Loading...Forty-nine minutes into last night's Trustees and Council meeting, the Rev. Lucinda Laird, president of the Standing Committee, interrupted a discussion to ask for a "point of privilege" before she announced that "we put you over the top Terry White."
Laird, smiling broadly, was referring to the Standing Committee's vote that afternoon consenting to the diocese's June 5 election of the Very Rev. Terry White as the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Kentucky. Their consent was the 56th officially received by the diocesan office from Standing Committees of the Episcopal Church's 110 dioceses, giving White the simple majority required by church canons. The diocese is now waiting on confirmation of the consents from the Presiding Bishop's office. He has already received the required consents from diocesan bishops.
Laird's announcement was greeted with applause from the Trustees and Council members, who were meeting at Christ Church Cathedral in Louisville for the first time with the Bishop-elect White and for the last time with Bishop Ted Gulick, whose retirement begins with White's consecration on Sept. 25. [Bishop Gulick's retirement is short-lived, however. He will officially begin serving part time as an assistant bishop in Diocese of Virginia in January, although he already has commitments for church visitations, beginning this month.]
The interruption offered a moment of levity in a four-hour meeting
with a full business agenda that began with the election of the Rev. Karl Lusk, rector of Ascension Church, Bardstown, to fulfill the unexpired term of the Rev. Mike Lager, who accepted a call to serve a parish in Arkansas earlier this year.
Trustees hear reports on finances, Cathedral Commons, camp and All Saints
Among the agenda items, the diocesan leaders heard a report from Mission Funding chair, the Rev. Candyce Loescher, regarding a request to restructure the debt of St. Paul's Church in Henderson. Finance Committee Chair David Brooks reported on the the 2007-2008 and the 2009 audits; and the Transition Committee chair, the Rev. Rose Bogal-Allbritten, updated the board on the expenses for the transition and consecration of the new bishop, reporting that she believe the total will "come in under $74,000."
Bogal-Allbritten noted that funds for the bishop's cabin, the legacy gift Bishop Gulick requested for the next bishop's use, and its maintenance have been raised, and the cabin will be installed at All Saints' next month. She made a pitch for donations that are being collected for the diocese's gift of vestaments to be given to the bishop-elect during a dinner the night before his consecration. [All in the diocese of invited, but reservations to the dinner are required. A reservation form may be downloaded here.
Treasurer Don Kohler reported the diocese is operating on a deficit budget currently and stressed a need for parishes to make their pledges current in a "tight budget" season. To date, the diocese has a revenue total of $802,563.80, which he said was about $84,000 less than anticipated, and expenses totaling $910,689.07, which he said is about a $108,000 operating loss. He noted that receipts of pledges are down about $55,000, but he also said he expects most parishes will catch up their pledge payments.
Kohler also informed the board that he has been invited to meet with the Cathedral Commons board as a liaison to Trustees and Council. The board is currently dealing with financial obligations related to the construction of Cathedral Commons and renovation of the Howard Hardy building. The cathedral is the guarantor of a construction loan exceeding $1 million, which comes due in the next year or two, Kohler reported.
A high point of the meeting came with a report by diocesan camp and youth coordinator Beth Bojarski about the summer's camp program. She reported increases in numbers of campers at all four youth camps: a 46 percent increase for Senior High Camp; 13 percent increase for Primary Camp; 25 percent increase for New Horizons Camp; and 21 percent increase for Junior High Camp. With the addition of the new Family Camp ( and its 19 campers from five families, the camp program had a 23 percent increase in campers, jumping from 156 in summer of 2009 to 191 this summer.
Describing this year's camp program, Bojarski said the theme of superheroes was "delightfully broad," giving the chaplains flexibility in planning their programs. She also noted that several of the camp counselors are actively involved in their campus ministries and hopefully are getting our senior high school students involved once they are in college.
