Youth delegates observe,
participate in proceedings

Jamie Poulsen, third from left, is pictured with the other four Youth Action Council delegates and alternates at the 19th annual diocesan convention. She offers her view of convention:

Upon arriving Friday night, we checked into the hotel and went to Evensong at St. Paul. At Evensong, the choir from All Saints Chapel, Sewanee sang. The hymn “When Silence Filled the Formless Night” was commissioned for this convention by St. Paul-Chattanooga in celebration of its 150th anniversary.

After Evensong, the opening convention session was held to welcome everyone and to introduce people of importance. Then the Bishop’s reception gave time to meet new people and reunite with old friends.

Later, we met in our rooms and discussed what to say the next morning at the budget hearing. The Rev. Matthew Dutton-Gillett assisted us as we put together our thoughts.

The budget reflected a change because the Youth Ministry Facilitator position had been vacated, and no replacement was hired. With the help of the Rev. Gayle Browne, Judy Hardt and Tracy Poulsen, the youth wrote a resolution to move the Bishop and Council to designate the appropriate funds to hire a new Youth Ministry Facilitator. A Youth Ministry Facilitator is responsible for guiding the Youth Action Council in planning and implementing events such as the Diocesan Youth Event. The facilitator also serves as an informational liaison between the YAC and provincial and national youth events. This person also plans and leads monthly YAC meetings.

A trip to Kinko’s gave us 300 photocopies on blue paper of the typed resolution to present to convention. It was turned in with only minutes to spare.

The Saturday morning session opened with the Address of Bishop Charles vonRosenberg, who reported on the state of the diocese, outreach and the diversity of our faith community.

Next was a special order of business from St. Francis of Assisi, Ooltewah. They came into convention led by bagpipes and ended with a child on a unicycle. They were being presented as a self-supporting parish. A couple of parishioners spoke on the church’s journey. After this wonderful presentation, there was a last call for nominations and resolutions, and our resolution was presented to convention. There were presentations from committees, and Ms. Norma Mills reported on the progress of the Grow in Mission Capital Campaign.

During the first workshop session, there were six things you could do. I went to the discussion session on the youth resolution, which gave me a greater sense that the diocese supports youth programs. After a lunch break, a second session of workshops similar to the first was held.

The afternoon general session began with elections. Next were the approval of the 2003 budget and the unanimous approval of the YAC resolution.

A series of Special Orders of Business included: “Seeds of Hope: Living the Gospel in Appalachia,” “Meet Our New Jubilee Centers” and a Grow in Mission report on the congregational phase of the capital campaign. The committee on memorials, greetings, and resolutions of appreciations reported. Before adjourning, there was an invitation to hold the 2004 convention in Johnson City.

Saturday night, the youth went out to dinner with the Rev. Jack Rogers as a way of saying good-bye: Father Jack has been the volunteer interim youth coordinator this year. He has been offered a wonderful new opportunity at a church outside of Memphis. He has done a wonderful job with the YAC this year, and he will be missed.

The Sunday morning Eucharist was wonderful. The Rev. Dr. Ronald B. Warren, bishop of the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America preached the sermon. He told stories and spoke on the relationship between the Lutheran and Episcopal churches.

Students of St. Peter’s Episcopal School then assisted the congregation in a Four-Direction Prayer and the renewal of our Baptismal Covenant.

There was no better way to end this splendid weekend.