our committee spent significant time in conversation and testimony about the possibility of coming into full communion (after study and conversation during the next three years). We also worked on resolutions to affirm our long-standing full communion relationship with the Church of Sweden as well as an initiative of the Episcopal Convocation of Churches in Europe and the Lutheran Church in Bavaria. From my vantage point, full communion partnerships are a manifestation of Christ’s prayer that “we all may be one.” I am committed to working intentionally toward these partnerships.

One of the wonderful things about this convention is that both the House of Deputies and House of Bishops are gathering for intentional TEConversations around three key areas of our common life: Racial Reconciliation, Evangelism and Care of Creation. We gathered on Friday for a conversation on Racial Reconciliation. We heard the witness of a former racist skin head, a
“Dreamer” priest and the witness of Dr. Catherine Meeks, founder of the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing.

On Saturday, we gathered for a conversation on Evangelism. We heard a bishop describe the
experience of 40 Revival Events in Iowa, an Episcopal Priest who is an author bridging faith and
culture and a Latino Church Planter priest from the Diocese of Virginia.  Each conversation included a time for listening, a reflection question for pairs to discuss, a second question for our deputation to discuss, and a final question for us to consider going forward.

Let me conclude with the three questions we were invited to reflect upon:

2018-07-07 TEConversation Flyers.jpg

  1. What word, image or theme stands out for you from the talks and offerings you just heard? What is Jesus saying and calling you to do or to be, with regard to racial reconciliation…to evangelism?

  2. Given what you just shared in pairs about what Jesus is calling you toward personally, how might our churches and institutions respond to this call collectively?

  3. Given what your group said about how we could respond to God’s call as churches and institutions, what would help you/ your church/ your diocese to take the next steps around racial reconciliation or evangelism?

Well, sisters and brothers, our conversations went well and we hope to share some possible next steps with you regarding racial reconciliation and evangelism…and care of creation soon!
Be assured of my prayer.

Every blessing,
Bishop Doug

What is Project Resource 2.0: An Update from Camp Allen in Texas

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Dear Sisters and Brothers in the Episcopal Church in Northern Indiana!

Grace and peace be with you in Jesus, the Risen Christ!

Last week, I had the privilege of gathering with bishops, priests, deacons and lay persons from 20 dioceses throughout the Episcopal Church to rekindle our passion for the important work of stewardship and its essential role in the life of our faith communities.  This initiative is entitled Project Resource 2.0 and is sponsored by the College for Bishops, the Episcopal Church Foundation and the Development Office of the Episcopal Church.  For several years in Northern Indiana, we have had a group of people called Faithful Stewards, who have tried to encourage the work of Stewardship among us!  I want to thank Linda Buskirk (Trinity - Fort Wayne), Meg Moss (Christ the King - Huntington), Pamela Harris (St. Andrew's - Valparaiso), Chuck Lewis and Steve Wilson (St. Andrew - Kokomo) , Fr. Paul Nesta (St. Paul - LaPorte) and Bishop Frank Gray for committing themselves to participating in this conference AND bringing it back to share throughout our diocese. 

The initiative focuses on three areas of stewardship:  1) the Annual Pledge Drive; 2) Planned or Legacy Giving and 3) Capital Campaigns.

You will be hearing more about our learning and our hopes in assisting every faith community in Northern Indiana to embrace more and more intentionally to important work of stewardship in all its aspects!   In the meantime, please enjoy the video below, recorded at the end of our time together.

Easter blessings,
Doug