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The Diocese is sad to report the death of The Rev. Phil Allen, age 75, on March 22, 2010 following a battle with cancer. His funeral is being held on Monday, March 29 at 2:00 pm at the Bishop Jones Building on the Bishop Hare Center in Mission, SD.

 

 

 

Introduction to “A New Partnership with a Generous God”

In the first order of business at Convention 2009, the Very Rev. Bunker Hill introduced Fr. John Tarrant who re-presented the Partners with God initiative to convention. Here is a summary of the presentation.

BH: Today, our heavenly Father, it is once more and again, that we few of your hand-made servants are gathered in this sacred circle, heads bowed as humbly as we know how, facing the mother dust this side of the greedy grave.

We thank you for this day, a day we’ve never seen before, but one that has been coming since the dawn of creation. We thank you for the ministry of Bishop Robertson these past 15 years, and we pray for his health and well-being. We thank you for all of our new beginnings, but especially for this new beginning with our bishop-elect, Fr. John Tarrant.

Generous Father, we are seeking, not just a new beginning, but a New Partnership with you and with Fr. John as our bishop.

Bless our new Bishop. Turpentine his head with the oil of understanding; set him on hallowed fire; let him down into the rich storehouse of scripture, tradition and reason where he can bring out treasures both old and new to edify ALL of your people.

Bless the man who is going to walk in the shoes of the apostles. Bear him up on eagle’s wings. Let him fly in spirit beyond sun and moon and stars. Let heaven and earth come together in this place right now.

We thank you for blessing us, and we pray that as we seek to bless others, you will bring new life to our Diocese. We abandon ourselves to Jesus’ promise that he has come to bring abundant life for all. In a new partnership with you, we seek that life for ourselves and for all of the people among whom we live.

This is your servant’s prayer. So I hope. So may it be, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And all God’s people said: Amen.

It’s my privilege, today to introduce our bishop-elect as he presents or perhaps I should say re-presents the Partners with God initiative that this body passed in 2007. Today, we call it a New Partnership with a Generous God because we are renewing our partnership with a serious intent of implementing it.

The entire Diocese took part in crafting this vision for ministry in the Diocese of South Dakota, and we intend for it to express who we are and where we hope to go together. It’s our gift to Fr. John as we seek to be the best Diocese we can be. Together I believe we can be a model diocese for the whole Episcopal Church.

But we wouldn’t have this vision today without the self-sacrificing leadership of The Rev. Canon Dr. Robert T. Wagner. And I invite you all to join me in expressing our thanks for the inspiring leadership that Canon Wagner has given us.

Both the Vision and Mission of our Partners with God initiative focus on the most important thing that we can do together as a Diocese, and that is “ministry.” In all of the storm and stress of our troubles as a denomination and a worldwide communion, it’s easy to lose sight of the ministry to which God has called us. I believe that Fr. John has his sights clearly and firmly on our call to ministry. I also believe he will be “Servant to the Servants of God.” So today, as Fr. John presents a “New Partnership with a Generous God,” I’d like to paraphrase what John F. Kennedy said as he began HIS new initiative, called “The New Frontier”: “Ask not what your Diocese can do for you, ask what you can do for your Diocese.”

JT:

NEW PARTNERSHIP

WITH A GENEROUS GOD

An initiative for fulfilling ministry and mission in the Diocese of South Dakota

OUR VISION

We are a sacred circle gathered around Jesus in prayer, loving and serving God and our neighbors in Jesus’ Name.

OUR MISSION

Our mission is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ through the ministry of all.

WHAT IS MINISTRY?

    · Ministry, based on our Catechism, is to represent Christ and his Church by working, praying and giving for the spread of the kingdom of God.

    · The laity, deacons, priests, and bishops each have particular emphasis in their ministry, but all four orders are to work, pray and give for the spread of the kingdom of God.

    OUR GOALS

    EQUIPPING THE SAINTS

    Goal: Education

      · Offer curriculum in Christian Formation, education and nurture that will help Christians of all ages to grow in faith, to follow Christ and to share the story of God’s love for his creation and all of the people who inhabit it.

      · Train educators to engage students in learning and to effectively present the gospel and its application to our world.

    Goal: Ministry Support

      · Develop and encourage supportive relationships and programs of leadership development for both the lay and ordained leaders of the church.

    Goal: Ministry Development

      · Invite and encourage all baptized persons to discover and fulfill THEIR INDIVIDUAL ministries.

      · Provide opportunities for each congregation to equip those whom God is calling to carry on Christ’s work of reconciliation in the world.

    Goal: Achievement Management

      · Develop new and improved channels of communication through a wide variety of media at all levels of the Diocese.

      · Implement management and evaluation strategies to assure the most effective, efficient and extensive service in the name of Christ

    FOR THE WORK OF MINISTRY

    Goal: Stewardship

    As Christians we are stewards of a generous God who provides abundantly for all of our needs. Motivation, education and support to individuals and congregations will:

      · Promote understanding of the principles and practice of effective stewardship, and;

      · Promote responsible care for our church, our community, our environment, and ourselves.

    Goal: Evangelism (Telling our Story)

      · Identify the gifts present within each congregation which can be developed to proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ, and

      · Offer training and resources in sharing the Good News of Christ and understanding the Anglican traditions as they may be expressed within our various cultures to help us become Christ’s Body active in the World.

    Goal: Community Engagement (Serving our Neighbors)

      · Encourage and empower persons to inform themselves and develop action plans to address human needs and issues of justice in local communities at the congregational level.

    KEY ISSUES

    The elaboration of various strategies for accomplishing our Goals is set out in the original Partners with God initiative passed by this Convention in 2007.

    Key Issue: Priorities

    My purpose today is to begin to prioritize these individual goals into a coherent first step in creating an environment in this Diocese which puts the work of ministry ahead of everything else.

    My first priorities are Stewardship, Evangelism and Community Engagement. These three priorities define:

      · who we are – we are stewards of the bounty that God has given us.

      · why we’ve come – we are heralds of God’s kingdom, and

      · what we are to do – we are called to love God and our neighbors.

Key Issue: Renewal

    · I plan to begin implementing these priorities by listening to you.

    · I want to hear how each of you articulate your understanding of your relationships with God, your family, your local church, the community in which you live and our country.

    · I hope to engage your trust by offering you my trust in a spirit of partnership.

Key Issue: Spirit of Partnership

In particular, I want to hear how we can all work together in this Diocese as the Body of Christ. St. Theresa of Avila said, “Christ has no body now on earth but ours, no hands but ours, no feet but ours, ours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion is to look out to the earth, ours are the feet by which He is to go about doing good and ours are the hands by which He is to bless us now.”

It is the work of the Holy Spirit to bind us together in love, and strengthen us for God’s work as the Body of Christ. When communities of faith come together, their service to the Church and to the world has more impact.

I want to nurture a spirit of partnership in which:

      · everyone can have their say,

      · all can hear the gospel, and

      · everyone can say with gratitude:

“I am an Episcopalian from South Dakota. Here am I, send me!”

 

 

 

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