Bojarski also announced that this year's Fall Gathering, Oct. 15-17, will focus on an environmental theme, a theme that this youth director knows a lot about. Her academic studies have focused on theology and environmental issues, and her book, To Serve and Guard the Earth, was recently published by Church Publishing.
Although this year's camp program was successful, All Saints' Board member Jim Wade, who has volunteered to manage the conference center, informed the Trustees and Council that All Saints "is undoubtedly going to have, in my estimation, a budget shortfall in the neighborhood of about $30,000." He reported that Greg Premo, who has taken over the center's marketing through October, has done some remarkable work, visiting various types of nonprofit organizations and institutions to recruit center guests ranging from college sororities and fraternities to U.S. Army chaplains. "We hope that the seeds that Greg's planted will grow and bear fruit some day, but we won't know for a while," said Wade.
In addition, he reported that Greg Premo, the current director, will be leaving the position Sept. 29 to return home to Vermont, and the All Saints' board has decided not to hire a director immediately. All Saints' staff member Paula Probus will continue to manage the center operations along with Wade and board members.
All Saints, Wade said, takes $6,000 a week to operate, and not hiring a director immediately will help the center achieve a balanced budget, but he stressed to the council the need for business and asked them to urge their vestries to book their retreats there next year. Part of the shortfall this year, he said, was due to cancellations, some by vestries because of the weather.
Bishop thanks 'his vestry' and diocese
The bishop, giving his last report to Trustees and Council, expressed his "profound" gratitude to the diocese and the Transition Committee for the retirement party given for him in July at All Saints. He said, as he did to the clergy earlier that day, that everything was perfect for him, from the "profound liturgy" and the Rev. Larry Handwerk's sermon, the "wonderful" music and "the most amazing gift" of the etching by All Saints camp counselor Ben Hart. "I loved the day, and I would not have changed one thing about it," he said.
He also expressed his gratitude for the diocese's selection of White as the next bishop. He said he purposefully did not learn anything about the nominees before the election so he would not have an opinion, but he has since spoken with the bishop-elect for at least an hour and a half every week since June and "I have been very impressed with his wisdom, his gentleness and his keen observing eye. It has been such a joy to have been with Terry in his transition."
Bishop-elect announces plan to fulfill walkabout promise
The bishop-elect also spoke briefly during the meeting, beginning with his thanks. "I do not have the words to thank so many people or the warm welcome, from the transition committee, the diocesan staff, folks have struck just the right balance for letting us know how welcome we are without smothering us," he said. "... I have met with a number of priests, lay leaders, folks on staff, folks who do volunteer work, people with some of the jubilee centers ... so I'm really getting a nice face of the work you have called me to do ... I am really enjoy his transition time. I don't know the 27th of September, how it will feel like to be responsible for all this. I know that with our prayers, we'll all be going forth together."
Noting that he was impressed with the clergy he met today (Friday) the clergy meeting, he said, felt the strong connections and "the high level of ecclesiology" among the clergy as well as their enjoyment of "just being together. It's a really good feeling. I reminded them as I remind you, as I will be reminding the diocese, that as I said that morning of the election day: You have elected an incredibly fallible person, and I will make a multitude of mistakes in our time together, and I hope we will be able to work together to overcome those."
Fulfilling one of his promises made during the walkabouts last May, the bishop-elect announced his plans for a leadership conference at All Saints Conference Center the first weekend in November. At that meeting, he said, he will discuss with diocesan leaders, volunteers, members their mission priorities. "We will come together, not just to talk about mission, butalso to talk about ministry that can be effectively be carried out in priorities 1, 2 and 3. ... I think that will be a great opportunity for folks to share some stories about our hopes and dreams. On a parochial level, perhaps it will inspire leaders to go back to their congregations and say, 'It's time to up this percent that we're giving.... And in the meantime, we'll tread water until the 25th."
At the end of the meeting, before it adjourned, Trustees and Council President the Rev. Libby Wade presented Bishop Gulick with a gift of nested handpainted, nested boxes as a reminder of Kentucky and a place for him, as she said, to store some memories.
