by Joe Thoma

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold joined about 150 representatives from Province IV dioceses as they met June 2-4 at the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, N.C.

Most of the attendees from 20 southeastern U.S. dioceses had been elected by their diocesan conventions to be deputies to General Convention in 2000 in Denver. Seven delegates attended from the Diocese of East Tennessee.

The annual Province IV Synod was a chance for deputies to get together before the General Convention, to discuss some often contentious subjects in the church, to share their points of view, and most importantly, to pray together for God’s wisdom.

“This was a marvelous opportunity for us to come together and talk with each other with mutual respect,” said Mrs. Scott Evans, Province IV president. Evans, who was vice president of Province IV from Durham, N.C., became the first lay person to serve as president of the synod upon resignation of Bishop Edward Salmon, Diocese of South Carolina, as president.

The theme of the meeting was “Equipping the Saints for a New Day,” and work sessions centered on improving the level of cooperation, communication, and understanding among church members who might be in disagreement. Sessions included a morning discussion of “issues that divide us” and an afternoon conversation on “issues that unite us.”

At the start of the conference, some participants expressed skepticism that facilitator Chuck Barker, a mediation specialist from Evanston, Ill., would lead the conversation to areas of mutual understanding. One of his exercises—using an optical illusion to make the broad point that attendees’ perceptions were varied—struck a few as manipulative and simplistic.

Still, by the end of the meeting, participants said they profited from Barker’s role-playing exercises. That work had people put themselves in the position of the person they disagree with on issues before the Church, including sexual orientation and the unity of the Anglican Communion.

“I was not looking forward to the role playing segment, but it turned out to be a high point for me. It let me get into the ‘skin’ of the person I disagree with and see the issue from her point of view. It was an eye and heart opening experience,” said Alice Clayton, Canon to the Ordinary.

Everyone interviewed after the conference said they were inspired by Presiding Bishop Griswold’s keynote address.

He made the analogy between mainline denominations and “gated communities of like-mindedness,” and warned of the danger of “seeking out only those who agree with us, to sort of reinforce our own perspectives and points of view.

“And then, from the safety of those little enclaves, we look at others askance or in judgment,” the presiding bishop said. “And what happens is, we begin to lob things from one little community into the next.”

He quoted from I Corinthians, saying, “Indeed, the body does not consist of one member, but of many ... If one member suffers, all members suffer together with it; If one member is honored, all together rejoice with it. “And the Presiding Bishop compared Church members to other realms of physical matter: “Let me move from Paul to a whole other area, that of quantum physics, which has been extremely helpful to me in thinking about the nature of the Church,” he said. “One of the fundamental tenets of quantum physics is that reality consists of webs of relationship.”

In other business, the Synod:

• Heard from the Rt. Rev. Edward Salmon, bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina, who urged the province’s dioceses to increase their involvement with youth programs.
• Were moved by a presentation by Mr. Charles Crump, a Memphis lawyer, who spoke on behalf of three historically black colleges — St. Augustine’s, Raleigh; Voorhees, Denmark, S.C.; and St. Paul’s, Lawrenceville, Va. Mr. Crump pointed out that while the Church’s national budget has grown to $38 million in 1999 from $12 million in 1970, financial support for the three schools has gone from a total of $1 million in 1970 to $950,000 this year.
• Elected the Rt. Rev. Robert H. Johnson vice president of Province IV. He is bishop of the Diocese of Western North Carolina. Bishop Johnson’s pre-election biographical sketch stressed that his “relational, listening, pastoral and administrative skills have been major factors in his ministry.”

Synod delegates from the Diocese of East Tennessee were Bishop Charles vonRosenberg, Canon Alice Clayton, Jim Morris, Doug Overbey, the Rev. Michael Doty, the Rev. Carter Paden and the Rev. John Talbird.

Joe Thoma is communications officer for the Diocese of Central Florida. David Smart, editor of the East Tennessee Episcopalian, contributed to this article.