Diocesan and Parish News

Semi-Annual Parish Meeting

June 23, 2019

After the service last Sunday, our membership held a semi-annual meeting of the parish to discuss some important developments in the life of our diocese and our parish. No formal votes were taken and no motions were presented, but the formality of a meeting of the membership called by the vestry in accordance with the by-laws of the parish gave an appropriate venue for the announcements.

Financial Report

Our Senior Warden, Wendy Coykendall, gave a very quick snapshot of the finances of the parish. Holy Trinity's investment fund account had a balance of $113,653 at the end of May. This is a 9% increase in the fund since December 2018. Our income based on cash receipts through May of this year is $52,704. Our corresponding income at this time last year was $44,528, a difference of $8,176 in the right direction. Our finances are strong, and the members of our parish have risen to the challenge of a high budget this year. On behalf of the vestry, I would again like to express my gratitude and astonishment. We belong to a generous church, and we are continually amazed by God's providence and the generosity of his people. As always, the monthly financial report reviewed by the vestry is available to view on the bulletin board near the entrance to the undercroft.
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Report from Bishop Julian

At the Synod of our diocese, CANA East, held in May, some important changes were made to the diocesan Constitution and Canons. The Convocation of Anglicans in North America (CANA for short) was founded by the Church of Nigeria in 2006 to provide support for faithful Anglicans in the United States as they came out of The Episcopal Church. CANA went on to help found a new church in the United States called the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA for short). As a result of this history, our diocese, through CANA, enjoyed something like "dual-citizen status" in both the ACNA and the Church of Nigeria.

The time came for some increased clarity about the precise relationship of CANA with the Church of Nigeria. All of the CANA dioceses (of which CANA East was one of three) were given the choice to be totally affiliated with either the ACNA or the Church of Nigeria, but no longer both. Our diocese chose to retain our membership in the Anglican Church of North America while seeking ministry partner status with Nigeria.

We still enjoy full communion with the Church of Nigeria through the ACNA and through GAFCON (both of which the Church of Nigeria helped found). But our new relationship with Nigeria required a change of name, and so at our recent diocesan Synod, our diocese changed its name to THE ANGLICAN DIOCESE OF THE LIVING WORD.

The name of our diocese has changed. Here are a few things that haven't changed:

• Our bishop, Julian Dobbs, remains the same.
• Our diocese, while having a new name, otherwise is the same.
• Our relationship to the ACNA remains the same (we were and still are full members)
• Our status of full communion with the Church of Nigeria remains, even though we are now not directly under their authority.
• Our connection to the global Anglican church remains the same through GAFCON, of which both our diocese and the ACNA are full members along with Nigeria.
• Our commitment to historic Anglicanism, including the historic Prayer Books, remains the same (read: we'll keep using the 1928 Book of Common Prayer).

As you can see, on a day-to-day basis, nothing has changed for Holy Trinity. Our ministry and that of our diocese goes on unchanged and unhindered. We have a Gospel to proclaim, and God has given us a church home in which and through which we can get to work!

We thank God for the courageous leadership of the Church of Nigeria, and for the faithful service of our Bishop. May God in all things be praised.
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Report of the Parish Strategic Planning Committee

The Parish Strategic Planning Committee was called into existence by the Vestry in December 2018, and conducted its work over Epiphanytide and Lent of this year. Fr. Adam reported on the final product of that committee, which was approved by the vestry at the June meeting. Click the links below to hear the audio, and to download the relevant documents.

• An audio recording of this portion of the meeting
• The Founding Declarations of Holy Trinity Parish (approved in 1990)
• The Mission and Principles of Holy Trinity Parish (approved in 2019)