ECW Holds 43rd Triennial Meeting

by Nancy Tanner
The 43rd Triennial Meeting of the Episcopal Church Women met in Denver in conjunction with General Convention. There were over 550 women there from 104 dioceses, plus visitors from England, Canada, the Phillipines, and Cuba.

The delegates from the Diocese of East Tennessee were Betty Morris, past diocesan president who served on the convention credentials committee, Cathy Varner, diocesan UTO coordinator, and Nancy Tanner, diocesan president.

One of the most important things the Triennial does is decide who will receive the United Thank Offering grants. All the diocesan UTO coordinators presented their UTO Ingathering amounts in a ceremony during the Sunday Eucharist in front of the 10,000 worshippers gathered. Over 3 million dollars were gathered.

One of the grants came to the Diocese of East Tennessee. In response to Noble Clark's (St. Paul’s, Athens) efforts, a $15,000 grant was given to the Good Faith Clinic of Athens, TN, for their continuing health screening.
During a luncheon for Presiding Bishop and Mrs. Griswold, our former bishop, Bishop Tharp, was given a standing ovation for his work as chairman of The Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief, now renamed Episcopal Relief and Development. Bishop Tharp also played the piano at the Fund's celebration of its 60th anniversary.

The Triennial provided the General Convention with an evening of entertainment. The children of the Lillian Valley Episcopal School on the Fort Hill Shoshoni Reservation danced and sang, and then the fifty voice Episcopal Chorale Society of Los Angeles gave a concert.

The Triennial delegates heard many interesting talks, including those given by Presiding Bishop Griswold, Bishop Winterrowd of Colorado, Bishop Knudsen of Maine, Bishop Dixon of Washington, and Bishop Wolf of Rhode Island.

In addition there were 33 different workshops to attend. The new boards of the National ECW and the National UTO were elected and then commissioned by Presiding Bishop Griswold.

The highlight of each morning was the daily Eucharist. Seated at assigned tables with the bishops and deputies, we heard the sermons by the Presiding Bishop, and then each table had an invaluable period for reflection and discussion on the gospel or sermon.

The music was inspiring, with thousands singing and led by splendid choirs.
All the business of Triennial was completed in the ten days and was a very successful meeting.

Tanner is the president of the Diocesan Episcopal Church Women.